IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS, AND IN REGULATING THE COMBUSTION OF GAS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS, AND IN REGULATING
THE COMBUSTION OF GAS."A communication from Pierre Alexis Maunoury,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st January 1856.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS, AND IN
REGULATING THE COMBUSTION OF GAS," a communication from Pierre Alexis
Maunoury, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Mechanician, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements upon and modifications of
the burners and regulators for which Letters Patent for Great Britain were
granted to me on or about the 3rd of February 1853, whereby such burners
and regulators are rendered more simple of construction and more effective
n practise. According to this Invention, in place of boring out two con-
Price Bd]

page_text: verging chambers in a metal cap to form the two burners, it is proposed
simply to insert two of the ordinary Manchester burners with their upper
ends slightly converging in a metal cap, which forms the main or double
burner, composed of the two single Manchester burners which are fitted
therein, the flames or jets of which are made to meet and combine a short
distance above the main burner. An air passage may or may not be left
between the two burners to increase the brilliancy of the light and otherwise
improve the combustion of the gas.
The regulator, according to one modification, consists of a small metal
disc hinged to one side of the lower mouth or entrance of the main burner,
which is nicked slightly at the side to admit of a certain amount of gas
passing into it, even should the regulating valve be closed or forced by the
excessive pressure of the gas against the mouth of the burner, otherwise the
light would be extinguished under such circumstances. Below the regulating
valve is screwed a disc, having an opening in the centre sufficiently large to
allow the requisite supply of gas to pass through; this disc serves to adjust the
amount of opening of the valve, which when open rests upon it at one side.
By screwing the disc up or down, the regulator will be rendered more or
less sensitive, since the nearer it is kept to the mouth of the burner the more
sensitive it will be, as any slight variation of pressure will produce a pro-
portionate alteration in the opening for the entrance of gas to the burner.
Above the regulator is fitted a wire gauze disc, for the purpose of thoroughly
dividing or separating the gas into innumerable small streams before issuing
from the burners. Wire gauze may also be applied to the air apertures at
the bottom of the chimnies of gas burners, for the purpose of dividing the air
before entering the flame, whereby a greater brilliancy of light will be
obtained.
Another modification of regulator consists of two discs, placed one above
the other, inside the burner, a space being left between the upper and lower
disc. Each disc is perforated in the centre, the upper disc, which is larger,
with a round opening, and the lower disc with a triangular opening.
When the pressure is too great, the lower or small disc is elevated and
pressed against the upper disc, which latter, being grooved radially on its face,
allows the gas to escape to a certain extent, but not so freely as when the two
discs are kept out of contact, when the gas passes freely through the central
openings.
.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st July 1:56.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors. give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
or 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 GAS BURNERS, AND IN REGULATING THE
COMBUSTION OF GAS," a communication from Pierre Alexis Maunoury, of
Paris, in the Empire of France, Mechanician, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Johu Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing
under my band and seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon:-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements upon and modifications
of the burners and regulators for which Letters Patent for Great Britain were
granted to me on or about the Third Day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three, whereby such burners and regulators are rendered of
more simple construction and more effective in use.
According to this Invention,in place of boring out two converging chambers
in a metal cap to form the two burners, it is proposed simply to insert two

page_text: of the ordinary Manchester burners, with their upper ends slightly converging
in a metal cap, which forms the main or double burner composed of the two
single Manchester burners, which are fitted therein, the flames or jets of
which are made to meet and combine a short distance above the main burner.
An air passage may or may not be left between the two burners to increase
the brilliancy of the light, and otherwise improve the combustion of the gas.
The regulator, according to one modification, consists of a small metal disc
hinged to one side of the lower mouth or entrance of the main burner, which
is notched slightly at the side to admit of a certain amount of gas passing into
it, even should the regulating valve be closed or forced by the pressure of the
gas against the mouth of the burner,otherwise the light would be extinguished.
Below the regulating valve is screwed a disc, having an opening in the
centre sufficiently large to allow the requisite supply of gas to pass through;
this disc serves to adjust the amount of opening of the valve, which when
open rests upon it at one side. By screwing the disc up or down, it is
evident that the regulating valve will be rendered more or less sensitive to
the pressure of the gas. Above the regulator is fitted a wire gauze disc, for
the purpose of thoroughly dividing or separating the gas into innumerable
small streams before issuing from the burners. Wire gauze may also be
applied to the air apertures at the bottoms of the chimnies of
gas burners,
for the purpose of dividing the air before getting within the chimney aud
feeding the flame, whereby a greater brilliancy of light will be obtained.
Another modification of regulator consists of two discs placed one above the
other inside the burner, a space being left between the upper and lower disc.
Each disc is perforated in the centre; the upper disc, which is larger, with a
round opening, and the lower disc with a triangular opening.the latter opening
being smaller than the former. When the pressure is too great, the lower or
small disc is elevated and pressed against the upper disc, which latter, being
grooved radially on its under surface, allows a certain quantity of gas to pass
through to the burner, but not so much as will pass through when the lower
disc is only slightly elevated, and the two discs are not in contact.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
Figures 1 and 2, on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represent the
burner described in the Specification of my former Patent, herein-before
referred to. The four openings a, a, arranged in parallel couples, are retained

page_text: in my present Invention; they communicate with chambers cand c', which
are separated by a partition b. The gas enters these two chambers, and
escapes by the two openings, with which each of the two burners d is
furnished, thus producing two flames, which unite at a certain distance
above the burners. An excellent jet is obtained by this arrangement;
but the burners are both difficult and expensive to manufacture, it being
necessary in boring the two chambers c and c¹ to cut away part of the
screwed portion of the cap at a for the passage of the boring instrument;
they have also the inconvenience of being difficult to repair.
Figures 3, 7, 9, and 14 represent the improved or modified burners, the
manufacture of which is much more simple, whilst the removal of the burners
c² and c³ and the insertion of a new pair is easily effected, these two burners
being simply the ordinary "Manchester" burners inserted into the cap A.
This cap, which is hollow in the inside, forms a sort of chamber B, into
which the gas flows; a disc C, made of wire gauze, serves to divide the gras
before it reaches the two burners c² and c³. These combined double burners
thus improved may be screwed either on to a simple uniting piece D (Figures
7 and S or on to a piece E (Figures 3, 9, and 14), in the interior of which is
contained the regulator, which constitutes the second head of this Invention.
In Figure 1, I have shewn my old arrangement of regulator, which
consists of a small metallic plug e, enclosed in the tube F, by a screw thread
tapped outside. This plug is hollow inside, and is surmounted by a small
conical domé f, furnished with a ring g, of metal or india-rubber. The
plug e is perforated with several openings e¹, to afford a free passage to the
gas when it arrives at the burner at its proper pressure, the ring being then
only slightly agitated by the current, and not experiencing any sensible dis-
placement. If, however, this pressure be augmented, the ring is deflected at
its circumference, which is brought into contact with the projecting mouth /
of the pipe leading to the burners, thereby obstructing the flow of gas in
proportion to the increased pressure. The effect of the ring g upon the flow
of the gas can be varied by altering the distance between the ring and the
projecting mouth h, and this alteration can be brought about by screwing
the small plug e higher or lower.
I now propose a modification of this arrangement as shewn in Figure 2.
For the flexible ring I substitute a sinall and thin metallic valve g',
fastened on one of its sides by a hinge to the side of the projecting mouth h.
In order to regulate the play of this valve, I remove the plug and substitute
the plate el, formed with an external screw thread upon it, by which its
height in the inside of the tube can be varied at pleasure.

page_text: Now, in order to prevent any inconvenience arising from the insufficient
width of the passage i for the flow of gas, and the too small dimensions of
the chamber, I increase the size of these parts, and adapt a burner to
them, either directly, as shewn at Figures 3 and 14, or by means of a
connecting piece, as shewn at Figures 12, 13, and 15, on which any kind
of burner may be fixed.
I shall now proceed to describe a peculiar arrangement of regulator, which
is applicable directly to my double burners. This is represented in detail at
Figures 4, 5, and 6. It will be seen that the valve g', properly so called, which
is composed of a very thin metallic valve, is mounted by means of a hinge on
to the small support k, screwed on to the piece K, which forms the seat of the
valve. A V-shaped opening is cut in this support, as well as in the projecting
tube h, thus leaving a passage for a small flow of gas even when the valve may
be closed. In order to prevent the valve from sticking fast or adhering to the
seat when closed by a violent current of gas, I have adapted a small spring m
(which is simply a very fine and flexible steel wire) to the valve, by means of
which it is made to fall when the pressure is reduced. In order to prevent the
valve opening too widely, I make use of a screw-threaded disc e¹ (Figure 3).
It will be evident that by screwing a metallic cap A furnished with two
burners (Figure 3) into one end of the piece K, into the other end of which is
screwed the cylindrical piece G, a a complete apparatus is obtained, and and
by means of the screw thread g' it can be attached to any kind of gas pipe.
By arranging a shoulder G¹ (Figure 14) on the cylindrical portion G of the
apparatus, and applying a holder H with the rim h¹, a chimney can be
made use of. The burner is screwed on to the tube F, which supports
the perforated cup J, through which the air for feeding. the flame is
admitted to the 'burner, In order to render the light more fixed and
brilliant, I propose to arrange around the glass holder a sheet of wire
gauzej, as will be seen on reference to Figure 14.
Figure 15 represents a vertical section, showing the application of the
regulating valve to argand burners. It will be seen that it is simply
necessary to modify the construction of the piece K forming the valve
seat. Instead of screwing this piece to the cap furnished with the two
Manchester burners, it is furnished with two tubes o, which convey the
gas to, the circular burner O. This Figure shews very clearly the mode
of, supporting the holder HD and cone H', and also the mode of fixing the
perforated cup J by means of the nut p to the outside of the regulating
chamber, which is furnished with a screw thread for that purpose.
Figures 9, 10, and 11 represent another arrangement for regulating the

page_text: pressure of gas, which however does not offer such certainty of action as
the preceding one. It is composed of two metallic discs 2 and
r; the
first one is of a smaller diameter than the second one », and is capable
of rising and falling in the small chamber, which is closed by the upper
disc r.
The disc q is pierced in the centre with a triangular apertures,
(Figure 10,) through which the gas passes. When there is a great pressure
of gas the disc q is elevated and forced against the under, side of the disc ".
This last is furnished with radiating channels (Figure 11), through which
the gas can make its way through with much more difficulty than if the small
disc were only slightly raised, in which case the gas flows both through the
central openings, and round the edge or circumference of the disc.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the peculiar modifications and arrangements of gas burners, herein-
before described.
Second, the peculiar constructions and arrangements of self-acting gas
regulators, as herein-before described.
Third, the application and use of wire gauze discs, for the purpose of
dividing the gas immediately before it issues from the burners.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)