Igniting Device for Gas Burners.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 15th June, 1899-Accepted, 26th Aug., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Igniting Device for Gas Burners.
I, ALFRED JACOB STERNE, Inventor, whose address is 253, Broadway, in the City,
County, and State of New York, U.S.A., and who am a Citizen of the United
States, 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 the class of igniting devices for gas burners in which
an igniting body containing finely divided platinum held in the gas jet is thereby
heated to incandescence and ignites the gas.
The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple, efficient and
durable igniting device of this character in which the igniting body is held
normally in position to ignite the gas when turned on and will then automati-
cally be removed from the flame to prevent the flame from impairing or destroy-
ing its igniting quality, and when the gas is extinguished or blown out the
igniting body will automatically return to igniting position.
The invention consists generally of a support movable on the burner to carry
the platinum igniter to and from the gas jet and a thermostat near the jet con-
nected to the movable igniter-support, so that the igniter being normally in
igniting position, will ignite the gas when turned on and the heat of the Hame
will then expand the thermostat and remove the igniter from the flame, and when
the gas is extinguished the resulting cooling and contraction of the thermostat
will return the igniter to igniting position.
An important feature of this invention is the movement of the igniter to and
from a position close to the jet orifice, so that it will be in a comparatively cool
place when removed from the flame, and will not interfere with the radiation of
light.
Another important feature of the invention is the rigid metallic bar used as
the thermostat, and its location close to the jet orifice in the path of the gas, so
that it will heat and expand quickly and strongly without distorting the flame
or obstructing the light."
Another important feature employed in the invention is the movable igniter
formed of a platinized porous body having fine multiple platinum wires or gauze
laid in contact therewith so that a quick and certain ignition is assured.
Another important feature is the positive mechanical connection between the
thermostat and the igniter so that the device will work with certainty and in any
position, vertical, horizontal or inclined.
Another important feature is the arrangement of the thermostatic bar edgewise
toward the gas jet orifice, so as not to distort the flame.
Another important feature is the intermediate connecting lever between the
igniter lever and the thermostat, by which an ample removal of the igniter from
the flame is obtained with a small and sightly igniting device.
In order that the invention may be performed, an igniting device embodying
all the various features above set forth will first be described in detail and the
various features of the invention will then be separately claimed.

page_text: Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification in which the same parts are designated by like letters in all the
figures.
Figure 1 is an enlarged side view of an igniting device for a gas burner
embodying all the features of the invention, the igniter being in igniting
position.
Figure 2 is a reverse side view of the same, the igniter being shown removed
from the path of the jet and the upper part of the burner being broken out to
better reveal the construction.
Figure 3 is a side view taken at right angles to that of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a plan view.
In the drawings, the invention is shown applied to a standard Bray "union-
jet" burner a having a double jet orifice 6, but the invention is likewise applicable
to a "bat-wing," "Bunsen," incandescent mantle or any other suitable form-of
burner; is a bracket fixed to the burner as by means of a collar c and having
a guide w for the levers o and f, and arms e e rising on opposite sides of the jet;
f is a lever or support pivoted on a pin 7 to the bracket & between it and the
burner to carry the igniter to and from a position preferably over and close to
the jet orifice b. The igniter is by preference formed of a porous block or body i
containing finely divided platinum, fixed in a socket g on the lever f, and having
fine platinum wires k, or it may be wire gauze, strung, laid or wrapped around
the platinized body and around arms h at the sides of the socket so as to
bring the several wires in contact with the platinized body at a plurality of
points and parallel to the jet. By this arrangement a plurality of said contacts
are brought simultaneously into the igniting zone where is the proper mixture
of air and gas to bring the platinized body and wires into incandescence, and
the almost instantaneous ignition of the gas is assured.
The igniting body may be made of a mixture of about equal parts of sand,
pulverized asbestos, and powdered soap-stone, incorporated with a sufficient
quantity of a saturated solution of platinic chloride to bring the mass to the
consistency of putty. The mixture is then formed into a small block, dried and
then dipped in a diluted solution of platinic chloride and again dried. The
platinic chloride in the block is then reduced to metallic platinum in any suit-
able manner.
But the platinized body i may be made in any other suitable
manner, and the wires or gauze may be laid along either the face, or sides
thereof as shown, or both according to the style of burner used.
The igniter lever f is preferably formed with a counterbalance m to make
easier the inward throw of the igniter.
To one bracket arm e is preferably pivotted by a pin or rivet p an inter-
mediate lever o having a shoulder q to stop the lever f, and the lever is con-
nected positively with the igniter lever f near the pivot by engaging the lower
end of the lever o in a tapering recess n in the lever f close to the pivot ?.
The upper end of the lever is connected close to the pivot p by a pin or
rivet r to one end of a thin thermostatic bar t, preferably of German silver,
which crosses the lower edge of the gas jet and is immovably connected at its
opposite end to the opposite arme of the bracket d. Where the thin thermo-
static bar t crosses the plane, it is preferably bent if necessary, as at v, to like
approximately edgewise towards the jet orifice b, so that it will not impede the
flow of gas and distort the flame, and that it will be quickly heated and expanded
by the flame.
The arrangement is such that the igniter ik is normally over and close to the
jet orifice as shown in Figures 1 and 3, so that when the gas is turned on it is
at once ignited automatically. As the flame then heats and expands the thermo-
static bar t, the latter immediately swings the lever o and by it the igniter-
lever to the position shown in Figure 2, so that the igniter is removed from
the injurious influence of the flame. Reversely when the gas is turned off the
igniter is returned to its normal igniting position. If the flame should be