AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF THE LAMPS OR APPARATUS USED FOR BURNING GAS FOR PRODUCING A BETTER COMBUSTION OF THE GAS
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BERNARD CHAUSSENOT, of Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminister, the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the sixth year of His reign,
did, for himself, his heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Bernard Chaussenot, His especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Henry Bernard Chaussenot, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Bernard Chaussenot, my exors,
adors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed; my Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION
OF THE LAMPS OR APPARATUS USED FOR BURNING GAS FOR PRODUCING A BETTER
COMBUSTION OF THE GAS;" in which said Letters. Patent there is contained a
proviso, that I, the said Henry Bernard Chaussenot, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery, within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will: more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Bernard Chaussenot, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner of carrying the same into effect, are ascertained and
described in manner following, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hercunto annexed, that is to say,-
Whereas in the lamps or apparatus used for burning gas of the ordinary
construction, the combustion of the gas is fed by a supply of air from the body
of cold air surrounding the burner without any means being taken to warm
that supply of air before it reaches the burner and feeds the flame of the lamp,
(except in as far as the heat of the flame is dispersed in the surrounding
atmosphere,) whereby much heat is wasted, and the intensity of the flame is
not so great as it may be made, because of the perpetual abstraction of heat
by the influx of the cold air that maintains the combustion.
Now my improved construction of the lamps or apparatus used for burning
gas is adapted to collect or retain the heat, or a great part of the heat given
out by the flame of the lamp, and to cause it to heat the current of air which
supports the combustion before it is admitted to the burner to feed the flame,
the said current of air being caused to pass in contact with a considerable
extent of surface exposed to the heat of the flame in its passage from the
surrounding atmosphere to the burner.
In the Sheet of the Drawings hereunto annexed, I have exhibited two forms
of my improved lamp or apparatus, Figures 1 to 29 representing the most
simple form, and the remaining Figures a more complex, possessing, however,
commensurate advantages.
Description of a lamp or apparatus for burning gas made on the improved
construction. Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through the centre of
a gas burner fitted with my said improved apparatus; Figure 2 is an
elevation thereof. And it may be useful here to observe that similar
letters of reference are used to indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
A is the entrance pipe for the gas; B is a circular cup, with a bottom like the
waste cup of an ordinary lamp. A hole is formed in it to let it slip over the
screw at the upper end of the gas pipe A. C is the burner, screwed on the
pipe A, and fastening also thereto the cup B; D is a carrying frame, com-
posed of two concentric tubes, the inner one fitting pretty tightly, but at the
same time capable of being slided up and down on the burner C. Holes are
made in the bottom of the frame D to admit air within the chimney. E is
It diminishes in diameter at the
the glass chimney, resting on the frame D.
lower end, where it fits over the burner, but nevertheless, so as to leave room
round the burner for a sufficient current of air passing up through the bottom
F is a glass
of the frame D, to support the combustion in a proper manner.
cylinder standing in the cup B, and forming as it were an outer case to the

page_text: chimney E, leaving a small space between itself and the said chimney. As it
is essential that the external air should not get in between the chimney E and
outer case under the lower edges of the said outer case, the cup B is formed
of metal so thin as to be easily bent or sprung out, and the cylindrical vessel F
is made slightly tapering or conical at the lower end, so that when placed in
the cup B, if pushed down with a very moderate pressure, it will fit so tight
into the cup as to form a sufficiently air-tight joint. G is a double metal cup
resting on the upper end of the chimney E, with a circular hole a through it
of less diameter than that of the said chimney E. The lower cup of the
double cup G is an inverted cone internally, the small or upper end of the
cone just exceeding a very little the diameter of the chimney E, and ground
perfectly flat, by which means, when placed upon it, as shown in Figure 1, it
serves to keep that chimney upright, and at the same time the passage of air
between the edges of the chimney and the cup G is prevented. The upper
rim of the chimney E is also ground very true to fit against the flat surface of
the conical cup, see Figure 1. An openwork ring or tube 6 is fixed to the
lower part of the cup G, which serves to keep the outer case or cylinder E in
its place and upright, and the external air can enter through the holes cut or
left in the said openwork ring, and get freely between the outer case or
cylinder F and the chimney E. To the upper end of the same cup G a short
and thin tube d is soldered, to hold the upper chimney H. The small tube d
is made of very thin metal, for the same reason as the cup B, before described,
that it may be springy, and the lower end of the chimney H is slightly tapered
to fit tight into it. This chimney may, like the chimney of an ordinary lamp,
be varied in height, according as it is desired to produce a greater or less
draught. Figures 3 to 29 are detached views of the separate parts of the
above-described lamp or apparatus. Figure 3 is a horizontal section, taken at
the line A. Figure 4; a horizontal section, taken at the line. B;:: Figure 5, a
horizontal section taken at the line C; Figure 6, a horizontal section, taken
at the line D; Figure 7, a plan of Figure 2 from the underside thereof;
Figure 8, a vertical section of the double cup G; Figure 9, an outside view
of the same; Figure 10, a plan of the same from above; Figure 11; a
plan of the same from below; Figure 12, outside view of the burner;
Figure 13, plan of the upper end of the burner, shewing the gas holes;
Figure 14, plan of its lower end; Figure 15, vertical section of the
cup B; Figure 16, outside view of the same; Figure 17, detached view of the
entrance pipe for the gas; Figure 18, ring D; Figure 19, plan of it 'from
above; Figure 20, plan of it from below; Figure 21, the outer case or glass
cylinder F; Figure 22, plan of the said cylindrical glass from above;

page_text: Figure 23, plan of the same from below; Figure 24, chimney E; Figure 25,
plan of the upper end; Figure 26, plan of the lower end; Figure 27, chimney
H; Figure 28, plan of the upper end; Figure 29, plan of the lower end.
When the above described apparatus is to be used, the chimney E is placed in
its carrying frame D, just as is usual with an ordinary gas lamp or apparatus,
then the outer case F is put over the chimney in its place in the cup B. The
double cup G is placed upon the chimney E, and serves at the same time, as
herein-before stated, to fix and steady the outer cylinder F by the ring b,
herein before mentioned; lastly, the upper chimney II is put on. Then when
the burner has been lighted a short time the air contained within the chimney
expands (according to the intensity of the heat produced by the combustion),
and rises up to get away into the atmosphere; as fast as it escapes its place is
supplied from without by the air which enters through the holes of the ring b
at the upper end of the outer case F, and flows down between that case and
the chimney, and descends beneath the lower end of the chimney E, entering
under which, by reason of the draught produced by the rising of the hot air in
the chimney, it finds its way to and surrounds the burner, as it would if
admitted to it in the ordinary way. But by the course which it has been com-
pelled to pursue in its passage to the burner, it has passed in contact with the
heated surface of the chimney E, and of the outer case or cylinder F, and acquired
from thence an increase of temperature, whence results a better combustion of
the
gas, and a consequent increase in the intensity or brilliancy of the light.
The arrows drawn in the Figure mark the course of the current of air which
supports the combustion.
I will now pass to the description of the more complex form of my improved
lamp or apparatus.
In Figures 30 to 36 I have represented the same; it is adapted to realize
a still greater intensity of light from the use of the heat of the lamp;
Figure 30 is a vertical section; Figure 31 an elevation. The detached
Figures represent the separate parts of the apparatus, and require no descrip-
tion. A is the entrance pipe for the gas; B is a cup divided in the middle
by a horizontal plate, having a circular hole through the middle thereof, to
the edge of which a conical tube 1 is soldered, which rises up from the
bottom of the box B; a chamber 2 is thus formed round the conical tube 1,
communicating with the pipe A, and with the hollow legs 10 of the burner C,
which are open to the chamber 2 to allow the gas contained therein to flow
into the annular space formed by the concentric tubes of the burner. Through
the conical tube 1 a communication between the atmosphere and the inside
of the buruer is established, which can be open or kept shut at pleasure by

page_text: means of a sliding or turning plate 3 mounted on a screw at 4, on which it
can be turned as a pivot of motion, see Figures 35 and 36, which represent
the underside of the box B, Figure 35 with the mouth of the conical tube 1
covered, and Figure 36 with it uncovered. When covered the handle 5 of
the turning plate is pushed under a small arm or hasp, which retains it
there. Within the cup B a small inner ring or piece of tube 8 is fixed, see
Figure 30, and the annular space between the outside ring. B and the inner
ring 8 is filled with fine sand, which serves to make an air-tight joint when the
glass cylinder or first outer case F is placed in it. C is the burner, commu-
nicating, as aforesaid, through its hollow legs 10 with the chamber 2 around
the conical tube, but not with the sand cup 8; D is the cylindrical outer case,
corresponding to the outer case of Figures 1 and 2. It stands, as stated, in the
cup B, and the passage of air under its lower edges is prevented by their being
buried in the sand, see Figure 30; H is a double metal cup (corresponding to
the cup G, of Figures 1 and 2), resting upon the upper end of the chimney E,
and serving, as in Figures 1 and 2, to steady the first outer case F; but the
upper cup of the said double cup, instead of merely carrying the upper
chimney, I is formed like the cup B, it has an inner and an outer ring,
and the annular space between them contains fine sand, see Figure 30, in
which the turn down edge at the upper end of a second outer cylindrical glass
case G is buried, so as to make an air-tight fitting round that edge. A few
small scrolls 9, are fastened to the cup B, to embrace and keep the lower end
of the outer cylinder G in its place; the upper chimney I stands in the sand
cup H, see the Figure 30. Of the setting up of this apparatus I need give no
further description after what has been said of the apparatus first described.
In its operation it differs but little from the said first apparatus, except that
the air is compelled to pass over a greater length of heating surface before it
reaches the burner, entering first under the outer case G, ascending to tlie top
thereof, then entering the holes in the sides of the lower ring 6 of the double
cup H, and passing down between the first outer case F and the chimney E,
and finally entering under the chimney around the burner and through the
usual openings into the central tube thereof. The use of the arrangement
described of the parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, in Figures 35 and 36, is to allow of
lighting the apparatus below to avoid having to insert a light down the
chimney, or having to remove the chimney and its outer cases to light the
apparatus. By simply turning the handle 5 of the turning plate 3 round, as
shewn in Figure 36, the mouth of the conical tube 1 is uncovered-and-a-light
may be inserted through the burner C from the bottom; when it is withdrawn
the handle 5 is pushed back under its hasp 6, and the apparatus goes ou

page_text: burning. This plan of lighting may be found convenient for lamps or appa-
ratus placed very high, but I do not lay any claim of Invention to it. The
heights of the chimneys and outer cases in both the apparatus described admit
of considerable variation, and the same may be said of their shapes, diameters,
and distances apart from each other. As a general rule it may be observed
that an increase of length will give an increase of draught, and that an increase
of distance between the chimney and outer cases respectively will diminish the
draught, but of course in following this general rule the workman making an
apparatus according to my improved construction must uso discretion.
Having now described how to carry my aforesaid Invention into effect, I
hereby declare that I do not claim any of the parts herein-before described taken
separately, which are common to gas lamps, apparatus, or burners now in use,
but I claim as my Invention such an improved construction of lamp or apparatus
for burning gas as compels the air which is supplied to the burner from the
surrounding atmosphere to pass in contact with the heated surfaces of one or
more outer chimney cases or cylinders (not hitherto so applied in the con-
struction of such lamps or apparatus) and in such manner that the said air is
thereby heated to a high degree of temperature before being admitted into and
around the burner to feed the flame, as hercin-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bernard Chaussenot, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of