IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, Gentleman, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING."-A communication from Alexandre
Martin, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Gentleman.
Sealed the 9th May 1854, and dated the 11th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th March 1854.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING," a communication from
Alexandre Martin, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Gentleman, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to lighting by gas, and consists in feeding the flame
with heated air, and consuming the smoke and unconsumed products of com-
bustion. The gas and heated air is supplied by two distinct pipes, and the
burner is that known as the ordinary argand burner, although the principle
may be applied to other burners. The air supplying the flame passes through
wire gauze situated at the bottom of the burner. The burner is surrounded
by an outside tube or casing, which extends to the upper edge or lip of the
same, thereby forming an annular chamber around it through which the

page_text: heated air is supplied. The smoke is consumed in a vessel or chamber placed
immediately over the mouth of the chimney, and the heated air from the
flame passes through an opening in the upper portion of this chamber into
the hot air supply pipe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal: Patent Office on
the 11th September 1854..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and
of Glasgow, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
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 for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING," a communication from Alexandre
Martin, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Gentleman, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to the use of gas as a means of illumination, the
essential features of the improvements being, the heating the gas prior to

page_text: gas
actual combustion; the supplying the luminous flame with heated air, and the
consuming the smoke and the general products of the gaseous combustion.
The and heated air are supplied to the burner, which is of the common
argand kind, by two separate and distinct pipes, the air being passed through
a wire gauze diaphragm or through a suitable perforated medium at the bottom
of the burner. The burner is surrounded by an external tube or casing,
forming an annular chamber round the burner, for the passage through of the
heated air supply. The smoke and escape vapours are consumed in a chamber
disposed immediately over the mouth of the chimney, and the heated air from
the flame passes through an opening in the upper portion of this chamber into
the hot air supply pipe. With these arrangements superior economy in the
consumption of gas is secured, whilst all unpleasant odours ordinarily arising
from the combustion of gas are avoided. And in order that the said Inven-
tion may be properly understood, I shall now proceed to describe the several
Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto attached. Figure 1, on Sheet 1
of the Drawings, represents a vertical section of the improved gas illumination
apparatus complete. Figure 2 is an external elevation of the detached
burner complete; Figure 3 is a plan of the same; Figure 4 is an external
elevation of the upper portion of the pipes which supply the heated gas
and air; Figure 5 is a horizontal section of the same taken along the
line 1, 2; Figure 6 is another horizontal section taken through 3 & 4; and
Figure 7 is a vertical plan of the air and gas inlets taken along the line 5
& 6 in Figure 1. The whole of these Figures are drawn full size. The
burner itself consists, as is usual, of a hollow cylinder A, perforated at the
upper part thereof, and fitted internally with the gas conductor b, which sup-
plies the flame and rests upon the double forked pipe c, c¹. It is through the
pipe formed by the junction of the forked passes c, c², that the gas arrives at the
burner from above, by traversing along one side of the lyre-formed thorough-
fare D, which is furnished for that purpose with the adjustable stop-cock E.
The burner and its supports are surrounded by a casing or jacket f, which is
furnished at its lower portion with a wire gauze cup g. This lower portion of
the burner and jacket is also surrounded by a perforated case or shell h,
which is perforated as far as the commencement of the forked passages c, c',
and is plain as far as the point where it joins the bottom of the lyre. The
gallery or chimney holder J, and the glass chimney K, close the top of the
perforated case h, and the whole is surmounted by the smoke burner L, which
is furnished inside with double pipes m and n for the passage of the air and
gas respectively. The operation of this apparatus is as follows:-The gas
arrives from above by the small pipe O, and diffuses itself over the interior of

page_text: the space or chamber formed by the pipe o', where it is slightly heated by the
flame of the burner A below. The heated gas then passes off by one side of
the lyre D, the right hand pipe being that here shewn as the gas pipe in the
Drawings. The carbonized products of combustion enter the smoke burner L
by the glass or chimney J, which is contracted at its upper portion to produce
a more powerful and regular draught, and also to enable it to open into the
smoke burner by an expanded or bell mouth, as shewn in the Drawing Figure 1.
These products of combustion, which ordinarily attach themselves to the
interior of the smoke burner and combine with the surrounding air, are, on
the contrary, in this arrangement collected to a certain extent inside the smoke
burner; and there they mix or combine with the highly heated air contained
therein. The action which the cold external air exerts, as it enters by means
of the annular opening surrounding the top of the chimney, upon the hot
air with which the products of combustion are intimately mixed, carries off
such products, which pass up the pipe q, communicating by means of the
left hand pipe of the lyre with the holes or perforations r, Figure 5, and pass to
the circular chamber s, represented in Figures 1 and 7 of the Drawings.
These products, with the heated air being continually consumed, constitute the
essential means of the great economy obtained. The chamber s is perforated
by a number of small holes t, and the hot air with the carbonized products of
combustion pass into the interior of the annular burner, to be consumed by the
flame. It is to be observed that the air and heated products of combustion
form a column, which is violently drawn towards the flame by the action of the
latter. It is also to be observed that the cold air becomes divided into small
streams by passing through the perforated casing h, h, and wire gauze g, and
entirely surrounds or encircles the column of hot air and unconsumed products
of combustion, preventing thereby any escape of the latter, except at the
outside of the flame of the burner, when it impinges on the body of the flame
and becomes entirely consumed without losing any portion thereof. By this
apparatus, which may be termed any absolute consumer, an economy is effected
of the whole of the unconsumed products of combustion, which have hitherto
been entirely lost in lighting by gas. The form and dimensions of the ordinary
apparatus at present in use for gas lighting purposes has been adopted as
nearly as possible, although it will be obvious to the practical man that these
forms and dimensions may be greatly varied, without interfering with the
principle or main feature of the Invention. Gas burners, or apparatus of the
description herein-before described, may be employed advantageously in
lanterns for lighting public buildings, also as lustres for lighting theatres,
shops, and private apartments. Sheet 2 of the Drawings illustrates another

page_text: modification of the gas apparatus herein-before described, wherein the gas
is supplied from below in place of from above as in Sheet 1, and this arrange-
ment is particularly applicable to the lighting of theatres or large apartments.
Figure 1 on this Sheet of Drawings represents a vertical section of the
apparatus complete; Figure 2 is a horizontal section of Figure 1, taken
along the line 1, 2; Figure 3 represents a more simplified arrangement
of the upper portion of the gas and air pipes shewn at Figure 1 on Sheet 1,
and Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, are details of the second arrangement of burner
which shall be hereinafter more fully referred to.
The gas enters by the bottom pipe A, which is surmounted by a spherical
chamber B, divided internally into three compartments a, b, c.
The compart-
ment a receives the gas on first entering the apparatus, and from this com-
partment it passes off along the small pipe d, which opens into it. The gas
then rises up the pipe d, and enters the upper chamber e, when it becomes
heated. The pipe B is enclosed in a larger pipe D, which also opens into the
heating chamber e, whilst its lower extremity communicates with the com-
partment 6 of the spherical chamber B. The heated gas then passes down
the gas pipe D, surrounding the small pipe d, and enters the compartment b,
whence it passes to the burner by the pipe f. The heated air from the smoke
burner is drawn into the external compartment g of the burner by the air
pipe E. For this purpose the smoke burner F is fitted to the top of the two
pipes D and E, and is furnished with small passages h to admit of the hot air
entering the air pipe E. The pipes D and E, which are situated outside the
glass chimney G, are almost entirely concealed by the smoke burner F, and
the ground glass or porcelain globe H, which rests upon a suitable gulley I,
thereby rendering the new arrangement equally as elegant as the arrangement
shewn on Sheet 1 of the Drawings. In order to obviate the defect of the
shadow which would be thrown on to the ceiling of the apartment by the smoke
burner, a prismatic reflector K of glass or other suitable material is employed,
such reflector being in the form of a ring of a triangular section, which
entirely surrounds the under edge or lip of the smoke burner. The angle of
the prism is so calculated and adjusted as to produce such a refraction of light
as will illuminate that portion of the ceiling which would otherwise be cast
into shadow. The angle of the reflector will of course vary according to the
distance between the gas jet and the ceiling. This prismatic reflector may be
fixed to the smoke burner, but it is preferable to allow it to rest merely upon
a projecting lip formed round the edge of the smoke burner, by which
arrangement it may be easily removed and cleaned when requisite. In the
simplified arrangement of gas and air pipes shewn at Figure 8, in place of the

page_text: gas from the pipe A¹ being caused to circulate through a pipe which descends
into the smoke burner, it simply enters a chamber c', where it is heated, and
it then descends to the burner by the pipe D¹. The open pipe L serves
merely for the passage of the hot air and smoke, which enter from the smoke
burner and pass by the aperture h¹ into the pipe E¹, whence they proceed to
the jet below. In place of the wire gauze herein-before mentioned, a series
of perforations are formed in the cylinder forming the lower portion of the
burner, through which perforations the cold air enters and mixes with the hot
air charged with carbon, and passes on towards the burner against the flame
of which it impinges, and so supports combustion. This cylinder consists
simply of a thin tube, which is placed in the apparatus in the same manner as
herein-before described with reference to Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of the Draw-
ings, such tube being fitted in the former case with wire gauze. Excellent
results are obtained from the use of this perforated cylinder, but these results
depend greatly upon the number and position of the holes, and above all upon
the number and position of the holes in the internal cylinder or tube with
regard to those of the outer cylinder or casing. By varying the relation
between the two cylinders a variation both in economy and amount of light
produced is the result. For an apparatus of the size shewn in the Drawing
good results, both as regards the economy and the intensity of the light, may
be obtained by employing eighteen circular ranges of holes for the external
casing, such ranges being made nearer each other as they proceed from the
top downwards, and thirteen ranges of holes, at equal distances apart, for the
internal cylinder. But of course these proportions may be varied according
to circumstances. The figures on Sheet 2 of the Drawings represent the
arrangement of holes last described, which will be readily understood on
referring to the vertical section Figure 1. M represents the external casing
through which the atmospheric air passes by the draught of the chimney,
through the perforations m where it is mixed to a certain extent with the hot
air from the smoke burner, by passing through the perforations in the tube N:
It will be obvious on referring to the external elevation of the casing Figure 8,
and the details Figures 4 & 5, that the hot air which escapes from the in-
terior of the internal cylinder or tube N, in place of passing out by an annular
opening, as in the arrangement shewn on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, passes
through a number of holes o, with which the upper edge of the casing o,
forming the top of the cylinder N, is perforated; Figures 6 and 7 represent
in external elevation and plan the internal cylinder or perforated tube N.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried

page_text: into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention, but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the herein-before described general arrangements and constructions of
apparatus for lighting by gas.
Second, the supplying of the burners of gas lights with heated air and gas
as herein-before described.
Third, the application and use of an outer tube or casing surrounding the
upper part of the burner, for the purpose of directing and supplying a
current of hot air to the flame, such air escaping either through an annular
opening at the top or through a series of perforations.
Fourth, the application and use of wire gauze, or in place thereof a per-
forated cylinder, through which the cold atmospheric air must penetrate before
entering the flame and chimney of the burner.
Fifth, the peculiar arrangements and constructions of smoke burners or
consumers, and the application thereto of a prismatic reflector in the manner
and for the purpose herein-before described.
Sixth, the herein before described constructions, arrangements, and combi-
nations of air and gas pipes for supplying heated air and gas to the burner, the
gas entering the apparatus either from above or below.
Seventh, the constructions and arrangements of apparatus herein-before
described, for effecting the heating of the air and gas previous to their
entering the burner.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the 11th day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)