IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS.
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Crane Wilkins, of Long Acre, in the County
of Middlesex, Lighthouse Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LAMPS.".
PROVISIONAL... SPECIFICATION left by the said William Crane Wilkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th May 1868.
I,. WILLIAM CRANE WILKINS, of Long Acre, in the County of Middlesex,
Lighthouse Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS," to be as follows:-
To a lamp constructed with a reservoir in its stem or base, to contain the
matter to be burned, and means for forcing up such matter for consumption, I
apply between such reservoir and the burner a separate small vessel as an
intermediate reservoir, or receiver for the supply to the wick, and I apply
leather or other suitable non-conducting matter between the upper parts of
this intermediate reservoir or receiver and the burner tubes.. This inter-
mediate reservoir or receiver has an overflow for surplus fluid to flow back
into the reservoir below.
In some cases I apply several of such tubes concentrically supplied by
intermediate reservoirs or receivers, and in order to prevent the conducting of
heat to the fluid to be consumed the wick tubes may be each separated, the
upper from the lower parts thereof, except by slight connections, or by the
application of non-conducting material_between_the: parts. I also apply an
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page_text: internal hollow cone and an external tubular deflector, the upper or deflecting
-edge thereof being turned inwards, and at or near the level of the wick tubes,
which external deflector I prefer to be of glass, so as to intercept the rays of
light as little as possible, over these I apply an external chimney. I also
apply within the main reservoir for the fluid to be burned a pump or working
diaphragm, with the crank shaft and wheelwork or other mechanism for forcing
up such fluid to the intermediate reservoir and wick or wicks, by which the
use of packing is avoided and simplicity of working is obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Crane Wilkins in the Geat Seal Patent Office on the
5th November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CRANE WILKINS, of Long Acre, in the County of Middlesex, Lighthouse
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
<lid, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Crane Wilkins, Her special licence that I, the said William Crane
Wilkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Crane Wilkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and yend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LAMPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Crane
Wilkins, 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.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Crane Wilkins, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the a
following statement thereof, that is. to say :-

page_text: To a lamp constructed with a reservoir in its stem or base to contain the
matter to be burned, and means for forcing up such matter for consumption,
I apply between such reservoir and the burner a separate small vessel as.an
intermediate reservoir or receiver for the supply to the wick, and I apply
leather or or other suitable non-conducting matter between the upper parts
of this intermediate reservoir or receiver and the burner tubes. This inter-
mediate reservoir or receiver has an overflow for surplus fluid to flow back
into the reservoir below.
In some cases I apply several of such tubes concentrically supplied by
intermediate reservoirs or receivers; and in order to prevent the conducting of
heat to the fluid to be consumed the wick tubes may be each separated, the
upper from the lower parts thereof, except by slight connections, or by the
application of non-conducting material between the parts. I also apply an
internal hollow cone and an external tubular deflector, the upper or deflecting
edge thereof being turned inwards; and at or near the level of the wick tubes,
which external deflector I prefer to be of glass, so as to intercept the rays of
light as little as possible; over these I apply an external chimney. I also
apply within the main reservoir for the fluid to be burned a pump or working
diaphragm, with the crank shaft and wheelwork or other mechanism for forcing
up such fluid to the intermediate reservoir and wick or wicks, by which the
use of packing is avoided and simplicity of working is obtained.
But that the improvements may be better understood, I will by the aid of
the accompanying Drawings proceed more fully to describe the same.<
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS..
Figure 1 shows a sectional view of a lamp with my improvements applied
to it; Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 show some of the parts separately..
In each of the Figures the same letters indicate corresponding parts wherever
they occur. ⚫
The dotted line a, a, indicates an outline of a stem or base, which, however,
may be varied so long as it is adapted to contain a reservoir for the fluid to
be consumed; b, b, is the reservoir applied within the stem or. base a, and
this reservoir also contains mechanism by which the fluid to be consumed' is
forced up to the wick for consumption in the burner c. This reservoir is.
formed with a neck 6, the upper part 6 of which is enlarged or cup formed.
to act as a funnel or receiver for supplying fluid to the reservoir b; d is an
intermediate reservoir or receiver to contain fluid for the immediate supply
of the wick, and to prevent the conducting down of heat from the wick tubes
to this intermediate reservoir d. There is applied between.the flange c' of the
-
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page_text: wick tubes and the upper edge of the reservoir d a ring of leather, cork, or
other suitable non-conducting material e, which is particularly applicable when
burning highly volatile and ignitable fluids. The wick for conducting the
fluid from the reservoir d during consumption is supported by a wick tube f
which is formed with a rack operated for raising. or lowering the wick by a
pinion on the handle g, as is well understood. The lower end of the wick
dips in the reservoir d, and thence rising upwards between the two concentric
tubes 2, 3, it is pressed inwards at its upper end by the ring c. h is a cone
placed internally of the wick, so that air passing to the interior of the flame
is in part deflected by its upper edge on to the interior of the flame, and in
part permitted to flow through the openings h' in the cone h, to keep the cone
cool, and to supply the upper part of the interior of the flame with air; h³ is
an external deflector, which may be of glass or other suitable material. The
fluid to be consumed is forced from the lower reservoir 6 to the upper one d
by apparatus which I will now describe, placed within the fluid in the
reservoir b.
b
This apparatus consists of a pump barrel i, with a piston formed by a
moveable flexible diaphragm i¹, the to-and-fro movements of which cause the
fluid in the reservoir 6 to be drawn into the barrel i through a valve at i³, and
then to be forced therefrom through a valve at i³, up the tubes. it and d¹ into
the reservoir d; and in order that the parts containing the reservoir d may be
readily removed and replaced, so as to form a close connection between the
pipes d¹ and i*, the upper end of the pipe is formed somewhat conical, and
the interior of the lower part of the pipe d' is formed with a lining of leather
or other suitable packing to fit close around the upper end of the pipe h³, by
which escape of the fluid at that part is prevented. The diaphragm is set
in motion by means of a clock spring contained in the barrel i, as is, well
understood, acting on the wheelj, tho teeth of which. take into the pinion k,
to which is affixed the toothed wheel k¹, the teeth of which take into, the teeth
of the pinion on the axis of the crank m, which by a connecting rod n is
connected and gives motion to the diaphragm i¹. The spring in the barrel i³
is wound up by the key z acting on the spindle y, upon which is affixed the
bevelled pinion y', the teeth of which take into the teeth of the bevelled
pinion o on the spindle o', which is carried so as to turn in the bearings d³, d³,
carried by the parts of the upper reservoir d, and the lower end of this
spindle o' is formed at o³, with a square socket to receive the square upper end
of the spindle p, which is supported by the framing q from the barrel is, and at
its lower end has affixed to it the pinion p¹, the teeth of which take into the
teeth of the pinion p³, upon which is affixed the pinion p³, the teeth of which

page_text: take into the teeth of the pinion r, to the axis of which one end of the spring
in the barrel is is affixed. The spindle p is formed with a screw thread to
move in the nut 8, which in the rotation of the spindle p travels on the
bars q', q', of the framing 9 and p' on the spindle; p is a stop to acts as a
stop to further winding of that spindle when the spring has been fully wound
The lower end of the axis of the crank m passes into a box t, where it
has applied to it vanes or flys, as is well understood, to regulate the speed of
the mechanism. In the event of the fluid rising into the upper reservoir d
faster than it is consumed, the surplus thereof overflows by the inner tube d³,
back again into the reservoir 6; w is the glass chimney supported by the
gallery v.
up.
In Figures 3 and 4 the pitch or working line of the teeth of the respective
wheels is indicated by red lines.
Having thus described the nature of my improvements, and means which
I adopt in carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details shown and described, as these may
be varied without departing from the peculiar character of the improvements.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Crane Wilkins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM CRANE WILKINS. (L.B.)