Improvements in Burners for Incandescent Petroleum Lamps.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Burners for Incandescent Petroleum Lamps.
A communication by THE CONTINENTAL-GAS-GLÜHLICHT-ACTIEN-GESELLSCHAFT
"METEOR," vormals KROLL, BERGER & Co., of Jerusalemerstrasse No. 17,
Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia, in the Empire of Germany.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham in the County of
Warwick and 322 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 improvements in lamp burners, and especially in burners
for petroleum lamps, designed to produce a blue flame of intense heat, developing no
black, and capable of generating a bright incandescent light by the aid of a well-known
mantle suspended over the flame.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 represents a lamp burner embodying one modification of this inven-
tion, and
Figures 2 and 3 are, respectively, a central vertical section and a cross-section
drawn to line x-x, of Figure 2, embodying other modifications of this invention.
Referring to Figure 1, the burner proper, consisting of the wick-tubes A and B,
the gallery C, the open-worked or perforated gallery support D and flame spreader E,
may be of any known construction, the wick-tubes being circular and atmospheric
air being admitted to the inside of the circular burner by an aperture F, or a
central tube, extending down through the oil-reservoir.
Within the upper end of the circular burner, a short tubular piece G is placed,
serving to hold and support another tubular piece H, the upper part of which is
reduced in diameter and projects from the burner cone, the said tubular piece H,
being, at its upper end, provided with a flange h, extending so much, that the wick Í
on being screwed up, will be covered by said flange h. The flame spreader E is
carried by the said tubular piece H, in any suitable manner, and its disc is placed
at a suitable distance above the flange h, of the tubular piece H. The shoulder of
the said tubular piece H, where the area is contracted, is provided with slits or
holes h. A cap K surrounds the burner cone, leaving a space between its tapering
upper portion and the said cone, and extending up to about the height of the
flange h. A wire L or other support is arranged for suspending the incandescent
mantle, but the said wire might be replaced by a central pin or other means for
suspending the mantle.
The tubular piece G, only serves to fit the other tubular piece H, within the
burner cone, and it might be omitted by fitting the said piece H, directly into the
upper end of the burner. The wick I, may be raised and lowered by any well-known
means not shown in the drawings. The paths of the currents of air entering
through the open-worked gallery support and rising, partly, through the aperture F
to the inside, and partly inside and outside of the cap K to the outside of the
flame, are indicated by arrows.
The gallery support D, with the gallery C, chimney M, and wire L, may be loosely
fitted over the burner cone so as to be readily lifted off and put on, so that, after

page_text: lighting the wick I, the removable parts, as before named, with the incandescent
mantle in place, may be mounted as a whole. Mechanical means, as generally
known, may be employed to lift and lower the gallery C, with the cap K, chimney M
and support I, for the purpose of conveniently lighting the lamp. But the gallery
may equally well be fixed, as in ordinary petroleum lamps.
The working order and effect of the construction and combination of parts, as
before described, is as follows:-
When the wick I, is down, as shown in the drawing, Figure 1, the flame will be
white, as usual, but the small flame will not, as usual, emit any bad smell, as an
abundant access of atmospheric air, inside and outside, acts to effect a complete
combustion of the gas developed.
On raising the wick about half-way up to the flange h, the flame will become
blue, and this is obtained by three different currents of air, acting as follows:-
Part of the current of air passes through the central tubular piece H, and is
subdivided by the slits or holes ', in the shoulder of said piece H. That part of
the current which passes through said slits h', will become slower as it enters into
an enlarged space after passing the narrow slits h'. This gentle current of air is
directed against the inside surface and edge of the raised wick I, and serves to
develop from the wick the gas of combustion.
At the outside of the wick a strong and rapid current of air rises through the
space between the cap K and burner-cone, and this rapid current carries the flame
forcibly up from the side and outer edge of the wick, and thereby
E blue flame
of intense heat is obtained. A third current of air rises within the tubular piece H,
and is deflected to the sides by the disc E, of the flame-spreader. This current,
being directed towards the outside, enters into the other or upward current, at or
about right angles and produces eddies or whirling effects of the two currents,
whereby an intimate mixture of the gas of petroleum and the atmospheric air is
obtained and neither smell nor soot developed. The said third current of air,
by its sidewise deflection, further performs an important result by forcing the
circular flame to rise in the shape of a long-extended cone, which, as the
incandescent mantle is suspended over the flame, enters into contact with the whole
extent of such mantle and heats the same to incandescence up to the very top.
It will be easily understood, that by removing the tubular piece H from the
burner, the lamp may be used as an ordinary petroleum lamp, without an
incandescent mantle, and it will, then, produce a white flame.
The modifications of the described construction illustrated by Figures 2 and 3,
consist, first, in replacing the tubular piece H, as shown and described with reference
to Figure 1, by a straight tubular piece Hi, centrally arranged within the burner
cone and centered by studs or pins a. The wick-tube A has a groove or
constriction a', at or about the lower end of the tubular piece H', and the said
constriction has the same effect, as the contraction of the tubular piece H, of
Figure 1, viz. to force part of the rising current of atmospheric air through a
narrow passage after which the said current enters into an enlarged space and
thereby is retarded in its speed. The flange h, in this case, is secured to the
tubular piece H', which extends beyond said flange and is covered by a top plate E',
the projecting flange of which is bent down, as clearly shown in Figure 2. Below
the said top plate E', the sides of the tubular piece are perforated, and the current
of air rising within said tubular piece H', passes out of said perforations, and is
deflected down by the bent flange of the plate E'. The air thus directed
backward or downward is heated to a high degree within the tubular piece H¹,
and, encountering the current of air rising within the cap K, not only acts to
effect a complete combustion, but also forces the flame to take the direction of the
arrows 2, this sidewise and rising direction being the result of the two currents
of air meeting at about opposite directions. The Hame, thereby, is directed towards
the sides of the incandescent mantle suspended over the flame.
To prevent the said incandescent mantle from entering, with its lower end, into
the flame, whereby soot would be developed and the mantle become spoiled, a

page_text: second cap, N, is provided to encircle the first cap_K, the mantle being so fitted
as to adjust itself around the said second cap N. The flame, rising as described,
in the direction of the arrows 2, issues from the cap N, at or about the upper end
of said cap, and there enters into immediate contact with the mantle, the sides of
which, then, are heated to incandescence. The cap N, preferably, is perforated, as
indicated in Figure 2, to admit air to the outside of the flame.
I am aware that burners for petroleum lamps, by which a blue flame and
incandescence of a mantle is obtained, are known and have been used before, and
I wish it to be understood, that this invention does not, in general, consist in a
petroleum lamp for incandescent light.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A lamp burner for incandescent petroleum lainps, consisting in the combination.
with the inner, circular wick tube, of a tubular piece projecting over the wick tube,
said tubular piece being, in its upper part, reduced in diameter and having, at its
upper open end, a flange extending outwards and slits or holes in its sides, a central
flame-spreading disc projecting over said tubular piece, and a cap surrounding the
wick-tube, substantially as and for the purpose described.
2. A lamp burner for incandescent petroleum lamps comprising a circular wick-
tube, a tubular piece inserted into the upper end of the same, said tubular piece
being reduced in diameter in its upper part and having at its upper open end a
flange extending outwards and slits or holes in its sides, a central flame-spreading
disc projecting over said tubular piece, a cap surrounding the wick tube and a lifting
gallery carrying means to suspend the incandescent mantle, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
3. A lamp burner for incandescent petroleum lamps consisting in the combination,
with the inner circular wick tube, of a tubular piece prejecting over the wick tube,
a flange extending outwards from the said tubular piece, and a disc or plate
arranged over said flange, said disc or plate being so bent as to deflect the central
current of air downwards to encounter the current of air rising between the cap
and wick tube, substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. A lamp burner for incandescent petroleum lamps consisting in the combination,
with the inner circular wick tube, of a tubular piece projecting over the wick tube, a
flange extending outwards from the said tubular piece, a disc or plate arranged over
the said flange to spread or deflect the central current of air, a cap surrounding
the wick tube, and a second cap projecting over the first cap and surrounding the
same, substantially as and for the purpose described.
5. A lamp burner for incandescent petroleum lamps, consisting in the combination,.
with the inner circular wick tube, of a tubular piece projecting over the wick tube,
said tubular piece carrying a flange extending outwards over the wick tube, and the
upper perforated end of said tubular piece being covered by a disc or plate having a
downwardly bent flange, substantially as and for the purpose described.
6. A lamp burner for incandescent petroleum lamps consisting in the combination,
with the inner circular wick tube, of a tubular piece projecting over said wick tube,
said tubular piece carrying a flange extending outwards, and the upper perforated
end of said tubular piece being covered by a disc or plate having a downwardly bent
flange, a cap surrounding the wick tube and a second cap surrounding the first one
and extending beyond the same, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 28th day of October 1896
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.