IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Palmer, junior, of Southweald, in the
County of Essex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CANDLES."
Sealed the 14th March 1865, and dated the 23rd September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Palmer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
September 1864..
I, WILLIAM PALMER, junior, of Southweald, in the County of Essex, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CANDLES," to be as follows:-.
Heretofore in the manufacture of candles having two wicks it has been
usual when making the candles to keep the wicks separated from each other
by means of a wire, which was introduced into the mould together with the
wicks; and in order to keep the wicks at an even distance from each other
the wicks were placed on opposite sides of the wire, and were usually held
there by being dipped together with the wire into melted candle stuff, and a
coating of the candle stuff' allowed to cool upon them. When the mould had
been filled with melted candle material and the material had cooled the wire
was withdrawn from the candle, and the space occupied by the wire was
The
afterwards filled with melted candle stuff, and the candle so made solid.
wires hitherto employed have been circular in section, and when using such

page_text: wires not only was it difficult to retain the two wicks at an even distance
apart, but the wicks could not be brought sufficiently near together, as if the
wires were made of small diameter, they could not be made of sufficient
strength to keep them straight in their length.
Now, according to my Invention, I employ flat wires or narrow strips of
metal for dividing the wicks, so that when desired the wicks may be brought
much closer together than heretofore, and in order to give the requisite
strength to these wires or strips to retain them straight, I connect the two
opposite edges of the strips to stronger wires or ribs, which may be of a
circular or other section; or in place of the strip being strengthened by a
wire on both edges, it may be strengthened on one side only; the narrow
strip for dividing the wicks may also be made in one piece with the
strengthening wire or wires or ribs, in place of their being connected
together. The lower end of the flat strip is caused to project somewhat
beyond the lower end or ends of the supporting wire or wires or ribs, so that
it may enter the nozzle of the mould, and so be kept central. The upper end
of the wire is kept central, as heretofore, by projections at its upper end that
enter the top of the mould. In using these wires for retaining the wicks in
position in the mould the wick is doubled over the end of the flat strip that is
to enter the nozzle of the mould, and the two ends of the wick are led up
one on each side of the flat strip; the wicks and wire are then introduced
into the mould, and the melted candle material is poured in. When the
material has cooled the wire is witlidrawn, as hitherto, and a hole on one or
both sides of the wick will thus be formed, which may afterwards. be filled up
with candle material, which may be of a different quality to the material of
which the exterior of the candle is composed.
Wires made as above described may also be employed for supporting a
single wick in the mould of a candle. By employing wires of this description
I am enabled to obtain a hole on one or both sides of the wick, which may
afterwards be filled up with candle material of different quality to that of
which the exterior of the candle is composed, and thus readily obtain a
candle composed of two different qualities of candle material, one quality
being on the exterior and the other in the interior of the candle. The
amount of material introduced into the centre of the candle may be varied
by varying the size of wire employed. The holes produced in candles on one
or both sides of the wick or wicks by the use of wires such as above
described may, if desired; be left unfilled- with. candle materiali

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Palmer, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS' SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PALMER, junior, of Southweald, in the County of Essex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Pátent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Hér heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William' Palmer, Her special licence that I, the said William Palmer,"
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such' others as I, the said
William Palmer, 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. miglit 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 MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," upon the condition (amongst others)' that I,
the said William Palmer, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what.
manner the same was to be perfornied; and' catise' the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within' six calendar months next and inime-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Paliner, 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, that is to say:-
Heretofore in the manufacture of candles having two wicks it has been
usual when making the candles to keep the wicks separated from each other
by means of a wire, which was introduced into the mould togetlier with thic
wicks; and in order to keep the wicks at an even distance from each other.
the wicks were placed on opposite sides of the wire, and were usually held
there by being dipped together with the wire into melted candle stuff, and a
coating of the candle stuff allowed to cool upon them: When the mould
had been filled with melted candle material and the material had cooled the
wire was withdrawn from the candle, and the space occupied by the wire was
afterwards filled with melted candle stuff, and the candle so made solid. The

page_text: wires hitherto employed have for the most part been circular in section, and
when using such wires, not only was it difficult to retain the two wicks at an
even distance apart, but the wicks could not be brought sufficiently near
together or so near together as it is desired, for if the wires were made
of small diameter so as to bring the wicks closer together, the wires could
not be made of sufficient strength to keep the wicks straight in their
length.
Now, according to my Invention, I employ flat wires or narrow strips of
thin metal for dividing the wicks, so that when desired the wicks may be
brought much closer together than heretofore, and in order to give the
requisite-strength to these wires or strips to retain them straight, I connect
the two opposite edges of the strips to stronger wires or ribs, which may-be-of
a circular or other section; or in place of the strip being strengthened by a
rib on both edges, it may be strengthened-on-one-side-only; the narrow
strip for dividing the wicks may also be made in one piece with the strength-
ening rib or ribs, in place of their being connected together. The lower end
of the flat strip is caused to project somewhat beyond the lower end or ends
of the supporting wire or wires or ribs, so that it may enter the nozzle of the
mould and so be kept central. The upper end of the wire is kept central as
heretofore by projections at its upper end that enter the top of the mould.
In using these wires for retaining the wicks in position in the mould, the wick
is doubled over the end of the flat strip that is to enter the nozzle of the
mould, and the two ends of the wicks are led up one on each side of the flat
strip; the wicks and wire are then introduced into the monld, and the melted
candle material is poured in. When the material has coiled the wire is
withdrawn, as hitherto, and a hollow space on one or both sides of the wick
will thus be formed, which may afterwards be filled up with candle material,
which may be of a different quality to the material of which the exterior of
the candle is composed.
Wires made as above described may also be employed for supporting a
single wick in the mould of a candle. By employing wires of this description
I am enabled to obtain a hole on one or both sides of the wick, which may
afterwards be filled up with candle material of different quality to that of
which the exterior of the candle is composed, and thus readily obtain a candle
composed of two different qualities of candle material, one quality being on the
exterior and the other in the interior of-the-candle. The. amount of material
introduced into the centre of the candle may be varied by varying the size
of the strengthening pieces or ribs of the wire employed. The holes pro-
duced in candles on one or both sides of the wick or wicks by the use of

page_text: wires such as above described may, if desired, be left unfilled with candle
material.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to
describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, Figure 2 a side view, partly in section,
Figure 3 a plan, and Figure 4 a transverse section of a candle mould, having
within it a wire, constructed according to my Invention for supporting the wicks.
a, a, is the flat strip of metal by which the wicks are separated, and by
which the two wicks are kept only a very small distance apart, and such as will
cause them when burning to present only one flame. On each side of the flat
strip is a rib b, these ribs are by preference of a section such as is shewn at
Figure 4, though other forms of ribs for giving strength may be employed;
but whatever be the section of the strengthening ribs, it is desirable that
they should offer considerable area, in order to produce holes of considerable
size in the candles, to be afterwards filled in with a candle material of
different quality to the material of which the exterior of the candle is
posed; when, however, this is not desired the ribs may be made of less sec-
tional area.
com-
The peculiarity of the Invention is, that the wicks are brought nearer
together than could be the case if ordinary wires were employed, whilst the
use of the strengthening ribs offers a favorable opportunity of employing a
more or less considerable quantity of candle stuff in the centre of the. candle
different from that used for the exterior of the candle.
The flat strip a projects beyond the ribs b, as is shewn at a¹, and enters the
nozzle of the mould; the upper end of the wire has projections d, d, upon it,
the lower portions of which enter the top of the mould and so keep the wire
central as is usual; the upper portions of the projections d project over the
top of the mould and prevent the wire entering too far into the mould; the
ends of the two wicks which are to be at the nozzle end of the mould are
bound with thread. The lower end of the strip a has a notch formed in it
to receive the wicks, as shown. When the wicks have thus been placed on the
wire, the wire is inserted into a mould, into which melted candle material is
then poured; when this has couled the wire is to be withdrawn from the mould,
leaving the wicks in the candle; afterwards the holes in the candle, formerly
occupied by the ribs b, b, are to be filled with candle material of a different or
like quality to that of which the outer portion of the candle is formed, this
completing the candle.

page_text: In place of the wire for supporting the wicks being made with two ribs b
the flat strip a may have one rib only, connected to it as shown at Figures 5
and 6. It is, however, preferred to have two ribs, one at each edge of the
strip a.
Wires formed as above described are also as above mentioned suitable for
making candles having one wick only, in order to produce a candle of two
different qualities of candle material, one on the exterior and the other in the
interior of the candle. When making single-wick candles of this description
I however prefer' to employ wires such as are shown at Figures: 7 and 8, the
rib of the wire which is to produce around the wick the hollow' space that is
afterwards to be filled in with a candle material differing in quality from the
material of which the exterior of the candle is composed being in this case
made nearly to surround the flat wire a. When using such wires to support
a-single-wick; one end-of-the-wick is bound round with thread or a loop-is
formed upon it, into which the lower end of the flat strip' a' is inserted, and
the opposite or upper end of the wick is secured in the manner above'
described:
"In witness whereof, I, the said William Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord'
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five..