IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AIR AND REGULATING THE SUPPLY TO THE BURNERS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1874.-A communication from abroad by John Madison
Cayce, of Franklin, in the County of Williamson, and State of
Tennessee, United States of America.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AIR AND
REGULATING THE SUPPLY TO THE BURNERS," to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention relates to and consists in means whereby air may be
carburetted and supplied to burners in a novel and economical manner
as hereafter described.
The carburettor is composed of light and easily handled sections, held
together by bands whose joints are united by some cohesive material,
which will melt under a moderately high temperature, the object of
which is to enable the parts to be separately and readily removed in case
of a fire on the premises or in the building where the carburetter may be
used. These sections are provided with open tubes projecting from a
"

page_text: closed bottom, each section being filled with cotton or other absorbent,
and having a reticulated top. The several sections are separated by the
bands, so as to have an intervening space between the bottom of one and
the top of the next subjacent one. The oil being poured through a top
opening in the carburetter spreads over the reticulated top plate and
saturating the absorbent in the highest chamber rises to the top of the
tubes, then passes through to the next section, and so on to the lowest.
Here it is only permitted to rise to a level with an opening or indicator,
and opening which notes a sufficiency of supply. The object of these
several compartments is to prevent a difficulty incident to a single
chambered vessel, namely, that when the hydrocarbon is introduced
gravity causes it to percolate in streams through the absorbent to the
bottom of the vessel, whereby the absorbent is not thoroughly saturated
in all parts, and also indicating a sufficiency of supply at the indicator
opening before such has been attained. This has had the effect hitherto
of causing the air to be unequally and imperfectly carburetted. The
pipe that receives the carburetted air at its bottom as well as the bottoms
of the tubes are prevented from filling or being clogged with cotton by
an interlaced wire or other analogous protector.
The air is forced by pressure in and out of the carburettor through
inlet and outlet pipes, from the latter of which it finds its way to the
burner, the supply being regulated by a cock. These two pipes are
connected by a short T pipe, whose stem leads to the air supply, and
which is also provided with cocks one on each side, the object of this
connecting pipe and these cocks being to overcome another difficulty in
air carebutting machines, namely, the over supply of the air with
hydrocarbon, which causes the light to smoke and lessens its clearness of
illumination. When the light is found to smoke I close partially one of
these cocks and open the other more or less, thereby allowing a portion
of the air to mix with that which has been carburetted and thus varying
the proportion of oxygen and carbon to suit the purpose. By observing
the flame I can thus adjust the relative proportions until I obtain a
clear, strong, and beautiful light.
To regulate the pressure of carburetted air at the burner, and prevent
the blowing, flickering, and irregularity of the flame, I employ. a.
governor communicating by suitable pipes with the T pipe before
mentioned, and consisting of an inverted cup and two cylinders, one of
which has a closed top, the two being conjoined at the bottom. The

page_text: space between these cylinders is filled with water or other liquid and the
whole forms a liquid valve. The air chamber is thus made to increase
or diminish in size, according to the weight which is brought to bear
upon it. Of course as soon as the air fills the chamber it is forced through
a pipe. To the top of the inverted cup I attach rods, which are pivotted
at the other end to fixed bars, said rods being provided with a cross bar,
which is held in a slot or bifurcated end of a lever supported on a rigid
vertical rod, an adjustable weight being placed on the other side of the
fulcrum of said lever. With the cross bar I connect by a pivoted rod a
cock or an air pipe through which a double-action pump forces the air
into the governor. The pressure is always first felt upon the valve
which rises and limits the supply of air and consequently the pressure
by the cock on the air pipe. If from any cause the latter tends to fall,
the valve opens to a suitable extent, so that the pressure is always
preserved about or nearly at what is indicated by the position of the
movable weight.
The air pumps which are constructed upon the same principle as the
governor, are connected by pivoted rods and a centrally fulcrumed lever,
whose fulcrumed bar rocks in and between the framing of the apparatus.
This lever is vibrated by a pitman on a crank shaft, which is rotated by
clock or other mechanism driven by a weight or spring. The two air
pump cylinders are connected at the bottom by valved pipes, the valves
being rocked in their seats by arms connected by a horizontal rod. This
horizontal rod is connected with a sliding bar by a pivoted rod and rock
shaft, the bar being hollowed out to form a yoke, within which works
the drive crank before mentioned. When the latter is off the dead
points and has a tendency to move suddenly, and move rapidly (thus
producing a jerking motion) it is required to move this slide, whereby
its impulse is relieved and its motion made more uniform. At the same
time it opens and closes the air inlet valves alternately and with great
regulality.