AN IMPROVEMENT IN GAS DURNERS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Henry Williams, of No. 20, Cecil Court,
Saint Martin's Lane, in the Parish of Saint Martin, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention
10
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN
GAS DURNERS
Sealed the 20th March 1868, and dated the 24th September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Henry Williams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his' Petition, on the
24th September 1867.
I, THOMAS HENRY WILLIAMS, of No. 20, Cecil Court, St. Martin's Lane, in
the Parish of Saint Martin, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN GAS BURNERS," to be as
follows:-
It consists of a rim to clasp the nipple, and having a circular disc fastened
on either side of said rim, and so placed on the nipple as to bring the disc to
the sixteenth or eighth part of an inch from the aperture in the nipple, thereby
dividing the flame lengthwise, and causing a great increase of light by the
more perfect combustion of the gas.
The improvement for which I claim is the circular disc in lieu of a straight
one as at present in use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Henry Williams in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HENRY WILLIAMS, of No. 20, Cecil Court, Saint Martin's Lane, in the Parish
of Saint Martin, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year
of Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Henry Williams, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Henry Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Henry Williams, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN GAS BURNERS." upon the condition. (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Henry Williams, 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.
:1
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Henry Williams, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My Invention consists in the application to gas burners of a small metallic
vertical disc or plate arranged above and across the centre of the nipple, the
object being to divide the jet of gas and consequent flame, thereby increasing
the light by causing a larger quantity of oxygen from the atmospheric air to
mingle or, combine with the gas and flame, and effecting complete combustion
of the coal or other gas, and also preventing the rushing or humming noise so
common in ordinary gas burners.
In order that my said Invention may be completely understood, I annex
the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents the application of the

page_text: improvement to a fish-tail burner; and Fig. 2, its application to a bat's-wing
burner or nipple, similar letters denoting corresponding parts in each Figure.
a represents the nipple, and. 6 the metallic plate or disc, which I prefer to
be of brass, although it may be other metal or metals or alloy. In the fish-tail
burner I prefer the form of disc or plate shewn, the lower edge of which nearest
and over the orifice of the jet being made with, a thin curvilinear knife edge,
the upper edge or back being thicker after the manner of a knife blade,
whereby the jet and flame are more effectively divided, enlarged, and spread
out than if the lower edge were equal in thickness to the upper edge. In the
bat's-wing burner I form the plate of the arch form shewn or thereabouts in
order that the radius of the inner periphery or arc shall somewhat correspond
with the radius of the arc of the bat's-wing nipple, by which means the jet or
issue of gas and the flame are completely divided with the same results as
obtained in the fish-tail burner, the upper and lower edges of the plate being
of different thicknesses as before described. In each instance I prefer to so
adjust and fix the plate or disc to the nipple that the lower or dividing edge
shall be about a sixteenth of an inch above the orifice of the gas jet which it
must never touch.
The mode of fixing or attaching the plate or disc to the nipple is readily
attained. I prefer to form a screw thread on the upper part of the nipple,
and to attach the plate or disc to a ring c, so that the ring may be screwed
to the nipple and turned to bring the edge of the dise to the required distance
from the jet; this distance is easily determined by experiment, and if a
small quantity of white lead or other equivalent be applied during the process
the ring and disc become a fixture on the nipple. If however the nipple be
not cut with such screw thread the ring c may be a split or open spring ring
of thin metal, and may be tightened up by a small screw passing through flanges
on the ring, but other convenient modes of attachment may be adopted. I also
prefer to make the lower portion or stem of the nipple with a tapering screw
as shewn, in order that it may fit varying sizes of pipes or tubes, although this
is not always necessary.
The Invention is also applicable to argand burners by applying a ring of
thin metal over the apertures or jet holes, the principle and objects being the
same as in the other burners.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into practical effect, I would remark in
conclusion that I do not limit myself to the precise details and configuration
of parts which I have expressed and shewn, as the same may obviously be
varied or modified without in any degree departing from the principles on

page_text: which it is based; but what I claim and desire to be secured to me by the
herein in part recited Letters Patent 'is, the application to gas burners of a
'plate or disc or other such form of metal for the purpose of dividing the jet
and flame of gas issuing from gas burners, and increasing their volume and
illuminating power by the consequent "additional supply of oxygen or atmos-
pheric air, substantially as herein specified and shewn:
...
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Henry Williams, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.