IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INGNITING PETROLEUM GAS OR OTHER LAMPS BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Gerard Wenzeslaus von Nawrocki at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st March 1883. A
communication from Paul Richter of Potsdam in the Empire of Germany
GERARD WENZESLAUS VON NAWROCKI, Proprietor of the firm of J. Brandt &
G. W. v. Nawrocki, Patent Solicitor and Civil Engineer of 124, Leipzigerstrasse,
Berlin, Germany, "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INGNITING PETROLEUM
GAS OR OTHER LAMPS BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY [A communication from
Paul Richter of Potsdam in the Empire of Germany]
37
This invention relates to apparatus whereby by simply compressing an india
rubber ball filled with air, or by pulling a string or wire, or by other suitable
means, a person is enabled to light one or more petroleum or other lamps fitted to
the wall or ceiling of a room or in other suitable positions simultaneously, by
means of an electric current.
The said invention consists essentially in arranging the burner of a lamp in
connection with a jet (from which hydrogen or other suitable gas is allowed to
issue) and an electric current in such a manner that upon closing the electric
circuit a spark passes which ignites the gas issuing from the said jet, which gas in
its turn ignites the wick of a lamp.
According to the said invention electricity is preferably generated in a galvanic
battery, it then passes through an induction coil and thence along the conductors
to the burner of the lamp. If the lamp is made of metal which is a good conductor
of electricity it can be utilised as one of the connections while the opposite
connection must be insulated from the lamp and carried to the burner. It is
advantageous to use a small tube of glass or the like, as insulating material the
said tube also serving to conduct the hydrogen gas to the required point, it being
connected in a suitable manner with the apparatus in which the hydrogen gas is
generated.
In order to generate electricity only when it is required, the metal electrode of
the battery is suspended at one end of a lever turning upon a pivot. The other
end of the said lever is provided with a counter-weight, so that the said metal plate
is normally above the solution. The said weight is only slightly heavier than the
...1971

page_text: plate suspended to the other end of the lever so that a slight pressure will be
sufficient to raise the lever and dip the plate into the solution. For the purpose of
applying this pressure I arrange a hollow ball of india rubber or the like in
connection with an air bag or bellows connected to one end of the said lever; by
compressing the said ball the bellows will expand and raise the lever thereby
immersing the metal plate in the solution, whereupon an electric current will at
once be produced.
In order to produce a flame it is necessary to allow hydrogen gas to issue from
the jet simultaneously with the generation of the electric current. This is effected
by means similar to those hereinbefore described for dipping the metal plate into
the cell; a pipe in connection with the pneumatic ball being connected with a
second air-bag by the inflation of which a lever is raised whereby a cock in the
gas pipe is opened so that the gas shall issue from the small jet in the lamp and be
ignited by the electric spark. Instead of the pneumatic arrangement herein before
described the ends of the levers may be placed in such relation to each other that
they shall be brought together so that by pulling a wire attached to them the lamp
may be lighted.
With a view of utilizing the arrangement above described for lighting lamps
which are not fixtures the following plan has been adopted that is to say,
From the electrical conductors branch conductors are carried to a given point in
the room, as also a branch from the gas pipe. One of the said conductors is
connected with the outlet of the hydrogen gas pipe while the other conductor is
connected with a plate of conducting metal which is supported upon a suitable
stand.
The foot of the lamp is here assumed to be made of conducting metal and to
stand in electrical connection with the burner. The small glass tube in the burner
contains as before described, a conducting wire in its interior; in this case the said
wire terminates in a metal stud fixed outside the said tube. When a lamp fitted
as described is placed upon the metal plate, and the metal stud is pressed tightly
against the outlet pipe the whole apparatus is connected by applying pressure to
the pneumatic ball, the hydrogen gas will issue from the jet, while by means of
the electrical connections the circuit will be established at the same time, so that a
spark will pass whereby the gas will be ignited and the lamp set alight. When
it is required to light gas-lamps the hydrogen gas pipe can be dispensed with.
The apparatus may be fixed in any suitable place in a house, as in a cellar.