IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Marcius Silber, of Wood Street, Cheap-
side, in the City of London, Merchant, and Frederick White, of
Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, Watchmaker, for the Inven-
tion of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES.
Sealed the 5th December 1871, and dated the 31st July 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert Marcius Silber
and Frederick White at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 31st July 1871.
We, ALBERT MARCIUS SILBER, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the
City of London, Merchant, and FREDERICK WHITE, of Camberwell, in
the County of Surrey, Watchmaker, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:
-
The object of our Invention is to construct apparatus in such manner
that petroleum or other combustible oil or liquid may be employed
therein for lighting purposes with industrial and practical advantage.

page_text: In our apparatus the reservoir, holder, or chamber containing the
combustible oil or liquid to be supplied to and consumed at the burner
for lighting and heating purposes, and which holder or chamber is
herein-after to avoid useless repetition called “oil holder, is connected
with the body of the lamp and so arranged as to be surrounded or nearly 5
or almost wholely surrounded by atmospheric air so as to be bathed with
such air in order that the contents may be kept cool, the object being
to avoid dangers from overheating the combustible oil or liquid prior
to its reaching the burner. This arrangement of oil holder is used in
all the modifications herein-after described, and they mainly differ from 1
each other in the disposition, application, or adaptation of such oil
holder to suit various descriptions or various purposes of lamps, and in
the arrangements consequent on such adaption especially for supplying
air to the burner.
1
In one modification, which is particularly adapted for street lamps,
the oil holder is placed within a jacket which surrounds it on all sides
except at the bottom, and also except at a small portion of the top. A
space between the oil holder and the jacket forms a passage for the
circulation of air, which enters at the bottom of the said space. A tube
or ferrule at the upper part of the jacket receives the burner. The 2
bottom of the oil holder forms the bottom of the lamp, the jacket
resting on a ledge in its frame so that there may be free passage for air
between the jacket and oil holder to bathe the latter.
In another modification specially adapted for signal lamps the lamp
is placed in an ordinary case glazed (or having a bull's eye or disc of 2
strong glass), and it rests on a ledge perforated with air holes and
situated at the inner side of the casing. The oil holder which is
connected with it passes through and below the ledge.
Atmospheric air also flows through holes in the bottom plate of the
lamp disposed beneath holes in the shell of the burner so as to feed the 3
flame. The oil holder is recessed at one part to allow the finger and
thumb to attain the key through the bottom of the casing without
removing the lamp. The aperture through which the key passes is
covered by a plate, guard, or shield turning horizontally on an axis or
hinge and perforated with air holes.
In another modification especially suitable as a carriage lamp, the
lamp proper and the oil holder attached to it are connected with the
carriage, the oil holder being at the side of the lamp proper so that it

page_text: may be between it and the carriage, there being a small space between
the oil holder and the carriage, and another small space between the
oil holder and the body of the lamp, so that air may circulate all
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 31st January 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ALBERT
MARCIUS SILBER, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, and FREDERICK WHITE, of Camberwell, in the County of
Surrey, Watchmaker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White,
Her special licence that we, the said Albert Marcius Silber and
Frederick White, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White, our
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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick
White, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us or them, 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.
WATT
TWARE
Manoiua
Alhout
Silhou and

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained. in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our Invention relates to the construction of improved apparatus in
such manner that petroleum or other combustible oil or liquid may be
employed therein for lighting purposes with industrial and practical
advantage.
In our apparatus the reservoir, holder, or chamber containing the
combustible oil or liquid to be supplied to and consumed at the burner
for lighting and heating purposes, and which holder or chamber is
hercin-after to avoid uscless repetition called oil holder, is connected with
the body of the lamp and arranged in an improved manner so as to be
surrounded or nearly or almost wholly surrounded by atmospheric air
so as to be bathed with such air in order that the contents may be
kept cool, the object being to produce an equal light or equalized
combustion for a number of hours in a case or nearly enclosed space,
and also to avoid danger from overheating the combustible oil or liquid
while contained in the oil holder and prior to its reaching the burner.
It should be understood that our present Invention consists in the
combination and arrangement of parts forming respectively the various
modifications of our improved apparatus herein-after described, and that
it is not intended to claim generally the application of a bath or currents
of air to keep cool the oil or combustible fluid used for lighting or
heating purposes.
In all the modifications herein-after described a like principle of
arrangement and construction is employed for the oil holders, and the
modifications mainly differ from each other in the disposition, appli-
cation, or adaptation of such oil holder to suit various descriptions or
various purposes of lamps, and in the arrangements consequent on such
adaptation especially for supplying air around the oil holder and to the
burner.
. In one modification, which is particularly adapted for street lamps, the
oil holder is placed within a jacket or casing which surrounds it on
all sides except at the bottom, and also except at a small portion of the
top. The space between the oil holder and the jacket or casing forms a
passage for the circulation of air which enters at the bottom of the
said space. A tube, ferrule, or socket at the upper part of the jacket

page_text: receives the burner. The bottom of the oil holder forms the bottom of
the lamp, the jacket or casing resting on a ledge in the frame so that
there may be free passage for air between the jacket and oil holder so
as to bathe the latter.
In another modification specially adapted for signal lamps, the lamp
is placed in an ordinary case glazed or having bull's eyes or discs of
strong glass, and it rests on a ledge perforated with air holes and
situated on the inner side of the case. The oil holder which is con-
nected with it passes through and below the ledge. Atmospheric air
also flows through holes in the bottom plate of the lamp disposed
beneath holes in the shell of the burner so as to feed the flame. The
oil holder is recessed at one part to allow the finger and thumb to attain
the key through the bottom of the outer case without removing the
lamp. The aperture through which the key passes when the burner is
lifted through the lamp case is or may be covered by a plate turning
horizontally on an axis or hinge and perforated with air holes.
In another modification especially suitable as a carriage lamp, the
lamp proper
and the oil holder attached to it are fitted to the carriage,
the oil holder being at the side of the lamp proper so that it
may be
between it and the carriage, there being a small space between the oil
holder and the carriage, and another small space between the oil holder
and the body of the lamp, so that air may circulate all around and bathe
the oil holder and keep its contents cool.
We now proceed to describe the accompanying Drawings which
exemplify various modifications of improved apparatus. constructed
according to our Invention.
Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of a street lamp constructed
according to our Invention. A is the case of the lamp, consisting as is
usual of a glazed frame, one side of which forms a door, but the case iş
formed open at bottom instead of being closed as usual, the bottom
of the oil holder closing the case when the lamp is in its place within it.
The lamp, which is detachable from the case so as to be readily placed
in it and taken out of it, consists of an oil holder B and a burner or
wick holder C which is inserted in and communicates with the interior
of the oil holder B D is a jacket or casing which is connected with
the oil holder B by ties or struts at intervals, and which surrounds the
oil holder on all sides except at the bottom, and also except at a small
portion of the top. This jacket or casing D and oil holder B are shewn

page_text: on an enlarged scale in elevation Figure 2, and vertical section Figure 3.
The contour of the jacket or casing D follows or corresponds with that
of the oil holder which it surrounds. V is the space between the jacket
and the oil holder; it forms a space or passage for the circulation of
air which enters at the bottom of this space or passage, and also through
air holes e, e, formed in the lower part of the casing D. H is a short
tube, socket, or ferrule fitted in the space V and attached to the oil
holder B and casing D to receive the burner or wick holder C, the wick
passing at bottom into the oil holder B. The burner or wick holder C
with its key k and chimney are of ordinary construction; 9, 9, are ordinary
air holes at the lower part of the shell of the burner. The lamp rests
by the bottom edge of the jacket or casing D on a ledge p fixed on the
inside of the frame of the case A; this ledge thus supports the whole
lamp in the case, and the case is closed at bottom by the bottom of the
oil holder B, except at the space V left open between the casing D and
the sides of the oil holder B for the circulation of air, which bathes the
oil holder as described, keeps it cool, and allows of the light being
maintained equal and steady for a number of hours in the case or
frame. Air holes e may be sometimes formed in the sides and some-
times in the top of the casing or jacket D, as well as in the lower edge
thereof.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of a modification of this arrangement of
lamp, and Figure 5 is an elevation of same with glazed frame or case
removed.
A is the glazed frame or case with door. The lamp slides into and
out of it on a ledge in the inside of the frame. The lamp is mainly
similar to that shewn in Figure 1. The parts marked B, D, C, H, V, e, k,
being similar to those respectively marked with same letters in Figure 1.
F is a lip or dished projection attached to the front of the casing or
jacket D, and perforated with air holes f.f. This serves as a handle for
drawing the lamp out of the case.
Figure 6 is a modification shewing a gate lamp constructed in the
same manner as the lamps shewn in the preceding Figures, except that
the casing or jacket D instead of resting on a ledge is flanged and its
flange slides in a groove formed between two ledges or angle pieces m
on the side of the case A. The frame A has a bottom plate perforated
with numerous air holes n. Similar parts to those in the preceding
Figures are marked respectively with similar letters of reference.

page_text: Figure 7 is a vertical section of a signal lamp constructed according
to our Invention, and Figure 8 a transverse vertical section of the
lamp removed from the outer case or frame A*. Figure 8 is a
horizontal section of the lamp on the line o*, ox, of Figure 7, with the
outer case A* removed.
A is the glazed case or frame surrounding the burner. It is placed
when in use in an outer frame A* formed with glasses, translucent
discs, or bull's eyes as is usual. This frame A* is open at bottom. Bis
the oil holder or reservoir; it is not surrounded by a casing or air
jacket D as in the preceding Figures. It is fixed to or suspended from
the bottom of the frame A by rigid ties or rods b, b, so as to leave
space for the circulation of air between the bottom of the frame A and
the top of the oil holder, so that even when the lamp is in the case A*
the air circulates freely around the oil holder and bathes it.
The
bottom of the frame in effect forms and acts as an air jacket or casing.
t, t, l, l, are air holes formed in the frame A. 1 are guards over the
holes which while allowing entrance of air protect them from sudden
drafts or counter drafts. The frame A. rests on a hollow ledge J fixed
to the frame A* on the inside thereof, and formed with air holes j.
C is the burner or wick holder fitted in a socket H fixed to the oil
holder B. It passes through an opening in the bottom of the frame A,
and the burner may be held in the socket by a bayonet joint or other
fastening.
When the lamp in its frame or case A is placed in the outer
case A* and rests on the ledge J the oil holder B is, so to speak,
dependant from the lamp and is in the open space at the bottom of the
case A below the ledge J, so as to be bathed or surrounded by air.
At the top of the frame A is a hole a³, which when the lamp in its
frame is to be moved from the outer case A* is closed by an escutcheon
sliding on a pivot. To this escutcheon is attached a spring boss 8,
with which is connected the ring or annular handle &* for lifting and
carrying the lamp in its frame A. When the ring is raised to lift the
lamp the spring closes the escutcheon, and when the ring is dropped
the escutcheon opens the hole a².
is the key for raising and lowering the wick. In order to get at
this key to work it, without having to remove the lamp with its glazed
frame A from the outer case A*, or without having to open the frames
or cases, the oil holder is hollowed out at q, and the free end of the

page_text: key works in the space thus formed, so that it may be readily attained
by the finger and thumb. The key k is below the bottom of the
frame A.
In order that the burner C with its key may be readily lifted clear
from the socket H in the oil holder B, when the burner has to be
taken out of the lamp case or frame A, the following arrangement is
adopted: An aperture is formed in the bottom plate of the case A
sufficiently large to admit of the key k passing clear through it when
required, and a plate Y exactly fitting the aperture and flush, as well as
coincident therewith is attached to the burner C, so that when the
burner is in place in the lamp case the plate Y fills the aperture com-
pletely and accurately, and closes the bottom of the frame A. But
when the burner is lifted out of the case A and socket H with its key k
this can be easily effected, the plate Y being lifted with the burner to
which it is attached and the key passing through the aperture thus
opened. Air holes y, are formed in the plate Y exactly under air holes
in the shell or case of the burner C for admission of air.
Figure 9 is an elevation of a carriage lamp constructed according to
our Invention. A is the glazed frame or case. This lamp is fitted to
the carriage in the usual manner of fitting carriage lamps, that is to say,
it is formed with a barrel or shank P, which is fixed to the frame A,
and when the lamp is to be fitted to the carriage this barrel P drops
into an eye or socket at one end of an arm attached to the side
of the carriage. B is the oil holder, which is attached to the frame
or case A by short rods or connections w, a space being left V* for
circulation of air between the oil holder and the case of the lamp. The
oil holder communicates with the burner or wick holder C by a pipe
or passage z, whereby oil is fed from the holder to the wick. The oil
holder has a feed hole at top through which it is supplied with oil. This
hole is closed by a screw plug 6*.
The spaces between the oil holder and the frame or case of the lamp
and between the oil holder and the side of the carriage allow free
circulation of air around the oil holder, so that the air bathes it on all
sides. Of course the oil holder may be fastened on the opposite side
of the lamp, that is to say on the outer side, instead of between it and
the carriage, or it may be below or in any convenient position with
respect to it, so only that it is surrounded and bathed on all sides with
atmospheric air.

page_text: Although we have particularly described with reference to the
Drawings lamps arranged for certain definite purposes, it is evident
that with slight and obvious modifications or adaptations they may be
applied for purposes other than those mentioned.
I is a cowl or arrangement of deflecting plates at the top of each
lamp for permitting the passage of the vaporous and fuliginous products
and the waste or escaping heat or aeriform products and for protecting
the flame from down draughts, wind, or opposing currents of air. This
cowl is similar to the arrangement of cowl described by us in the
Specification of our Patent numbered 3318 and bearing date Nineteenth
December One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Instead of using the above-mentioned cowl we have discovered since
applying for the above-mentioned Letters Patent that a cone such as is
referred to in the Provisional Specification which we deposited with our
application for other and further Letters Patent on the First day of
December 1871, Numbered 3254, may be used with great advantage.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, we declare that we claim,-
First. The arrangements and combinations of parts forming respec-
tively the various modifications of our improved apparatus constructed
substantially as herein described and shewn in the Drawings annexed
in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8*, and 9 respectively.
Second. The arrangement described, in reference to Figures 7 and 8,
for attaining and working the key k without removing the lamp or
opening the frame.
In witness whereof I, the said Albert Marcius Silber, for myself
and on behalf of the said Frederick White, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of January, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
E. DE PASS,
68, Fleet Street,
London.
A. M. SILBER. (L.S.)