IMPROVEMENTS IN BURNERS FOR GAS STOVES FOR COOKING AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Powley Alexander, of 36, Southampton Buildings,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign
Patent Agent, for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN BURNERS FOR GAS
STOVES FOR COOKING AND OTHER PURPOSES." A communication from abroad
by Charles Martin, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Manufacturer of Gas
Hosting Annaratus.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Powley Alexander at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th October 1881.
EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 36, Southampton Buildings, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BURNERS FOR GAS STOVES FOR COOKING AND OTHER
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Charles Martin, of Paris, in the
Republic of France, Manufacturer of Gas Heating Apparatus.
This Invention consists in constructing the burners for gas stoves employed for
cooking and other purposes with moveable perforated crowns or caps and special
ducts or openings, allowing of the burners being more readily cleaned (without the
aid of special workmen) by the persons who use the stoves when such burners have
become choked from any cause.
The said improvements not only attain this end, but also obviate the incon-
venience arising from the ignition of the gas around the crowns or caps attendant
on this class of apparatus as at present constructed. For this purpose I produce a
layer or cushion of air in the bottom of the improved burners, thereby compelling
the gas to maintain itself at the upper part of the burners, and preventing it (by
reason of the difference in density of the two gases) from descending to the joints
of the moveable parts.
This cushion of air is constantly maintained through the ducts or openings that
serve for cleaning the said burners. The said improvements are applicable to
circular, square, rectangular, or other shaped stoves for cooking purposes, having

page_text: single or double burners or any number thereof, whether of annular or other form,
also to gas stoves for the use of hair-dressers, hatters, tailors, and laundresses.
The improved burners are composed of a fixed part of cast iron or other suitable
material, upon which are cast two hollow projections or lugs serving to connect it
with the body of the stove, the said burners being supplied with gas through
suitable taps in conjunction or not with holes for the admission of air. One or more
cleaning tubes or ducts are cast on the fixed part of the burner, and communicate
the one with the lower part of the larger or outer ring, and the other with the
smaller or inner ring of the burner, when two concentric rings are used.
The sides
of these tubes or ducts are pierced with openings, and they may be connected
together by a cross tube in order to establish a current of air between the two. It
is by these tubes or ducts that the air constantly penetrates into the interior of the
burner, and forms a cushion of air in the grooves or channels, which in some cases
are formed in the lower or fixed part of the burner. By this means the moveable
crowns or caps may be permitted to simply rest upon the fixed part of the burner,
without the necessity for a made joint, as the cushion of air below prevents leakage
of gas at the joints. Having lifted off the moveable crowns or caps, it is simply
requisite for the purpose of cleaning the burner to prick out the holes, and to pass a
rag or bottle brush through the cleaning tubes or ducts, in order to sweep out any
deposited matter in the lower or fixed part of the burner through openings left for
that purpose into the cleaning tubes or ducts, without interfering with the rest of
the stove.
The moveable crowns or caps may be loosely connected with the fixed part of
the burner either by plain or rebated contact joints.
In some cases special air inlets or blowers may be cast on the under side of the
fixed part of the burner for the purpose of augmenting the cushion of air at the
bottom of the cap, whilst serving also, like the cleaning tubes or ducts, for facili-
tating the removal and drainage of any liquid or other matters that may have
collected in the burner. These air inlets or blowers may if desired be furnished
with a perforated metal plate or wire gauze screen.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edwin Powley Alexander in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th April 1882.
EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 36, Southampton Buildings, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign Patent Agent.
" IMPROVEMENTS IN BURNERS FOR GAS STOVES FOR COOKING AND OTHER
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Charles Martin, of Paris, in the
Republic of France, Manufacturer of Gas Heating Apparatus."
The said Invention consists in constructing the burners for gas stoves employed
for cooking and other purposes with moveable perforated crowns or caps and special
ducts or openings, allowing of the burners being more readily cleaned (without the
aid of special workmen) by the persons who use the stoves when such burners have
become choked from any cause.
The said improvements not only attain this end, but also obviate the incon-
venience arising from the ignition of the gas around the crowns or caps attendant
on this class of apparatus as at present constructed. For this purpose I produce a
layer or cushion of air in the bottom of the improved burners, thereby compelling
the gas to maintain itself at the upper part of the burners, and preventing it (by
reason of the difference in density of the two gases) from descending to the joints
of the moveable parts.
This cushion of air is constantly maintained through the ducts or openings that
serve for cleaning the said burners.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a vertical section of a circular stove with
double annular burner, and illustrates the mode of mounting the moveable crowns
or caps. These burners consist of a fixed part A, on which are cast the hollow
projections D, F, for connecting it with the body of the stove. The gas is supplied
through suitable cocks in conjunction or not with tubes for the admission of air.
E, G, are cleaning tubes or ducts cast on the fixed part, the one E communicating
with the larger crown, and the other G with the smaller crown. These ducts are
perforated on one side at H, and may be connected by a pipe I in order to establish
a current of air between the two. It is through these ducts E, G, that the air has
constant access to the interior of the crowns and forms a cushion, the moveable
crowns being simply laid upon the fixed part A of the burner. Figure 2 represents
a plan view from above of the fixed part A, the moveable crowns B, B¹, being
removed. For the purpose of cleaning it is simply requisite to pass a rag or, which
is better, a cylindrical brush, similar to a bottle brush, along the channels a, a¹,
and expel the deposit along the ducts E, G, through the apertures e, g, also to prick
out the perforations in the crowns B, B¹, and then to drop them into their places
without interfering with the rest of the stove. Figure 3 is a front elevation
showing the form of the projections D, F, and the cleaning ducts E, G; it shows
also the connecting tube I between the two ducts E, G. Figure 4 shows the
application to a fire stove of a single annular moveable perforated crown B, provided
with rebated contact joint at b, fitting onto the fixed part A, and showing also the
aperture H made on each side of the hollow projection or duct E. Figure 5 illus-
trates an application of a moveable single cap C, wherein the duct E is made
without lateral apertures. Figures 6 and 7 represent in sectional elevation and

page_text: -
plan (the latter showing the crown removed) a double cap C¹ and rebated joint c¹.
In this arrangement one or more blowing nozzles J, J, are cast on the fixed
parts A, A¹, in order to still further. increase the cushion of air at the bottom of the
cap, whilst they may also be used, like the ducts E, G, for the cleaning of the
apparatus and pouring off of any liquid matter that may gain access thereto, these
nozzles J being further provided, if desired, with a covering of wire gauze K, as
shown in Figure 6.
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 into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I. consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore
in part recited Letters Patent is,―
The construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus for heating purposes,
substantially as herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Powley Alexander, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
EDWIN P. ALEXANDER
(LAB)