AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND BURNING THE VAPOUR OF NAPTHA
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND BURNING THE VAPOUR
OF NAPTHA." A communication from abroad by Joseph Weatherby
Bartlett, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America.
Sealed the 22nd December 1868, and dated the 29th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th June 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND BURNING
THE VAPOUR OF NAPTHA," a communication, to be as follows:-

page_text: and mingled with the vapour of water and with atmospheric air at the
time of combustion.
The naptha I use is the liquid obtained at the first
running in the distillation of petroleum. This liquid is colourless and
highly inflammable and has a specific gravity of from seventy-two to
seventy-five degrees. By the application of heat to a tube filled with
this liquid it is converted into gas, which when properly combined with
the vapour of water and atmospheric air burns freely, giving a strong and
steady heat without smoke or odour of any kind. The reservoir con-
taining this liquid should be arranged at some distance from the stove
wherein the vapour is burned and higher than the burners. The said
stove may be provided with one or any desired number of burners, each
of which is connected with the reservoir by a tube whereby the said
liquid is conducted to the said burners. Each tube is curved or bent
in such a manner that the burner stands immediately under a part of
the tube which lies horizontally. In this horizontal part is placed
a quantity of fine wire compactly coiled or twisted, and. this wire
forms a large heating surface for the liquid. A cup or basin for con-
taining water is arranged below each burner. The pipes or tubes are
provided with cocks or valves whereby the supply of the liquid to each
burner may be regulated.
In carrying my Invention into practice I prefer to use a portable
stove supported upon a stand at a convenient height from the floor.
The said stove is preferably constructed of cast iron with a flat top,
which is provided with apertures and movable covers to support cooking
utensils of various sizes. The burners are arranged below these apertures
in the body of the stove, whose sides are perforated to admit air. The
burners are formed with very small orifices which are protected by a
piece of wire gauze or perforated plate to prevent danger of explosion by
the contact of flame with the liquid in the tube at the time of lighting
the burner. The cups or basins for containing the water are preferably
fitted into the bottom of the stove body below the burners and may be
perforated near the top to admit air. The tube over each burner is pro-
vided with a plate or disc which is removed to allow access to the
burners on lighting the same, and is then replaced. The reservoir is a
can which is provided with an aperture in the top through which the
liquid is introduced. This aperture has a screw cap or other tightly
fitting cover, and is separated from the body of the can by a strainer
formed of perforated tin or wire gauze which prevents any danger of
igniting the liquid in the can. When the stove is to be used the liquid

page_text: is admitted to the burners by opening the cocks or valves for regulating
the same.
The pressure of the liquid in the can will force a small jet
up through each burner, which when ignited will heat the horizontal part
of the tube above it. The liquid in this tube will by this means soon be
converted into gas or vapour. The ascent and escape of this gas through
the pipe into the can is prevented by the pressure of the liquid; it
must therefore escape through the burner, where it is mingled with the
vapour arising from the water in the cup below and with atmospheric
air.
My improved stove requires no chimney. It gives an intense heat
without producing an unpleasant odour or unhealthy vapour, and may be
used without danger or inconvenience in any part of a house as well as
on ships, in railway carriages, and elsewhere.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. S, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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 of
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND BURNING THE VAPOUR OF
NAPTHA," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: 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 William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
My Invention relates to an apparatus for cooking and similar purposes
which is heated by burning gas or vapour produced from petroleum,
naptha, benzine, or other inflamable liquids, which gas is mingled with
the vapour of water and with atmospheric air at the time of combustion.
I prefer to use a liquid obtained at the first running in the distillation of
petroleum. This liquid is colourless and highly inflamable and has a
specific gravity of from seventy-two to seventy-five degrees.
By the
application of heat to a tube filled with this liquid it is converted into
gas, which when properly combined with the vapour of water and
atmospheric air burns freely, giving a strong and steady heat without
smoke or odour of any kind. The reservoir containing this liquid should
be arranged at some distance from the stove wherein the vapour is
burned and higher than the burners. The said stove may be provided
with one or any desired number of burners, each of which is connected
with the reservoir by a tube, whereby the said liquid is conducted to the
said burners. Each tube is curved or bent in such a manner that the
burner stands immediately under a part of the tube which lies horizon-
tally. This horizontal part may contain a quantity of fine wire
compactly coiled or twisted, and this wire forms a large heating surface
for the liquid. A cup or basin for containing water is arranged below
each burner. The pipes or tubes are provided with cocks or valves
whereby the supply of the liquid to each burner may be regulated.
The nature of my Invention consists chiefly in the means for prevent-
ing the destructive action of the heat upon the gas-generating chamber
or tube, in constructing such chamber of metal which is not subject to
rapid carbonization, and in providing the stove with means for preventing
the loss of the waste liquid.

page_text: In carrying my Invention into practice 1 prefer to use a portable
stove supported upon a stand at a convenient height from the floor.
The said stove is preferably constructed of cast iron with a flat top,
which is provided with apertures and movable covers to support cooking
utensils of various sizes. The burners, are arranged below these
apertures in the body of the stove whose sides are perforated to admit
air. The burners are formed with very small orifices to prevent danger
of explosion by the contact of flame with the liquid in the tube at the
time of lighting the burner. The cups or basins for containing the
water are preferably fitted into the bottom of the stove body below
the burners, and may be perforated near the top to admit air.
The said
cups will also catch the waste liquid escaping from the burners. The
tube over each burner is provided with a plate or disc which is removed
to allow access to the burners in lighting the same, and is then replaced.
The reservoir is a can which is provided with an aperture in the top
through which the liquid is introduced. This aperture has a screw cap
or other tightly fitting cover and is separated from the body of the can
by a strainer formed of perforated tin or wire gauze, which prevents any
danger of igniting the liquid in the can.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of a stove provided with my
improved apparatus; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the said stove
with its reservoir drawn to a reduced scale; Figure 3 is a plan of a stove
illustrating slight modifications in my Invention; Figure 4 is a vertical
section on the line x, x, Figure 3; Figure 5 is a side elevation of the
said stove and its reservoir drawn to a reduced scale. Like letters
indicate the same parts throughout the Drawings.
A represents a stove which is of ordinary construction except
that the lower part is cast with an inner ring A', which reaches to
the top of the gas-generating chamber B. This ring is cut away
at a to allow of sliding the disc C towards the stop valve or cock D.
The upper part 6 of the stove is made to slip on in the usual way and
is provided with covers c, and a rim or shelf d on which the covers rest.
A are the legs whereon the stove is supported. In Figure 1 E is the
cup or basin, which is made of cast iron with a lip E, and which is
fastened to the stove A by the screw e, leaving the upper edge of the
E sufficiently below the stove to admit a draught of air. This cup
cup

page_text: receives the waste liquid which is kept from spreading over the stove by
the fixed ring A', and drops into the recess E' at the bottom of the cup,
where if burns slowly away. The cup E in the stove represented in
Figures 3, 4, and 5 is intended only to contain water. C is the movable
combustion disc, which I make of cast iron, and which is preferably
provided with a triangular projection C', Figure 1, to part the flame and
keep it from the generating tube or chamber B. This disc C has on its
upper surface two loops C, which loosely fit the said generating tube or
chamber so as to allow a circulation of air around the chamber except
at the point of actual contact. By means of the recess a cut in the
fixed ring A¹ the disc C may be moved from above the burner H for the
purpose of lighting or cleansing the same. The object of the disc C is
to distribute the gas flame evenly and protect the generating chamber
from the direct action of the flames. The said generating pipe or
chamber is made of any of the known forms, but instead of using
cast iron I make it of wrought iron or copper, either of which lasts
much longer than cast iron without carbonizing, and which I am
able to use in connection with the moveable disc C, the latter protecting
the pipe from the severe heat which has hitherto been an insurmountable
objection to the use of such metals. I represents the reservoir which I
make of any suitable form and capacity; h is a support for the pipe D'.
The parts of the stove, except as herein-before set forth, are made in any
of the usual forms, and therefore need no minute description. When
the stove is to be lighted the liquid is admitted to the burners H by
opening the cocks or valves D for regulating the same. The pressure
of the liquid in the reservoir or can I will force a small jet of liquid
up through each burner, which when ignited will heat the horizontal
tube or chamber B. The liquid in this tube will by this means soon be
converted into gas or vapour. The ascent and escape of this gas through
the pipe into the can I is prevented by the pressure of the liquid, it must
therefore pass through the burners.
My improved stove requires no chimney; it gives an intense heat
without producing an unpleasant odour or unhealthy vapour, and may be
used without danger or inconvenience in any part of a house, as well as
on ships, in railway carriages, and elsewhere.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim,―

page_text: First. The movable combustion disc C constructed and arranged
substantially as described.
Second. The cup or basin E constructed and arranged substantially as
described.
Third. The combination and arrangement of the fixed ring A' with
the cup or basin E for the purpose described.
Fourth. The combination and arrangement of the movable combustion
dise C with the wrought-iron or copper generating tube or chamber B
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I; the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)