IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS."-A communication
from abroad by Franklin Thomas Grimes, of Liberty, in the State
of Missouri, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th February 1871.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
5 Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to that description of lamps in which the wick

page_text: the chamber or stand and detached from it except by its tubular
connection.
The Invention consists in the combination of a tube or funnel with
the bowl or reservoir of a lamp, the tube or funnel extending from the
top of the bowl of the lamp down to within a short distance of the
bottom of the bowl, whereby the bowl of the lamp is converted into a
fountain reservoir in which when it is filled and in operation thero is
a vacuum or partial vacuum above the surface of the oil or liquid which
is consequently maintained at a higer level than it is within the lower
mouth of the tube or funnel where it is subject to atmospheric pressure.
The tube or funnel extends down into a tube inserted or formed on the
bottom of the bowl of the lamp, which forms a well in the bottom of
the bowl of the lamp, for the purpose of placing the fountain reservoir
above the lower tube or well. This tube or well, the fountain reservoir
supplics with oil or liquid, and all the oil or liquid can be exhausted
from the fountain reservoir and the lower tube or well will remain
full so long as there is any oil or liquid in the fountain reservoir.
There are stop cocks or valves in the lower tube or well and in
the lower end of the upper tube or funnel, both of which valves are
connected with a rod or staff made to pass up through the upper tube
or funnel to the upper extremity of the same. The rod or staff is
provided with a spring and screw nut for the purpose of turning the
lower valve to allow oil or liquid to flow into the lower descending
tube, or to shut the oil or liquid off from the lower desccuding tube
and by turning the screw nut on the upper end of the rod, to tighten
up the upper valve to prevent oil or liquid from entering the upper tube
or funnel while the reservoir is being filled or to loosen the upper valve
when the lamp is in operation to allow air to descend and pass into the
fountain reservoir. The upper end or mouth of the upper tube or
funnel is covered or protected by a cover or cap which is perforated in
its centre to allow the upper extremity of the rod to be passed through
it, and has a number of perforations through which air can descend
into the upper tube or funnel. The conducting tube or tubes are con-
nected with the wick chamber by small ascending tubes so that the
lamp is made non-explosive. The height to which the oil or liquid
will rise and stand in the wick chamber or chambers is regulated by
increasing or diminishing the distance between the lower end of the
upper tube or funnel and the bottom of the reservoir, or bottom of the
lower tube or well.

page_text: By increasing the distance between the lower end of the upper tube
or funnel and the bottom of the reservoir, the oil or liquid is caused
to rise in the wick chambers, and by diminishing the distance between
the lower end of the upper tube or funnel and bottom of the reservoir,
the oil or liquid is caused to descend in the wick chamber and stand at
a lower level.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of thic Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 17th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her
special licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, my exccutors, 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 LAMPS," being a communication to me from abroad
by Franklin Thomas Grimes, of Liberty in the State of Missouri, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 William Edward Newton, do licreby
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, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :—
This Invention relates to that description of lamps in which the wick
chamber or chambers are supplied with oil or liquid from a fountain
reservoir that is arranged outside of the chamber or chambers; or it
stands detached from them except by tubular connection or connections.
In the accompanying Drawings Figures 1 and 2 represent sections of
two of the improved lamps.
liquid therefrom by rising
When the oil or liquid
tube A it descends in the
formed in the reservoir of
The first feature of the Invention consists in arranging a tube A
within the bowl or reservoir of a lamp B, and extended down to near the
bottom of the bowl of the lamp, so that when the bowl of the lamp is
filled with oil or liquid (at which time it is excluded from the tube A, as
herein-after explained) and the lamp is set in operation, the oil or liquid
is made or caused to act as a valve to exclude the air from the bowl of
the lamp, and arrest the further flow of oil or
in and over the lower end of the tube A.
thus rises in and over the lower end of the
reservoir, and a vacuum or partial vacuum is
the lamp above the surface of the oil or liquid. The liquid is conse-
quently maintained at a higher level in the bowl or reservoir than in the
lower end of the tube A, where it is subject to atmospheric pressure
which prevents it from rising therein. Or the lamp is proferably con-
structed by extending the tube A down into the open upper end of a
tube 0 of larger diameter than the tube A, and formed on or inserted in
the bottom of the bowl of the lamp. The upper tubo A in conjunction
with the lower tube C forms a well under the bowl of the lamp, aud
from which the burners are supplied with oil or liquid. The whole
interior portion of the bowl of the lamp surrounding the upper tube A
constitutes a reservoir, which is perfectly closed, except an annular
opening a, a, left between the lower end or throat of the upper tube A
and inner circumference of the lower tube C or bottom of the well or
reservoir. By placing the reservoir B above the lower tube or well, all
of the oil or liquid can be consumed from the reservoir B, and the lower
tube or well C will remain full as long as there is any oil or liquid in tho

page_text: reservoir, and all of the oil or liquid can be safely consumed from the
lamp before it is necessary to replenish it. The flame in the meantime
will remain steady and undiminished.
The second feature of the Invention consists in the provision and
arrangement of the discharge tube G in a fountain reservoir lamp in or
under the lower end of the upper tube A in the bottom of the reservoir B,
or in the bottom of the lower tube or well, so that when the reser-
voir B is filled with oil or liquid and the lamp is in operation the
discharge tube G is removed or relieved from the pressure of the column
of oil or liquid in the reservoir B.
The third feature of the Invention consists in the provision and
arrangement of stop-cocks or valves in a fountain reservoir lamp in the
lower end of the upper tube A, and in the lower tube or well or bottom
of the reservoir. These valves are operated by a rod F extended through
the perforated plate on the upper extremity of the tube A, where the
rod F is provided with a spring and a screw nut f.
In Fig. 1 is shewn a valve e resting on a scat es, both provided with
apertures, which when the valve is turned into the right position by
rods e, es, and rod F permit the oil to flow down into the tube G. The
inverted diaphragm a' prevents the oil from flowing up into the tube A
when the disc e¹ is lowered by the action of the spring f¹. The valvo
is shewn in plan view in Fig. 3, or a stop-cock or valve E, as shewn at
Fig. 2, and composed of a hollow cone-shaped piece fitting into an
external inverted cone with corresponding openings c, e, in their sides
may be employed. The external or inverted conc is made continuous
with and is accurately fitted into the lower end of the tube or funnel A,
and is extended down to and securely fitted around the upper end of the
discharge tube G. The inner or moveable part of the valve is secured to
the rod F, and the spring f acting upon the rod F and against the
perforated plate 6 forces the valve down, and causes it to fit closely in
its seat, and prevents it from becoming loose by wear. The oil or liquid
is conveyed to the burners c screwed into a collar c¹ or to the wick
chambers I by the tubes G, which are connected with the well C. The
tubes G are connected with the wick chambers I by the small tubes H,
which should be sufficiently small to resist the passage of the flame from
the wick chambers to the tubes. A tube of from onc-eighth to one
sixteenth of an inch in diameter is found sufficient for this purpose, or
preferably a flat wick tube, as shewn at G in Figures 2 and 4, is provided,

page_text: which tube should be only sufficiently large to admit the wick ○ fitting
closely therein.
The fourth feature of the Invention consists in the combination and
arrangement of the flat wick tube G, Figures 2 and 4, with the air tubes
or chambers M, and in the provision and arrangement of the perforated 5
plates N at each end, and in or near the middle of the air tubes M.
This constitutes an arrangement by which the oil in the wick tube G is
caused to be in very small quantity near the burners, and is prevented
by a current of air in the tube from becoming unduly heated when the
wick is lighted. The current of air in the chamber M prevents the oil 1
and burners from becoming heated, gives an increased supply of oxygen
to the flame, causes more complete combustion, and increases tho
brilliancy and illuminating power of the flame. The perforated plates N
prevent the flame from being disturbed by any sudden draft of air, which
would cause the flame to flare and smoke the lamp chimneys. Wire 1
gauze is inserted in the tube G at d to prevent the passage of flame to
the reservoir B, and to render the lamp non-explosive.
In all cases the burners should be placed above the line x, x, which
indicates the height to which the oil or liquid will rise and stand in the
tube A and wick chambers I, or wick tube G, when the reservoir is filled 2
with oil or liquid, and the lamp is in operation. To fill the reservoir B
remove the screw cap L from the filling tube K, turn the inner part of
the valve by turning the rod F so as to prevent the oil or liquid from
flowing into the tube A, and from thence to and over the burners, while
the reservoir B is being filled with oil or liquid. When the reservoir is 2
filled with oil or liquid screw the screw cap L into the filling tube K
to make it air-tight.
To set the lamp in operation turn the inner parts e of the valves
which are arranged to bring the openings in the valve plates opposite to
each other. The oil or liquid will then descend in and from the 3
reservoir B, and rise in the lower end of the upper tube A, and flow
from thence through the tubes G to the burners until it rises in the wick
chamber I to or near a level with the oil or liquid in the lower end of
the upper tube A, as indicated by the line x, x, when it will cease to
risc. As the oil or liquid is consumed in the burners it is lowered in 3
the tube A until it comes below the lower end of the tubo A. or below
the openings e, e, in the valve, when air will pass into the reservoir B
from the tube A (as shown by the arrows), and oil or liquid will descend

page_text: in and from the reservoir and rise in the lower end of the tube A and
flow to the burners, and so continue to do while there is any oil or liquid
in the reservoir B, and the lamp is in operation, thus renewing and
keeping up the supply of oil or liquid in the wick chambers I or wick
tubes G, whereby a brilliant light is produced.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim,―
The arrangement or combination of parts herein set forth for supplying
oils or combustible liquids to the burners of fountain lamps.
I claim particularly the combination with the oil reservoir of the
tube A, or any equivalent device provided with a valve or valves for the
purpose of regulating the flow of the liquid.
I also claim the mode of (and for the purpose as herein set forth) of
adapting the discharging tube to the valve or to the well.
I further claim adapting the wick tubes and burners to an air
chamber or tube provided with perforated diaphragms for preventing the
flame from being affected by draughts up the air chamber.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.