IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS FOR BURNING PATROLEUM AND OTHER MINERAL OILS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of Chandos Chambers,
Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS FOR BURNING PATROLEUM AND OTHER
MINERAL OILS."-A communication from abroad by Messieurs Henri
François Lafaurie, Employè, and Henri Firmin Eugène Potel,
Employè, both of Paris, in the Republic of France.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Lloyd Wise
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 29th July 1874, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.

page_text: Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad by
Messieurs Henri François Lafauric, Employè, and Henri Firmin Eugèno
Potel, Employè, both of Paris, in the Republic of France.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Lloyd Wise, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and
seal fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following state-
ment thereof and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say) :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
lamps for the use of petroleum and other mineral oils, heavy or light,
whether such lamps be employed for public lighting or for use in the
rolling stock of railways.
6
In order that these improvements may be well understood I will give 1
in the first place the description of an ordinary petroleum oil lamp fitted
up according to this Invention, and afterwards the arrangement of a
lamp applicable for the lighting of railway rolling stock.
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, of the accompanying Drawing represent the first
part of the Invention.
Figure 5 shews in vertical section a type of the apparatus which
constitutes the second part of it.
The petroleum lamp represented in Figs. 1, 2, 3, comprises the
following arrangements :-
1st. Wicks. The wicks ordinarily employed in flat burners are of
simple cotton, the section is restricted, and in the best arrangements one
millimetre of that section ought to cause the rise of five decigrammes
of liquid for cach hour's burning. From this it follows that at the end
of a short time, when the oil las sunk in the reservoir, the feeding
becomes insufficient, then the flame lessens, whilst for the same reason
the wick becomes carbonized. These difficulties have been avoided by
giving to the new wicks such a section that cach millimetre has to raise
no more than two decigrammes of liquid per hour to give sufficient
feeding, and the tissue is folded on itself in order to increase the effect of
capillary attraction. It follows from this arrangement that the liquid in

page_text: the gallery is arranged makes a double division of the air. and is opposed
to the direct action of the exterior currents, thus rendering the flame
perfectly steady.
Brdly. Cap and application of straight glasses.-The cap is fashioned
so as to give to the flame a special form. The flames of flat burners all
form what is called a "butterfly flame" (papillon). It has been thought
up to the present that petroleum or mineral oils could not be burnt
without that peculiarity. Hence the necessity of using swelling.
chimneys, which are so difficult to clean, which are costly, and which
because of the work which the glass must undergo to give it the
required form are so fragile, besides which they present many difficulties
in packing, transport, and storage. The form of burner in this Invention
is that of the "lance" or "cats tongue." It does not vary in its size
from the dimensions of the opening made in the cap, and consequently
cylindrical glasses or those of the form called "omnibus" can be used,
that is to say, glasses which are the simplest to make, the least costly,
easy to clean, strong, convenient of transport and storage. It will bo
seen that by this arrangement some of the objections attending the use
of petroleum are removed.
4thly. Register globe carrier.-Every person who uses petroleum will
have remarked that it is difficult to use the lamps as night lights without
causing an insupportable smell, and that in general the light is a
brilliant white, which hurts the eyes. The first inconvenience will bo
evident, and the consequences of it are casily understood. As to the
second, as regards, tho. preservation of the cycsight, there is very grave
danger, and to overcome the danger, whilst at the same time preserving
a good utilization of the liquid, is certainly a desirable service to render
to consumers. This is effected according to this Invention by the whole
of the arrangements and proportions of the burners which regulate the
air, direct it without any hurtful eddy steadily on to the flame, and
oblige it to get heated to a suitable degree, producing thus a completo
combustion without.excess-of-white-flaro-of-tho-light.-It-is-established
by those who have occupied themselves on the subject of lighting that
the most favorable state of a flame for the useful employment of the
fluid which feeds it is that in which it is the most developed, or if
preferred, the most raised that is possible, and almost, on the point of
going out. It is then not white but slightly orange. It is the color
‚inet with.in.the. light of the. Qarcel lamps, which is so soft to the sight.
"
.

page_text: This softness of light which hitherto petroleum could not give econo-
mically has been attained as above described by the equilibrium between
the quantity of liquid consumed and the quantity of air brought in for
combustion, but if that equilibrium establishes itself of its own accord
for the regulated burner in full flame it is no longer so when it is wished
to diminish the quantity of light. The air then presents itself in excess,
the flame becomes too white, unburnt gases escape, and-the bad smell
returns, and in order to obviate this a special part has been provided
which without encumbering or complicating the burner allows the
admission of air to be regulated at will. This part consists of a band or
ring which externally surrounds the gallery, and slides or revolves round
it. This band is formed with holes identical with those of the gallery,
and when they are placed so as to coincide the air passes freely, but by
turning the passage may be reduced to any desired extent. In this way
the flame of the lamps can be made as low as possible without ever
smelling if care be taken to diminish the passage of air so as to pre-
serve a slight orange tint at the luminous point. The register obviates
the two inconveniences it was desired to combat, and the form that is
given to it enables it to be employed as a globe carrier by the aid of the
flange which surmounts it and serves for turning it.
•
5thly. Screw thread in broken section.-One of the annoyances of
mineral oil lamps is the necessity of screwing and unscrewing the burner
each time it is required to put liquid in or to change the wick. It has
been already attempted to avoid this objection by fixing the burner by a
socket with friction on the reservoir, but this is contrary to the instruc-
tions of the French Council of hygiene approved by the Prefet of
Police, June 29, 1864, relative to the use of petroleum lamps, which
recommends that the burners should be always fixed solidly. Experience
has shewn the utility of that recommendation. Hence to avoid danger
it becomes necessary to adopt the screw thread, the difficulties attending
the use of which are entirely obviated by this Invention, by which at
the same time the important advantage of solidity is preserved. To this
end the thread of the screw is divided into sections as shewn instead of
being continued entirely around the axis. By this plan the burner can
be placed in its position and tightened up without requiring more than
a fourth or a sixth of a turn. Therefore the difficulty of catching the
thread of the screw, the time lost in making it accomplish the five or six_
turns of the thread, and the twistings-of-the wick are avoided.

page_text: 6thly. Fixing ring.-There remains nothing more to complete the
description than to describe the mode of cementing or fixing the burner
on the bodies of porcelain or of glass. Generally the burners are united
to the reservoirs which they surmount by a cement made of plaster,
and this plan is adopted in the improved lamp, but the metallic piece of
the burner which receives the cement is made in two parts. In all
lamps as usually made, if a reservoir is broken the burner becomes
useless because the piece which contains the cement is always destroyed.
Its arrangement does not permit of its being disengaged from the plaster
and from adhering glass. But the new arrangement affords every facility
for this disengagement. To prevent the burners coming undone the
bottom of the ring is made with a swelling or beading so that the pieces
will not be able to separato except by the breaking of the plaster.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
a, omnibus chimney; b, flame; c, wick; d, wick tube; e, cap;
f, gallery carrying glass; 9, guard surrounding the wick tube and
serving to keep the serrated or toothed wheels which raise or lower the
wick on their spindle; h, ring fixed on the gallery and serving to keep it
in contact with the guard g; i, register; j, button for regulating the
working of the wick; k, mouthpiece (cuvette) receiving the female
screw; 1, fixing ring soldered to the mouthpiece; m, reservoir of the
lamp; n, serrated or toothed wheels for adjusting the wick; o, spindle
carrying the wheels for adjusting the wick; p, male screw of the
burner; q, female screw for receiving the same; r, plaster cement;
8, opening of the cap.
The second part of the Invention consists of an apparatus for lighting
with petroleum oil intended for railway rolling stock. While preserving
the system of the improved burner my foreign correspondents found it
necessary to modify the construction of the apparatus so that it might
fulfil the required conditions without necessitating changes in the
service of lighting.
Fig. 5 represents the improved apparatus designed for railway service.
It is intended to replace the colza oil lamp in railway carriages by a
petroleum lamp with the improved burner arranged as herein-before
described, and adapted to burning the heavy mineral oils, that is to say,
those which do not emit inflammable vapors below a temperature of
80° centigrade. The lamp arranged specially for this application, with

page_text: the improved burner, is placed or suspended as shewn in the Drawing in
a glass vesself similar to those which are in use for lighting with colza.
This lamp is covered with a metal reflector 6 which rests on the edges
of the glass vessel, and by its application keeps the lamp in a fixed
position.
In order to avoid the shadow which would be thrown into the interior.
of the carriages by the oil reservoir d of the lamp placed below the
flame, it is proposed to apply an additional reflector 9, which is detached
from the lantern, and which completely surrounds the glass vessel f.
This reflector has the effect of throwing the luminous rays below the
lamp, and thereby lighting the whole of the interior of the compartment.
By this plan petroleum lamps are made available for use in the same
manner as colza lamps, and the improved lamps, whilst lighting more
completely than those of the ordinary kind, do not descend lower in the
compartments than they, and lastly, the oil which can be employed
being much less volatile than the ordinary mineral lamp oils, the
terrible accidents are guarded against that would in the event of collision
or running off the rails result from the use of highly volatile liquids.
In that part which comprises the lamp, properly so called, the
reservoir or body of the lamp d, has the form of a truncated cone, and
while diminishing the obstacle to the passage of the direct luminous
rays this form has enabled the reservoir to be made of a capacity for
liquid sufficient for the light to last a minimum duration of 24 hours
without there being any necessity for refilling.
The cavity formed by the circular embossment of the summit is higher
than the orifice, and consequently can never be filled with the liquid; it
constitutes a sort of receptacle for the gases which might be. produced
in the interior, and removes all chance of explosion which might result
from that cause.
".
The burner being similar to that of the lamp shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4,
this portion of the apparatus will be readily understood from the
description already given with reference to those Figures.
As is obvious the apparatus herein-before described may be modified
in form and dimensions to suit circumstances.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and having
explained the manner of carrving the same into practical effect. ns.

page_text: communicated to mo by my foreign correspondents, I hereby declare
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the.
Invention to be secured to me by Letters Patont to bo,—
1st. The arrangement of lamp represented in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, in
which are combined the employment of a wick of considerable section, ₺
an elongated burner, a moveable glass carrying gallery surrounding all
the parts of the burner, a cap of special form giving an elongated flame,
straight glasses of the kind called "omnibus," the globe carrying.
register turning on tho gallery, and a fixing ring capable of being.
separated from the screw, and swollen or beaded at the bottom, all as 1
and for the purposes specified.
2ndly. The particular and special arrangement of petroleum or
mineral oil lamps for the lighting of railway rolling stock, in which
are combined in the manner shewn in the Drawing. Fig. 5, a reflector.
resting on the glass vessel, and retaining in place tho lamp which rests 1
on three brass rods, or supports an additional reflector directing the
luminous rays, so as to suppress the conical shadow of the reservoir and
the system of improved burner herein-before described with regard to
Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, have here- 2
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.