IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING MINERAL OILS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Benjamin Pryor Stockman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th March 1878.
BENJAMIN PRYOR STOCKMAN, of Poet's Corner, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR
UTILIZING MINERAL OILS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to the use of mineral oils for lighting purposes by means
of burners, which are not in immediate contact with the lamps or vases containing.
the supply of the said oils, the burners being placed at a distance from the lamps.
The apparatus I employ is also specially arranged to obviate the necessity and
avoid the use of any head or pressure of the oil or of any pneumatic influence; and
it also excludes the use of any kind of valves, slides, floats, ball-cocks, or any such
means used for opening or closing the passage for the oil, or checking or
regulating its circulation between the lamps and burners.
I construct the lamps of metal, and of such form that the surface of the oil
within them when filled up to the highest level shall correspond with the maximum
height allowed for the oil in the burners to prevent over saturation of the wick;
while the lowest depth shall give the minimum height of oil in the burners, that is
to say, there is such a range of height for the consumption of the oil as will admit
of the best and most uniform flame; and this range or depth may be considerably
less than can be afforded by the usual lamps which have their burners immediately
over them, thereby effecting greater and more constant brilliancy.
I place the lamp at any required distance from the burner or burners, the oil
being conveyed from the said lamp by small pipes or tubes or tubing to the burner
or burners. The tubing may be fixed in any convenient direction, excepting
above the level of the lamp; for example it may be fixed horizontally, but in
crossing a space where a horizontal pipe would be inconvenient, it may descend
from the lamp below the floor level if required and thence pass along until it arrives
under the point to be lighted, and then rise vertically to the burner or burners
which are attached to the ends of the tubing or branches from it in the form of
wall or bracket lights, or standard or caudelabra lights, or in such shapes as may be
required, but in all cases the oil in the lamp is at the same level as the oil in the
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page_text: burner or burners fed by it, no pressure or force or pneumatic effect being used
either to check or control the flow or augment or diminish it; and whether the
burners are ignited and consuming the oil or not, there will be a perfectly free and
unchecked communication between the lamps and burners.
In the adaptation of my Invention to chandeliers or ceiling or roof lights, I
particularly avoid any supply of oil from above the level of the lamps or burners.
The use of my Invention will be very advantageous for lighting railway carriages,
the burners being distant from the lamps, there will be no possibility of heat
reaching the supply oil, or any danger from explosion or fire, the tubing even at a
short distance from the burners being quite cool; and there will be no overflowing
or stopping or leakage of the oil.
I place a lamp in any suitable and convenient position on a shelf, bracket, or
other support, and when so placed I attach to it an overflow pipe to prevent
spilling when it is being charged or filled, the overflow or excess being collected by
a vessel and used over again. Moreover to facilitate the emptying of the lamps
when needed for repairs or cleaning, I attach to it a discharge pipe at the under
surface with a cock, and the overflow and discharge pipes may unite in one at
their lower ends; but I do not always use this overflow or the discharge pipe.
I may use burners of various forms, including circular or argand burners, and
burners with flat wicks; by preference I use absorbent wicks and such mineral oils
as require absorbent wicks with glass chimneys, globes, reflectors, shades, and other
appliances for the purposes of increasing the light or softening or diffusing it.
But my Invention comprises the following improvements in burners containing
absorbent wicks, namely:-I use a device, whereby I can raise or lower the flame
without raising or lowering the wick; effect this object by forming the burners
of double tubing sliding as telescope tubing; the inner tubing containing the wick
remains stationary, while the outer casing moves up or down by means of a screw
or rack and pinion. The wick therefore when once trimmed and adjusted is not
subjected to derangement by being moved, but remains undisturbed; and in
burners with this arrangement the space may be packed with any absorbent
inaterial, such as cotton wool, tow, or bull lamp cotton, leaving only an upper space
for a short wick, easily manipulated.
I also improve burners of the same description by using indestructible or
permanent wicks of absorbent material, by preference of asbestos, which may be
of short length, occupying the upper space upon the packing above described.
The purposes for which my Invention is chiefly designed to be used are the
lighting of railway stations, railway and tramway carriages and other vehicles,
public or private buildings, or dwellings and lighthouses; but the said Invention
may be advantageously used for many other purposes.