IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES, LAMPS, AND WICKS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PALMER, of Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
December (One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Palmer, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Wil-
liam Palmer, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Palmer, my exors, admors, 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 In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES, LAMPS, AND WICKS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William
Palmer, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date

page_text: 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
William Palmer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, of improvements in the manufacture of candles;
secondly, my Invention consists of improvements in the manufacture of candle
lamps; and, thirdly, my Invention consists of improvements in the manufacture
of wicks.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood, and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
The first part of my Invention consists of employing rosin or resinous
matter with tallow or unacidified candle stuff, in combination with one, two,
or more wicks, which in burning turn out of the flames, and the best descrip-
tion of wicks for this purpose are those hereafter described, by which I am
enabled to manufacture cheap and highly useful candles, particularly suited for
candle lamps. I mix at the rate of one part of rosin, by weight, to eight parts
of good hard tallow, and I prefer to combine therewith one part of vegetable
wax.
I would remark, that I do not claim the use of rosin in the manufacture
of candles, for the same has before been attempted to be used, but it has been
found that such candles, when made with wicks such as are used in making
ordinary tallow candles, smoke; and as they cannot with convenience be
snuffed when in candle lamps, the use of wicks in such candles which turn out
of the flames when burning will be found a very great improvement in this
manufacture. I prepare the rosin and mix it with tallow in the following
manner: To one cwt. of the mixture, when melted, add three lbs. weight
in solution of American potash, and let it boil a few minutes; then add
five lbs. weight of vitreolic acid diluted, and again let the matters boil for
five minutes; let the same settle, then wash the clear mixture with boiling
water, and to settle for use.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which consists of the
employment of sheet iron in the manufacture of candle lamps. A candle lamp
may be said to consist of three parts; the nozel, the stem, and the foot, and
these for the most part have been and are made of brass or of tin plate, which

page_text: are comparatively expensive metals, and not so strong as sheet iron; and it is
desirable to make candle lamps of greater strength with lightness, and I have
found that this may be done by the introduction of sheet iron in the manu-
facture of candle lamps. In making the stems I use tubes made of thin sheet
iron, either brazed or otherwise, and I make suitable feet by stamping or
shaping feet out of sheet iron, and I form the nozels by stamping or otherwise
shaping the same.
I will now proceed to describe the third part of my Invention, which con-
sists of improvements in apparatus for more conveniently preparing wicks (for
the making candles) by coating them with tallow or candle matter, so that, in
addition to their being coated, they will be kept apart and be free, when
burning, to turn out of the flame and from one another. The nature of this
apparatus having been fully described under the second part of a former
Patent granted to me, the Specification of which is dated on or about the.
Ninth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, it will not be
necessary to repeat the same here, only so far as relates to my present im-
provements. In connecting and disconnecting the nozzle of the apparatus
there described, I have found that that operation is not so readily performed
as I could desire, for which reason I have constructed part of the nozzle of
the apparatus so that it will revolve without the necessity of the part through
which the wicks pass revolving with it.
Figure 1 shows a section and end view of the nozzle of my improved
apparatus for coating wicks. a is a short tube, with a collar a', which is
retained in its position by the screw a³; 6 is another short tube, containing
the passages for the wicks, and the screwed end a³ of the tube a is to be
introduced into the female screw formed in the tube b, so that when, the two
are placed in contact they may be connected by turning the tube a, the nozzle b
remaining stationary (whilst being connected), thereby preventing any twisting
of the wicks. The end 6' of the tube 6 is connected by a screw, in order that it
_may be removed for the purpose of more convieniently drawing the wicks
through the passages 6º.
Another improvement in the manufacture of wicks for candles consists of so
preparing rushes as to cause them to turn outwards from the perpendicular
when being consumed. Heretofore, in preparing rushes for the wicks of what
are called rushlights, it has been usual to peel off or remove the bark on two
sides, leaving the bark on two opposite sides. Now, I have discovered that if
the bark be removed for the most part, simply leaving one line or very narrow
strip of bark, that such a wick will, in being burned, turn out from the perpen-

page_text: dicular, and may be used not only with greater advantage in making the descrip-
tion of candles called "rushlights," but may also be advantageously employed in
making other candles; or the whole of the bark may be removed from a rush,
and the necessary preponderance given on one side produced artificially; and
the best means I am acquainted with for performing this process is by using
bismuth and charcoal mixed with paste to the consistency of paint, and for
this purpose I employ equal parts by measure of bismuth and of charcoal,
ground together with the paste, and with this matter I form a stripe on one
side of a rush, but other matters may be applied, so long as rush wicks are.
prepared stiff or strong on one side and weak on the other, so that they, in
burning, will turn out of the flames.
Another improvement in the manufacture of wicks for candles consists of
employing soft cotton cord wicks, or wicks which do not turn out when burning,
with a strip of harder fabric or substance on one side to give preponderance
thereto. In preparing cotton cord wicks I take soft cotton cord, taking care
not to stretch the same more than is necessary to keep it straight. Thin
strips of cantoon or of jean, or the strips of the bark of rushes, I have found
best for the purpose, the object being to destroy the otherwise equality of the
cotton twist, and thus to cause it to preponderate on one side, so as to ensure
its turning out of the flame when being burned; and I attach such strips to
cotton cords in making wicks by gymping or winding the same round with
thread, taking care not to draw the gymping or binding thread tight, but allow
it to remain as loosely as possible, and so long as the cotton cord and strip be
just held in contact. Although I have mentioned strips of particular matters to
be used with cotton cord by binding or gymping, I do not confine myself thereto,
so long as the strips are suitable to give the requisite strength or addition to
cause it to preponderate on one side and turn out of the flame. Some matters
suitable for giving this preponderance would, if burned as a wick, turn out-
wards; others have not this property. It is, therefore, desirable to state that
when using matters which have the property of turning outward, the same
should be attached to the wick with the side which in burning would be out-
side of the curve, or bend away from the wick.
Another improvement in the manufacture of wicks for candles consists of
causing cotton fabrics to be kept distended in a frame, and applying on one
side thereof a coating of a preparation of paste, such as above described, then
causing the fabric to be dried whilst distended or stretched. Such fabrics
being cut up into strips, will be suitable for wicks; and when compara-
tively thin fabrics are so treated, such strips will be found useful for wicks,

page_text: or for being applied to cotton cords, or to stripped rushes or other wicks, by
gymping.
Another part of my Invention consists of gymping wicks cut from cotton
fabrics, such as moleskin and similar fabrics, where one side has a pile or
softer character than the other, the gymping being done slack, so as to girt in
the fabric as little as may be.
Another part of my Invention consists of improved apparatus for gymping
wicks. Hitherto it has been usual to wind the gymping thread on to a reel or
bobbin which is mounted on a spindle, and by the unwinding of the thread
when gymping a wick the reel or bobbin is caused to revolve. Now, I have
found that the resistance or friction caused by the unwinding of the gymping
thread from the bobbin is not uniform, owing to the gradually decreasing size
of the bobbin, which causes great irregularities in the gymping, and my present
improvements are intended to obviate these defects.
Figure 2 shews so much of a gymping apparatus as will enable me to
describe this part of t my Invention. a is the ordinary driving pulley or rigger,
forming part of the tube b, through which the wick passes to be gymped; c is
the gymping thread, which is wound into the form of a cop, and is carried by
the upright d, affixed to the rigger a, so that in its revolution around the
wick the gymping is effected with great uniformity; and it is the substitution
of a cop in place of the reel which constitutes this part of my improvements.
Another part of my Invention consists in the saturating wicks with candle
stuff previous or preparatory to gymping. The wick to be saturated is to be
passed through melted candle stuff, then through an eye to take off the super-
fluous matter while fluid; and should the wick be a platted wick, it may be
again passed through an eye after it is cold, in order that the wick may assume
a rounder form; in fact, any wick that may be required to be rounded may be
so treated. Such wicks so prepared are then to be gymped.
Another part of my Invention consists of improvements in cutting wicks
from fabrics, and consists in the pressing down of a straight cutting edge or
knife through the stuff close to a straight edge holding the stuff or fabric; or
a knife may be moved along the fabric to cut it close to a straight edge holding
down the fabric or stuff.
Figure 3 shews a section, Figure 4 an end view, and Figure 5 a plan, of a
machine for carrying out this part of my Invention. a is an axis, supported by
bearings in the side framing of the machine; b, b, are two excentrics keyed on
the axis a; c, c, are connecting rods, which are attached by pin joints to the
bar d, to which is attached the knife e, motion being communicated to the

page_text: axis a by the lever a', which causes the excentrics 6 to raise and lower the
knife or cutter; f is a bar or straight edge for holding the fabric whilst being
cut. The bar fis raised and lowered in the following manner :-g is a worm
on the shaft h, which is supported in bearings affixed to the slotted bar i,
supported by the side framing of the machine; j is an axis carried by the bari,
upon which is keyed the excentric k and pinion 7, which takes into and is
driven by the worm 9 on the axis h, so that when motion is communicated to
the shaft h by the handle m, the connecting rod n raises or lowers the holding
bar or straight edge f. The fabric is progressively brought into position to be
cut by the sliding bar o, affixed to an arm o³, carried by the screw nut P, which
is caused to move to and fro by the screw 9 on the axis r; all which will be
readily understood on examining the Drawings.
I may remark, that variations may be made in this machinery without
departing from this part of my Invention, so long as the holding and cutting of
fabrics into wicks is similarly effected.
Another part of my
Invention consists of the means of arranging wicks in
combination with apparatus, in order to improve the burning of wicks. Figure 6
shews a section, Figure 7 a plan of apparatus for carrying out. this part of my
Invention, and Figure 8 shews separate views of the wick holder. a is a short
tubular wick holder, similar to the one described in my former Specification
dated the Ninth of June, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine; and a¹ is
a trough-shaped instrument for supporting the wick in an inclined position
whilst being consumed, the part a' and wick being supported in the socket a.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would remark, that I do not confine myself to the details
as herein given, so long as the peculiar character of any part of my Invention
be retained; but what I claim is,-
First, the manufacture of candles suitable for candle lamps by employing
rosin or resinous matter mixed with tallow or nonacidified candle stuff,
combined with one, two, or more wicks, such as will turn out of the flames.
when being consumed.
Secondly, I claim the making the parts of candle lamps of sheet iron.
And, thirdly, I claim the improvements in the manufacture of wicks, as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
W (L.s.) PALMER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of June,
in the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid William Palmer came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.