Improvements in or relating to Metallic Mantles for Gas Burners.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 22nd Apr., 1899
Improvements in or relating to Metallic Mantles for Gas Burners.
A communication from EMILE VERBEKE, Manufacturer, of 35, Rue Henri Maus,
Brussels, Belgium.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of a metallic mantle which when fitted
upon a suitable Bunsen burner on which it fulfils the function of a grate, can
produce incandescence. Many attempts have been made to produce such a mantle
but the incandescence obtained with them has not been perfect or complete, owing
either to the melting point of the metal or alloy employed, or else to the compo-
sition used being unsuitable for the desired end.
The mantles forming the subject of this invention have a determined composi-
tion depending on the lighting for which they are to be used.
Different metals described in many books are known to be capable of producing
a more or less perfect incandescence but have never been used, nobody having
succeeded in manufacturing a commercial mantle as it was impossible to obtain
alloys of the desired composition for the manufacture of the mantles.
The following are the metals used for manufacturing mantles according to this
invention.
Platinum, iridium, rhodium, palladium. It is well known that these metals
become incandescent when introduced into a Bunsen flame.
What I claim as novel is the composition of the wires or thin metallic threads
used for weaving the mantles, each inetal being assigned its especial part in the
preparation of the alloys according to the consistency and malleability to be
given to the mantles.
Therefore I claim the following compositions for the manufacture of mantles,
which must not be submitted to a pressure of any gas exceeding one hundred
millimetres.
A. Platinum 88%, iridium 10%, rhodium 2%.
B. Platinum 90%, iridium 5%, rhodium 2% palladium 3%.
Although it is preferred to use these exact proportions any one or more of these
metals may vary to the proportion to the amount of 5%.
Manufacturing. The alloys A and B are treated separately and from each a
wire is drawn to the average diameter of one-twentieth of a millimetre, the mantle
is then woven from these wires with a mesh corresponding to say No. 60 of French
weavers, or about 50-70 meshes to the inch.
The weaving is effected as follows;
-
The wires or threads made of the alloy A serve to form the warp threads of the
mantle, that is to say, the threads beginning at the top and terminating at the
bottom of the mantle. The wires B serve to weave the weft that is to say, the
threads going round the mantle.

page_text: As regards mantles for gas under pressure, whether it be compressed gas or
gas with an artificial air current only one alloy is employed and the thickness
of the wires is modified. The composition of this alloy is as follows:
Platinum 85%, iridium 12%, rhodium 3%.
-
These metals are melted together and wires drawn from the alloy thus formed
to a thickness of about one-tenth of a millimetre, the same alloy being used for
weaving the warp and the weft.
The mantles are placed directly on a Bunsen burner, for instance such as
described in Patent No. 20273 of 1898, and give a perfect incandescence through-
out the whole of their surface.
These mantles do not require any support and may be of any desired shape, such
for instance as cylindrical, or conical or any intermediate form and may be
employed for giving light as well as heat.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. A mantle for gas burners formed of woven or intermeshed metallic wires the
wires constituting the warp threads being formed of an alloy of platinum, iridium,
and rhodium, and those forming the weft threads of an alloy of platinum, iridium,
rhodium, and palladium substantially as and in the manner specified.
2. A mantle for gas burners formed of woven or intermeshed metallic wires said
wires being formed of an alloy of platinum, iridium, and rhodium substantially
as and in the manner specified.
3. In the manufacture of mantles for gas burners the employment of wires
formed of alloys of platinum, iridium, rhodium and palladium substantially in the
proportions specified.
Dated this 17th dow Quatruli 1000
or