A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LAMPS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HOUGHTON, of High Holborn, in the Parish of Saint Andrew Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Glass Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Royal Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-
first day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Houghton, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said George Houghton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Houghton, my
executors, administrators, 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
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of
"A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
LAMPS," being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said George
Houghton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: 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
George Houghton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
The said Invention consists of an improvement applicable to lamps, in
which the oil or other inflammable matter intended to be burned is contained
in a reservoir or chamber at the lower end of the column, and is intended to
be forced up therefrom to the burner by a force pressing a piston on the surface
of the oil or other inflammable matter contained in such reservoir or chamber,
and the said improvement consists in the application to such lamps of a
regulator adapted to occupy a part of the channel destined for the passage
of the oil or other inflammable matter in ascending from the reservoir to the
burner, the extent of the part of such channel so occupied being varied
continually by the motion of the piston, in such manner that a resistance to
the motion of the piston is produced, by means of the said regulator, com-
mencing at a given point of intensity adjustable as herein-after described, and
constantly diminishing while the piston is in operation. For the more com-
plete explanation of the said. improvement I have hereunto annexed a Sheet
of Drawings representing a mode of applying the same to a lamp in which
oil is to be used, and in which the force used to press on the piston is a spiral
spring.
Fig, 1 is a section of the lamp; Fig. 2 an outside view; and Figures 3 to 10
represent parts detached. A, A, is the oil chamber at the lower end of the
column, made of tin or other suitable metal. It is cylindrical and should be
made tolerably true inside, to allow the circular piston B, B, to work up and
down in it freely, but at the same time oil-tight. E is a tube fastened to the
piston of a pair of nuts d, d, which I shall call the tubular piston rod from its
occupying the position of a piston rod, although it does not in fact perform
the ordinary. function of a piston rod, but serves as an ascent pipe for the
ascent of the oil from the oil reservoir. The piston is formed of two thin
disks or circular plates of metal, see Fig. 1, between which is inclosed a
circular cup leather e, see Figs. 1 and 3, such as is used sometimes for packing
the pistons or buckets of pumps, but the turn-down edges or sides of the said
cup leather e are made of a considerable depth, and at the upper part, close to
the plates, of a less diameter than the diameter of the oil chamber, and after

page_text: the cup is made in the usual way it is put in a lathe, and the edges turned
conical or tapering, as shewn in Figure 1, in order to give them great flexibility
or compressibility, for the purpose herein-after pointed out. J, J, Figs. 1, 4,
and 5, is the regulator. It is a thin rod inserted through the upper end and
passing down the middle of a tube H, H, to the lower end of such tube.
The upper end of the tube H is soldered to two upright legs a, a 1, see
Figures 1 and 4, rising from a cylindrical nozzle 6 (which is like the nossel of
a candlestick), and near to the lower end of the said tube H is soldered by
thin ribs a short piece of tube c. The nossel drops and fits tight into the
aperture at the upper end of the column D, see Figures 1 and 5, and the
tube c fits also closely into the interior of the column. The piece of tube c is
merely for the purpose of keeping the tube H steady in the centre of the
column, and when the nossel b, tube H, and its steadying tube c, are in their
places, as shewn in Fig. 1 in the column, they form as it were a fixture there-
with, and are intended to remain so while the lamp is in operation, though the
whole can be drawn out, as shewn in Fig. 4, to be cleaned or repaired. The
tube H is the fixed ascent pipe through which the oil passes from the tubular
piston rod up to the burner, as will be herein-after more minutely explained.
The regulator J is not immoveably fixed into the upper end of the tube H,
but is attached thereto in such manner as to allow of regulating how far it
shall pass down the tube H. This adjustment is effected by passing the
regulator through a leather socket 1, see Fig. 5, screwed or otherwise firmly
inserted in the upper end of the tube H, the regulator fitting so tightly into
such socket 1 as to be quite oil-tight, and so as not to move them unless
forcibly drawn up or pushed down. The object of this arrangement is to be
able to adjust the length of the operating part of the regulator by raising it
or lowering it on its socket. The tubular piston rod E passés, as will be seen
by Fig. 1, over or outside of the regulator rod and inside of the tube H. The
external diameter of the said piston rod is such as to fit into the tube H, ns
nearly as possible, oil-tight, and to ensure a perfectly oil-tight fitting, a small piece
of leather, or cloth, or other packing is wound round the piston rod at 2, see
Figs. 1 and 3, or may be put into the tube H, and the internal diameter of
the said piston rod is a little greater than the thickness or diameter of the
regulator rod, see Figures 1, 3, and 4, so that a great part of the internal area of
the tubular piston rod is occupied by the regulator rod, leaving a very narrow
space around the said rod for the passage of the oil through the piston rod.
To the upright leg a, at the top of the column D, a small brass box f, see
Fig. 5, is fixed, adapted to receive and guide a rack o, which is firmly fixed to
the piston by the side of the piston rod, see Figures 1 and 3, and the said box.

page_text: receives also a small pinion n, shewn in Fig. 1, which works in the rack o, for
raising and lowering the piston, being turned by a key p, which fits on its axis.
The burner is of the common kind called an Argand burner, consisting of an
external and internal tube M and M, see Fig. 1 and 5, leaving an annular
space between them to receive the wick and the carrier tube on which it is
fastened. F is the spring, which is the moving force employed to press on the
piston and force up the oil from the oil chamber to the burner.
In the Drawing, I have represented a spiral spring made of iron wire of
about five thirty-secondth parts of an inch in diameter, such as is used for the
spring cushions of chairs and sofas. Note, the spring F is represented as a
continuous wire coiled into three cones instead of two, of which such ordinary
spiral springs, as aforesaid, are composed. And I sometimes use spiral springs
of a continuous wire coiled into four cones in order to obtain a greater degree
of flexibility combined with the proper degree of elastic force.
Such springs
are, however, whether composed of three or four cones, made by the same
means as the common spiral springs consisting of two cones, namely, by
winding the wire round a mandril composed of the requisite number of conical
blocks of wood fitted on a common axis, only in taking out the said conical
blocks of wood, when the spring is finished, it will be requisite, of course,
when the spiral spring is to consist of three or four cones, to bend open the
spring in order to draw out such of the conical pieces of wood of the mandril
as require to be taken out with the small end foremost, and the spring must
afterwards be set free again.
The principal parts of the lamp being now pointed out, I will explain
its operation. Suppose the lamp to be empty, the piston will be at the
bottom of the oil chamber A. The spring F will be uncoiled (as far as the
length of the oil chamber will allow) and the upper end of the tubular piston
rod nearly down to the lower ends of the tube H, and of the regulator rod J.
Now to fill the lamp: oil is poured in at the nossel b, and flowing down in the
column round the tube H, in the direction of arrow 6, Fig. 1, enters into the
oil chamber, dropping upon the upper surface of the piston and filling the oil
chamber above it. The lamp should be filled up to or nearly up to the
nossel b; when it is so filled, then in order to prepare it for working, the piston
is slowly raised by turning round the pinion n by its key p. As the piston
rises a partial vacuum will be left in the oil chamber A beneath it, and con-
sequently the pressure of the atmosphere on the superincumbent oil, together
with the weight of such oil, will force a passage for the oil by the edges of the
cup leather e, which being as aforesaid flexible, by reason of their depth and
tapering form bend inward towards the centre of the oil chamber to let the

page_text: oil pass, and thus perform the function of a valve opening downwards; by this
application of a cup leather, I am enabled to dispense with any valve. The
spring F is at the same time by such raising of the piston forcibly compressed
against the upper plate of the oil chamber A, its coils lapping one within the
other by reason of the conical shape of the divisions of the said spring, so that
when compressed to the utmost it will not occupy in thickness much more than
three times the diameter of the wire of which it is composed when a triple
cone is used, as shewn in the Drawing, or four times when a quadruple cone
is used. Note, in order to give the means of preventing the spring from
acting, if it be desired to have the lamp ready prepared to operate for some
time before it may be desired to put it in operation, a small pin may be fixed
into the key p, as shewn by Fig. 9, which pin will enter the hole in the box
or bearing whenever the key p is pushed quite home on the axis of the
pinion n, and then the pinion will be prevented from turning round. When the
lamp is to be set in operation the key p will be drawn back enough to withdraw
the pin from the hole, and the spring will then begin to act. Or the same
thing may be effected by means of a small ratchet wheel 2, Figures 5 and 8,
fixed on the axis of the pinion n, with a click 3 to drop into its teeth and allow
the pinion to turn freely in winding up the spring, but prevent the spring
uncoiling itself, unless the teeth is thrown back off the teeth of the ratchet.
When the piston is drawn up to the top of the oil chamber as far as the spring
will allow, ready to act with its greatest force, the relative positions of the regu-
lator and piston rod will just be the reverse of what they were at commencing
to fill the lamp, viz', the regulator rod J will occupy the greater part of the length
of the tubular piston rod, and the oil chamber will be filled with oil beneath the
piston; whenever now the spring is allowed to uncoil itself it will press on the
piston and force it slowly downwards. The cup leather e being pressed on
the surface of the oil contained in the chamber beneath it, will expand against
the sides of the oil chamber and act as a packing to prevent any oil rising up
between the edges of the said cup leather and the sides of the oil chamber, con-
sequently the oil will be forced up through the tubular piston rod in the
direction of the arrow 7, Fig. 1. But inasmuch as the greater part of the
interior of such tube is occupied, as aforesaid, at the commencement of the
motion of the piston by the regulator rod, the oil in its ascent is greatly
retarded by its friction against the inside of the piston rod and the outside of
the regulator rod in the long narrow passage which it is forced through, so that
although the spring is acting with its greatest force, the supply of oil delivered
through the piston rod into the fixed ascent pipe II may be kept within
any given bounds, regulated by the size of the space left between the

page_text: regulator and piston rod, and the length of the regulator contained within
the said piston rod at such commencement of the action of the spring.
As fast as the spring uncoils itself, and consequently acts with less and less force,
the piston descends, and the tubular piston rod is drawn more and more off the
regulator rod, see Fig. 1, which represents the piston partly descended in the
oil chamber. By this means, although the force of the spring is continually
diminishing, while the height of the column of oil which it has to lift is con-
tinually increasing, yet the delivery of oil to the burner may be kept (by duly
proportioning the thickness and length of the regulator rod) nearly equal at
every point of the descent of the piston. Note, I have represented and
described the regulator rod as a rod of equal thickness throughout its length.
It may sometimes, however, be found necessary to make it very slighly
tapering or conical, but this will only be when the spring acts with an in-
equality proceeding in a more rapid ratio than can be compensated for by the
friction of the oil in a passage of uniform area though of varying length. In
such cases a very slight taper may be given with advantage to the regulator
rod, the effect of which will be to continually vary, during the descent of the
piston, the area of the aperture through which the oil passes into the ascent
tube H, as well as to vary the resistance to the passage of the oil caused by
friction; but whenever the spring is so made as to act regularly a regulator
rod of equal thickness throughout will be best. The oil passes up from the
upper end of the tube H, through a short neck 4, in the leg a¹, see Figures 1
and 5, which is hollow, and communicates with the annular space between the
burner tubes containing the wick. The small tube q, which carries the wick,
shewn detached in Figures 6 and 7, is represented in the Drawing as raised
and lowered by means of a rack r and pinion s, the rack r being fastened to
the said carrier tube q, and received and guided in the hollow of the leg a¹, see
Figures 1 and 5, and the pinion s, being fitted on a short axis, passing through
a socket soldered to the outer burner tube, and turned round by a key t, see
Fig. 1. u, u, are little toothed springs, fastened to the carrier tube q, to hold
the cotton wick fast against it when the carrier tube is between the two tubes
of the burner. v is the chimney standing in a short double tube w, which can
be slided up and down on the outer burner tube M, see Fig. 5, to increase or
decrease the length of the chimney; but the wick may, if it be thought more
convenient, be raised and lowered in the manner practised in the Argand burners
in common use, as shewn in Fig. 10. Note, the waste or excess of oil
flows down the inside of the inner burner tube M, and also outside of the
outer burner tube, through the waste gutter 8, see Figs. 1 and 3, and drops
down through the column into the oil chamber upon the surface of the piston,

page_text: and when the lamp has been burning some time, the waste oil may be caused
to pass below the piston by giving the piston n a few. turns, in order that snch
waste oil may be again raised up to the burner. The length of the tubular
piston rod which should be occupied by the regulator rod at the commence-
ment of the descent of the piston, and the area which should be left between
the regulator rod and the tubular piston rod; in order to produce the requisite
degree of friction to regulate the massage of the oil, and the degree of taper
(when any is given) of the regulator rod, must, it is obvious, be fixed in each
lamp with reference to the strength and regularity of action of the spring, and
the degree of viscidity of the oil burned, nor can any precise rules or dimensions
be laid down for the relative sizes of the regulator rod and the piston rod. I
will, however, observe, by way of general direction for the construction of
lamps to which the said improvement is to be applied, that as regards the
elastic force of the spring it should be such as to exert, when the piston has
reached the utmost extent of its motion, a pressure, exceeding by about. a
pound or a little more the weight of the whole column of oil which it then
supports; and that as regards the proper proportions for the regulator and the
tubular piston rod, they will be found by attending to the following direction,
that when a lamp of ordinary size, intended to burn from six to ten hours,
with such oil as is ordinarily used for table lamps, is burning, there should be
about from five to twenty drops per minute of waste oil delivered from the
waste gutter 8. The amount of resistance to the passage of the oil, and con-
sequently the quantity of waste oil, will be finally regulated by drawing up or
pushing down the regulator more or less. This regulation must be left to the
discretion of the person making or using the lamp, having regard to the
viscidity of the oil or other inflammable matter used.
Having now described the nature and mode of applying the said improve-
ment to the construction of lamps, I do hereby declare that under the said
Letters Patent, granted to me as aforesaid, I claim only the application of a
regulator to lamps in which the oil or other inflammable matter is intended to
be forced up to the burner by means of a piston pressed against the surface of
the said oil or other inflammable matter, such regulator being adapted to
operate in the manner which I have described (that is to say), in combination
with and means of the motion of such piston, so as to occupy a continually
decreasing space in the channel or passage through which the oil or other
inflammable matter is forced from the reservoir, and thus oppose a continually
decreasing resistance to the passage thereof. And as to the spring, the piston,
with its cup leather, the rack, and all other parts of the lamp, the same have
been described by me merely in order to shew how the regulator aforesaid may be

page_text: most advantageously applied to a lamp acting by means of a spring and piston,
and I do not claim an exclusive right to such parts, or any, of them, as the
same are or may be already known and in use in lamps.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Houghton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.