Improvements in Regenerative Gas Lamps.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1896-Accepted, 18th July, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Regenerative Gas Lamps.
We, THOMAS GORDON of 265 West 25th Street, Mechanical Engineer, and
WILLIAM ROSE SWIFT, of 322 West 26th Street, Machinist, both in the City of
New York, United States of America, 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 :-
Our invention relates to gas lamps employing a regenerative burner, and has for
its object or purpose to construct a lamp of that character which will accomplish
three desirable results; first, to supply a constant air-current at the base of the
lamp to feed the flame with sufficient oxygen, second, to enable the base of the
lamp to be easily opened and closed, when it is desired to ignite the gas; and
third to enable the glass globe forming a combustion chamber and also the exterior
glass shade, to be so maintained in position as to be easily adjusted and held in
position or be removed when desired.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a regenerative gas lamp embodying the several
features of our invention.
Figure 2, is a sectional plan view on the line b, b of Figure 1.
Figure 3, is a lateral section of a part of the upper globe-sustaining mechanism
shown in plan view in Figure 2.
Figure 4, is a vertical section of the base portion of the lamp, showing the
means for supplying air, and the means for raising and lowering the base to enable
the gas to be ignited.
Figure 5, is an elevation of the locking rod forming part of the base of the
lamp.
Figure 6, is a top plan view of the base end; and
Figure 7, is a vertical section on the line a-a of Figure 2, of another part of the
upper globe-sustaining and shade holding mechanism.
We have shown our lamp in the form usually used for lighting cars, in which
the arms A A (broken off in the drawings) extend upwards and are secured to the
roof of the car, one of the arms being a hollow tube, which is used for gas supply
parposes. In lieu of this mode of suspending the lamp, especially when used in
rooms or halls, a central tube A¹, suitably connecting with the gas tube A2 is
preferred, the tube A₁ being at the same time a gas-supply tube and a supporting
stem for the lamp. The necessary upper air outlet, required to keep up a current
of air through the lamp to support combustion, is provided in any convenient form,
such as the hood indicated at B. The canopy B' on the apex of the annular
ring B2 is only for ornament, but the latter forms a part of the globe-holding and
shade-sustaining mechanism, as will be hereinafter fully described. .
The regenerative burner shown, is composed of a gas chamber 2 screwed to the
end of the gas tube A2; and having an open base which is closed by an annular
diaphragm 3, in the base of which is fitted an annular series of gas-burning tubes 4,
which are held securely in position at their lower ends by a ring 5 into which they
are driven or otherwise secured.
Outside of the diaphragm and gas-chamber is a cylindrical deflector 6, which
may be exteriorly lined with a non-combustible covering, such as shown at 7. The
deflector is maintained in position by lugs or projections on the outer and upper

page_text: walls of the burner. The cylindrical casing 8 serves to keep the gas-supply pipe
from being overheated by the waste products of combustion. The glass globe 9
forms the combustion chamber, closed except at top and bottom as hereinafter
mentioned; and the shade 10 is a bell-mouthed glass usual in lamps of this
character. The mechanism for the top-supporting of the globe forms a part of our
invention and will be described hereinafter.
An air-distributor 12 is composed of a cylinder of two diameters, perforated, the
smaller end extending above the ends of the gas tube 4, and thus air is supplied to
both sides of the globular sheet of flame which issues from the gas tubes and curves
upwards and around the end of the deflector tube 7. The air-distributor 12 is
supported upon the metallic base end C of the lamp, which has an upper flange 13
within which the lower annular flange 14 of the globe 9 fits with sufficient precision
to substantially prevent any ingress of air to the combustion globe at that point.
The base-piece C is practically an inverted hood having an extended base end 15
whereby to grasp it and rotate it, the same being recessed at 18 to admit the
rod 19. The top of the base piece C is a flaring inverted cone provided with
air-openings 16.
One of the main features of our invention is the mechanism now to be described
whereby this base-piece C may be lowered from its normal position as shown in
Figure 1, to a dropped position as shown in Figure 4, so that thereby the lower
end of the globe combustion chamber 19 is opened and one is enabled to light the
flame. The mechanism to accomplish this end consists of a solid rod 19 which, at
its upper end, is screwed into the base of the diaphragm 3, and at its lower end is
constructed with insets and lugs as shown in detail in Figure 5, and partly in
Figures 1 and 4 in which the parts marked 20 are cylindrical, the parts marked 21
and 23 are cut away to form semi-cylindrical parts and thus provide insets which are
again cut vertically, at 22 and 25, to form lugs, and at the extreme end of the roi
the semi-cylindrical part is a recess thus forming a transverse lug 24.
The base-piece Chung on this rod 19 is provided with a laterally-enteri g
pin-screw 17 with a flattened end. It is obvious from the description of the
mechanism that when the base-piece C is rotated on the rod 19 to move the end of
the pin-screw out of register with the recess 21 and lug 22, that the base C will
drop down on the rod from the position shown in Figure 1 to the position shown
in Figure 4 and be held there by the lug 24 and recess 25. Thus it is rendered
very easy to open and close the lamp to light it.
At the top of the lamp, the lower rim 31 is made in two semi-circular parts
hinged on a pin 32 mounted in the annular ring B2. One of these hinged parts is
provided with a pin 33 screwed fast to it and extending into a recess 34 in the
opposite hinged part, which contains a coiled spring 35. Said opposite hinged part
has also a finger piece 36, so that when pressure is applied thereto, the hinged
parts will move on the pivot pin 32 and allow the glass shade 10 to be removed r
inserted, while the tension of the spring 35 will normally keep the hinged parts in
contact and hold the glass shade firmly in position. The glass combustion globe 9
is maintained in position by other and novel means which are shown in plan view
in Figure 2 in which the release handle 26. pulls outward and so releases the
clutch 27 which normally projects inwardly towards the interior of the globe 9, a
sufficient distance to afford a support for the globe. The construction is shown in
detail in Figure 7 in a vertical section, in which the release handle 26 is mounted
on the end of the rod 30 which contacts with the clutch rod 27 the latter being
pivotally mounted on a pin 29 in the frame of the lamp.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
I. In combination with a regenerative gas lamp, having an inverted burner and
globular combustion chamber open at the base, of a dependent rod 19 secured to
the gas chamber, and a base piece C having air openings therein and adapted to

page_text: slide vertically on said rod and operating, when in normal position, to close the
base of the combustion chamber; substantially as described.
II. In combination with a regenerative gas lamp having an inverted burner and
a globular combustion chamber open at the base, of a dependent rod 19 provided
with recesses and lugs at its lower end, and a base piece C having a vertical
interior recess 18, a pin 17 penetrating laterally into said recess, whereby the base
piece may be slid up and down on the rod, and also be maintained thereon in two
positions by contact of the recesses and lugs with the laterally projecting pin, and
thereby open or close the combustion chamber of the lamp; substantially as
described.
III. In combination with a lamp having an inverted burner within a
bustion chamber, of means to support the combustion chamber and maintain it in
position, said means consisting of a clutch 27 pivoted in the frame of the lamp, and
a release handle 26 and spring-coutrolled rod 30 adapted to actuate said clutch ;.
substantially as described.
IV. In combination with a regenerative gas lamp having an inverted burner
enclosed within a combustion chamber, of a rod 19 secured to the burner and
extending downwards below the base of the combustion chamber, a base-piece C
having a sliding connection with said rod and constituting the normal support for
the combustion chamber, means for detachably securing the base-piece to the rod
either in a raised or a lowered position, and means for supporting the combustion
chamber from its upper extremity when said base-piece is disengaged from its
normal position of the rod and dropped to its lower position thereon; substantially
as described.
Dated this 20th day of May 1896
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.