IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AND BURNING GAS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AND BURNING GAS." -A communi-
cation from abroad by Léon Farrenc and Henri Gloesener, both of
Paris, France:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 9th January 1862.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AND BURNING GAS," (com-
municated to me from abroad by Léon Farrenc and Henri Gloesener, both of
Paris, France,) to be as follows.:--
This Invention consists in enriching lighting gas with carbon in manner
hereafter described, whereby the brilliancy of the light is increased. A vessel
containing naphtha or other liquid capable of carburetting gas is placed inside
or outside a lamp, according to the nature of its construction, or to the position
it has to occupy; the spindle of a gas burner passes through the carburetting
vessel, the upper part of which is tubular, and space is left all round between

page_text: the spindle and the tube. Surrounding the spindle in the vessel is a wick
made of felt, cotton, amianth, or other suitable material, the lower portion of
which enters the carburetting liquid. A tube leads from the gas pipe or
spindle outside of and below the vessel to the upper part thereof, whereby gas
is led into the vessel, which pressing on the liquid contained therein drives the
liquid up the wick, and the gas following, they become mixed and are
consumed together at the burner. The wick is protected from contact with
the flame by an oval or circular plug pierced with holes or with a saw cut. A
portion of the gas to be consumed flows up the spindle to the burner in the
ordinary manner. During the passage of that portion of the gas which is led
into the carburetting vessel along the wick it becomes charged with liquid and
is consumed when it reaches the burner, together with the gas which has not
been passed through the carburetting vessel. A current of air flowing between
the gas supply tube and the carburator assists combustion; the current may be
made double as in ordinary lamps, or it may be a simple current according to
the carburetting liquid. By the mingling of the two flames, one proceeding
from an ordinary burner and the other from the carburator, the middle of the
gas flame, which is usually black (owing to the quantity of carbon deprived of
contact with the air), becomes brilliant, and the intensity of the flame is
thereby materially increased.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of

page_text: Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AND BURNING GAS,"
(a communication from abroad by Leon Farrinc and Henri Gloesener, both of
Paris, France,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in enriching lighting gas with carbon in manner
hereafter described, whereby the brilliancy of the light is increased.
According to one arrangement, which is shown in section at Figure 1, a
vessel a, contain naphtha or other liquid capable of carburetting gas, is placed
inside or outside a lamp b, according to the nature of its construction or to the
position it has to occupy; the spindle c of a gas burner passes through the
carburetting vessel, the upper part of which is tubular, and space is left all
round between the spindle and the tube. Surrounding the spindle in the
vessel is a wick d made of felt, cotton, amianth, or other suitable material, the
lower portion of which enters the carburetting liquid. A tube e, united by a
joint g to another tube f, leads from the gas pipe or spindle outside of and
below the vessel to the upper part thereof, whereby gas is led into the vessel,
which pressing on the liquid contained therein, drives the liquid up the wick,
and the gas following they become mixed and are consumed together at the
burner. The wick is protected from contact with the flame by an oval or
circular plug h pierced with holes or with a saw cut. A portion of the gas to
be consumed flows up the spindle to the burner in the ordinary manner.
During the passage of that portion of the gas which is led into the carburetting
vessel along the wick, it becomes charged with liquid and is consumed when it
reaches the burner, together with the gas which has not been passed through
the carburetting liquid. A current of air flowing between the gas supply
tube and the carburator assists combustion. The current may be made double
as in ordinary lamps, or it may be a simple current according to the carburet-
ting liquid. By the mingling of the two flames, one of ordinary coal gas,

page_text: and the other of the carburetted gas, the middle of the gas flame, which is
usually black (owing to the quantity of carbon deprived of contact with the
air), becomes brilliant, and the intensity of the flame is thereby materially
increased.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of a lamp fitted with a carburetting apparatus,
the arrangement of which is somewhat modified from that previously described.
The lamp A has an ornamental top 6 fitted to it for containing the carburet-
ting liquid; c is a tube leading from the top to the tube d; in its course it is
guided round the interior of the lamp for leading the liquid from the top or
reservoir b to the wick, whereby the latter is kept moist and prevented from
getting overheated. In certain cases the current of air between the gas
spindle and the carburator is not required, in which case the whole current of
gas passes into the interior of the carburator. Below the lamp A there is also
a vessel e provided with a cleaning-out tapf; the excess of liquid falls into
this vessel e. There are two apertures in the pipe d below the reservoir or
vessel e, one, g, of which is continued the whole height of the tube to allow the
excess of liquid which the wick imbibes to overflow, the other i, for leading the
gas to the lateral tube j, which latter enters the lower reservoir e by the
orifice; m is a two-way tap common to the two apertures worked by the rod r
for allowing the liquid and gas to pass at the same time, and for shutting both
off from the burner. The wick h surrounds the tube d and dips into the liquid
contained in the reservoir e; n is a jacket surrounding the wick, at the top of
which a burner o is screwed, which may be of the shape shown or conical, or
it may be a burner of the ordinary construction; it is made of metal or of
enamelled or glazed metal; porcelain or glass may be used, or other analogous
compositions. The wick h as well as the inside of the burner o may be
covered with metallic cloth.
Figure 3.is a view partly in section of a lamp fitted with a carburetting
apparatus, being still another modification of the foregoing arrangements.
a is a reservoir, which may be spherical or of any other convenient shape,
placed inside the lamp b. The reservoir is screwed on to a pipe c by which
the gas passes, and fitted with a tap d. At the junction of the pipe c and
reservoir a there is a tube f, which is led round the inside of the reservoir to
the upper part thereof to give a free passage to the gas. There is a screw
stopper, not shewn in the Drawing, to allow of a supply of liquid being poured
into the reservoir. A guard h surrounds the wick i, the latter is placed on a
tube j, which is screwed on to the inner part of the burner k. The tube j dips
into the reservoir, almost to the bottom thereof, and the cap terminates in a
butterfly or other burner, according to the description of light required. The

page_text: reservoir or carburator, properly so called, may be made of any suitable material,
such as metal, glazed or enamelled, or not, porcelain, enamelled ware, or other
analogous compositions.
This Invention may be advantageously applied to gas burners used in
houses and apartments, as shewn at Figures 4 and 5. In the arrangement
shewn at Figure 4, the simple carburator a is fitted at the end of a support m,
the shape of which may be varied. Figure 5 shows how several reservoirs
may be fitted as lustres. Each globe is made in the manner before described,
and may be arranged as desired, either in groups of several globes, each
having a wick tube, as shown in Figure 5, or the same globe may be fitted
with several wick tubes. The carburator may also be arranged in such
manner as to have fitting to it one or several reflectors. In the case of
several globes, it is as well to place a reflector to each, or a reflector common
to all.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as the "Improve-
ments in Apparatus for Carburetting and Burning Gas,"
First, the employment in apparatus for carburetting and burning gas of a
wick and burner, the said wick being protected and capable of absorbing and
raising the carburetting liquid, as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Second, the employment of a current of air between the carburator and the
tube leading to the burner, as herein-before described.
Third, the employment of two currents of gas, one of which is carburetted,
as herein-before described, while the other is ordinary coal gas, and passes
direct to the burner, where both currents are consumed together, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.