Lighting and Extinguishing Gas-burners.
Year: 1888

page_text: Lighting and Extinguishing Gas-burners.
WILHELM EFFER, of 32A Bülowstrasse, Berlin W, in the Empire of Germany,
Gentleman 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 :-
This Invention has reference to the kind of apparatus for automatically lighting and
extinguishing gas lamps in which, by an alternate increase and decrease of the
pressure of the gas in the main, the ignition as well as the extinction of such lamps
is brought about; and its object is more particularly to neutralise or suppress the
inconveniences or drawbacks which, as experience has taught, are inseparable from the
working of the automatic apparatus of this description heretofore devised-such
inconveniences consisting mainly in the susceptibility of some of the working parts
or organs of the apparatus to suffer from corrosion, to be clogged up or otherwise
damaged both by the moisture contained in the atmosphere and by the accumulation
of some of the naphthaline contained in the gas with which the burner is supplied;
and generally speaking, my Invention has for its object to impart additional
accuracy to the working of self-acting apparatus for lighting and extinguishing
gas-burners.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings I have shewn in Figure 1 a longitudinal
section of an apparatus constructed according to my Invention for automatically
lighting and extinguishing gas lamps, furnished with a metallic float or diaphragm,
and arranged in such a manner that both the lighting and the extinguishing operations
are brought about by the action of high pressure within the service pipe. Figure 2 and
Figure 3 are side views of Figure 1, the former viewed from the left and the latter from
the right of the apparatus as shewn in Figure 1, the hoods Q R being omitted both in
Figure 2 and Figure 3. The bottom plate A is so fixed upon or connected with the
service pipe that the gas may enter the apparatus through the opening which leads
into the casing B, to which the lid or cover C is fitted. Within the casing B the
metallic float or diaphragm D, fitting hermetically to the sides thereof, rises when the
pressure of the gas within the main increases, and descends again as soon as the said
DQ37

page_text: pressure decreases. The diaphragm D, shewn separately in plan and section in
Figure 13, surmounts and is fixed to a receptacle E, partially filled with shot, which
is shewn separately in plan and elevation in Figure 12. Within the tube F sur-
mounting the cover C, the hollow piston L travels up and down, and through this
hollow piston Land the orifices within the tap G-shewn on an enlarged scale, both
in front and side view s, in Figure 16-the gas proceeds to the principal burner P and
the auxiliary burner N. By the variations in the positions of the orifices in the
tap G, the gas is alternately allowed to pass or be cut off, and this change of position
is effected by the working of the ratchet wheel and pawl H H₁ T, Figures 1 and 2,
which are actuated by the ascent and descent of the diaphragm D. With the guide-
rod H that passes through the cover C, a stud working within the fork-shaped link K,
Figures 1 and 3, is so connected that the centre of gravity of this link may be varied,
according as to whether both the lighting and extinguishing of the principal burner
take place at high pressure, as in the arrangement shewn in Figures 1 to 3, or the
lighting takes place at high pressure and the extinguishing at low pressure, as in
arrangements referred to hereinafter. For the former method the link motion is
shewn on an enlarged scale in Figure 14, and for the latter in Figure 15, the tap G,
however, being used only in those cases in which the flame is both lighted and extin-
guished by high pressure in the main being brought to bear upon the apparatus. The
gas is alternately fed into the principal burner P and the auxiliary burner tube N in
the manner followed in other similar apparatus that have hitherto been in use.
Between the upper part of the tube F and the burner P I insert a regulator O, shown
on an enlarged scale, in plan and longitudinal section, in Figure 17; which regulator
has for its object, on the one hand, to adjust to a nicety the quantity of gas to be
admitted to the burner, and on the other to keep up the heat of the movable upper
parts or organs of the apparatus while the principal flame is not alight, thereby
preventing the oxidation of such parts as well as the accumulation of naphthaline
therein, two inconveniences practically inevitable in the existing arrangements of
apparatus of this description. The regulator O rises or falls within its casing, when
the diaphragm is raised by an increase of the gas pressure within the main, or lowered
by a decrease thereof. Over the regulator OI place a small hood Q, resting upon a
support M, shewn separately in section and plan in Figure 11; and over the whole of
the working parts I place the larger hood R in such a way that by means of these
two hoods the intrusion of dust and dirt is rendered impossible and the consequent
deterioration of the working parts or organs entirely prevented.
By a modification in the arrangement of the apparatus constructed according to my
Invention, I suppress the tap G and the hollow piston L and substitute for these a
close-fitting tube S with apertures in its sides corresponding to orifices leading into
the auxiliary burner tube N, in such a way that the access of the gas to the orifices
may be opened up or cut off according as to whether these orifices are opposite to the
aforesaid apertures, or are covered up by the solid portions of the sides of the tube S.
In Figures 4 and 5 I have shewn a longitudinal section and a front view of this last-
named arrangement, the other letters of reference denoting parts analogous to those
shewn in Figures 1 to 3.
By another modification shewn in a longitudinal section Figure 6, and in two side
views Figures 7 and 8, I substitute for the diaphragm D Figure 1 a bell-shaped
vessel U, turned upside down and having its edges dipped in mercury contained in
the rim d of the casing B. In this case the receptacle E is screwed on to the flat top
of the vessel U, as shewn in Figure 6, the construction and working of the apparatus
being otherwise the same as in Figures 1 to 3.
Lastly, I have shewn another modification, in longitudinal section, in Figure 9 of
the accompanying sheet of drawings, where the arrangement is made in such a manner
that the main burner is lighted at high pressure and extinguished at low pressure,
whilst in the other arrangements shewn the ignition as well as the extinction takes
place at high pressure. Figure 10 is an external view of the casing B surmounted by
the hood R.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The use or employment, in connection with self-acting apparatus for lighting
and extinguishing gas-burners, of a regulator for adjusting the consumption of gas as
well as for maintaining a uniform heat within the apparatus while the principal burner
is extinct, and thereby preventing corrosion as well as the accumulation of naphthaline,
in the manner herein set forth and illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings.
2. The use or employment of a hermetically fitting diaphragm D furnished with a
receptacle E in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth and illustrated in the
accompanying sheet of drawings.
3. The use or employment of a receptacle E, filled with shot, either in connection
with a flat diaphragm D or a bell-shaped vessel U, in the manner and for the purpose
herein set forth and illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings.
4. The use or employment of the support M, as shewn in Figures 1, 6 and 1!, in
connection with a hood Q, for the purpose of preventing the organs of the apparatus
from being deteriorated by dust or dirt, as herein set forth.
Dated this Twenty eighth day of February 1888
J. T. DANN,
32, Canterbury Road, Brixton, S.W.,
Applicant's Agent.
J. T. DANN,
32, Canterbury Road, Brixton, S.W.,
Applicant's Agent.