Improvements in Regenerative Gas Lamps.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Feb., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 14th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 18th Feb., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Regenerative Gas Lamps.
I JAMES LEWIS of 6 Gloucester Terrace, West Green Road, Tottenham in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
recuperative"
This invention relates to what are known as < regenerative" or
gas lamps and my present invention is designed to simplify and improve the con-
struction of same and reduce the size and quantity of the metallic parts in such
lamps and this reduction combined with my improved arrangement and construc-
tion of the parts renders my improved lamp suitable and advantageous for many
purposes for which regenerative lamps (as previously constructed) have not
hitherto been found applicable or suitable for instance for railway carriage roof
lamps as well as for all ordinary purposes for which my lamp may be suitable.
My present invention is as follows :-
A series of air inlet pipes or passages are mounted horizontally and radiate all
round from a central air heating chamber just above the gas burner.
These air inlet pipes or channels are mounted at their outer ends in a metal
flange or rim thus this apparatus has the appearance of a spoked wheel-the air
to support combustion entering through the rim or tyre of the said wheel shaped
device and thence passing through the hollow radiating spokes or heating channels
enters the hollow heating chamber or hub from which the now highly heated air
descends to the point of combustion.
This central heating chamber or hub is advantageously circular shaped (though
I do not limit myself thereto as same may be of polygonal or other shape if
desired) and is covered in completely on the top and on its bottom is also covered
in except a central opening or aperture at the centre to form the air outlet
(advantageously having a flange or lip around same) and if desired this air outlet
may be divided into two or more passages.
The shape of this air outlet may be varied as desired-that is for instance for
an Argand or other circular gas burner the shape of the outlet would be circular
while for four flat or batwing burners the air outlet would be square or for three
such burners triangular.
The gas burner or burners may be mounted on this hollow spoked wheel shaped
device-the gas being admitted by a horizontally vertically or otherwise disposed
gas inlet pipe and the burner or burners on the end of same depending vertically
from the said gas inlet pipe in an inverted position (as is well understood) or the
said wheel shaped device may be mounted and arranged above the gas burner or
burners which latter may be of any suitable construction and independently
supplied with gas apart from the said air heating wheel shaped device.
The said wheel shaped device may be formed of any suitable metal or other
material or materials and if desired may be coated or covered with any suitable
material or materials so as not to show itself too much while burning.
The said wheel shaped device or air heating apparatus is mounted centrally or
otherwise in the glass or other surrounding forming the combustion chamber the
lower half or under part of said glass etcetera being advantageously secured tightly
to the rim or tyre of the said device and the upper half or top part being made to
easily open and close for lighting and cleaning purposes etcetera the said wheel
shaped device being horizontally disposed in the central part (or thereabouts) of
the said chamber formed by the two parts thereof and a steady brilliant flame is
obtained.
An air inlet passage or passages is also formed in the bottom of the said under

page_text: part and such passage covered or protected by fine wire gauze or perforated plates
to admit air to the underside of the flame.
Suitable outlet channels or passages are provided in the said top part of the
chamber for the products of combustion to pass away-said top part being trans-
parent or if no top light is required then said top part may be of metal or other
opaque material.
The whole of the air heating device with the said top and bottom glasses etcetera
attached thereto (the air inlet passages being clear of and unsurrounded by said
glasses) is placed or mounted entirely or only partially within a second globe or
chamber or instead thereof if desired a shield or wind guard device may be
mounted externally over the said air inlet passages so as to prevent currents of air
passing into same direct.
Dated this 29th day of February 1892.
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Regenerative Gas Lamps.
I, JAMES LEWIS of 6 Gloucester Terrace, West Green Road, Tottenham in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, 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:-
66
"
This invention relates to what are known as $6
regenerative" or recuperative
gas lamps and my present invention is designed to simplify and improve the con-
struction of same and reduce the size and quantity of the metallic part in such
lamps and this reduction combined with my improved arrangement and construc-
tion of the parts renders my improved lamp suitable and advantageous for many
purposes for which regenerative lamps as previously constructed have not hitherto
been found applicable or suitable (for instance for railway carriage roof lamps) as
well as for all ordinary purposes for which my said lamp may be suitable.
And in order that my present invention may be easily understood and readily
carried into practice I will proceed to fully describe same with reference to the
drawings hereunto annexed, in which
Figure 1 is a side sectional elevation of my improved lamp complete ready for
use in nou-exposed situations.
Fig. 2 is a plan of same with the top cover f removed.
Fig. 3 is a local detail view (on an enlarged scale) of the air admission and
heating chamber and other parts.
Fig. 4 is an edge view (side elevation) of the air heating tubes and gas inlet
detached from the top or cover and lower part shown separated and respectively at
Figs. 5 and 6.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout.
a is central air heating chamber or hub.
bbare hollow spokes or tubes (which may be square as shown at Fig. 7 or
round or any other suitable shape) which supply air to the air chamber a and
thence to the burner.
b
cis the rim or felloe of the wheel shaped device through which rim c the
spokes 6 pass so as to freely admit air to such tubes 6 from the annular space formed
between c and d.
d is an enclosing rim or shield which forms not only a wind guard or shield to
prevent direct currents of air passing directly into tubes & but also serves as a
means to mount the lower glass e and the wheel shaped device a b c together.
e is the lower enclosing glass.

page_text: PP
i is lower air admission device.
is second enclosing glass more especially for use in exposed positions but
which may be dispensed with when the lamp is used in unexposed places such as
indoors.
m is descending flange to central air chamber a.
nis aunular space formed between c and d-through which space the air enters
(as shown by the arrows a Figs. 1, 2 and 3) to the tubes and air chamber a and
thence descends guided by the flange m to the burner such as g.
Any other suitable form of burner may be used.
oo are distance pieces or blocks between c and d to keep the wheel shaped
device a b c equidistant from d.
p are metal plates fixed to d to form bearings for the set screws (which hold
the outermost lower glass when used see Figs. 3 and 6) and set screws which hold
said wheel shaped device a b c firmly to d.
The series of air inlet pipes or passages are mounted horizontally and radiate
all round from the central air heating chamber a just above the gas burner g.
These air inlet pipes or channels are mounted at their outer ends in the metal
flange or rim c-thus this apparatus has the appearance of a spoked wheel-the
air to support combustion entering through the rim c or tyre of the said wheel
shaped device and thence passing through the hollow radiating spokes or heating
channels enters the hollow heating chamber or hub a from which the now highly
heated air descends to the point of combustion.
This central heating chamber or hub a is advantageously circular shaped (though
I do not limit myself thereto as same may be of polygonal or other shape if desired)
and is covered in completely on the top and on its bottom is also covered in except
a central opening or aperture at the centre to form the air outlet as shown (with a
flange or lip m around same) and if desired this air outlet may be divided into two
or more passages.
The shape of this air outlet from a may be varied as desired-that is for instance
for a burner such as g or for an Argand or other circular gas burner the shape
of the outlet would be circular while for four flat or batwing burners the air outlet
would be square; or for three such burners the air outlet would be triangular.
The gas burner or burners may be mounted on this hollow spoked wheel shaped
device abc-the gas being admitted by the pipe h or by a vertically or otherwise
disposed gas inlet pipe and the burner or burners on the end of same depending
vertically from the said gas inlet pipe in an inverted position as is well understood;
or the said wheel shaped device a b c may be mounted and arranged above the gas
burner or burners which latter may be of any suitable construction and inde-
pendently mounted apart from the said air heating wheel shaped device and gas
supplied thereto in any suitable manner as for instance from below as in a pillar
lamp.
The said wheel shaped device may be formed of any suitable metal or other
material or materials and if desired may be coated or covered with any suitable
material or materials so as not to show itself too much while burning especially
the tubes and the central chamber a may advantageously be coated with
asbestos.
.
The said wheel shaped device or air heating apparatus is mounted centrally or
otherwise in the glass or other surrounding ef forming the combustion chamber
the lower half or under part e of said chamber being advantageously secured
tightly to the rim or shield d and the said device a be; and the upper half or top
part being made to easily open and close (for cleaning or other purposes) the said
wheel shaped device ac being horizontally disposed in the central part (or
thereabouts) of the said chamber formed by the two parts ef thereof and a steady
brilliant flame is obtained.

page_text: An air inlet passage or passages is formed in the bottom of the said under
parte and such passage covered or protected by fine wire gauze such as i or
perforated plates to admit air to the underside of the flame.
The lower air admission device i can be pulled out of the lower aperture in the
glass e and by this means the lamp can be lighted and the gauze i replaced by
springing "it into the said aperture.
Or any other suitable gauze or air admission device may be used in place of i.
Or a gauze may be permanently fixed in the said lower aperture in e and to
light the lamp the glass e (and also if used) may be mounted in a hinged carriage
or otherwise arranged so as to be opened to give access to the interior of the lamp
for lighting same, cleaning, etc. but I have found the arrangement for gaining access
to the interior of the enclosing chamber as shown to be very simple and convenient
though I do not wish to limit myself thereto.
The top glass or cover may rest simply on a gallery formed to receive same or
may be secured in any suitable manner as desired.
A suitable outlet channel or passage is provided in the said top part of the
chamber for the products of combustion to pass away-said top part being
transparent or if no top light is required then the said top part may be of metal
or other opaque material.
For some purposes such as for outdoor use or where the lamp is to be exposed
to strong currents of air-in order to obtain steadiness in such exposed positions I
enclose the lower part in a second glass as shown in Fig. 6 but this second glass
forms no part separately of my present invention as Letters Patent No. 6154 of
1885 were granted to me for an invention in which such double glasses were used.
It is essential to have an outer cover or surrounding to wheel shaped device a b c
to prevent the air rushing direct into the tubes b and for this purpose the shield d
is used but I do not limit myself to such shield d as instead thereof I may drop
the device consisting essentially of a b c and e and feither partly into an enclosing
globe until the rim is protected thereby or said device may be mounted and
entirely enclosed in a complete enclosing chamber as for instance in a street lamp.
C
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :―
1. In regenerative gas lamps-the combination of the central air heating chamber a
radial air inlet tubes and rim ca top part or cover such as farranged and mounted
above same and a lower glass e below same arranged and acting substantially in the
manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings
hereunto annexed.
2. A regenerative gas lamp in which air inlet tubes radiate from the central
air heating chamber like the spokes of a wheel said radial air tubes admitting
air from an annular space formed between the ends of said tubes and an outer
shield or wind guard such as d all arranged and mounted across the horizontal
diameter of an enclosing chamber formed in two parts such as e and substantially
in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
drawings hereunto annexed.
3. The peculiar and special arrangement and construction of the parts a be
and m-arranged combined and acting in a regenerative gas lamp substantially in
the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated by way of
example in the drawings hereunto annexed.
4. In regenerative gas lamps-I claim the combination with an enclosing glass
such as e of horizontally (or approximately horizontally) disposed air admission
tubes arranged and mounted immediately above the rim of said glass e so as to
admit air from such point in a direct line into the air heating chamber just above
the gas flame the point of admission of the air from the external atmosphere being
thus just above the horizontal plane of the flame substantially as and for the
purposes described and illustrated in the drawings annexed.

page_text: 5. The improved general arrangement construction and combination of parts
forming a regenerative gas lamp and consisting essentially of the parts a b and c
wind guard à distance pieces o between c and d flange m to chamber a burner g top
cover and lower glass e with protected aperture at the lowermost part thereof
either with or without the outermost glass all substantially as and for the purposes
hereinbefore set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 14th day of November 1892.
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.