IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LAMPS AND GAS BURNERS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
YOUNG, of Queen Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, Lamp Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourteenth day of December in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Young, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Young, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Young, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LAMPS AND
GAS BURNERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the
said William Young, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Young, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: Figure 1 represents a section of a miner's lamp, there being perforated talc
or mica employed around the flame, so that a better light may be obtained
from such lamp than when the flame is surrounded with woven wire cloth;
and in addition to applying perforated tale or mica around the flame there is
a portion of perforated talc or mica at the upper part of the lamp, where,
according to the constructions heretofore resorted to, the woven wire cloth
becomes quickly injured by the great heat to which that part of the lamp is
subjected. Talc or mica to be used for this purpose is to be perforated with
numerous small holes, which may be performed by ordinary punching machi-
nery, such as is used for punching metal; and I have found that it is better
to use tale in pannels than to bend it.
Figure 2 shews a transverse section of the lamp just above the burner. a is
the vessel to contain the liquid to be burned; b, b, are pillars against which
the perforated sheets of talc c, c, are placed, and they are retained secure by
means of the frames d, d, which are affixed by screws or other convenient
means to the pillars 6. The manner of putting the other parts of the lamp
together is clearly shewn in the Drawing; e is a dise of tale or mica which is
perforated with small holes, and this disc is securely fixed by the ring f at the
upper part of the tube g of woven wire cloth. The object of using the disc e
as to offer a better material to resist the effect of heat.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention.
Figure 3 is a vertical section of a spirit lamp constructed according to this
part of the Invention; and Figure 4 is a transverse section of the same, taken
at the dotted line a, a, Figure 3. The other Figures shew some of the details
separately. h is the vessel to contain the spirit to be burned; i, i, is the non-
conducting material, of wood or other suitable substance, by which the heat of
the burner is prevented coming to the spirit in the vessel; j is a metal cover;
are perforated cylinders, through which the air to support combustion
The cylinder k supports the gallery 1, as is shewn. On the top of the
cover is affixed the cylindrical tubes n, o, the parts nearest the cover being
open through to allow of the passage of air through the side to the centre, as
is shewn; the space between the two tubes n, o, opening into the vessel below,
in order that the wickholder may pass down between them and the wick and
k and
passes.

page_text: enter the spirit in the vessel below. The gallery supports the deflecting
instrument p and the cone p¹, by which the air is deflected externally against
the flame. The deflecting instrument p supports the chimney, as is shewn.
The wickholder q is shewn separately at Figure 5, the upper part consisting
of a cylinder from the point q¹ to the point q³, where it is connected with the
lower part ³, which consists of a tube from q' to q², from which point it is cut
away, as is shewn, and bent in towards the other side, where it becomes con-
centric with the outer side. This arrangement is in order to receive the wick,
which is formed tubular, some length open, and only forms half a tube for the
remainder of its length, as is shewn at Figure 6; and it will readily be
understood that the tubular portion of the wick passes over the upper or
cylindrical portion of the wickholder, and the lower or open end of the wick
descends down the space formed for it at the lower part of the wickholder
into the spirit in the vessel. By this arrangement the air enters from one
side into the centre of the wick, as was described in the Specification of
my former Patent. r is a toothed rack formed on the wickholder, and by
means of a pinion s, the wickholder can be lowered, so as to put out the
lamp, or to raise it up again when desired for use. The wickholder descends
down between the tubes n, o, the cylindrical part of the wickholder not
being permitted to descend lower than the point n', where the tubes n, o,
are cut away to allow the air to pass into the centre of the wick, and this
part n' is closed, so that the air cannot get in between the tubes n, o, as is
shewn. t is a conical cap, which is fixed over the top of the tube n, and there
is a descending tube v within the cone, which descends down inside the tube n,
so as to direct any overflow of spirit away from the place where the cone joins
the top of the tube n, as is shewn. In the upper part of the tube o are formed
two slits, to allow of the bar u, which is affixed near the upper part of the
wickholder, descending within the tube o, as shewn; this bar u has a project-
ing pin w affixed thereto to receive one or more buttons or internal deflectors,
as is shown, the buttons having a hollow stem which fits on to the pin w,
and the lower deflector is capable of being raised or lowered on the hollow
stem by means of a screw; or when the best position of the second button or
deflector (which is open in the centre) has been ascertained, it may be affixed
to the hollow stem. In some cases, where the cylinder of wick is of large
dimension, I have found it advantageous to use three or more deflecting
instruments, and Figure 6ª shews three combined, the two lowermost ones
being open or perforated. It is very important that the upper part of the
wick should be accurately cut, for when once accurately cut the same does not
require to be altered or again trimmed for very many hours. For this purpose

page_text: I apply the cylinder x external of the wick. This cylinder has three projecting
studs on it, which rest on the upper part of the larger portion of wickholder
at 1, where the same is formed into three equal inclined planes, and in
such manner, that when the studs on the tube x are on the lowest position
of the inclines, the top of the tube and the top of the wickholder
will be of the same height; but when the studs on the tube x are on the
highest points of the inclines, the upper part of the tube a will be a quantity
above the top of the wickholder equal to what the length of wick should be
above the top of the wickholder; and the object of having this tube x so
arranged is, that when the wick has been drawn up, and the tube x is moved
to its highest position, it will offer a guide for cutting off the wick correctly,
and then the tube x is to be moved to its lowest position. a are projections
on the highest parts of the inclines, to prevent the studs on the cylinder x, and
consequently the cylinders, being tuned too far round.
I will now describe the third part of my Invention, which relates to the so
constructing spirit lamps with flat wicks that they may have wood or other
non-conducting substance between the burner and the vessel containing the
spirit to be consumed.
Figure 7 shews the section of a hand lamp constructed according to this
part of my Invention; and it also shews an arrangement of another part of
my Invention, whereby the wick-holding tube has another pipe capable of
sliding over it, so that by raising or lowering the outer tube the height of
wick can be regulated, and consequently the flame. The other Figures
shew the details separately. A is the vessel for the spirit, which may be of
any convenient form; B is the non-conducting matter, of wood or other sub-
stance, which prevents the heat of the burner being conducted to the vessel
containing the spirit; C is the flat or other shaped pipe for the wick, which
is fixed in the cover E; D is a tube, which has a female screw formed on the
inside, which fits the male screw on the outside of the cover E, and when put
together the lower edge of the part D is turned inwards to prevent it coming s
off, yet allowing the part D to rise and fall, and thus to regulate the position
of the parts carried thereby. On the upper part of the tube D is fixed a
plate D in such manner as to allow the part D turning freely on the part E,
without at the same time causing the plate D¹ to turn, the part D¹ being
retained between the parts D³; into this plate D¹ the pipe F is fixed so as to 9
be able to move up and down over the pipe of the wick, and according as
this outer tube is raised or lowered so will be the quantity of wick above,
which will for the time being be allowed to burn. G is the gallery, which is
supported by uprights on the plate D'; and such gallery has a deflector II

page_text: affixed thereto in such manner as to deflect air against the upper part of the
wick. I is the glass chimney, which rests on the gallery, and is kept in its place
by the perforated cylinder J, which slides down over the outside, as is shewn,
and is retained in its place by having a slot formed at its lower part, which
moves over a stud at K, all which will readily be understood on examining the
Drawing. And I would only further remark that the pipe for the wick and
the pipe F may be altered in shape, and the pipe F may be caused to rise and
fall by a rack and pinion in place of screws, as shewn. The arrangement of
rising this pipe or tube may be made to regulate the height of the wicks and
consequently the flames of lamps with argand burners; and this will readily
be understood by reference to Figures 8 and 9, which shew an argand spirit
lamp according to this arrangement. The various parts of these Figures
being marked with the same letters of reference as those used for the flat-
wicked lamp, it will not be necessary to repeat the description, and the
Drawing will enable a workman readily to understand the parts which differ
from the parts described. Figure 10 shews a modification of this part of the
Invention applied to an oil lamp. But in this case the tube D does not turn
round, it being retained in its place by the pins D³, which pass into holes
formed to receive them in the oil vessel, and the wick is raised and lowered by
turning the frame F, affixed to the tubes or pipes F, F, which in moving round
take with them the pipes C, C, holding the wicks, and these pipes C have a
ring C¹ with a screw formed thereon, which takes into the female screw on the
tube D, by which the wick pipe or holder, and consequently the wick, may be
raised or lowered.
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention, which relates to what
are called candle lamps; and my improvements thereto consists in so forming
the wickholder that the wick may rise and fall with the upper part of the
cylinder of tallow or other material which is being consumed. Many attempts
have been made to burn cylinders of tallow with a short wick, held stationary
on the top of the cylinder of tallow or other material; hence, when the tallow,
from a sudden exertion of the spring, forces the matter too high, the wick is
for the most part burried in the melted matter. Now, according to this part of
the Invention, the wick is to be so held that the holder and wick may rise with
the matter forced up, and thus retain a favorable position for being consumed.
Figure 11 shews the section of the upper part of a candle lamp suitable for
having cylinders of tallow or other materials consumed therein. L is the wick-
holder, which is suitably formed for having air introduced into the interior of
the flame; M being the wick which passes under the frame L, and the two
ends pass through the upper part of the frame I, which is composed of two

page_text: concentric rings, through which the ends of the wick pass, and thus are caused
to assume the shape of two half rounds; the air passing in between the wick a
the two sides, rises up the centre thereof, and thereby is formed an argand flame
N is a deflector; 0, 0, are wires or standards which carry the wickholder and
the deflector; these wires or standards are affixed to the short cylinder P
which readily slides up and down, hence allowing the wick to be raised, when
necessary, by the tallow or other material being caused to rise too high. The
short cylinder P moves loosely up and down against the three wire surfaces
fixed externally of the lamp, with a view to allow the cylinder P to move with
as little friction as possible.
I would remark that the shape of the wickholder, and also the wick used,
when carrying out this part of my Invention, may be varied, so long as the
same are suitably arranged for rising and falling, as above described.
I will now describe the fifth part of my Invention, which relates to the con-
struction of a gas burner; and the novelty consists in using deflectors interior
of the frame.
Figure 12 shews an argand gas flame, the nature of which isclearly shewn in
the Drawing. Q, R, and S are deflectors for the interior of the flame; they are
similar to those shewn in the spirit lamp above described, the lower ones being
open in the centre, so that the air may rise through, as well as be deflected of
all around on to the flame near to where it is formed, and the upper deflector
causes all the air to be deflected off towards the flame; and it will be
found that there is a great advantage in thus using deflectors to argand gas
flames.
I would remark, that although I prefer to use three deflectors, as shown, I
sometimes use only two, according to the size of the burner.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I am
acquainted with for performing the same, I would wish it to be understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise details shewn, so long as the peculiar
character of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is,-
First, the application of perforated talc or mica, in the manufacture of lamps
for mining and other
purposes.
Secondly, I claim the application of the ring a; and I also claim the mode of
raising the wickholder, and when of the construction shewn, by means of a
rack and pinion, by which its position in respect to the deflecting instruments:
may be regulated; and I claim the application of two or more deflecting
instruments interior of the flame, as above described.
Thirdly, I claim the so arranging the parts of spirit lamps with flat or pipe
wicks as to apply wood or other non-conducting substance between the burner

page_text: and the spirit vessel; and I also claim the mode of regulating the height of
wicks and flame of lamps by means of the tube F.
Fourthly, I claim the so arranging wicks and wick holders of candle-lamps
that the same may rise and fall, as above explained.
And, fifthly, I claim the application of two or more deflecting instruments
interior of the flame of gas burners, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Young, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.