Improvements in Branding Irons.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr., 1899-Accepted, 17th June, 1899
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM FULTON HUTCHINSON and WILLIAM
THOMAS CRISWELL, both of No. 95, Liberty Street, City of New York,
United States of America.]
Improvements in Branding Irons.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in branding irons and especially to
such irons as are used for branding cattle. In branding cattle it is necessary
to apply the iron while it is hot and under the old system it was with difficulty
that the animal could be restrained while the iron was heated and applied
and to obviate this difficulty I have produced this invention, the object of
which is to produce an iron which is automatically heated; which can be kept
heated for a long time and which can be easily and rapidly applied to a great
number of cattle. Other objects are to make an iron which is cheap and simple;
which can be easily controlled by the operator and also to produce a device
which can be used for branding other things than cattle if desired.
To these ends my invention consists of a branding iron, the construction and
organization of which will be hereinafter described and claimed.
In the drawings, wherein similar figures of reference indicate similar parts,
Figure I is a broken side elevation of the branding iron embodying my inveñ-
tion;
Figure II is a broken enlarged longitudinal section of the same;
Figure III is a plan view thereof;
Figure IV is a sectional plan on the line IV-IV of Figure II;
Figure is a broken longitudinal section showing the burner more particu-
larly and illustrating the preferred form of burner attachment;
Figure VI is a vertical section taken transversely of Figure V and illustrating
in detail the burner; and
Figure VII is a sectional plan on the line VII-VII of Figure VI.
The device is provided with a suitable oil reservoir 10, which has the usual
filling means 11, and extending upward from the reservoir and suitably attached
thereto is a tube 12, while a similar tube 13 extends downward from the reser-
voir, but the former communicates with the interior of the reservoir and the
latter does not. These tubes are preferably covered with a wooden or other
handle 14 to enable the device to be more easily operated, the handle having
suitable ferrules 15 at the ends. The upper tube 12 serves as the barrel for an
air pump, which has the customary piston 16 worked by the rod 17 and handle 18,
and below the piston is the usual pump valve 19 which may be of any ordinary
Die Q17

page_text: construction and through which air is forced into the pipe 20 and from here
into the upper part of the reservoir. The mouth of this pipe is closed by a
needle valve 21, the stem 22 of which has a suitable handle and is threaded
into the top of the reservoir. When the air is to be pumped into the reservoir
the valve 21 is opened and when the reservoir is full it will be seen that the
back pressure would flow into the pipe 20 and back into the pump, but after
the reservoir is sufficiently charged the valve 21 is closed so as to prevent this
back pressure. Leading down from the reservoir through the tube 13 is a small
pipe 23 which discharges into a hollow head 24 having exits 25, which are
very small and which are controlled by needle valves 26, the stems 27 of which
have suitable handles and extend downward where they can be readily reached.
The head 24 is held in a supporting flange 28 attached to the lower end of the
tube 13. It will be seen that the oil which is forced down under pressure
through the pipe 23 and into the head 24 will be sprayed through the small
openings 25 and can be burned as it is sprayed. Obviously, any suitable
valves can be used and any number of these openings, but the openings should
be small so as to spray the oil.
Extending downward from the flange 28 are supporting rods 29, which are
attached to an open flange or rim 30 and this carries the branding iron 31
which has suitable hollow characters 32 thereon. These characters represent
the brand and can be letters or other devices.
The rim 30 also supports a perforated guard 33, which as shown is rectangular,
but may be of any preferred shape, and this guard prevents the wind from
interfering with the flame when the oil vapor is being burned and also causes
the flame to be directed against the branding iron 31. The force of the air
causes the flame to impinge on the branding iron or plate 31 so that the latter
is kept heated and by adjusting the valves 25 the degree of heat can be nicely
regulated.
While I do not confine myself to the use of any specific burner, as any suit-
able vaporizing burner can be used, still the form shown in Figures V to VII is
best suited for the purpose. As here illustrated, the flange 28 at the lower end
of the tube 13 has dependent rods 29 covering the rim or plate 30 and the
branding plate or iron 31-32 as previously described, but the oil pipe 23 dis-
charges into a chamber 35 in the head 24", from which chamber leads a
U-shaped pipe 36, the return member of the pipe delivering into the chamber 37
of the hood 24", which chamber surrounds the smaller one 35 as best shown in
Figure VII. The oil as it passes downward through the pipe 36 is heated or
vaporized so that when it comes back into the chamber 37 it issues in vapor
form through the ports 38 in the bottom of the chamber 37 and these ports are
controlled by needle valves 26 like those already described. The ports 38 dis-
charge through tubes 39 which deliver downward upon the branding plate 31-32,
and the space above the branding plate is a combustion chamber in which the
vapor is burned and the branding plate is heated. To facilitate combustion
the tubes 39 have air holes 39ª in their sides and the tubes are encircled by a
wire gauze 40. A second gauze or guard 41 encircles the burner above the
rim 30, thus preventing the wind from blowing the flames and forming a
chamber in which the flame is confined and the heating of the iron facilitated.
From the above description it will be seen that any suitable form of burner can
be used without departing from the principle of the invention.
The operation will be clearly understood from the above description and it
will be noticed that if the air pressure is kept up the valves 26 can be controlled
so that a constant volatilized stream will pass downward to the branding iron
and the latter is kept as hot as desired.
As illustrated, the device is especially adapted for gasoline, but any suitable
burning fluid or oil can be used, the burner being, of course, adapted to the
material.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what is claimed is:-
1. A branding iron comprising an oil reservoir, an air pump discharging into
the reservoir and having its discharge controlled by a valve, a discharge pipe
leading downward from the oil reservoir and merging in a head having valve-
controlled exits, a branding iron or plate held below the said head, and a hollow
guard arranged below the branding iron.
2. A branding iron comprising an elongated handle having an oil reservoir
thereon, an air pump held in the handle and discharging into the reservoir, a
spraying device controlled by valves arranged at the lower end of the handle and
supplied from the reservoir, a branding plate or iron held below the end of the
handle, and a hollow guard arranged above the branding plate or iron.
3. A branding iron having its several parts constructed and arranged substan-
tially as shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing
specification.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.