IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED LAMPS TO BE USED IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHERWISE.
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Storer, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED
LAMPS TO BE USED IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHERWISE.'
"
WITH
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Storer at the Office of
'the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th February 1878.
JOHN STORER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH LAMPS TO BE USED IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND
OTHERWISE.'
"
This Invention has principally for its object to produce a lamp for railway
carriages which, whilst superior to those commonly used as regards brilliancy and
steadiness of light, shall be simple and comparatively free from the inconveniences,
drawbacks, and difficulties hitherto experienced with such lamps.
The improved lamps may be advantageously used otherwise than in railway
carriages.
In hitherto attempting to use hydrocarbons in railway roof lamps, the drawbacks
have been, amongst others, that the hydrocarbon used for the illuminating, was
never of such a nature as to admit of its complete combustion coupled with a good
light. This arose partly from the means of supply used, and also from the com-
paratively heavy or non-volatile nature of the hydrocarbon, rendering the feeding
of the exact quantity thereof to the burner a matter of much nicety, as any excess
would flow over into the outer bottom casing of the lamp, whereas in the method
now proposed, the only effect of an increased supply to the burner would be a
larger light than was absolutely required.
The improved lamps and accessory apparatus are designed to use gasoline or
similar volatile hydrocarbons. A single reservoir is provided for the hydrocarbon
supplying several separate lamps, as for example, those of the different compartments
of one railway carriage; and from this reservoir the hydrocarbon proceeds by one
or more main pipes, to which the branch pipes to the several lamps are connected.
[Price 6d1

page_text: The part of each branch pipe connected to the main pipe is of a small size, and
has a regulating stop-cock attached to it of the ordinary construction, but with the
hole in the tap bevelled or rounded off. at both sides. Through this tap a wick of
wool or any other suitable material is drawn, and from the exit end of the tap tube
a curved tube proceeds, having its top at a higher level than the effective level of
the hydrocarbon in the reservoir. In this curved tube a wick of wool or any other
suitable material is placed. At the end of the bended tube there is an enlargement
into which the hydrocarbon drops from the wick, and below the enlargement there
is a second stop-cock whence a tube proceeds to the burner of the lamp.
The object of the above described arrangement is this:-By means of the first, or
wick tap, it is possible to easily and accurately regulate the flow of the hydrocarbon
to the required speed for producing a sufficient light, and the use of the curved tube
is to give still greater regularity and freedom from variation by rendering the
supply less liable to tlie influences of oscillation in the carriages when in motion.
The regulating wick tap, when adjusted, is allowed to always remain in that
position, and the second tap is used to extinguish or feed the burner as required.
The object of the enlargement above the second tap is to give space for the
collection of a quantity of hydrocarbon sufficient for at once lighting the burner
without waiting for the slow steady action of the wicks. As a certain amount of
unsteady or jumping burning action would arise from the delivery in drops of the
hydrocarbon from the wick to the burner, there are inserted in the pipes between
the wick and the second stop-cock, and between the stop-cock and burner, strips of
thin sheet metal or other suitable material, such strips being by preference twisted,
or the pipes themselves may be twisted or otherwise shaped to prevent direct down-
ward dropping.
The burner is by preference of the argand class, formed of two short tubes with
the annular space between them, enlarged at its lower part or closed at the bottom
This enlargement of the lower part of the burner forms a space in which the
hydrocarbon is to a great extent converted into gas or vapor, whereby a better
light is secured. The wick is a coil of porous paper or other suitable material.
When the reservoir is placed above the level of the lamps, it has in connection
with it cell or small chamber, from which the main pipe receives its supply, and
in which cell a constant level is maintained by a bird fountain arrangement or
equivalent construction of the main part of the reservoir.
Or the main pipe may
be connected directly to the reservoir, the effective level being determined by an air
tube dipping down from the otherwise closed top of the reservoir. If preferred
however, the reservoir may be placed at the lower part of a carriage, or at any
moderate distance below the level of the lamps; and in this case the hydrocarbon
may be made to ascend by means of compressed air contained in a bag or vessel of
vulcanised rubber or other suitable material arranged out of reach of the hydro-
'carbon.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Storer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th August
1878.
JOHN STORER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH LAMPS TO BE USED IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND
OTHERWISE."
My said Invention has principally for its object to produce a lamp for railway
carriages, which whilst superior to those commonly used as regards brilliancy and
steadiness of light, shall be simple and comparatively free from the inconveniences,
drawbacks, and difficulties hitherto experienced with such lamps.
My improved lamps may also be advantageously used otherwise than in railway
carriages.
In hitherto attempting to use hydrocarbons in railway roof lamps, the drawbacks
have been, amongst others, that the hydrocarbon used for illuminating was never
of such a nature as to admit of its complete combustion coupled with a good light.
This arose partly from the means of supply used, and also from the comparatively
heavy or non-volatile nature of the hydrocarbon, rendering the feeding of the exact
quantity thereof to the burner a matter of much nicety, as any excess would flow
over into the outer bottom casing of the lamp; whereas in my improved system
the only effect of any increased supply to the burner would be a larger light than
was absolutely required.
My improved lamps and accessory apparatus are designed for the use of gasoline
or similar volatile hydrocarbons. And in carrying out my Invention, a single
reservoir is provided for the hydrocarbon supplying several separate lamps, as for
example, those of the different compartments of one railway carriage; and from this
reservoir the hydrocarbon proceeds by one or more main pipes, to which the branchi
pipes to the several lamps are connected. These branch pipes are formed in a
peculiar manner and with certain details herein-after particularly described, each
having one tap by which the rate of flow can be easily and accurately adjusted,
and which is used only for such adjustment, whilst a second tap is provided nearer
the burner for completely stopping the flow when required, the parts being arranged ´
so that when the second tap is closed, the space between it and the first tap becomes
filled with hydrocarbon, and this causes a temporary slight excess in the flow on
re-opening the second tap, and thereby facilitates the lighting of the lamp.
The burner is by preference of the argand class, and is made with its lower
internal part enlarged to afford space for the more or less complete conversion of
the hydrocarbon into gas or vapor, whilst the wick is by preference a coil of porous
paper or other suitable material.
When the reservoir is placed above the level of the lamps, it has in connection
with it a cell or small chamber from which the main pipe receives its supply; and
in this cell a constant level is maintained by a bird fountain arrangement or
equivalent construction of the main part of the reservoir, or the main pipe may be
connected directly to the reservoir, the effective level being determined by an air tube
dipping down from the otherwise closed top of the reservoir. If preferred however,
the reservoir may be placed at the lower part of a carriage, or at any moderate
distance below the level of the lamps; and in this case the hydrocarbon may be
made to ascend by means of compressed air contained in a bag or vessel of vul-
canised rubber or other suitable material arranged out of reach of the hydrocarbon.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, I hereunto append a sheet of explanatory Drawings to
be herein-after referred to, and representing by way of example a modification of
my improved apparatus. In these Drawings the same reference numerals are used
to mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.

page_text: Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is a vertical section of a form
of reservoir which may be used above the level of the lamp, and Figure 2 is a
sectional elevation of an ordinary railway carriage lamp as fitted with my improved
apparatus. The reservoir 1 is a metal vessel of a rectangular or other convenient
shape, and is entirely closed excepting an air inlet tube 2 and its connection with
the main pipe 3, for conveying the hydrocarbon to the lamps, whilst it is formed
with an inlet 4 for filling it by, and provided with a tightly fitting screw plug. Air
to replace the hydrocarbon which flows from the reservoir enters by the dipping
tube 2, and the position of the bottom of this tube determines the effective level or
head of the hydrocarbon in the reservoir, so that as long as there is in the reservoir
as much hydrocarbon as reaches any height above that level, the tendency of the
hydrocarbon to flow out by the main pipe 3, remains perfectly uniform. With
the view of preventing movements of the hydrocarbon in the reservoir 1, caused
by irregular motions of the carriage, from interfering to an injurious extent with
the steady flow in the main pipe 3, I form a downward bend 5 on that pipe near.
its connection with the reservoir. Each lamp receives its supply of hydrocarbon by
a branch pipe 6, which is of a small size, and is fitted with a first or regulating
stop-cock 7. This stop-cock 7 is of an ordinary construction, but the hole in the
plug is bevilléd or rounded off at both sides, as shewn in the enlarged section,
Figure 3. Through this stop-cock 7 a wick of wool or any other suitable material
is inserted, and a wire may be passed through the wick and the hole of the stop-
cock plug to prevent the latter being quite closed. From the exit end of the stop-
cock the branch tube 6 proceeds in a curved form, with its top part at a slightly
higher level than the effective level in the reservoir 1. The wick is continued
through this curved part of the tube and to the upper or entering end of an
enlargement 8, formed in the tube 6, and the hydrocarbon drops from the wick into
the enlargement 8. At the bottom of the enlargement 8 there is a second or shut-
off stop-cock 9, and from this a continuation 10 of the branch pipe proceeds down to
the burner 11. The regulating wick stop-cock 7 when adjusted, is allowed to always
remain in one position, and the second stop-cock 9 is used to extinguish the light or
to turn on the How of hydrocarbon when lighting the lamp.
As a certain unsteadiness or jumping burning action might arise from the
delivery in drops of the hydrocarbon from the wick to the burner, I insert in the
pipe 10 between the second stop-cock 9 and the burner 11 a strip or strips of thin
sheet metal or other suitable material, such strip or strips being by preference
twisted; or the pipe 10 itself may be twisted or otherwise shaped to prevent direct
downward dropping. If preferred, the regulating stop-cock 7 may be placed on the
descending side of the bend of the branch pipe 3, as shown in Figure 4; the en-
largement 8 then occupying all the space between the two stop-cocks 7, 9.
The burner 11, which is shown in vertical section in Figure 5, is formed of two
short tubes with the annular space between them enlarged at its lower part and
closed at the bottom, the enlargement being obtained by having the outer tube
conical, as shown, or of any other suitable shape, and being intended as herein-
before explained to give space for the volatilisation of some of the hydrocarbon.
The wick 12 is a coil of porous paper or other suitable material encircling the union
tube of the burner.
Figure 6 is a diagram on a reduced scale, showing the arrangement to be adopted
when the reservoir to contain the hydrocarbon is placed in a position lower than
that of the lamp. In this case the main pipe 3 communicates by a vertical part 13
with the bottom of the reservoir 14, which is entirely closed excepting its connec-
tion with the pipe 13, and with a pipe 15 extending from its top to the bag 16.
This bag 16 is made of a flexible and air-tight material, and with a top board on
which there is placed a weight 17, proportioned to compress the air in the bag to
such a degree, that acting on the surface of the hydrocarbon in the reservoir 14, it
will cause it to ascend the pipe 13, and to have in the main pipe 3 such effective
head as is found best in practice.

page_text: Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise details
herein described or delineated, but that what I believe to be novel and original, and
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters.
Patent is,
1. The arranging or combining together of parts for supplying volatile hydro-
carbons to the burners of railway carriage and other lamps substantially in the im-
proved manner herein-before described.
2 The combination consisting of a main supply pipe in which a uniform head of
the hydrocarbon is maintained, the branch tubes having wicks in them, and rising
above the effective level of the hydrocarbon, the regulating stop-cocks having wicks
inserted through them, and the shut-off stop-cocks with an enlargement or space
between them and the regulating stop-cocks, all substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before described.
3. The fitting of the branch tubes (6) with two stop-cocks (7, 9,) having a space
(8) between them, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Storer have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN STORER. (L.S.)