Improvements in and relating to Spray Lights or Lamps for Illuminating and Heating Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Spray Lights or Lamps for
Illuminating and Heating Purposes.
I, WILLIAM HENRI LUTHER, of Petershill Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of my said invention to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to and comprises the new application and combination,
of oil gas or vapor, and oil, for the production of flame specially suitable for open
lighting and heating purposes. Under these improvements by the small consumption
of an inflammable oil or spirit converted into vapor or gas, I spray a great quantity of
crude or heavy oil, and by the combination produce a long flame very applicable as a
lamp or light for illuminating large open spaces, such as ship yards, boiler sheds and
other places where workmen are employed; and which will produce these lights with
greater safety, and economy by the use of crude or cheap oils, than heretofore.
In carrying my invention into practice, under one arrangement I take two tanks or
vessels, or a duplex tank, or one divided off into two compartments, and in the smaller
one I place a highly inflammable oil or spirit such as paraffin, petroleum, or naphtha,
and in the other tank or division 1 place crude or heavy oil, such as that obtained as a
waste product from blast furnaces. By means of pressure, such as by compressed air
from a hand pump in the tank, or by gravitation from cisterns above, I force the
inflammable light oil or spirit through a tube or tubes coil or coils, or a chamber with
duplex or spraying burner fitted at the end, and where I primarily convert the oil into
gas or vapor by lighting a small quantity of oil in an open dish or vessel, or cotton
waste or other combustible material placed beneath the tube, coil, or chamber, to
vaporise the inflammable oil and start the light, when its own heat will afterwards
convert the oil into vapor and maintain the light. From the other tank I force the
heavy oil by compressed air or by gravitation, through a tube to one division of the
burner, preferably at the centre of the flame produced by the oil vapor, where
the latter would cause the heavy oil to be forced out in a fine spray, and the
combined heavy oil and oil gas or vapor produce a long flame or light above
the burner and vaporising coil or tube applicable for illuminating or heating purposes.

page_text: By these improvements the heavy oil will thus be burned with a small consumption of
the more expensive and dangerous oil converted into vapor. Although this flame or
light has been described as produced by a combination of highly inflammable oil
vaporised by a coil or equivalent chamber around the flame and combining burner
which supplies the great body of the heavy or crude oil for the combination to the
burner, the light inflammable oil might be vaporized in a separate coil or vessel
separately heated, or it might be heated above the flame instead of at the burner
where the combination and spraying is effected.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Spray Lights or Lamps for
Illuminating and Heating Purposes.
I WILLIAM HENRI LUTHER, of Petershill Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention has reference to and comprises the new application and combination,
of oil gas or oil vapour, and oil for the production of flame specially suitable for open
lighting and heating purposes. Under these improvements by the small consumption
of an inflammable oil or spirit converted into vapour or gas, I spray a great quantity
of crude or heavy oil, through the burner, and by the combination produce a long
flame very applicable as a lamp or light for illuminating large open spaces, such as
shipyards, boiler sheds and other places where workmen are employed; and which
will produce these lights with greater safety, and economy by the use of crude or
cheap oils, than heretofore.
And in order that my said invention, and the manner of performing or carrying the
same into effect or practice may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended an
explanatory Sheet of Drawings, in which the same reference letters are used to indicate
corresponding parts in both Figures where shown. Figure 1 is a side elevation,
mostly in section, showing a complete arrangement of oil tanks or vessels A, B, with
air compressing pump C, and pipes and fittings leading the light and the heavy or
crude oils, and the compressed air to the nozzle apparatus a, b, and combustion
1

page_text: chamber D. Figure 2 is a view at right angles to Figure 1, showing the oil vessel
and air compressing pump C in transverse section, and the pipes and fittings mostly
in elevation.
In these Figures the arrows indicate the direction of travel of the oils and
compressed air from the vessels A, B, to the burner D.
Referring to these Drawings, in carrying my invention into practice, under one
arrangement I take a duplex tank, or one divided off into two compartments A, B, or
it might be two separate tanks or vessels, carried preferably portably on wheels W,
and in the smaller compartment A I place a highly inflammable oil or spirit such as
paraffin, petroleum, or naphtha, and in the other tank or division B I place crude or
heavy oil, such as that obtained as a waste product from blast furnaces. By means of
pressure, such as compressed air from a hand pump arrangement C in the tank A, or
it might be by gravitation from cisterns above, I force the inflammable light oil or
spirit from the vessel A, through a vertical tube A' fitted with a controlling hand
valve A" at its upper end, to a horizontal chamber A' of the nozzle apparatus a fitted
with a regulating spindle A³, and from thence the light oil would be led through the
heating coil a¹ and annular chamber a surrounding the combustion chamber D and
from thence be led through the pipe all and valve a³ to the outer case of the combining
annular nozzle arrangement 6 and spraying burner 6, by which arrangement
primarily convert the oil into gas or vapour, by lighting a small quantity of oil in an
open
dish or vescel, or cotton waste or other combustible material placed in the cup 611
of the outer nozzle 62, and start the light, when its own heat will afterwards convert
the oil into vapour and maintain the light; but other arrangements of tubes A' coils a¹
and chambers a, a¹¹, may be used, instead of these shown for leading the light oil
from the tank A to the combining nozzles b, 6. From the other tank or com-
partment B I force the heavy oil by compressed air which is led from the vessel A
through the pipe c which is fitted with a pressure gauge at cl, or this heavy oil may
be led by gravitation from a cistern above the apparatus, and is thence led through a
pipe B₁ fitted with a hand controlling valve B¹ at its upper end, to the central nozzle
or division B of the burner arrangement 6 which is fitted with a hand regulating
central spindle B³ preferably in the centre of the outer nozzle and flame produced
by the light oil vapour, where the latter would cause the heavy oil to be forced out in
a fine spray, and the combined heavy oil and oil gas or vapour produce a long flame
or light above the nozzle 62 and within the combustion chamber D and vaporizing
coil a or tube al applicable for illuminating or heating purposes. A regulated pro-
portion of compressed air would preferably in some cases be led from the upper part
of the vessel B through the pipe c³ and controlling valve c" to the outer annular
nozzle b¹ of the nozzle arrangement b, where it would combine with the light and
heavy oils from the vessels A and B to produce the flame. By these improvements
the heavy oil from the vessel B will thus be burned with a small consumption of the
more expensive oil from the vessel A converted into vapour. Although this flame or
light has been described as produced by a combination of highly inflammable oil
vaporized by a coil or equivalent chamber around the flame and combining burner
which supplies the great body of the heavy or crude oil for the combination to the
burner, the light inflammable oil might be vaporized in a separate coil or vessel
separately heated, or it might be heated above the flame instead of at the combustion
chamber where the combination and spraying is effected.
The coil pipe a¹ would preferably be fitted with a drain tap a*, and the pipe a¹¹ with
a safety escape valve at a. The whole vessel or tanks A, B, pipes A¹, B¹, burner and
fittings would preferably be carried portably on wheels W with feet W₁, and
handles W for moving it about; and inlet branches A, B, with screw caps, would
be fitted at the upper parts of the vessels A, B, for filling in the oils, and drawing off
plugs A, B, would be fitted at the lower parts of these vessels A B. The com-
pressing pump shown fitted within the vessel A is of an ordinary construction with
bored cylinder C and vertical reciprocating compressing piston C, actuated by the
hand lever C, outside, and fitted with an air inlet valve C in the piston C, and an
outlet discharge disc valve C³ on a valve seat secured in the lower end of the barrel C.

page_text: Although the burner arrangement 6 and combustion chamber D have been shown as
placed vertical, it is to be understood that they may be arranged horizontally,
especially for heating purposes for blowing the long flame indicated by dotted lines
at z into a furnace.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The general construction, or arrangement and combination of the parts of
appliances for spray lights or lamps in which oil gas and oil are used to produce the
flame for illuminating and heating purposes, substantially as herein described, in
reference to and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Second. In spray lights or lamps for illuminating and heating purposes, the
spraying of crude or heavy oil by an inflammable oil or spirit converted in vapor or
gas, substantially as herein described, in reference to and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.