Improvements in Lamps for Burning Tubular Wick.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Aug., 1888
Specification Accepted, 21st Sept., 1888
Improvements in Lamps for Burning Tubular Wick.
I JAMES FRANK PLACE, of the Town of Montclair, in the County of Essex, in the
State of New Jersey, one of the United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to improvements in the burners and wick-raising devices of
lamps adapted for burning liquid hydro-carbons. Where the burner is designed for
use on any ordinary lamp-body the wick-raising device is somewhat different from
that employed where the burner and lamp-body are specially constructed and adapted
to be used together. But in both cases the burner employs an annular wick-tube.
In the accompanying drawings which serve to illustrate my invention,
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a burner, adapted for use on any ordinary lamp-
body. This burner takes in the air for the draft at the side of the burner-shell and
a rack-and-pinion device is employed for raising the wick.
Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1, illustrating the application of my improved
burner to a lamp-body specially constructed to receive it. This burner has a central
air-tube extending down through the lamp-body, and employs a screw for raising the
wick.
Both of these burners employ my novel air-distributing cap.
Fig. 3 illustrates a part of the wick-raising device seen in Fig. 2.
Referring first to Figure 1-a is the cylindrical inner wick-tube, closed at the
bottom a¹, and secured in the burner-shell b. This shell is provided with a screw />¹
at its bottom whereby it may be secured in any lamp-body (not shown). The air
supplied to the inside of the flame enters the tube a at a lateral aperture a³, as
indicated by the arrows. The wick c is not. tubular, but embraces the wick-tube a
externally, being open at the aperture a² so that the air entering the shell 6 at the
perforations therein, may pass freely into the tube a. The upper part of the shell b
is removable from the lower part, and provides a support for the draft-chimney, (not
shown) an exterior wick-tube d, a partition d', to prevent the air entering at the
perforations, 62, from rising exterior to the wick, and perforations, above said
partition, to supply air to the outside of the flame.

page_text: a₁
The wick raising mechanism comprises a band or ring e, which slides on the inner
wick-tube and has external spurs e¹ to bite into the wick. This band has a per-
forated, dependent stem e, which serves the purpose of a toothed rack, and with this
rack meshes a toothed wheel, or pinion, f, on a shaft f¹, mounted in bearings in the
burner-shell. The shaft has secured on it an operating wheel f2.
As the air enters the inner wick-tube at the side, eddies are apt to be formed therein
which produces inequality or irregularity in the central draft. This is obviated or
cured by providing the said tube with a perforated partition a³, arranged as shown
with reference to the aperture a³.
In order to properly distribute the air supplied to the inside of the flame, I provide
a distributing cap, A, through which all-the air rising through the central air-passage,
that fits
is compelled to pass. This cap is removable, and comprises a tubular stem
snugly into the upper end of the inner wick-tube a; a shoulder or flange g₁ that rests
on the top of said wick-tube but does not project out far enough to interfere with the
wick; a reduced, perforated neck, g², that is drawn in so as to stand clear of the wick
and thus prevent the oil from being drawn up by capillary force when the light is
extinguished; a shoulder g³ to support the upper, removable part of the cap; an
upwardly extending tube g, which is housed in the crown of the cap, and the said
crown, which comprises a deflecting top-plate g³, (that may or may not have a
depressed center) and a perforated side wall 9.
This air-distributing cap A has these characteristics, namely: It is readily removable;
it is in two parts for convenience of cleaning; it receives all the air rising through the
wick-tube and is not liable to displacement by the upward movement of the wick; it
is not necessary when using this cap to run the wick down after the light is
extinguished, as the wick does not touch the cap, and therefore, the oil will not be
carried over by capillary force into the inner wick-tube. All the air fed to the inside
of the flame is drawn up by the draft-chimney, and the purpose of this cap A is to
supply such air to all parts of the flame equally, in fine jets. The volume of air rising
to the cap cannot or will not flow through the contracted passage afforded by the
tube g, and hence the surplus air passes to the flame through the perforations in the
neck g. That portion of the air which rises into the cap through tube g, rever-
berates and flows out through the perforations in the wall g, of the crown of the cap
The number and size of the perforations, and the size of the air-passages, in the cap
will be proportioned carefully to provide the proper distribution of the air. The crown
of the cap is enlarged in order to obtain the proper area of outlet for the air without
unduly lengthening the cap, as a long or tall cap materially diminishos the illuminating
power of the burner. This enlargement or expansion of the crown of the cap also
provents any of the air supplied through the lower perforations from escaping un-
combined.
The distributing cap A illustrated in Fig. 2 is precisely like that shown in Fig. 1,
and will therefore require no description; the wick-raising devices, are, however,
somewhat different, and these I will now describe.
Referring then to Figs. 2 and 3, B is the body of the lamp, and the central
air-passage through the same; the inner wick-tube a forms this passage, the said tube
extended down through the lamp-body, being open at its lowest end to receive air. The
burner-shell in lamps of this character is usually secured by a "bayonet fastening'
or like device, instead of by a screw.
15
The wick-raising device is constructed as will now be described. The band e
embraces the wick exteriorly, and its spur e³ is or may be formed by nicking the edge
of the band and bending the points inward. In Fig. 2 this band e is represented in
elevation. The wick-raising screw k, has a collared bearing in a cap on a tube j
secured to the lamp-body; the said screw passes into the lamp and through a nut k
carried by a sheet-metal holder k¹. To this holder is rigidly secured a U-shaped
and has a
bail, 1, one prong, 4, of which passes upward through eyes on the band e
hole in its tip to receive a securing pin . This pin may be a simple spring key of
wire. By rotating screw h through the medium of the head h' on its upper end, the
wick may be raised and lowered sufficiently for ordinary adjustment; but in order to

page_text: get at the ring or band e, in order to renew the wick, or for other purposes, the
burner-shell is lifted off the cap i in which the screw is collared is detached; and
the screw and band e lifted. The nut k and its holder pass up into tube j and the
band e is raised high enough to be removed from the bail, this removable being
effected by first taking out the spring key, or other equivalent securing devices.
Fig. 3 illustrates very clearly the device I prefer to employ for detachably securing
the cap i to the tube j which latter forms a substantially integral part of the lamp-
body. In the web or flange at the side of tube j, is an aperture m, and on the
cap i is a tongue or hook, n, which, when the cap is pressed down and then
turned part way round passes through the aperture m and locks the cap fast. Any
equivalent fastening for cap i may be employed. The U-shape of the bail or
connecting piece enables the band e to be raised high enough without forming
a slit in the lamp-body to connect its cavity with the hollow of the tube j, and
allow space for the play of the part which couples the screw and its nut to the
band e.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
Firstly: In a lamp for burning tubular wick, an air distributing cap provided with
an exteriorly arranged ledge or shoulder which rests on the top of the wick-tube the
said wick-tube forming a central air-passage for supplying air to the inside of the
flame.
Secondly: In a lamp for burning tubular wick, an air distributing cap provided
with an external ledge or shoulder that rests on the top of the wick-tube and having a
perforated and contracted neck g³, for the purpose set forth.
Thirdly: In a lamp for burning tubular wick, a removable, perforated, air-distributing
cap adapted to be supported on the top of the wick-tube, and constructed in two
separated parts, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourthly: An air distributing cap for a burner having an inlet stem g, a contracted
and perforated neck g², an upright enclosed tube g*, forming a concentrated passage
for the air into the crown of the cap, and the said crown, constructed substantially as
described.
:
Fifthly The upright perforated partition a³ in the wick-tube a of the lamp,
substantially as represented in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings and as
described.
Sixthly: The wick-raising devices substantially as represented in Figures 2 and 3
of the accompanying drawings, and as described.
:
Seventhly The wick-raising devices or mechanism in which the bail 7, connecting
the nut with the band e, is made detachable from the latter, substantially as
described and for the purposes specified.
Dated this 2nd day of January 1888.
TASKER & CROSSLEY,
Halifax, Agents.