Improvements in Safety Lamps.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Safety Lamps.
We, JOSEPH ALLEN, of 8, Tay Street, Nechells, in the City of Birmingham,
Machinist, and WILLIAM ISAIAH GLAZEBROOK. of I. X. L. Works, Legge Lane,
Birmingham aforesaid, Tool Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to oil lamps, principally for the burning of light-hydro-
carbons, but is also applicable to the burning of other oils and spirits, and has
for its principal object, a safety lamp.
By our improvements, a lamp is always safe under all conditions and circum-
stances thus the vaporization by abnormal heat will not explode the lamp or
render the same unsafe; nor will the turning-over of the same, or even the throw-
ing of the lamp though filled with oil and lighted across an apartment effect an
explosion, and further, nor will the turning of the said lamp upside down either
spill the oil, or render the lamp at all dangerous.
In carrying out our improvements in connection with an ordinary table lamp,
the reservoir or oil container is hermetically closed at top, by an air tight joint
made by the foot of the burner screwing or taking into the top or crown of
the lamp-reservoir.
Depending down the middle of the reservoir and coming near the bottom
thereof, is a wick-tube or casing, closed air-tight at its junction with the burner
foot or top of the reservoir, and onen at bottom only, and the said bottom end is
preferably fitted with a valve which closes automatically on the lamp being turned
over, or the oil in the reservoir disturbed.
Directed vertically through the body of the oil-reservoir, is an open-ended tube,
or a vent-tabe or passage, with its upper end open to the sealed inside crown to the
lamp, whilst the other end, which preferably depends below the said reservoir,
is open to the atmosphere.
The wick is fed down the wick casing which extends upwards into the burner,
from above and is, or may be, raised and lowered by an ordinary winder.
Oil enters the partially enclosed wick casing, through the open bottom, when
the limp is erect, but when the lamp is turned over, then the valve closes up the
same, and prevents the passage thereup of oil.
Operation, fill the reservoir with oil through an opening in crown, closed by
an air-tight cap, and when supplied then light the same at the burner, the oil
enters the wick casing to a like height in the reservoir and wick raises the oil
and supplies the burner by capillarity.
Air is supplied to inside crown of reservoir, or space between the surface of
the oil and top of reservoir as aforesaid, by the fine bore tube, thus admitting
air to the interior sub rata with the consumption of oil.
Even if gaseous products or vapour are evolved, accumulations in volumes
cannot occur, owing to the same being able to escape through the vent tube into
the atmosphere.

page_text: Now, supposing a lamp be overturned when lighted, the gaseous products or
vapour lying in top of reservoir rises to the inverted bottom and closed end, with
the oil gravitating to the other end. The vapour may or may not locate itself
above the open end of the wick-casing, which is closed automatically by the valve,
on invertion of the lamp.
Should the lamp even be thrown at a person, or on the floor, it becomes harmless,
owing to the light being put out by the swilling of the small quantity of oil in
the casing through the wick only, whilst the dispersion of the vapour if any,
is through the tube and at a point far removed from the light.
It is understood that the vent tube upper end preferably comes within a short
distance of the top of the reservoir and that its other end open to the atmosphere,
depends below the bottom of the said reservoir; the wick casing may not be
necessarily closed by a valve.
The application of our improvements to other oil and spirit burning lamps,
differs in no essential respects from its application to that of a petroleum-oil
table lamp as described.
JOSEPH ALLEN.
WILLIAM ISAIAH GLAZEBROOK.
By Henry Skerrett,
Agent for Applicants.
We, JOSEPH ALLEN, of 8, Tay Street, Nechells, in the City of Birmingham,
Machinist, and WILLIAM ISAIAH GLAZEBROOK, of I. X. L. Works, Legge Lane,
Birmingham aforesaid, Tool Maker, 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 oil lamps, for table and other uses, principally for
the burning of light hydro-carbons, but it also applicable to lamps for burning
other oils and spirits, and has for its principal object to provide a lamp which
shall be absolutely safe under all conditions and circumstances, and in which
the vaporization of the oil by abnormal heat will not explode the lamp or render
the same unsafe; further, a lamp constructed according to our improvements will
not explode or take fire when overturned or even by throwing of the lamp, filled
with oil and lighted across an apartment, nor will the turning of the lamp up-
side down, cause it to explode or become in any way dangerous or even spill or
ignite the oil contained within the reservoir.
According to our invention, the oil reservoir is made in the form of a her-
metically sealed chamber and is in communication with the outer air only by
way of a small vent tube leading through the bottom or lower part of the said
reservoir upwards to the inside crown thereof and serving both to permit of the
escape of accumulations of oil vapor from the upper part and to admit the neces-
sary amount of air to allow the descent of oil within the reservoir pro rata with
the consumption, whilst the oil obtains access to the wick and thence to the
burner through a small valve-closed or like orifice made through the lower end of
a casing or tube depending from the burner to near the bottom of the reservoir
and enclosing the wick, said burner and wick-casing being connected to the lamp
reservoir by a sealed joint, so that when the lamp is overturned no oil can run

page_text: from the said reservoir to the burner other than the small quantity which passes
through the orifice in the wick casing and percolates through the wick.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a sectional view of a table
lamp embodying our improvements but showing in elevation the depending casing.
within which the wick is enclosed and the vent tube for permitting the escape of
inflammable vapor from the crown of the hermetically-sealed reservoir.
Figure 2 is another sectional view of the said lamp, but with the burner and
wick casing depending therefrom removed, the vent or vapor-escape tube shown
in section.
Figure 3 is a view of the burner and wick tube separately, with the said casing,
which is filled up or nearly so by the enclosed wick, drawn in section to show the
oil hole in the bottom end thereof and the arrangement by which the flow of
oil to the wick is governed.
Figure 4 is a cross section of the reservoir upon the dotted liner, Figure 1.
Figure 5 represents, upon an enlarged scale, another section of the lamp but
taken in a direction at right angles to the sectional view Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a plan of the inside of the reservoir showing the disposition of the
vent tube.
Figure 7 shows the lamp overturned.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures
of the drawings.
a is the oil reservoir or oil-container, preferably made of metal, and fitted
with a re-filling orifice a¹, closed by a screw plug a², whilst a³ is an inside screwed
opening or nozzle, adapted to receive the screwed neck or shank b¹, of the
burner b, which is sealed or isolated from the oil contained within the reservoir
and has depending from the closed innér end or underside of it a flattened tube
or casing c, for containing the wick d, which is thereby enclosed from contact
with the oil, which obtains access to the said wick by percolating through an
absorbent plug of wick or like material e, disposed within an open ended sleeve e¹,
secured to the lower end of the casing c. and passing thence through a small.
piercing or orifice c¹, in the closed bottom 2, of the said casing, which is thus
filled with oil to a level corresponding to the height of that contained within
the reservoir and the burner is fed by the oil which is raised by capillary attrac-
tion up the wick. The absorbent plug e, through which the oil has to pass in.
order to obtain access to the interior of casing, acts as a valve or means for
regulating such passage and prevents the oil, under any circumstances whatever
(whether ordinary or abnormal) from gaining the interior of the casing and
flowing thence to the burner at a rate in excess of that at which it can percolate
through the controlling plug, the ends of which preferably extend beyond the
open ends of the sleeve as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
The joint, or connection between the burner and the oil-container is sealed or
made perfectly air-tight by any suitable means such as by a rubber, felt or like
sealing washer f, which surrounds the shank of the burner and is interposed
between the closed bottom thereof and the mouth or opening into which the
said shank screws, whilst the isolation or hermetical sealing of the burner from
the contents of the reservoir (other than as described) is further effected by com-
pletely closing the lower end of the shank by a soldered-in disc or plate, from the
middle of which the wick casing depends and extends to near the bottom of the
reservoir in order to permit of the lamp continuing to burn when only a small
quantity of oil remains in the container.
g is the vent tube, which passes into the interior of the oil reservoir through
the closed bottom a, and has its outer end g³, open to the atmosphere, with the
said tube extending upwards within the said reservoir so as to bring the other
and open end 92, to the inside crown thereof into the space between the crown
of the reservoir and the surface of the oil contained therein within which any
oil vapor which may be generated, or any mixtures of such vapor with atmos-
pheric air, accumulate. This vent tube thus provides an open communication

page_text: between the interior of the oil container and the atmosphere and, as previously
mentioned, serves a double purpose inasmuch that it allows any dangerous
accumulations of vapor to escape on the pressure of such vapors within the interior
of the lamp exceeding that of the outside air and it further acts as an inlet passage
for the admission of such air as may be required for the purpose of permitting the
oil to fall within the reservoir pro rata with the consumption.
The wick extends downwards from the burner into its enclosing casing and
is raised and lowered therein by means of an ordinary winder.
Now, supposing the lamp be inverted or overturned or even allowed to fall to,
or be thrown upon the floor, it remains quite harmless, as the light is instantly
extinguished, and even supposing there is a small quantity of vapor present in
the reservoir at the time the same cannot pass direct to the burner, as its dis-
persion is always conducted outwardly to the atmosphere through the vent tube.
The bottom of the wick casing instead of being closed as described and repre-
sented, may be open and fitted with a cap, to receive a piece of wick which forms
the filtering media of the oil.
As a modification, the wick casing may be open at the lower end, or the said
lower end may be fitted with a check valve, which shall prevent the ingress of
oil to the interior of the casing when the lamp is overturned, or the open lower
end of the wick casing may be fitted with a removable cap which is fitted either
with a regulating plug of absorbent material as shown in the drawings, or with
a flap or other valve adapted to act automatically on the lamp being upset.
As a further modification, the wick casing, may be made a fixture to the
reservoir with the burner socketting or being otherwise secured within the open
upper end thereof.
The application of our improvements to other oil and spirit burning lamps
differs in no essential respect from its application to a table lamp as herein
described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
First In a safety oil lamp, providing a closed reservoir or oil container with
a vent tube, one end of which is open to the atmosphere at a point removed from
the lamp burner, whilst the other end is in communication with the inside crown
of the said reservoir, substantially as and for the purpose described and set forth.
Secondly-In a safety oil lamp, the employment of a tube or casing enclosing
the wick and depending to near the bottom of the oil reservoir, which is sealed or
closed and has communication with the air only by way of a vent tube passing
through the lower part of the said reservoir to the inside crown thereof, substan-
tially as and for the purpose described and set forth.
Thirdly: In a safety oil lamp, the employment in combination with a sealed
oil reservoir having a vent tube as referred to in the first claim, of a depending
tube or casing enclosing the wick and provided at its lower end with a valve or
means for controlling the flow of oil to the enclosed wick, substantially as and
for the purpose described and set forth.
Total £10
T
A
1 1000
JOSEPH ALLEN.
WILLIAM ISAIAH GLAZEBROOK.
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham,
Agent for Applicants.