Improvements relating to Wicks and Burners.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Jan., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Oct., 1895-Accepted, 7th Dec., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Wicks and Burners.
I, EMILE GALTIER of 24 Rue St. Roch, Paris in the Republic of France,
Priest, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to wicks and burners, which though suitable for burning
mineral oils in general are especially intended for burning spirit, alcohol, or essences,
especially in a gasefied and intense flame.
The improvements consist first in combining with a cotton wick an end of
amianthus or asbestos, sewn or otherwise fastened thereto, substituting if desired.
for the cotton, silk wool flax or any other suitable capilary material, thus forming:
a non-combustible wick.
This wick should be surrounded along all its length with a metal tube having at
is lower end a few openings for admission of the combustible liquid to the wick.
To extinguish the burner I preferably employ a sliding tube having a globular.
or spherical enlargement in which mercury may be placed. This tube may surround
the wick tube and may be raised to flood the wick with mercury which will return.
in and with the annular chamber. which said enlargement forms when the sliding:
tube is again lowered.
{
I may employ a series of perforated or slotted hoods to be fitted in place of one:
another on the end of the wick tube to give flames of various shapes..
Dated this 23rd day of January 1895.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant.
Improvements relating to Wicks and Burners.
1, EMILE GALTIER of 24 Rue St. Roch, Paris in the Republic of France,
Priest, 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 :-
This invention relates to wicks and burners which though suitable for burning
mineral oils in general are especially intended for burning spirit, alcohol or essences
especially in a gasified and intense flame.
The lamps actually in use are all defective in one way or another, mostly owing
to their wicks.
These defects have induced me to try and find a material of sufficiently prompt
absorption and indestructible through the flame which, connected to another
material more absorbent than the former immersed in the liquid, fitted in a metallic
sheath round or flat and forming consequently one body with it, constitutes a
faultless burner; easy to be fitted, of regular function, and which once fitted in its
place will be firm and indestructible in all its parts.
This burner, which gives especially when burning essences a strong, very white
and high flame, has the very valuable advantage of being a fixture and always
LD

page_text: immersed in the liquid without derangement, moreover it will consume the fuel
to the last drop, without burning. itself as it is incombustible by the nature of
its end.
This end A (Fig. 1) is made of amianthus or asbestos on which flame does not
exercise
any influence.
After numerous trials and by reason of the very slight porosity of amianthus
I have found that the dimensions in length of this end need not be very considerable.
This is why the dimensions vary, according to the material that is to be burned,
from a centimeter to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, centimeters from its fixing point to the spot
which is ignited. Under these conditions the asbestos end is sufficiently porous to
feed the flame abundantly with the combustible liquid obtained by the capillary
attraction of the material which is in direct contact with the liquid.
This material after being connected to the amianthus end by sewing or similar
manuer of attachment forms only one part with it, and may consist of cotton, thread,
silk, wool, &c. or of any other porous and capillary matter.
.
To these two parts of the burner, a third must be added. This is a metallic
tube G. enclosing the other two parts, amianthus and cotton.
When burning alcohols and essences and if necessary also with mineral oils this
metallic tube entirely covers the cotton and the amianthus. Moreover it rests or
may be screwed on the bottom of the recipient whatever it may be.
I must observe here that the length of the cotton fixed to the amianthus
and of the tube containing it is entirely dependent on the height of the
different recipients into which they are supposed to be introduced and the
tube, may be straight (Figs. 2 and 3) bent as in (Fig. 5) or obliquely with
straight or obtuse angles (Fig. 4) or more or less undulated according to require-
ments and the results that are to be obtained. In the case of a small portable lamp
which is intended to be moved about and is therefore in danger of being upset
many times, the tube not only covers entirely the cotton and the amianthus, but
even surpasses the latter for about 1 centimeter from the point where the tube is
fastened which point is always where the wicks end (Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7).
This part of the wick tube which surpasses the wick and always touches the
bottom of the recipient,, forms what may be called the suction chamber of the
liquid C. In fact the end cap of the tube consists of a closing piece with a hard
frictional resistance. By this means the liquid is in communication with the cotton
of the amianthus wick only through several small holes a, fitted in the upper third
of the chamber about one or two millimeters below the point where the cotton
ends, just where the tube is fastened of which I have spoken before.
It is therefore only through these holes a that the liquid is sucked and received by
the cotton which brings it to the burner point A. The other two thirds of the
suction chamber are occupied in parts by a few drops of mercury D₁ which in the
normal position of recipient and tube do not reach to the needle holes a and leave
the cotton B necessarily in connection with the liquid. But should the recipient be.
upset the liquid mercury will be upset at the same time and will cover and stop the
small holes a without however passing through them by reason of its great density,
thus the communication between the liquid and the amianthus point is interrupted
and the latter will be extinguished accordingly.
In the other constructions of the burner this suction chamber with the mercury
may be used, but are not at all necessary and the part of the tube G which is
immersed in the liquid may be perforated with au infinite number of small holes, or it
may be indented from spot to spot like the teeth of a saw, whereby a greater
absorption of the liquid will be facilitated which will be especially required with a
wick made entirely of amianthus, of which I shall speak later on.
It may be remarked that in this burner the wick screw gripping the wick as in
other systems of lamps for the purpose of raising or lowering the wick does not
exist. However I do not intend to deprive my burner of this aid and intend to use
it, according to circumstances. In principle it is not required.
In my system of burner the amianthus end which is ignited need not be moved.

page_text: at all because it is incombustible. Therefore a small supplementary tube D with a
button E is quite sufficient for regulating it (Figs. 3, 4, and 5).
The tube may also be constructed in the following manner :-Two hemispherical
sheets of metal I J (Figs. 7, 8, 9,) of a certain diameter inferior to that of the
round plate to which they, are fixed, the one above and the other below, are
traversed by an extinguishing tube K to which they are afterwards soldered, this
tube may turn on spiral or screw threads. The bulb formed by the parts I J may
be filled with mercury so that when it is raised sufficiently the mercury may
overflow the wick and so extinguish the flame.
With the aid of this tube the amianthus end may be regulated but will never be
touched or gripped by a screw or roller or similar regulating appliance. Being
incombustible the amianthus end, and with it the cotton once fixed ready fitted in
the tube if necessary will last as they are delivered to the public as long as the
recipient itself without requiring alteration and repairs; the filling of the recipient
may be done from the sides.
Considering the numerous advantages of this burner it will not be difficult
to imagine the numerous combinations in which it may be successfully arranged.
Any system of lamp in use at present may in fact be fitted with this burner and
in the easiest, cheapest and least complicated manner. As I have mentioned above,
this burner fitted into a convenient recipient containing the liquid represents with
numerous advantages a portable lamp, it may also be used instead of the candle,
pocket vesta, night light, church candles, gas lighter &c. &c.
United into groups of 3, 4, 5, 6, more or less according to form and diameter of
a crown these burners will give a flame which when put under glass will replace
the Kosmos" type of lamp and others.
United into groups of 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. these burners when bent and undulated may
replace the gas brackets or chandeliers with 2, 3, 4 or 5 flames &c. &c.
The burner may also be used as a small heating stove, plate warmer, for use in
the kitchen and as stove for rooms, and all these results may be obtained without
deranging in any way the amianthus point, which will continually consume the liquid
whatever be the recipient which encloses it, and at the same time without being
consumed itself any more than the cotton fixed at a proper distance from the
incandescent point and feeding the latter with the liquid by means of its capillarity.
It has been remarked at the beginning of the present description that this burner
will consume mineral essences, also alcohols in a gasified and intense state and
with regard to this my system has another ingenious feature.
In adjusting to this burner a small cap tube L about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, centimeters
in length screwed and fitted on the tube or rather on the extinguishing tube which
is screwed and fitted on the main tube, it is easy to transform the mineral essences
and alcohols in gasified and intense flame.
For this purpose it is only necessary to provide the cap tube close in front of
the burning point with one two or three infinitely small holes as at the upper
extremity of the cap (Figs. 9, 10, 11).
Thus a series of caps is obtained which are definitely pierced and may be
screwed one after the other on the extinguishing tube K, and will give all sorts of
figures of flame, a crown, a fleur-de-lys, a trefoil, a lance point &c. &c. which figures
are formed by a flame similar to that of gas, white, high, and always constant and
only extinguished when the last drop of liquid is consumed, in spite of the intensity
of this flame which would have carbonised any silk, cotton or other wick for a
length of 4 or 5 centimeters and more, the amianthus point has not been attacked
by the flame nor carbonised, because it is incombustible.
The extinguishing tube and the cap with intense flame may consist of one piece
adjusted either through the set screw E. or through the hemispherical metal plates
described before this permits of constituting a series of 10 to 12 tubes with
different flames.
To light the burner with amianthus end fitted with the cap only an ordinary
match is required which is held not far from the two small holes of which I have

page_text: spoken before. When the latter have been touched by the flame a few seconds, a
slight whistling is heard and the gases will escape through the needle holes c fitted
in the cap and pass to the flame of the match.
I have also succeded in obtaining the gasification of petroleum by the means of
these tubes by allowing several bits of amianthus to protrude for about 1 or 2 milli-
meters through the two first needle holes. This may be applied in the same
manner with chandeliers fitted with my burner, by this means, the flames would be
lighted in a moment. There may also be applied a small round plate of brass
which would collect the flame of the match and apply it to the tube with interior
flame.
Having thus described the general features of this system of lighting with
intense flame, I may mention that it would be possible to obtain 3 different forms
of burners with the same tube by fitting it in the manner shown in Figs. 12, 13,
and 14. Taking for instance a tube open at both ends, and introducing a wick
either all composed of amianthus, or both ends only consisting of that material and
united by a cotton wick, then this tube may be closed at both extremities by means
of a cap with two holes for one end, and by a cap with three holes for the other
end, we obtain thus two distinct incandescent points which may be used alternately
(see Figs. 12 and 13). The third incandescent point will be obtained by removing
one of the caps and by immersing the other in the liquid, the wick, in the aforesaid
case touches the edges of the tube and burns like an ordinary lamp, that is to say
without gasification (see Fig. 14).
The regularity of the flame is obtained by two physical causes: the lamp being
newly filled with the liquid, the latter is consumed not only by reason of the
capillarity, but also by the pressure of the liquid itself, which penetrates into the
feeding holes.
The level of the liquid makes room in descending for the air traversed by the
central tube holding the wick, this tube heated by its proximity to the incandescent
point, expands the air above the liquid; it is this progressive expansion which
replaces the proper pressure of the liquid.
I have spoken before of a wick made entirely of amianthus. Recent experience
with regard to the absorptive power of amianthus especially that which has been
in a bath of acetic acid, have convinced me that the threads of this material fitted
one to the other without too much compression in lengths of 20 to 30 centimeters
or more and covered by a tube woven of cotton, or even of amianthus of very fine
threads held from distance to distance by a knot or other tie such as a ring of
caoutchouc, cotton, hemp, amianthus, wire or copper or brass rope fiited from
distance to distance on the part immersed by the liquid, are of sufficient absorptive
power to allow the liquid to pass in sufficient quantity to feed the flame; I there-
fore reserve the right to use the wick made entirely of amianthus in the manner
described above and especially in the manner described hereinafter which is more
simple still.
The threads are simply introduced into the tube for their whole length; the part
of the tube immersed in the liquid is perforated with little holes or provided with
small teeth like a saw as has been explained herein before. Though this wick made
entirely of amianthus is, as far as the results are concerned, inferior to the one
described before, which consists in a great part of cotton and has only the end
made of amianthus; though it is also more expensive as the amianthus threads are
more expensive than cotton threads, nevertheless this wick may be used in all cases
where it may be of special use to my burner.
In the drawings Fig. 11 represents a few variations of the cap which may be
applied to my burner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inveu-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. An end of a wick made of amianthus, woven, sewn or fixed in any other

page_text: manner to a wick of cotton, silk, thread, wool of any desired length or diameter,.
which may be used in all systems of lamps, especially those burning essences and
alcohols.
2. To contain and consume the liquid brought to it, a tube described hereinbefore.
of a length and diameter according to the wick to be used.
3. The method of closing such tube when reversed by the use of mercury.
4. A series of tube caps giving different figures to the flames, these caps being
either separated from or forming only one body with the extinguishing tube,.
provided with a set screw or two hemispherical pieces of metal.
5. An arrangement of these caps to be applied to lighting appliances such as
lamps, chandeliers, lustres etc., producing the gasification of the essence, this
arrangement consisting of a tube straight or bent, closed at its two ends and
provided at its extremities with small holes, some serving for the alimentation and
the others for the escape of the gas, said tube containing a wick of cotton or
preferably of cotton and amianthus leaving a free space between it and the
upper extremity of the tube, the space forming the chamber for gasification.
Dated this 23rd day of October 1895.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18 Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C., Agents to the Applicant.