IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Iake, & Co., of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Patent
Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS."-A com-
munication from abroad by John Mansfield Perkins and Mark
Wiggens House, both of Cleveland, Ohio, United States of
America.
Sealed the 18th September 1869, and dated the 20th April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th April 1869.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS,"
a communication, to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to a lamp which is constructed in such a
manner that hydrocarbon and volatile oils and liquids may be burned

page_text: therein without any danger of explosion, while the combustion is more
perfect and the flame is more uniform than in other lamps used for the
same purpose.
My improved lamp is constructed with an annular reservoir which
surrounds an annular air chamber, and through the centre of the said
air chamber extends the burning chamber. The latter is connected to
the annular reservoir at the bottom by supply pipes which pass through
the air chamber and at the top by vent tubes, which also pass through
the said chamber. At the top of the burning chamber is the burner,
which is perforated, the perforated portion thereof being surrounded by
a collar which forms a continuation of the air chamber. In order that
the reservoir may be filled without danger of explosion, I provide the
same at the top with an aperture, from which a tube descends whose
lower and inner end lies in a cup or socket fixed at or near the bottom
of the reservoir. This arrangement allows the liquid to flow down
through the tube and cup, but prevents the rising of any gas through
the supply aperture into contact with the external air when the lamp is
being filled. The lamp may be placed upon a suitable stand or column
or supported in any other desired manner. The burning chamber, which
should extend slightly below the reservoir, is very little larger than the
wick tube which projects upward inside the burner. The burner is
attached to the said chamber by a slip or telescopic joint, and is secured
by a suitable fastening. The said joint allows the burner to be readily
detached from the burning chamber. At the bottom of the reservoir is
a perforated plate or screen through which cold air is admitted to the
flame. All the air fed to the flame passes through the perforations in
the said screen and through the annular air chamber between the
burning chamber and reservoir, and keeps the contents of both at a low
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., of No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LAMPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Robert Lake, 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 Drawing forming a part of this Specification :--
The said Invention relates to a lamp which is constructed in such a
manner that hydrocarbon and volatile oils and liquids may be burned
therein without any danger of explosion, while the combustion is more
perfect and the flame is more uniform than in other lamps used for the
same purpose.
My improved lamp is constructed with an annular reservoir which
surrounds an annular air chamber, and through the centre of the said
air chamber extends the burning chamber. The latter is connected to
the annular reservoir at the bottom by supply pipes which pass through
the air chamber and at the top by vent tubes, which also pass through
the said chamber. At the top of the burning chamber is the burner,
which is perforated, the perforated portion thereof being surrounded by

page_text: a collar which forms a continuation of the air chamber. In order that
the reservoir may be filled without danger of explosion I provide the
same at the top with an aperture, from which a tube descends whose
lower and inner end lies in a cup or socket fixed at or near the bottom
of the reservoir. This arrangement allows the liquid to flow down
through the tube and cup, but prevents the rising of any gas through
the supply aperture into contact with the external air when the lamp
is being filled. The lamp may be placed upon a suitable stand or column
same at the top with an aperture, from which a tube descends whose
lower and inner end lies in a cup or socket fixed at or near the bottom
of the reservoir. This arrangement allows the liquid to flow down
through the tube and cup, but prevents the rising of any gas through
the supply aperture into contact with the external air when the lamp
is being filled. The lamp may be placed upon a suitable stand or column
or supported in any other desired manner.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the said lamp complete; Figure 2
is a vertical transverse section of the said lamp showing all the essential
parts of these improvements; Figure 3 is a top view of the same, the
burner being removed; Figure 4 shows a detached portion of the said
lamp.
A is the reservoir for holding the oil or fluid; B, the burning chamber;
C, the collar around the base of the burner; D, the air passage around
the burning chamber; E, the wick tube of the burner; F, the cone of
the burner; G, the burner; H, the slip joint; the fastening that
secures the burner to the lamp; J, the vent tubes of the reservoir; K,
the supply pipes leading from the reservoir to the burning chamber; S,
the perforated screen at the base of the reservoir through which the
cold air passes to feed the flame; M is an oil feeder or tube for filling
the lamp; N is a trap which rests upon the bottom of the lamp and
receives the lower end of the tube M, as shown in Figure 2. The
purpose of this arrangement is to keep any gases that may be generated
from the oils and that may arise into the space in the lamp above the
oil from coming in contact with the atmosphere when the lamp is being
filled.
The burning chamber B is very little or no greater in diameter than
the wick tube E; in depth it should extend a little below the bottom of
the reservoir A. The burner G is attached to the burning chamber by a
telescopic joint and secured by the fastening I. This construction of the
joint allows the burner to be detached from the burning chamber with
greater facility than it could be with an ordinary screw joint. The
reservoir A for holding the oil is made independent of the burning

page_text: chamber B, and is only connected thereto by the supply oil pipes K and
the vent tubes J for the escape of gas and supply of air to the reservoir.
The air space D between the burning chamber B and the reservoir A
may be made of any convenient capacity so long as it will furnish a full
supply of air for combustion; a space of one-fourth to three-eighths of
an inch around the burning chamber is found to be ample for that
purpose. The supply pipes K leading from the bottom of the reservoir.
to the burning chamber B should be large enough to admit the ready
flow of oil to the reservoir when it is replenished. The size of onc-
cighth () to three-sixteenths (1%) of an inch inner diameter is formed to
admit the oil readily, and also to resist the action of flame when the tube
is of sufficient length. It is preferable to make these pipes from one to
one and a half inches long, and place them in connection with the
reservoir, so that all the oil will be drawn to the burning chamber. The
vent tubes J are about one-sixteenth of an inch inner diameter and
from three-eighths to one-half inch long, connecting the reservoir at its
highest point with the burning chamber. These tubes will resist tho
passage of flame to the reservoir when that receptacle is charged with
the most explosive gases, and all the gases that are generated in the
reservoir are conveyed to the burning chamber, where they are allowed
to pass up to the flame and be consumed. The collar C, which is
attached to the upper portion of the burner G, extends down to the
top of the reservoir, and secures the burner G to the burning chamber B
by the fastening I. This collar, connecting the burner, chamber, and
reservoir, completes the air passage D. All the air fed to the flame for
combustion traverses the air passage through the perforated plate S and
air passage D, as shewn by the arrows. The effect of this artificial
draught of cold air is to keep the oil in the burning chamber and
reservoir at a lower temperature than when no such draught is created,
and the air to maintain combustion is supplied through the base of the
burner in the common way.
Another advantage pertaining to this construction consists in the
uniformity of light while the full contents of the lamp are being
consumed. All kerosene and other oils have a tendency to arrange
themselves in strata of different specific quantities when left in a
quiescent state and subjected to heat, the light and ethereal portion
being at the top, and the oils of low gravity at the bottom. When the
reservoir A is full the heaviest oil is being consumed when the oil has

page_text: the least distance to travel in the wick, whereas when the said reservoir
is nearly exhausted and the oil has the greatest distance to rise in the
wick the lightest porcion of the oil is being consumed, hence the
uniformity of the light with the least amount of heat and adjustment.
By taking the cold air to keep up combustion in the manner herein-
before described the flame of the lamp is much less liable to be affected
by motion or currents of air than in an ordinary lamp. Moreover, in
consequence of the low temperature of the oil and body of the lamp
and small amount of conducting surface from the burning chamber to
the body of the lamp it is not so readily covered with oil on the outside
by capillary attraction as other lamps.
In a lamp constructed according to this Invention the following
advantages are also secured:-In consequence of the small amount
of surface of oil exposed by any means to the action of flame, gases
cannot be generated in sufficient quantities to become dangerous or
injurious. The orifice of the opening to the burning chamber through
which flame enters or gases escape is as large as the surface of oil acted
upon. Light oils and volatile fluids may be burned in the said lamp
and the flame controlled with greater facility. The burning chamber
and reservoir holding the oil are kept at a low temperature by the
current of cold air constantly passing, and the large amount of oil
surface in the reservoir is so protected that flame cannot enter and
explode it. The combustion is more perfect than in lamps taking the
supply of air above the body of the lamp, as in such lamps the air
entering the burner near the flame becomes heated before entering, while
in this lamp the cold air is brought from a point so far below the flame
as to be wholly unaffected by it.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. The annular reservoir A, the annular air chamber D, the
burning chamber B, the supply pipes K, and vent tubes J, constructed
and arranged, all or any of them together, substantially as and for the
purposes described.
Second. The collar C in combination with the perforated burner G
when both are so constructed and arranged as to extend the cold air
chamber D up and around the perforated portion of the burner, substan-
tially as shown and described.

page_text: Third. The oil feeder M and the trap N in combination with the other
parts of the lamp, substantially as and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)