IMPROVEMENTS IN WICKS FOR LAMPS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Collier Bakewell, of No. 6, Haverstock
Terrace, Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WICKS FOR LAMPS."-A communication from abroad
by Joseph Hays Connelly, of Wheeling, in the State of Virginia, North
America.
Sealed the 2nd October 1868, and dated the 6th April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Collier Bakewell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th April 1868.
I, FREDERICK COLLIER BAKEWELL, of No. 6, Haverstock Terrace,
Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WICKS FOR LAMPS," which has been
communicated to me from abroad by Joseph Hays Connelly, of Wheeling, in
the State of Virginia, North America, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a method of making lamp wicks in such manner
as to increase the capillary attraction of the wicks, and thus supply an ample
quantity of oil or other combustible fluid to the flame. This effect is
produced by enclosing a bibulous substance, such as cotton or blotting
paper, within an outer covering of textile material, which is then pressed flat.
The wicks may be made either by using a cotton fabric that has a nap on one
side and doubling the napped surfaces together, or by folding the bibulous
substance within a strip of textile fabric united at the edges by means of a

page_text: cement insoluble in oil. The outer casing may also be woven in a tubular
form with a nap inside, or the tubular textile casing may be filled with a
bibulous substance and pressed flat.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said Frederick Collier Bakewell in the Great Seal Patent Office.
on the 6th October 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
COLLIER BAKEWELL, of No. 6, Haverstock Terrace, Hampstead, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Frederick Collier Bakewell, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Collier Bakewell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WICKS FOR LAMPS," a communication to me
from abroad by Joseph Hays Connelly, of Wheeling, in the State of Virginia,
North America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Collier Bakewell, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This Invention consists of a method of making lamp wicks in such manner
as to increase their capillary attraction, and thus enable them to supply an
ample quantity of oil or of other inflammable fluid to the flame. An increased

page_text: power of capillary attraction is the more requisito when the so-called "carbon
oils," extracted from coal by distillation, or procured by refining petroleum, are
employed for illumination, as they are less readily drawn upward by the wick
of a lamp than other oils.
This improved wick may be made with a cotton fabric that has a nap on
one side by doubling the napped surfaces together, or by enclosing some
bibulous substance within a strip of textile fabric, which is united at the edges
by means of a cement insoluble in the oil or other fluid to be consumed.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 represents a lamp wick constructed
according to this improved method, the upper portion being opened to exhibit
its construction more clearly.
Figure 2 represents a piece of raw cotton (cotton wool) folded in paper to
form the inside or bibulous filling of the wick.
Figure 3 is a representation of a double lamp wick constructed in this
manner. Figure 4 is a cross section of the double wick shown in Figure 3.
The outer portion or casing a may be made of any suitable textile fabric, of
cotton, linen, or other material, though cotton is preferred. This casing may
either have a nap on one side, like the fabric called "Canton flannel," or it may
be without nap, as muslin or linen. The material for this outer casing is cut
in long strips double the width of the wick to be made. Each strip is folded
down at the sides with the nap inwards, so that the edges may meet, as seen
in Figure 1. If the casing have thick nap, the wick does not require any
filling, although a thin layer of raw cotton, or a strip of bibulous paper, or
both, may be inserted if desired. A harrow strip b, of muslin, paper, or other
suitable material, is then pasted over the edges of the casing a (which are
laid together so as to meet but not to overlap) along its entire length, and the
wick thus formed is then pressed flat.
.
If the casing be made of muslin or other material not having any nap, it
will be necessary to insert a filling to give the wick the requisite degree of.
capillarity. For this purpose a strip of cotton wool of uniform thickness, and
of the same width as the wick, is placed inside the casing, over which filling
the casing is folded with its edges meeting in the middle of one side, and the
joint is covered with a narrow strip of paper, muslin, or linen, as before
stated.
When the casing consists of a thin material, its edges may be lapped one
over the other and pasted together, instead of using the thin narrow strip to
cover the joint. In order to keep the cotton filling in place, it is better, before
enclosing it in the casing, to fold it in a piece of thin unsized paper, which
preserves the proper flat shape of the wick. Instead of using cotton wool as a

page_text: filling, paper pulp, or unsized paper, such as blotting board, or several layers
of unsized paper, may be inserted, and will answer the purpose very well, as
that material possesses a considerable degree of capillary power and makes a
good stiff wick. By any of these methods the wick is made in long strips,
which are then cut in lengths suitable for use in lamps.
The various operations of cutting the strips to form the outer casing; the
insertion of the filling, and, if cotton wool be used, the wrapping of it in paper;
the folding over of the edges of the outer casing; the cutting of the narrow
strips to cover the joint; the pasting and laying it over the united edges of the
casing the pressing and flattening of the wick; and, lastly, the cutting of the
wick in suitable lengths may all be performed very rapidly by a machine con-
trived by the Inventor for that purpose. The paste or cement used to fasten
the narrow strip over the edges of the outer casing of the wick should be
insoluble in the oil or other fluid used in the lamp; for this purpose flour
paste or starch paste, with the addition of a small quantity of gum arabic, or
of glue, is very suitable.
Another mode of making this improved wick is to weave it double or hollow,
and either to raise a nap on the inner surface by suitable apparatus, or to raise
a nap on the outer surface and turn it inside out, and then press the wick flat.
Or, instead of raising a nap, the hollow woven casing may be filled with cotton
wool, bibulous paper, or other bibulous material.
Other modifications of shape or material may be made to suit the require-
ments of the lamp, or of the inflammable fluid with which the wick is to be
used, the degree of capillarity being regulated by the thickness of the nap and
by the filling of the casing of the wick.
The wick thus constructed forms an excellent feeder of the flame for all
kinds of burning fluids, whether heavy or light, and furnishes an ample supply
to the flame at a greater height from the reservoir of the lamp than other
kinds of wick.
Another advantage of this improved wick is, that it may be made of a
material woven more closely than ordinary cotton wick, and it thereby removes
the annoyance frequently occasioned by the teeth of the feed wheel (by which
the wick is raised or lowered) catching in the horizontal threads or woof of
the wick.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, the parts claimed as
new, and which are intended to be secured by Letters Patent, are,-
First, the construction of a hollow. tubular lamp wick having an internally
napped surface to increase the capillary action, substantially as described.
Secondly, making a hollow wick for lamps of a folded strip of muslin or

page_text: other textile fabric, by uniting the edges together with a paste or cement
insoluble in the oil or other fluid to be consumed.
Thirdly, making hollow or tubular lamp wicks of muslin, linen, or other
suitable material, with or without a nap on the inner surface, with a filling of
cotton wool, bibulous paper, paper pulp, or other substance possessing the
requisite degree of capillarity, substantially in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord 1863.
FRED. COLLIER BAKEWELL. (L.S.)
FRED. COLLIER BAKEWELL. (L.S.)