Year: 1899

page_text: I, WILLIAM THOMAS SUGG, of Vincent Works, Regency Street, Westminster,
S.W., Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In incandescent gas lighting, it is well known that an atmospheric burner is
required to produce a flame of the necessary quality to cause the incandescence
of the mantle.
It has hitherto been thought that in order to obtain the best results, a
thorough and complete mixture of the gas and air must be effected before they
reach the burner, and so all improvements made in these burners have been
with a view to ensure this complete mixture, either by causing eddies in the
mixing chamber, or otherwise.
By a series of experiments I have found that, however successful the mixing
may be, the illuminating power of the light is only slightly, if at all, increased,
and therefore I have come to the conclusion that in these burners, if any
increase in the illuminating power is to be obtained in incandescent lighting,
it must be looked for in quite another direction.
According to my view, the brilliancy of the light does not depend on the
thorough mixture of the air and gas, but on their admission to the mantle at
a high velocity, and in proper proportions, to produce, under the influence of
the heat evolved, an illuminant of great illuminating power.
Now, in the burners as hitherto constructed, no attempt seems to have been
made to ensure that the current of gas issuing from the injector shall reach the
point of ignition, accompanied by a proper volume of air, without its speed
being unduly retarded. On the contrary, everything appears to have been done
to retard the velocity of the gas and air, in order to effect the so-called mixture,
and thus the brilliancy of the light suffers considerably in consequence.
In carrying out my invention, 1 employ a gas injector of steatite, but I make
the gas passage of considerable length comparatively, and quite smooth, and
thus I prevent the usual hissing noise, and give a true direction to the jet of
gas.
The gas should be under pressure to get any result at all, but I have found
that the pressure on the gas should be sufficient to give such a velocity to the
stream of gas, that if the gas be lighted at the injector nozzle (the burner being
removed), a flame from three to four times the length of the burner will be
produced, without a roaring noise.
Flames of this description are very sensitive, and, under certain conditions,
are liable to shorten and spread out, which causes flickering in the light, and
therefore the flame must be of such a length that the point of ignition, when
the burner is replaced, will be below the point to which the flame would shorten
under the most disadvantageous circumstances; thus, the flickering will be
avoided as the sensitive part of the flame will, in effect, be above the point of
ionition

page_text: J
The speed at which the gas is flowing will draw in the requisite quantity of
air, and will, at the same time, give to the air an equivalent speed.
The burner consists of a length of tube, at one end of which is the gas nozzle
or injector, and at the other end, a piece of reticulated or perforated material,
which constitutes the burner proper. This material is preferably steatite, in
the form of a flat disc having four or more rings of holes according to the
size of the burner, the holes being bored close together, and at a slight angle,
so as to give an outward direction to the gas and air issuing therefrom.
- The centre of the disc is solid,-and-the-fine-stream-of-gas-issuing from the-
injector will impinge upon it and will be made to spread. The velocity of the
gas will thus be arrested, but as, in spreading, it comes into contact with the
currents of air which are passing out through the holes, the velocity of which
has been given them by the flow of the gas, the velocity of the gas will be
restored. Thus, a mixture of the air and gas is effected at the point of ignition,
and this mixture becomes an illuminant of extremely high illuminating power,
possessing great affinity for the oxygen of the air, and giving an intensely
brilliant light.
The gas has, by these means, a free flow direct to the point of ignition, irre-
spective of the currents of air; it draws in the proper quantity of air a mixing
so called, takes place practically at the point of ignition; and the velocity of
both air and gas are maintained, so that they are admitted to the mantle at a.
high velocity.
The highest illuminating power coincides with great velocity of gas and air,
at an inappreciable pressure at the point of ignition.
001
1000
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements relating to Incandescent Gas Lighting.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS SUGG, of Vincent Works, Regency Street, Westminster,
S.W., 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:-
-
In incandescent gas lighting it is well known that an atmospheric burner is
required to produce a flame of the necessary quality to cause the incandescence
of the mantle.
It has hitherto been thought that, in order to obtain the best results, a
thorough and complete mixture of the gas and air must be effected before they
reach the burner, and so all improvements made in these burners have been
with a view to ensure this complete mixture, either by causing eddies in the
mixing chamber, or otherwise.
By a series of experiments I have found that, however successful the mixing
may be, the illuminating power of the light is only slightly, if at all, increased,
and therefore I have come to the conclusion that, if any increase in the illuminat-
ing power is to be obtained in incandescent lighting, it must be looked for in
quite another direction.
According to my view, the brilliancy of the light does not depend on the
thorough mixture of the air and gas, as hitherto suggested, but on their admis-
sion to the mantle at a high velocity, and in proper proportions to produce,

page_text: under the influence of the heat evolved, an illuminant of great illuminating
power.
It must not be assumed, from the above remark, that I do not mix the air
and gas, as such is not the case; a heating flame must necessarily consist of
air and gas mixed in proper proportions; but what I wish to convey is, that I
make no special arrangement for producing the mixture before it is actually
required; on the contrary, I delay the mixing until the last moment, as will be
presently more fully explained.
Now, in the burners as hitherto constructed, no attempt seems to have been
made to ensure that the current of gas issuing from the injector shall reach the
point of ignition accompanied by a proper volume of air, without its speed
being unduly retarded. On the contrary, everything appears to have been done
to retard the velocity of the gas and air, in order to effect the so-called mixture,
and thus the brilliancy of the light suffers considerably in consequence.
In carrying out my invention, I employ a gas injector of steatite, but I make
the gas passage of considerable length comparatively, and quite smooth, and
thus I prevent the usual hissing noise, and give a true direction to the jet of
gas.
The gas should be under pressure, to get any result at all in incandescent
gas lighting, and I have found that a pressure of from 9 to 10 inches gives the
most satisfactory results.
The speed at which the gas is flowing will draw in the requisite quantity of
air, and will, at the same time, give to the air an equivalent speed.
The burner consists of a length of tube, at one end of which is the gas nozzle
or injector, and at the other end a piece of reticulated or perforated material,
which constitutes the burner proper. This material is preferably steatite, in
the form of a flat disc, having a ring or rings of holes, according to the size
of the burner, the holes being bored at a slight angle, so as to give an outward
direction to the gas and air issuing therefrom.
The centre of the disc is solid, and the stream of gas issuing from the injector
will impinge upon it, and will be made to spread. The velocity of the gas will
thus be arrested, but as, in spreading, it comes into contact with the currents
of air which are passing out through the holes, the velocity of which has been
given them by the flow of the gas, the velocity of the gas will be restored.
Thus, a mixture of the air and gas is effected at the point of ignition, and
this mixture becomes an illuminant of extremely high illuminating power,
possessing great affinity for the oxygen of the air, and giving an intensely
brilliant light.
The gas has, by these means, a free flow direct to the point of ignition, irre-
spective of the currents of air; it draws in the proper quantity of air; a mixing,
so called takes place, practically at the point of ignition; and the velocity of
both air and gas are maintained, so that they are admitted to the mantle at a
high velocity.
The highest illuminating power coincides with great velocity of gas and air
at an inappreciable pressure at the point of ignition.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation, full size, of an incandescent gas burner con-
structed according to my invention.
Fig. 2 is an external view of the burner tube, and
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the burner proper.
56
"
When the pressure of the gas is from 9 to 10 inches, I term it "high pres-
sure," and the burner I am about to describe is one specially used for high
pressure. I have found, however, that, in its general features, this burner may
be used also for what I term low pressure, that is to say, when the pressure
is ordinary, or not produced by extraneous means, such as a force pump, &c.
The burner, in its special features, as required to adapt it as a low pressure
burner, is described and claimed in the Complete Specification of an application

page_text: filed on the 23rd day of November 1899, No. 23,398, though it is indicated
therein that, in its general features, it would come within the scope of the
present invention.
a is a chamber of any suitable construction, in the walls of which are holes b
for the inlet of air. The aggregate area of these holes, as shown, will be
340.5 m/m. square.
In the bottom of this chamber is inserted a steatite gas nozzle c, of such a
length that the tip shall be about level with a line corresponding to the hori-
zontal axes of the holes b.
This nozzle c is coned internally, and is provided with an outlet passage, at
the apex of the cone of 1.15 m/m in diameter, and 4 m/m long.
I suggest steatite for this purpose, because the outlet passage must be per-
fectly smooth, presenting no burr, as in metal, which causes a hissing of the
issuing gas, but of course any other material in which the same conditions will
be obtained, may be used.
The chamber a has a tubular extension d, to which the burner tube e is fitted.
This tube e is trumpet-mouthed, as shown, and carries in the mouth, the burner
proper f.
This burner f consists of a flanged disc of steatite of th inch thick, and it
contains two rows of holes, the axes of which are at an angle of 15 degrees from
the vertical.
In the first or outer row (which is as near the edge of the disc as possible)
are 18 holes, and in the second and inner row, are 12 holes. The diameter of
each hole is 2.75 m/m, and the total area of all the holes is 180 m/m square.
I do not, however, intend to confine myself to the exact measurements above
given, as they may be more or less varied, according to the size of the burner,
and the quantity of gas to be consumed per hour. Thus, for instance, the
burner described is adapted to burn 10.8 cubic feet of 15.75 candle gas per
hour, at a pressure of 9 or 10 inches, a light of an illuminating power equal
to 350 candles or 32.4 candles per foot being thereby obtained.
Nor do I intend to confine myself to the number or size of holes stated, so
long as the angle of the axes given is maintained.
A solid portion g is left immediately over the outlet of the gas nozzle c.
The distance from the nozzle c to the underside of the burner f, is about
5 inches, this length being required in view of the velocity at which the gas
is passing out of the nozzle, in order to draw in the requisite quantity of air
to produce a proper mixture of air and gas, and also to, give the requisite
velocity to the air.
The flange of the burner f is held securely in the bell mouth of the burner
tube c, by means of spring tongues h, formed by cutting nicks in the edge of
the bell (see Fig. 2), and this is necessitated by the nature of the material used,
which, having somewhat of a brittle character, would crack and break, unless
provision were made for its expansion under the heat evolved.
The spring tongues constitute such provision, and as the burner cools (when
the gas is turned off) and shrinks, the spring tongues close in upon the burner,
and so hold it firmly at all times.
This mode of holding the burner is described and claimed in the Specification
No. 23,39899 before mentioned.
The action of the burner is as follows: —
The gas issuing from from the nozzle c forms a column of gas, which, having
a clear and uninterrupted flow, strikes against the solid part g, of the burner
proper f.
As the gas rises, and according to its velocity, it draws in, through the holes b,
the air, which forms a tube or sleeve of air round the column of gas, but does
not mix therewith. The air thus attains a velocity equal or nearly equal to
that of the gas. When the gas strikes the solid part 9 of the burner f, its
velocity is arrested, and it is caused to spread.
:

page_text: It is thus thrown outward into contact with the upwardly rushing current
of air, and is carried with it through the holes in the burner. The gas and air,
which have become heated by contact with the burner, thus practically mix at
the point of ignition, and the flame, which, by reason of the inclined axes of
the holes, is thrown outwards onto the mantle, produces an intense soft white
light of the illuminating power above mentioned.
Although I prefer to use the high and low pressure burners for the respective
services, still either burner may be used for the other service, and improved
results over anything which has gone before will ensue; but to get the best
results, the burner described for the respective service should be employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A burner for incandescent gas lighting, consisting of a circular chamber
having holes in its walls, and a tubular extension surmounted by a trumpet
mouthed tube, in combination with a gas nozzle of coned section internally,
leading up to a long outlet passage with parallel walls, and a disc burner held
in the enlarged mouth of a burner tube by spring tongues, the said disc having
a central solid portion surrounded by holes, the axes of which are at an angle
from the vertical, all as herein shown and described.
2. In a burner for incandescent gas lighting, a gas nozzle of conical internal
section, leading to a long outlet passage having parallel walls, and adapted to
inject a stream or column of gas into the end of a burner tube, the outlet mouth
of which is enlarged; a burner tube carrying, in the enlarged mouth a burner
proper, and a solid disc burner proper-having a solid central portion sur-
rounded by holes, all combined and operating as herein shown and described.
3. A burner for incandescent gas lighting, in which the streams of gas and
air are kept separate until they arrive at the point of ignition, as and for the
purpose herein set forth.
4. A burner for incandescent gas lighting, in which the velocity of the stream
of gas is arrested at the point of ignition, the gas is caused to spread and mix
with the air, and the mixture is carried forward at or about the velocity imparted
to the air by the stream of gas, as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Dated this 28th day of April 1900.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.