AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WICKS FOR CANDLES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Harrison and Henry Graham
William Wagstaff, of Pollard's Row, Bethnal Green, in the County of
Middlesex, Candle Manufacturers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William Harrison
and Henry Graham William Wagstaff at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 29th March 1854.
We, FREDERICK WILLIAM HARRISON and HENRY GRAHAM WILLIAM WAG-
STAFF, of Pollard's Row, Bethnal Green, in the County of Middlesex, Candle
Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WICKS FOR CANDLES " to be as follows:-
This Invention refers to a novel mode of constructing candle wicks. In
order to prevent plaited wicks from bending too much when burning, straight
strands of cotton are laid against the plait, and attached thereto by gimping
threads. The plait is formed in an ordinary plaiting machine, and the straight
strands, one, two, three, or more in number, are laid thereon. This plaiting
machine is provided with a flyer, through the hollow socket of which the
plait passes (together with the straight strands), as it is formed, and by the
rotation of the flyer, gimping thread is laid around the plait, and the straight
strands are bound thereto. Wicks thus constructed we. propose to apply to
common candles, or candles composed of soft materials, and by their use wę
are enabled to produce cheap candles and self-consuming wicks,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters. Patent, filed
.
by the said Frederick William Harrison and Henry Graham William
Wagstaff in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th September 1854.
....
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
WILLIAM HARRISON and HENRY GRAHAM WILLIAM WAGSTAFF, of Pollard's
Row, Bethnal Green, in the County of Middlesex, Candle Manufacturers,
send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Frederick William Harrison and Henry Graham William Wagstaff, Her
special license that we, the said Frederick William Harrison and Henry
Graham William Wagstaff, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Frederick William Harrison and Henry
Graham William Wagstaff, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WICKS FOR CANDLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Frederick William Harrison and Henry
Graham William Wagstaff, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Graham William Wagstaff,
on behalf of myself and of the said Frederick William Harrison, do hereby
declare of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of self-
consuming wicks, suitable for candles composed of tallow or other soft
materials.
In the burning of the ordinary plaited wicks, when they are applied to

page_text: candles made of. tallow or other soft materials, we have observed a tendency
in them to bend over or droop so much as to melt, and consequently destroy
the "wall" of the candle, causing thereby continued guttering and wasting of
the candle. The object of the present Invention is to manufacture in an
economical manner a wick which will burn without destroying the wall of
the candle. For this purpose, we form the middle of the wick of plait, and
the exterior we compose of straight strands or threads laid against the plait
in parallel lines, and we bind the whole together by a single gimping thread,
which is lapped around the wick..
:
In the accompanying Drawing, the mode of manufacturing this wick and
applying it when made is clearly illustrated. Figures 1 shew in side and edge
views (drawn to a magnified; scale) a compound wick, possessing the above
described desirable property. a, a, is the plait, and b, b, are straight strands or
threads of cotton, bound to the plait at opposite sides thereof by a gimping
thread c, c. In the burning of this wick the natural tendency of the plait to
bend over to one side, and carry the flame too near the wall of the candle,
will be counteracted by the straight strands or threads, which have always a
tendency to retain their erect position: We have found that plait and straight
strands, combined in the proportions shewn at Figures 1, will produce a very
good wick, but the proportions may be varied as circumstances require. The
plait here represented is composed of; twenty-four threads or ends of cotton,
three-fourths of which go to form the 'plait, and the remaining fourth the
straight strands or threads.....
: ..
. In some cases we may introduce but a single strand on each side of the
plait instead of two, as shewn, or three or more, set equidistant from each
other around the plait. Fig. 2 represents in plan view, and Fig. 3 in partial
sectional elevation, so much of a plaiting machine as will serve to explain the
manner of making this compound wick; d, d, d; are the bobbins of 'an
ordinary plaiting or braiding machine, mounted as usual on spindles e, e, e,
by the traverse of which in the race f, f, the threads from the bobbins are
plaited together.... The plait -thus produced is passed over, a pulley g, carried
by a bracket h, attached to a standard i. Projecting through and carried by
this standard is a hollow axle k, through which the plait is passed together
with the straight strands. These latter are drawn from bobbins 1, 1, mounted
on a table m, and they are laid over guides n, n, fixed to the standard in such
positions as to permit of the strands being laid in position against the plait
when they are drawn with it through the hollow axle k. On this axle a
pulley o is, mounted loosely; and carried by this pulley is, a flyer.p, which
laps the gimpingthread (drawn from a bobbing on the flyer) around the
.

page_text: strands and plait, and binds them together. Rotary motion is commu-
nicated in any convenient manner from the plaiting machinery proper to
the flyer by a band passing over the pulley o, and the speed of this pulley
must be regulated by the speed at which the plait is produced. When the
lapping of the gimping thread is effected, the manufacture of the wick is com-
pleted, and it is passed over a guide roller and thence to a reel, upon which it
is wound, or it may be deposited in a receiving can.
As some care is required in applying this wick to the manufacture of dip
candles, we think it desirable to explain our mode of proceeding. We provide
a table similar to that shewn at r, r, Fig. 4, having two rows of pins s, set
apart at a distance somewhat greater than twice the length of the candles
required to be manufactured. In a line parallel with the rows of pins, and
equidistant therefrom, two straight bars t, notched on their upper edges, are
placed, the notches being of such a size as to hold the wick tightly when
forced therein. We take a length of wick and twine it (at tension), serpen-
tine fashion, over the pins s, and that portion of the wick which lies over the
barst we force down into the notches, which will hold it securely; we then
pass a knife between these bars, and sever the wick into lengths suitable for
making two candles each. These lengths will hang from the bars in loops,
and through the loops we pass a rod, as shewn at Fig. 5, which will keep them
at tension. In this condition we dip the wicks into the melted fat which
is to form the candle, and when the fat is cold we remove the rod and sever
the loops. The dipping may then be proceeded with as usual.
Having now described our Invention of "An Improvement in the Con-
struction of Wicks for Candles," and explained the manner of applying the
wick when manufactured, we wish it to be understood, that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent, we claim combining straight strands or threads.
with plait, in the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Graham William Wagstaff, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
H. G. W. WAGSTAFF. (L.S.)