CERTAIN IM- PROVEMENTS IN TABLE AND OTHER LAMPS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Orphin, Lamp Manufacturer, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, and Edward Lyons, Lamp Manufacturer,
also of Birmingham as aforesaid, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IM-
PROVEMENTS IN TABLE AND OTHER LAMPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Orphin at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
July 1857.
We, CHARLES ORPHIN, Lamp Manufacturer, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, and EDWARD LYONS, Lamp Manufacturer, also of Birmingham as
aforesaid, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN TABLE AND OTHER LAMPS," to be as follows (that is to say) :-
Our Invention consists in a certain arrangement or arrangements, in or
about the burners of table, miners', railway, ships, and other general oil lamps,
by which means we are enabled to obtain a brilliant light from a cheap and
economic oil lately introduced, as extracted from peat and other decomposed
vegetable matter, the volatile nature of which has heretofore rendered it
difficult of use, and which said improvements consist in using a metallic cap,
so contrived that it impinges the base of the flame, and thereby quickens tho
draft around it so as to increase its length, and which cap also induces a

page_text: current of air in and around the cotton holder, thereby keeping the metal
parts cold and preventing the wick from rapidly carbonizing, which wick we
purpose to raise or lower by a rack and pinion or other suitable means, in the
ordinary way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Orphin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wе, CHARLES
ORPHIN, Lamp Manufacturer, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
and EDWARD LYONS, Lamp Manufacturer, also of Biriningham as aforesaid,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Charles Orphin and Edward Lyons, Her special license that we, the said
Charles Orphin and Edward Lyons, our exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Orphin and Edward Lyons,
our executors, administrators, or 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 Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN TABLE AND OTHER LAMPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Charles Orphin and Edward Lyons, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 we, the said Charles Orphin and Edward Lyons
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
The nature and object of our Invention consist in so constructing or
arranging the parts in or about the burners of lamps, that we are enabled to

page_text: burn, without the slightest evolvement of smoke or smell, the oleaginous fluids;
or combination of oil and spirits (or any admixture thereof) that may be
extracted from decomposed vegetable, bituminous, or other strongly impreg-
nated carbonaceous matter, such fluids being known in the market as Rangoon
peat oil, paraffine oil, &c. And our improvements are such that we are
enabled to apply them not only to lamps for general domestic purposes, but
to all lamps where light and economy are desired; but as our Invention
will be best understood by referring to the Drawings hereunto annexed, we
will proceed to describe the same, reference being made to the figures and
lottors marked thereon that is to sav.

page_text: the cap c, c, is a row of perforations, in order that air may pass in the
direction of the arrows, to support the flame. Over this the cap n, n, is placed
and secured by soldering to the rim m, m; in the top of this cap a hole is
pierced the same shape as at f, f, Fig. 2, but a little larger. o, o, is a screen
also soldered to the rim m, m, for conducting or inducing a draught to the
flame, and between that part of the rim m, m, to which the internal cap is
attached and the fence o, o, another row of pierce holes is placed, in order that
a current of air may pass in to impinge and support the flame above the cap;
the current of air being exhibited by the arrows passing up over the outside of
the cap n, n, and the inside of the chimney C, the bottom part of which is
represented also in section, for the better exhibiting the conjunction of the
parts and the manner in which the air is supplied to the flame. The difficulty
heretofore in constructing lamps suitable for burning the volatile oils before
named, has principally arisen from a bad adjustment of the parts, so as to
prevent the rapid carbonizing or charring of the wick and supplying the flame
with the necessary amount of air, which is entirely obviated by our arrange-
ment, as the metallic parts in and about the wick are kept cold by the
constant current of air, rendering the use of such oils not only entirely safe
but also preventing the heretofore disagreeable tendency of smoking or dis-
tributing small particles of smut or carbon from the flame during its use, by
a bad adjustment of the wick and supply of air. We have said that this
description of lamp is suitable for a table lamp, but, by simply altering tho
shape of the oil vessel and a general diminution of the size of all the parts, a
unique and economical night lamp may be made, and at Figure 8 we have
exhibited the same general arrangement, slightly altered, in order to adapt
them to the use of miners' lamps, a use highly beneficial, on account of the
large amount of extra light we are enabled to obtain, and a further security
derived from the use of a chimney, as it is impossible, by any sudden or rapid
action of the lamp, that the flame can be drawn through the gauze (which is
here represented in blue lines), a defect common to the miners' lamps generally
in use.
The means of raising and lowering the wick is effected in this as in
the former Figure, by means of a knob and ground in metallic plug marked
p, to which the spindle is attached carrying the pinions. The lower part of
the burner in this case is passed down over two vertical wires, shown in dotted
lines marked 9, 9, by two tubes soldered to the cotton holder or burner D,
which holds and prevents the bottom end of the burner moving or springing
away from the action of the pinions, by which the cotton is raised and lowered,
and is further secured by a loose collar marked r, 2, which screws down on the
inside of the top rim of the oil reservoir, which entirely prevents leakage or

page_text: an escape of the oil, even supposing the lamp should not be held in a hori-
zontal position. s, s, is a wire support passing up the inside of the wire gauze
for supporting or holding the top of the chimney; E is a hollow cap with the
under part thrown up so as to produce an internal rim, the use of which is to
catch any small particles of smuts that may arise from the flame from an improper
adjustment of the wick. This cap is attached to a small strip or bar of metal
that rests in a sunken rim, forming the top support of the lamp marked t, t,
and above the strip of metal that carries the cap E a disc of gauze is placed;
the part t, t, is formed with an hinged joint, by which means the part u, u, and
its attendant parts are connected. v is a staple to which a small lock is
intended to be applied, to prevent the lamp being unduly opened while in use,
but the simple removal of which allows the top to be lifted up by the hinged
joint and the gauze disc removed as also the cap E, thus affording great
facilities for thoroughly cleaning this essential part, although the cap E
entirely prevents the burning or corrosion of the gauze placed above it, which
is a great security and advantage to this kind of lamps.
Figure 4 represents the under side of the part t, t, showing the gauze disc
also the opening through which the staple of the lock passes, and which
staple is exhibited at W; the cap x, x, is secured to the rim u, u, by
three studs passing through and riveting it to the rim u, u, and which studs
are marked y, Y, Y.
Figure 5 is a top view of the bottom rim marked , s, unto which the top
part is secured by three rods of wire tapped or riveted through the holes a, a, a;
a, a, a. To the rim the strap is attached by a hinged joint; this strap
not only passes over a staple and prevents the lamp being unscrewed and
removed from the gauze screen but also covers over the knob by which the
wick is raised and lowered; through the staple a small suitable padlock is
applied which entirely takes the control of the flame of the lamp from the
miner using it. We are not entirely confined in this arrangement to a flat
wick, as, by putting two curved or semicircular cotton holders together, we
may obtain a large and almost entire circular flame, which may be desirablo
in some situations where a large and brilliant light is required.
Figure 6 represents a vertical section of a lamp and oil reservoir constructed
in this way, one of the burners or cotton holders marked F being exhibited
charged with cotton, while the other, marked G, is shewn empty. The cottons
may be raised and lowered by small toothed wheels, here exhibited, marked
c', c'; the head of the thumb bit by which they may be actuated being shewn
in dotted lines; the chimney, in this case, we have not exhibited, but we
believe that the same shape, as exhibited in the other Figures, but propor-

page_text: B
tionately larger, will answer well for this description of lamp. The direction
of the arrows shew the current of the air for supporting the flame, which is
entirely similar to the mode described and exhibited at Figure 1. In the
circular orifice formed by the semicircular wick holders F and G, we occupy
by the tube H, which may be made of thin tin with a metal or other rim on
the top fitting the internal circumference of the two cotton holders; this tube
is fixed into its place by the rim, which may be stopped against projecting pins
or other means formed on or in the cotton carriers or holders, and into this
tube H a long roll of loose cotton is placed, passing down below the tube H,
so that it may reach the bottom of the vessel, and protruding about half an
inch above the tube at the top. On the inside of the cotton carriers F and G,
are formed a number of vertical slots just at this part, so that the cotton
above the tube I may also come in contact, with the cotton in the holders F
and G; the use of this additional cotton is for increasing the supply of oil, for,
inasmuch as the increase of flame and light will naturally require an increase
or a more rapid supply of oil, we-meet this by allowing the cotton in the
tube to absorb the oil in the vessell and to convey it to the wicks by
capillary attraction, thus an adequate supply is kept up so as to prevent the
rapid carbonizing or charring of the wick. d' is a small disc soldered or
secured within the cotton carriers F and G, for the purpose of preventing (by
accident or otherwise) the cotton in the tube FI catching fire, notwithstand-
ing the heat, reaching there from the flame above will have the effect of
exhausting the air at that part and conduce to the rising up of the oil, as the
oil in the reservoir derives the benefit of the pressure of the atmosphere by its
passing in through holes around the body e', c', and descend into the reser-
voir in the direction of the arrows. To the disc d' a vertical wire is fixed,
as indicated by dotted lines, on the top of which a small button is fixed for
spreading the flame and properly directing the internal current of air as the
flame passes up around it.
Figure 7 is a top view of this part, showing the button last described
marked f', and the cotton carriers marked F and G, as also the outer cap and
rim for supporting tho glass in the same way as described at Fig. 1; and
the button or central disc marked f may be formed on the cap-that
surrounds and covers the flame by piercing out two semicircular holes for the
flame to come through, in like manner as described at n, n, Figure 1, where
only one wick is used.
The use of the tube H with its auxiliary supply of oil may also be applied
if desired to the lamps described and exhibited at Figure 1 and Figure 3, as,
for instance, a flat packing of cotton may be placed within the tube c', a',

page_text: Figure 1, and which tube may be extended up high enough in order to allow.
the additional cotton so applied to come in contact with the cotton in the
burner or holder B, by vertical slots being cut out on the opposite side to the
one here shewn, and above the pinions that rise or regulate the cotton.
. Having thus described the nature and object of our Invention, and the
manner in which the same may be carried into effect, we wish it distinctly
understood that we do not claim protection under these our in part recited
Letters Patent for any particular size, shape, or proportions of any of the parts
herein drawn and exhibited, as the whole may be modified without. departing
from the spirit of our Invention; but what we claim is the construction of
lamps for general purposes (for the burning of the cheap volatile oils
before named) as herein described and exhibited.
In witness whereof, wc, the said Charles Orphin and Edward Lyons,
have hereunto set our hands and scals, this Thirty-first day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-seven.
Witness,
JAMES S. COCKINGS, Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
CHARLES ORPHIN. (L.S.)
عليا
EDWARD X LYONS. (L.S.)
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