IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BURNERS FOR THE COMBUSTION OF GAS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Marcius Silber, of Wood Street, Cheapside,
in the City of London, Merchant, and of Whitecross Street, in the
said City, Manager of the Silber Light Company, Limited, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BURNERS FOR THE
COMBUSTION OF GAS."
Sealed the 18th November 1873, and dated the 14th July 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert Marcius Silber
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th July 1873.
I, ALBERT MARCIUS SILBER, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of
London, Merchant, and of Whitecross Street, in the said City, Manager
of the Silber Light Company, Limited, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BURNERS FOR
THE COMBUSTION OF GAS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of constructing burners
for the combustion of gas, so that the desired combustion is effected in a
regulated manner, and a steady, uniform, and powerful flame is obtained

page_text: of greater brilliancy and intensity than has hitherto been produced with
a light consumption of gas by means of any known burners, thus making
the gas far more available for illuminating purposes and heating
purposes than when ordinary burners are used.
My improved burner is constructed in such manner that the gas is
properly mixed or supplied with the requisite quantity of atmospheric
air, and so that when combustion is properly effected the gas is heated
before it emerges into the atmosphere, or in other words before it attains
the end of the burner, or is fed to the focus or point of combustion.
In some respects the principle on which this burner is constructed is
similar to that of the burner for which I obtained Her Majesty's Letters
Patent, dated 20th December 1870, and numbered 3325, except that such
burner was adapted for the combustion of oil or similar combustible
liquid, whereas I have since discovered that by employing in the manner
herein-after described a modification of that construction I have produced
a burner practically applicable for the combustion of lighting and
heating gas in a greatly improved manner, which enables a given
quantity of gas to produce economically a light far superior to what it
has hitherto been considered capable of producing.
In carrying out the Invention for cylindrical annular burners similar
to what are known as Argand burners for burning oils, I employ one or
more bell-mouthed or otherwise shaped air tubes or passages in the
interior of the burner concentric with the annular chamber, through
which the gas flows to the point or points of ignition, and I also employ
one or more air passages bell-mouthed or otherwise shaped on the
outside of the annular passage aforesaid, to which the gas flows to the
point or points of ignition. Hence the gas passes in its own annular
pipe or conduit through and between other pipes or conduits containing
moving columns or cushions or currents of air, the air feeding the flame
both internally and externally thereof, so that a sufficient quantity of
oxygen from the atmospheric air is introduced to obtain a regular,
intense, and steady flame.
For the purpose of producing a proper condition of combustion I
in some cases fit over the upper end of the burner a cone, dome, or
convex cap into which the air tubes open, and which has a slit or other
orifice or opening at top for the passage of the gas under ignition or
combustion. The air thus reaches the gas before or whilst it emerges

page_text: into the atmosphere, and thus what may be described as a heating
chamber is obtained below the point of combustion, that is to say, in
other words, around or on the sides of the root of the flame.
In order to produce a powerful light or intense heat I sometimes
combined two, three, or more concentric annular gas passages in the same
burner in a manner somewhat similar to the mode in which concentric
tubes or wick holders are combined and disposed in the oil lamps of
lighthouses, the gas passages being combined with air passage or air
conduits, in manner above described in reference to a single gas burner.
The gas passages or burners may be disposed otherwise than in a
circular form.
The Invention may be applied to oval or other curvilinear shaped
burners, to rectangular, or triangular, or polygonal burners, to flat
burners, such as those known as fish tail or bat's-wing, and to various
arrangements or forms of burners.
It may be observed that although the proportions of the parts
forming the burner will necessarily be modified in accordance with any
variation in form of burner that it may be requisite to make to serve any
special object, yet the proportions used must in all cases be such that a
proper supply of atmospheric air may be provided at the desired point,
and that a supply of properly heated gas may be fed to the flame in
order that such an effective combustion of the gas may result as I by
my improved burners propose to secure, and generally may be said that
my improved burners are considerably longer in the body than those of
burners in ordinary use for burning gas.
In the case of a flat fish tail or bat's-wing burner, when the gas is
held in two separate containers or burners, the gas issues below and passes
under or over a cone, dome, or cap, the metal material of which becomes
heated, so that an intense and brilliant white light is produced. There
is also an aperture for the gas at the top of the dome, cap, or cone, and
sometimes over this I place a chamber which draws in air from the'
bottom or other suitable place, and this air mixes with the gas at the
required point of ignition, and effective combustion is the result.
For flat, bat's-wing, or fish-tailed burners I sometimes use a tube or
passage through which the gas flows to the burner, and which tube or.
passage is generally larger and longer than the one in ordinary use..

page_text: Over the passage and burner I place a cap, cylinder, or casing, quite. or
partially covering or surrounding the inner passage and forming an air
conduit. This outer passage or casing has holes in it, as also a slit or
orifice at top corresponding with the one in the inner tube or burner.
The effect is that at the moment the gas issues from the inner tube or
passage it is met by a current of air from the outer cylinder or passage
in which it has become heated as it flows therein.
up
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Albert Marcius Silber in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALBERT
MARCIUS SILBER, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,.
Merchant, and of Whitecross Street, in the said City, Manager of the
Silber Light Company, Limited, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Albert Marcius Silber, Her special license_
that I, the said Albert Marcius Silber, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Albert Marcius Silber, 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 Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF BURNERS FOR THE COMBUSTION OF GAS," upon the condition.
(amongst others) that I, the said Albert Marcius Silber, 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Albert Marcius Silber, 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 accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of constructing burners
for the combustion of gas, so that the desired combustion is effected in a
regulated manner, and a steady, uniform, and powerful flame is obtained
of greater brilliancy and intensity than has hitherto been produced with
ȧ like consumption of gas by means of any known burners, thus making
the gas far more available for illuminating purposes and heating
purposes than when ordinary burners are used.
In some respects the principle on which this burner is constructed is
similar to that of the burner for which I obtained Her Majesty's Letters'
Patent, dated 20th December 1870, and numbered 3325, except that
such burner was adapted for the combustion of oil or similar combustible
liquid, whereas I have since discovered that by employing in the manner
herein-after described a modification of that construction I have produced
a burner practically applicable for the combustion of lighting and
heating gas in a greatly improved manner, which enables a given
quantity of gas to produce economically a light far superior to what it
has hitherto been considered capable of producing.
I am aware that various plans have been heretofore proposed for
feeding the flame produced by the combustion of hydrocarbon gas, by.
supplying it with atmospheric air, but in none of them as far as my.
knowledge goes have proper means been employed for so regulating the
supply of air that it is fed to the flame in the proper quantity and at
the proper place or places. I have discovered that unless the supply of
air is so fed, that is, is so regulated and adjusted as to suit the particular
burner and body of flame proposed to be maintained, the best light-
which a given supply of gas is capable of affording is not obtained, :
whereas when those points are respectively considered and provided for
by using burners constructed in the manner herein-after explained, the
best light is obtained which the combustion of a given quantity of
hydrocarbon gas is capable of producing when burned in atmospheric
air.
:

page_text: In carrying out the Invention for cylindrical or annular burners,
similar to what are known as Argand burners, heretofore used for
burning oils, I employ in the interior of the burner bell-mouthed or
otherwise shaped air feeding passages or air tubes which are concentric
with the annular gas supplying chamber, and which I find may be used
with the greatest advantage; and I also employ one or more air feeding
passages bell-mouthed or otherwise shaped on the outside of the annular
passage aforesaid, to which the gas flows to the point or points of
ignition, which passages are similar to those heretofore employed. Care
must be taken that the supply of atmospheric air fed through the
internal passages is about equal to the supply fed from the exterior.
Hence the gas passes in its own annular pipe or conduit through and
between other pipes or conduits containing moving columns or cushions
or currents of air, being supplied to the flame both internally and
externally thereof, so that a sufficient quantity of oxygen from the
atmospheric air is introduced to obtain a regular, intense, and steady.
flame.
It will be observed that the central current of air is fed to the flame at
a higher point than the annular current that surrounds it, a point I find
of great importance.
.
For the purpose of producing a proper condition of combustion, I fit
in some cases over the upper end of the burner (which I provide with
the internal and external air passages for feeding air to the flame, as
above referred to) a cap or cone which has a slit or other orifice or
opening at the top for the passage of the gas under ignition or com-
bustion. The air thus reaches the flame before or whilst it emerges
into the atmosphere, and thus what may be described as a heating
chamber is obtained below the point of combustion, that is to say, in
other words around or on the sides of the root of the flame.
In order to produce a powerful light or intese heat I sometimes
combime two, three, or more concentric annular gas passages in the
same burner in a manner somewhat similar to the mode in which
concentric tubes or wick holders are combined and disposed in the oil
lamps of lighthouses, the gas passages being in this case combined with
air-feeding passages in manner described in reference to a single gas 3
burner. In this case I find it advantageous to make the external
air feeding passage of the same length as the body of the burner,

page_text: :
The internal air feeding passages used with my burners I make
tubular, as herein described, but they in some cases may be disposed
otherwise than in a circular form.
The Invention may be applied to oval or other curvilinear shaped
5 burners, to rectangular, or triangular, or polygonal burners, but I do not
recommend the use of burners other than of the circular form.
:
It may be observed that although the proportions of the parts forming
the burner will necessarily be modified in accordance with any variation
in size of burner that it may be requisite to make to serve any special
object, and although as will soon become evident to practical persons'
who make trials of burners constructed according to my Invention of
various sizes, the proportions of the parts need not be altered in a fixed
ratio, so that they cannot be given according to any fixed scale, yet it
will in all cases be possible to produce the best light from a given
3 supply of gas if care be taken that the parts be so proportioned that a
proper supply of atmospheric air may be provided at the proper part of;
the flame, as herein-before explained. If this be done an effective
combustion of the gas will result, such as I by my improved burners.
propose to secure. It will be observed that my improved burners are
considerably longer in the body than those of burners in ordinary use for
burning gas.
'
· I now proceed with reference to the accompanying Drawings to:
describe several modifications of my improved burners, shewing in what:
manner my Invention may be carried into practical effect.. Similar:
5 letters mark similar parts in all the Figures. The feathered arrows;
mark the direction of the air; the plain arrows mark the direction of the}
flow of the gas.
Figure 1 is an elevation; Figure 2 a vertical section; Figure 3 a plan.
.of my
burner. A is the body of the burner, that is to say, the annular-
or tubular passage through which the gas flows to be ignited or;
consumed at the upper end. Gas is supplied to this passage through:
the pipe a. Similar parts are marked with similar letters in all the :
succeeding Figures. B, C, are air tubes, fitted internally of and
concentric with the gas passage A. The passages. B, C, are slotted at
their lower end, as shown at b, c, for the admission of atmospheric air,
which enters through a space & contrived at the lower portion of the gas
.

page_text: Figure 4 is an elevation of a similar arrangement of burner with a
gallery E (for a chimney) shewn in section; Figure 5 is a transverse
vertical section of the burner without the gallery; Figure 6 is a
horizontal section on the line x, y, of Figure 4. The gas passage A has
within it a concentric air tube O with slots c for the admission of
atmospheric air supplied through the space d. There is an annular air
space d* between the air passage C and the gas passage A. e, are
apertures in the base of the gallery or chimney holder E, through
which atmospheric air passes up into an annular air space f, between
the passage A and the inner side of the chimney holder E, so that the
gas and flame emerging therefrom are between two columns, currents,
or cushions of atmospheric air. A conical or dome-shaped cap may be
fitted at the top of the burner, so that the air space f may form at its
upper end a conical annular heating chamber round the root of the
flame.
Figure 7 is an elevation, and Figure 8, vertical section of an
arrangement in which the inside air passage C is bell-mouthed at top.
8 are struts or stays for connecting the air tube C with the gas
passage A.
]
Figure 9 is an elevation of a gas burner with a cone, dome, or cap, for 2
the better exhibiting of which the glass chimney L is broken away at
one part; Figure 10, plan with the chimney removed. The internal
arrangements of the burner are similar to those shown in Figures 4, 5, 6,
and indicated by similar letters of reference. A* in this Figure
represents the perforated top of the burner or gas passage A, whence the 2
gas emerges in order to be consumed. H is a cap or dome which covers
the burner, but has a central opening for the flame.
In Figures 9 and 10 the chimney L stands on little supports t fixed
to the rim, flange, or seat M. This rim, flange, or seat is perforated
with small holes m, in order that the chimney may be kept cool by 3
atmospheric air entering through them, the bottom and top of this
support M being open to the air. N are brackets attached to the
support M, and carrying springs or springy arms n for retaining the
chimney in place.
.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what 3
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,―

page_text: burners, in which internal air feeding passages are used, constructed
substantially in the manner and for the purposes described and shewn
respectively in Figures 1 to 10 inclusive.
Secondly. The use, in combination with an annular or Argand supply
chamber for supplying gas, of internal together with external air feeding
passages, for feeding regulated quantities of atmospheric air to the flame,
as above described.
Thirdly. The employment in combination with air feeding tubes or
passages (disposed as described), of a cap or dome of conical, semi-
spherical, or other convex shape, in the manner and for the purpose
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Albert Marcius Silber, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Fourteenth day of January, in
the year One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
E. DE PASS,
68, Fleet Street,
London.
A. M. SILBER. (L.S.)