AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING CANDLES FROM GUTTERING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Langton Clarke, of the Common, Ealing,
in the County of Middlesex, Clerk, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING CANDLES FROM
GUTTERING."
Sealed the 19th July 1872, and dated the 3rd February 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Langton Clarke
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd February 1872.
I, JAMES LANGTON CLARKE, of the Common, Ealing, in the County
of Middlesex, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING CANDLES FROM
GUTTERING," to be as follows:-
My improved apparatus, to which I give the name "Lychnophylax,"
is made of a tube of glass varying in length from about one inch and
a half to two inches and a quarter, according to circumstances, having
the bore at its lower end just large enough to admit freely the thickest

page_text: part (which is usually the bottom) of the candle to which it is to be
applied from this end the tube gradually enlarges till it attains its
maximum bore at about half an inch from the lower end; at this point
there is about a quarter of an inch of space between the candle and the
inner surface of the tube; the tube then tapers again till it becomes
small enough to prevent the top of the candle when inserted into. the
lower end of the tube from passing through, and at the same time large
enough to allow the top of the candle to come nearly to the top of the
tube; from this smallest end the tube branches out in the form of a
saucer; this saucer holds any accumulation of melted grease caused by
carrying a candle about or exposing it to a draught; it varies in size
and shape according to the purpose for which the Lychnophylax is
wanted. If the candle is not to be carried about or exposed to a strong
draught a small saucer is sufficient; if, as in a church or ball room,
there is likely to be much draught, it should be made larger. When a
candle is carried about, after some little time the melted grease begins
to accumulate and swing about in the saucer, I therefore have the edge
of the saucer turned up, or, if necessary, turned over, and if this should
not be sufficient, I propose to make concentric terraces in the saucer, or
some other contrivance, which shall act as a breakwater and prevent the
melted grease from swinging over the edge. On the outside of the tube
(which at the top should be as thin as is consistent with strength) and
just below its junction with the saucer, I place a narrow band of copper
or other metal possessing a high power of conducting heat. Glass being
a bad conductor of heat it will often happen, especially in cold weather,
or when the candle is exposed to a draught, or when the candle is burnt
down to the thicker end and consequently burns lower in the tube, that
the side towards which the plaited wick curls over or towards which the
flame blows will become considerably heated while the opposite side is
still cool; this causes the melted grease on the hot side to eat its way
between the tube and the candle and to run down the candle, thereby
stopping the sliding action of the Lychnophylax. It is to overcome this
that I use the metal band, which, being a good conductor of heat,
rapidly carries round the heat from the hot side to the cool side, melts
the cold grease on that side, and causes the Lychnophylax to slide in
time to prevent any escape of melted grease on the hot side.

page_text: inch and a half longer than the Lychnophylax, and just small enough to
pass through its upper end; the lower end of the save-all is made to fit
into the candlestick. The end of the candle must be reduced so as to fit
firmly into this save-all. The Lychnophylax slides over the save-all as the
candle end burns away, till at last the Lychnophylax coming to the end
of the candle drops down, leaving the upper end of the save-all sticking
up through it. The bit of candle in the save-all goes on burning till the
wick drops down the tube of the save-all and is extinguished, thus the
whole candle is burnt without any waste.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Langton Clarke in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LANGTON CLARKE, of the Common, Ealing, in the County of Middlesex,
Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Langton Clarke, Her special licence
that I, the said James Langton Clarke, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Langton Clarke, 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 IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING CANDLES' FROM GUTTERING," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Langton Clarke,
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 imme
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Langton Clarke, 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 :-
The object of my said Invention is to prevent candles from guttering,
and this is done by applying to the candle an apparatus made according
to my Invention, as herein-after described.
My said apparatus, to which I have given the name "Lychnophylax,"
is made of a tube of glass varying in length from about one inch and
a half to two inches and a quarter, having the bore at its lower end just
large enough to admit freely the thickest part (usually the lower part)
of the candle to which it is to be applied. The 'diameter of this tube
increases from the lower end upwards until it attains its maximum at
about half an inch from the lower end of the tube. The diameter of the
tube then decreases until it becomes small enough to prevent the top of
the candle when passed through the lower end of the tube from coming
through, but not so small as to prevent the top of the candle from
coming nearly to the top of the tube. The tube widens out from the
upper end into a form resembling a saucer.
Figure A shews a section of the tube as applied to a candle; 1, 1, is
the lower end; 2, 2, the upper end; 3, 3, the saucer; 4, the candle;
5, the wick and flame. The upper part of the tube should be made as
thin as is consistent with strength, and round the outside of the tube,
close to where it widens out into the form of a saucer, there is a narrow
band of copper or other metal having a high of conducting heat. This
is indicated by the numbers 6, 6.
A very convenient plan of applying this metal band is to pass a piece
of copper wire round the upper end of the tube and twist the ends of the
wire together.
Figure B is a Drawing of the tube in perspective without the candle.
The same numbers indicate the same parts as in Figure A.
:
From the points 7, 7, Figure A, to the upper end of the tube 2, 2, the
side of the tube should be straight, or nearly so; the nearer it approaches
to the top the less curvature there should be, and in particular it must
not curve over on to the top of the candle. The opening at the top of
the tube being a little less in diameter than the candle, the grease at the

page_text: top of the candle which is softened by the heat is moulded to the form
of the interior of the upper end of the tube, as shewn in Figure A, and
prevents the escape of melted grease down between the tube and the
candle. In fact the top of the candle should wedge into the top of the
5 tube. The inclination of the upper part of the tube to the candle is
important. If the angle between the upper end of the tube and the
candle at 2, in Figure A, is too large, the melted grease will escape
down between the tube and the candle. If it is too small, as the candle
burns down and the tube comes to the thickest part of the candle, the
top of the candle will burn too low in the tube, and the wick as it curls
over will come too near to the glass. This objection is felt more when the
candle is put out and cooled and afterwards re-lighted. I find an angle
of about thirteen degrees and a half, as shewn in Figure A, to be the
best inclination. I also find it advantageous to grind the inside of the
upper end of the tube on a mandril turned to the proper angle:
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The upper end of the tubo
not being wide enough to allow the candle to pass through, the tube is
supported by the candle and sinks down as the candle burns away. The
upper end of the tube fits close enough to the upper edge of the candle
to prevent the melted grease from running down the side of the candle,
as before described, and all the melted grease that accumulates is
retained in the saucer 3, 3, which being made of glass does not
materially obstruct the light. The saucer also assists in preventing the
flame if acted upon by a downward draught from heating the side of the
tube, the flame in that case curling over the edge of the saucer without
touching it.
'
;
The object of the ring of copper or other metal ring 6, 6, is to equalize
the temperature of the upper end of the tube, so that it will not melt the
grease unequally. If it were not for this contrivance, the glass being a
bad conductor of heat, would, if the wick should curl over to one side,
or if the flame should be blown to one side, be heated more on one side
than the other, and the melted grease would then be liable to run, down
between the tube and the candle on the hottest side. The size of the
saucer must be suited to the circumstances under which the candle is
burnt. If the candle is carried about or exposed to a strong draught, a
larger accumulation of melted grease will occur, and a proportionately,
larger saucer must be used; but for candles that are carried about much,
:

page_text: I prefer to ust a DOUCCIT
or E.
In Figure C the edge of the saucer is turned up; in Figure D.it is
turned over inwards; and in Figure E the saucer is constructed in a
series of steps. I consider that the form of saucer shewn in Figure D is
the most effective in preventing the melted grease from being spilled.
The form of the tube where it wiḍens out into the shape of a saucer is
important; it should form an angle at its junction with the saucer and
not a curve; that is to say, it should be as nearly as possible of the form
shewn in section Figure A; a form approaching that shewn in section
Figure E, should be avoided. If the substance of the candle when
heated does not become soft enough to mould itself readily to the
interior of the upper end of the tube, as in the case of candles made of
Belmont wax, it is necessary, in order to prevent guttering inside the
tube, to equalize the heat more rapidly than can be effected by means of
the metal band outside the tube. To accomplish this I use a flat metal
ring, the exterior diameter of which is such that it will pass casily
through the top of the tube, and the interior diameter of which is about
half the exterior diameter. This ring rests on the top of the candle, as
shewn in section 1, 1, Figure F.
.
With an ordinary candlestick the Lychnophylax will cease to act as
soon as the candle burns down low enough for the bottom edge of the
tube to rest on the saucer of the candlestick; accordingly, in order to
economize the candle ends left when the lower end of the Lychnophylax
reaches the candlestick, I find it convenient to use a tubular save-all,
which fits into the socket of the candlestick and rises above it about
half an inch higher than the height of the tube of the Lychnophylax,
and just small enough to pass through the upper end of the latter. The
end of the candle must be reduced so as to fit firmly into the save-all; as
the candle end burns away the Lychnophylax slides over the save-all till
the candle has burned down to the top of the save-all, when it drops
down, leaving the upper end of the save-all sticking up through it. The
rest of the candle continues to burn until the wick drops down the
save-all tube and is extinguished.
I do not claim as my Invention a cap or nozzle, or a cap or nozzle
combined with a saucer, to be placed on a candle to prevent it from
guttering, as such contrivances have been used before. All that I claim

page_text: as my Invention is, the apparatus herein-before described and called a
Lychnophylax, constructed substantially as herein-before described, and
the flat metal ring herein-before described, to be used in combination
with the said apparatus, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Langton Clarke, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
J. LANGTON CLARKE. (L.S.)