Improvements in Automatic Gas Igniters.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1899-Accepted, 6th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Gas Igniters.
I, KURT SCHULTZE, of 4, Neue Promenade, in the City of Berlin, Kingdom of
Prussia, German Empire, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
The automatic gas ingniting device constituting my present invention consists
in the construction and use of a tube of thin porous platinum-foil, to which is
connected a pill like bulb or body of spongy platinum, adapted to become ignited
when exposed to a current of carburetted-hydrogen or other illuminating gas or
combustible vapour, or a mixture of such gas and air, the advantages gained by
the employment of the said tube of porous platinum over the platinum wire
hitherto employed for this purpose being, that the said tube when heated
quickly and readily distributes the glow over the whole of its surface, which
permits that the exiting or igniting pill or bulb may be at the top of the flame of
the burner instead of being at the lower end thereof and exposed to the greatest
heat as hitherto, thus by my invention prolonging the life of such igniting
devices.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an incandescent
body or mantle to which my improved self igniting device, has been connected,
Fig. 2 being a view of Fig. I as seen from left to right.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the middle portion and upper end of my said
self igniting device, and in which I have chosen to illustrate the employment
of an asbestos thread passing through and supporting the exciter or igniter of
same.
In carrying my invention into effect, and according to one method, I procure
a suitable length of very fine platinum wire 1, around which I wind in close
spiral form a length of wet sewing or like cotton, the said cotton covered wire
being then rolled in a sheet of platinum-foil, of such dimensions as to form
several convolutions around the said wire. Or in lieu of the said platinum wire
I may employ a dry or wet asbestos thread k, having connected to its upper and
lower ends, or passing entirely therethrough a length of platinum wire Ɩ, but
whichever of these methods I may adopt the said cotton or asbestos covered wire,
when enclosed by the platinum foil, is exposed to a flame or other heat sufficient
to destroy or consume the said cotton, thus leaving the platinum foil intact, the
porous nature of which, in combination with the space provided by the destroyed
cotton, affords pores or perforations for the admittance of gas," when exposed
thereto.
The upper end of the said platinum wire (whether enclosed by asbestos thread
or not) is arranged to pass through the exciter or igniting bulb e, which may
be formed of spongy platinum or any of the well known chemically suitable
substances adapted to glow when exposed to carburetted hydrogen or other
inflammable gas, the upper end of the said platinum wire (whether covered by
asbestos thread or not) being arranged in the form of a loop c or other convenient
shape suitable for the purpose, the said bulb e being then preferably enclosed
by and wrapped in platinum foil to protect it from the deteriorating influence,
arising from the precipitation of the volatilizing substances given off from the
incandescent body or mantle.

page_text: The self igniting device described is first place vertically alongside the in-
candescent body or mantle 6 with the bulb e resting upon or near to the shoulder
of same, the upper end c of the said igniting device being then bent over and
caused to engage with the gathered in upper end a of band clear of its loop d,
the remainder of the length of (or h and as the case may be and as shewn)
being then drawn down tightly lying close against the mantle, so that the
lower end of may be turned under and caused to engage with the lower end of
the said mantle as shewn in Fig. 1.
In order that the thus placed self igniting body may be caused to adhere
closely to the mantle or incandescent body b, I employ a strip or coating of
crude paraffin or other wax interposed between them, as indicated by the lines m
in Fig. 2, which, during the process of burning the collodion off the mantle in
the usual way serves as a cement for connecting the said platinum foil tube f
and the mantle together.
In practice, the mere turning on of the gas at the burner would, as such gas
enters the mantle and comes in contact with e, cause the latter to glow, such
glow being immediately conveyed along the platinum foil tube f in a downward
direction, thus igniting the gas at every part of the length of the mantle b
almost simultaneously, and by reason of the igniting bulb e being at the top of
the mantle b instead of at the lower end and exposed to the greatest heat of the
flame as hitherto, the life of the said igniter is thereby materially prolonged,
usually to an extent in excess of that of the life of the mantle, and it is possible
with care to remove the said self igniting device from a worn out mantle and
connect it to a new one to operate therewith in like manner.
It is not imperative for the purposes of connection with the mantle b that
the upper end of the igniting device should be in the form of a loop cas at
Fig. 3, but I find such loop useful as a means for suspending the said devices
before being connected to the mantles or other incandescent bodies b.
As an alternative method I may find it convenient to wind the platinum wire l
and asbestos thread & together in the form of a double spiral before employing
the winding of cotton (if used) and the subsequent casing with platinum foil.
It is obvious that although I have described and shewn my improved self-
igniting gas lighter in connection with an incandescent mantle, that the same
may be employed in connection with an ordinary gas burner for igniting the
said gas, when no such mantle or incandescent body is used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is;-
-
1st. The self igniting device for gas burners substantially as herein described
and shewn.
2nd. The igniting device for gas burners consisting of the combination of a
platinum wire or asbestos thread & or both, connected to or passing through a
bulb or body e of spongy platinum, or other substance or substances adapted
to be ignited when exposed to carburetted hydrogen or other inflammable gas, the
upper end of the said wire being arranged at c for suspension, and at each end
for connection to the upper and lower ends of a mantle or other incandescent
body such as b, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and shewn.
3rd. The self igniting device for gas burners, and means for intimately con-
necting the same to an incandescent mantle or body mounted upon the said
burner substantially as herein set forth.
Dated this 2nd day of December 1899.
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
1, Broad Street Buildings, Liverpool Street, London, E.C.,,
Agent for the Applicant.