AN IMPROVED LAMP FOR BURNING MINERAL OILS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JOSEPH RISTELHUEBER of Paris in the Republic of France, Lamp manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "AN IMPROVED LAMP FOR
BURNING MINERAL OILS," and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:--
My invention relates to an improved construction of lamp for mineral oils
wherein a current of air is produced both against the interior and the exterior of
the wick so as to insure perfect combustion, while the arrangement of the wick and
the mode of actuating the same is such as not to interfere in any way with the
capillary action thereof in raising the oil, and is also such as to allow of the entire
wick being consumed.
The invention will be readily understood on reference to the accompanying
drawing in which fig. 1 shews a vertical section of the lamp and fig. 2 shews a
detail view of the arrangement of gearing for actuating the wick in street lamps.
A reservoir A of any suitable form containing the mineral oil has an opening
closed by a screwed stopper B for filling without having to remove the burner.
A tube C open at both ends passes right through the reservoir, the outer air having
access to the lower end, for which purpose the bottom of the lamp is raised on
studs X. Or the lamp might be mounted on an ornamental pedestal for this
purpose. The upper end of the air tube C rises to the top of the wick tube D,
which is fitted at its lower end to a ring E having two screw threads formed upon
it. The lower thread serves to screw into the reservoir A, the screw thread of the
latter being surrounded by a cup shaped recess that catches any oil that may flow
down from the burner or leak through the joint; by this arrangement the body of
the lamp is always kept perfectly clean.
The upper thread of the ring E serves to fix the burner.
This is composed of the perforated casing F to the lower part of which is fixed a
screwed ring that screws on to the thread of E, and which contains a perforated
partition G serving to reduce the pressure of, and uniformly distribute, the air
current entering the casing on its way to the exterior of the wick. The cap H of
the burner is secured to the upper part I of the casing which has a gallery J into
which fits the glass K. One of the characteristic points of the lamp consists in the
arrangement of the tubular wick carrier. This tube L surrounds the central tube C

page_text: and is connected to the support M. by means of an arm N; the support M has a
threaded hole through which screws the screw spindle P, and it slides with a second
hole upon a guide fixed to upper and lower plates in the reservoir A, which also
hold the screw P, the upper end of which passes through a fixed socket R and is
provided with a button S. For regulating the flame the screw P is turned in one
direction or the other, whereby the support M and consequently the wick carrier
and wick are raised and lowered.
Thus the adjustment of the wick is effected without the use of a toothed pinion
pressing against it, as is at present the case, and which impedes the capillary action
of the wick. A wick T is attached permanently to the wick carrier and passing
down to the bottom of the reservoir, serves to raise the oil to a second wick U
which is burnt. By this arrangement the oil will always be supplied to the wick U
no matter at what level it may stand in the reservoir, and the wick U can be
entirely consumed, thus effecting a great saving.
The tube C carries a stem Y provided with a cap Z serving to spread the flame.
In applying this construction to street lamps, there is substituted for the button S
a toothed pinion S, fig. 2, gearing with a toothed wheel V on a spindle provided
with a handle W for turning it. In this case, the lamp is lit by a light introduced
through the tube C, so as to obviate the necessity of removing the lamp from its
lantern for this purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. Constructing lamps for burning mineral oils with a central air-tube C opening
at its lower end beneath the reservoir A and at its upper end in the centre of the
wick and operating in combination with the burner D, F, H, and air screen G
substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
2. The herein described arrangement for regulating the wick consisting of the
wick carrier L surrounding the air tube C and actuated by a screw P screwing
through an arm M attached to the wick carrier and guided by a guide Q, whereby
the use of appliances that interfere with the capillary action of the wick is
obviated.
Dated this 90th day of Auct 1885