IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDROCARBON LAMPS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Snell, of 16, Clements Inn, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDROCARBON
LAMPS." A communication from abroad by Dr. Moritz Herzog, of
No. 39, Tiefengraben, and David Leopold Cohn, of No. 1, Ulrichgasse,
Merchant, both in Vienna, Austria.
Sealed the 20th April 1866, and dated the 24th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Snell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
October 1865.
I, WILLIAM SNELL, of 16, Clements Inn, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HYDROCARBON LAMPS," to be as follows:-
This lamp is intended to burn petroleum oil, photogene, paraffine, benzine,
petrolean, æther, naptha, and other hydrocarburets in the form of gas or
vapour and without the aid of a wick or glass chimney. The lamp consists of
two parts or chambers. In the lower part is placed a small fan which is
made to revolve by means of clock work within a chamber having communica-
tion with the atmosphere. The fan forces the air from this chamber into a
reservoir, and as both the chamber and the reservoir are provided with valves

page_text: opening inwards the air becomes condensed in the latter. From this reser-
voir or condensor a tube passes into the upper division of the lamp which
contains the oil or fluid to be burned. The tube reaches above the highest
level of the oil or fluid, and then curving downwards ends in a large funnel-
shaped orifice nearly level with the bottom of the oil chamber. By this
means the condensed air is forced through the body of oil or liquid, and be-
coming saturated with inflammable matter passes upwards and burns like
gas from a burner or burners of any desired form at the apex of the lamp.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Snell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SNELL, of 16, Clements Inn, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Snell, Her special licence that I, the said 'William
Snell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Snell, 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 HYDROCARBON LAMPS," communicated to me abroad by Dr.
Moritz Herzog, of 39, Tiefengraben, and David Leopold Cohn, of No. 1,
Ulrichgasse, Merchant, both in Vienna, Austria, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Snell, 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 William Snell, 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

page_text: statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:
This Invention consists in constructing what the Inventors call the ")
"hydro-
carbon lunar gas lamp;" it is intended to burn petroleum oil, photogene,
paraffin, benzine, petrolean, ether, naphtha, and other hydrocarbons in the
form of gas or vapour without the aid of a wick or glass chimney.. The lamp
consists, of two main parts. In one part is placed a small fan which is made
to revolve by means of clockwork in a chamber having communication with
the atmosphere. The fan forces the air from this chamber into a reservoir,
and both the chamber and the reservoir having valves opening inwards the
air becomes condensed in the reservoir. From this reservoir or condenser
a tube passes to the second part or division of the lamp which contains the
oil or fluid to be burned. When the oil reservoir is above the air reservoir
the tube reaches above the level of the oil and its upper end is curved-
downwards and terminates in a funnel-shaped orifice nearly level with the:
bottom of the oil reservoir. By this means the condensed air is forced.
through the whole body or liquid in the oil reservoir. The air thus beconies
saturated with inflammable matter, passes upwards, and burns like gas from
a burner or burners of any desired form at the apex of the lamp.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a sectional elevation of a lamp:
constructed in manner before described. A is the outer case of the lamp;
a is a fan mounted on a spindle and driven by clockwork in a chamber c.:
The fan a works in a chamber d in communication by a pipe or channel e
with the atmosphere. The pipe e is fitted with a valve f opening inwards.
The fan a draws in air by the pipe e and forces it through a valve g, which
opens inwards into a reservoir h, in which the air becomes condensed. i is a
tube passing up from the reservoir h into an oil reservoir j; the upper end
of this tube is curved downwards as shown, and terminates in ȧ funnel-shaped
orifice k nearly leyel with the bottom of the oil reservoir. The condensed
air is thus forced through the oil and becomes saturated with inflammable:
matter; it then passes upwards to the apex of the lamp where a burner is
fitted. m is an aperture through which the oil reservoir is fed, this aperture
is kept hermetically closed by a stopper.
Fig. 2 is an elevation, and Fig. 3 a vertical section of a modified form
of lamp constructed according to this Invention, the oil reservoir being
placed at the bottom of the lamp, and the other parts being arranged to suit
this altered position of the oil reservoir. A is the outer case of the lamp ;
B is a division plate forming the top of a reservoir C for the hydrocarbon;
D is a dome fitted upon the case A, and E is a cap to the dome; F is a

page_text: spring barrel fitted with a spindle G by which it is wound up when required
to impart motion to ordinary clockwork G'. The last wheel of this clock work
is in gear with a worm on a vertical spindle H, to which it imparts motion.
This spindle carries a fan I in a chamber J; from this box a pipe K leads
into the oil reservoir C; L is another pipe leading from the reservoir C
through a block M to a burner N fitted with a cock O; P is a cock for
opening and closing the pipe K; Q is a passage leading from the interior
of the case A through the middle of the reservoir to the bottom of the lamp,
this passage Q allows of the admission of air to the case; air also enters by
the aperture formed in the case for the cock P, and by the aperture for the
key which winds up the clockwork; R is the ratchet wheel, and S a spring
paul which takes therein to prevent the barrel F turning in the wrong direc-
tion; T is an aperture for the admission of the hydrocarbon; it is kept her-
metically closed by a screwed stopper U; V, V, are supports for the block M
and burner N. The block M is by preference composed of or filled with
some material which is a bad conductor of heat. The operation is as
follows: The hydrocarbon having been supplied to the reservoir C and the
barrel F having been wound up, the clockwork G' drives the wormed spindle
Hand consequently the fan I. The rapid motion of the fan draws in air
through the passage Q and other openings in the case A as above mentioned,
and forces the current of air through the pipe K into the reservoir C. The
air becomes carburetted or impregnated with the hydrocarbon vapor, and
then rises through the pipe L to the burner N, where it will burn on a light
being applied thereto.
Sometimes in order to keep the current of air a greater time in contact
with the hydrocarbon I form vertical divisions W, Figure 4, in the reservoir
C, some of which divisions are perforated, so that the air is made to traverse
through a labyrinth before making its exit through the pipe L to the burner.
The course of the air through the reservoir C will be understood by the
arrows in Figure 4. Instead of or in addition to the passage Q for the ad-
mission of air one or more air inlet orifices may be formed in the case A.
I do not confine myself to the employment of a spring barrel or clockwork
to drive the fan, as any other convenient appliances may be adopted, and
instead of the fan itself any other convenient method of forcing or exhausting
air through the apparatus may be employed.
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 constructing
bydrocarbon lamps in which a current of atmospheric air is drawn into the
lamp and forced into contact with the hydrocarbon therein, so that the air

page_text: becames carburetted or impregnated with hydrocarbon vapor before passing
to one or more burners, all substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Snell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.