IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR METHODS OF, AND IN APPARATUS FOR MODERATING OR RETARDING, REGULATING OR GOVERNING THE FLOW AND PRESSURE, OF GAS USED FOR PURPOSES OF ILLUMINATION, AND IN STREET LAMPS OR LANTERNS FOR SHIELDING FLAME FROM THE ACTION OF WIND AWD DATE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wadsworth, of Salford. in the Parish of
Manchester, and County. of Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR METHODS OF, AND
IN APPARATUS FOR MODERATING OR RETARDING, REGULATING OR GOVERNING THE
FLOW AND PRESSURE, OF GAS USED FOR PURPOSES OF ILLUMINATION, AND IN
STREET LAMPS OR LANTERNS FOR SHIELDING FLAME FROM THE ACTION OF WIND
AWD DATE"
Scaled the 20th May 1859, and dated the 20th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wadsworth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1858.
I, JAMES WADSWORTH, of Salford, in the Parish of Manchester, and
County of Lancaster, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR METHODS OF,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR MODERATING OR RETARDING. REGULATING OR GOVERNING THE
FLOW AND PRESSURE OF GAS USED FOR PURPOSES OF ILLUMINATION. AND IN STREET
LAMPS OR LANTERNS FOR SHIELDING FLAME FROM THE ACTION OF WIND AND RAIN,"
to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists, firstly, in a method of retarding or moderating
the flow of gas to the burner, so as to prevent the defect commonly termed
"blowing," and improve the combustion by causing the gas to pass through a
tortuous, winding, or spiral passage, by which the direction of the current is
continually changed, and the velocity thereof diminished. I apply this method
or principle to the improvement of gas-burning apparatus, either by con-
structing burners, in which the gas obtains access to the point of issue through

page_text: a passage or canal winding through or about the body of the burner in a
tortuous or spiral direction, or otherwise, by the use of a small chamber or
receiver in immediate connection with the burner, into which chamber the
gas is admitted by a tortuous or spiral passage, such as that before mentioned;
or, thirdly, by interposing a small plug or cylinder containing a tortuous or
spiral cavity for the passage of the gas between the gas pipe and the burner,
or at any convenient point in the branch or bracket.
The said Invention consists, secondly, in a method of moderating or retarding
the velocity of the current of gas by the use of a button or mushroom-shaped
stud or deflector supported centrally by its stem without touching the sides of
the pipe, tube, or cavity across which it is placed. The gas encountering this
stud is deflected radially from the centre, and forced to pass round the outer
edge of the head or expanded part thereof. I apply this deflector either
in the cavity of the burner, or in the small chamber or receiver before
mentioned.
The said Invention comprehends, thirdly, an improvement upon a certain
part of a former Invention, for which Letters Patent were granted to me
bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December 1857; and this improve-
ment consists in the use of the button or mushroom deflector before mentioned,
in place of a transverse plate supported by the sides of a chamber in a certain
apparatus described in the Specification of the aforesaid former Invention.
The said Invention consists, fourthly, in a method of and apparatus for
regulating the pressure, and governing and shutting off the flow of, gas to the
burner. The effect is produced by a stopper or valve, in which a tortuous,
winding, or spiral channel formed between the sides of a moveable plug or
screw, and those of a socket which receives the same, admits the gas into a
small chamber or receiver, surmounted by the burner to be supplied. The
ascent of the plug in the socket, by shortening the winding or spiral passage,
diminishes the retardation of the gas, and increases the pressure at the burner,
and vice versa, and when the plug is depressed to its lowest position, a collar
or shoulder upon it closes the passage entirely.
The said Invention consists, fifthly, in the application of tortuous, winding,
or spiral passages, for the admission of fresh and evacuation of vitiated air
into or from lanterns or street lamps. Spirally convolved plates .or volutes of
metal enclosed within suitable cases form these passages, and are inserted in
the top or bottom of the lantern, according to the purpose they are to serve.
The effect of them is to render the lantern impervious to gusts of wind or
atmospheric currents.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said. James Wadsworth in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WADSWORTH, of Salford, in the Parish of Manchester, and County of Lancaster,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Wadsworth, Her special licence that I, the said James
Wadsworth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Wadsworth, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term of years 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 of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR METHODS OF, AND IN APPA-
RATUS FOR MODERATING OR RETARDING, REGULATING OR GOVERNING THE FLOW AND
PRESSURE OF GAS USED FOR PURPOSES OF ILLUMINATION, AND IN STREET LAMPS OR
LANTERNS FOR SHIELDING FLAME FROM THE ACTION OF WIND AND RAIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Wadsworth, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Wadsworth, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The first of my said improvements has reference to gas-burning apparatus,
and consists in the art or method of constructing such apparatus so that the
current or stream of gas before issuing from the burner, may have its velocity
retarded, and its pressure moderated by passing through a tortuous or winding
passage.

page_text: It is known that illumination by, gas is most economically and beneficially
.conducted, when the defect called "blowing" is prevented, and the com-
bustion of the gas effected with a languid or idle flame. To attain this result,
recourse has been had to various devices with. various degrees of success.
The principle upon which my present improvement is founded, is that of
checking the velocity of the current of gas as it approaches the burner by
continually changing the direction of the channel through which it flows, so as
to retard the stream by the continued deflection of its course. I effect this
by compelling the gas before it obtains access to the point of ignition to
pass through a tortuous or spiral passage either winding through or about the
body of the burner, or within the neck by which the gas is admitted into a
small chamber anterior to and surmounted by the burner, or within a hollow
plug or tube connecting the burner with the branch pipe, or within any con-
venient part of the latter.
The method of construction of which I avail myself for effecting this
improvement is explained by Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the annexed
Drawing. Figure 1 represents the profile, and Figure 2 the section of an
ordinary gas burner, the cavity of which contains a screw a, which exactly fits
it internally, that is, the outer edge of the thread of the screw is in contact
throughout with the internal surface of the cavity, or the screw may have a
diameter slightly larger than that of the cavity of the burner, and the latter
may be tapped with an inside groove of slight depth, and of a pitch calculated
to receive the outer edge of the thread of the screw. The latter mode of
inserting the screw is that which I prefer. The canal or spiral groove formed
by the winding of the thread around the stem of the screw, and closed
externally by the barrel or tubular part of the burner, will be seen. to form a
tortuous or spiral passage for the gas, by which only it can reach the orifice
of the burner; Figure 3 represents the profile, and Figure 4 the section of
another burner. The screw a is here contained within the tube or neck b of
the chamber c, which neck is inserted in the branch pipe in the place which
the burner is ordinarily made to occupy. The spiral canal formed by the
groove of the screw admits the gas into the chamber c, which is surmounted
by a common burner d, through the orifice of which the gas issues for con-
sumption.
The profile, Figure 5, and section Figure 6, explain a third modification
in which a tube or hollow plug e, surmounted by a burner f, and inserted into
the extremity of the branch pipe g, contains the screw a. The use and opera-
tion of the spiral groove of the screw in this arrangement will be perceived to

page_text: bè necessarily the same as in the previous cases, and in all the continued
deflection of the stream of gas in traversing the tortuous passage so formed by
the groove of the screw produces the proposed effect upon the gas.
The second of my said improvements applicable also to gas-burning
apparatus, consists in a method of retarding, obstructing, or moderating the
velocity of the current of gas by means of a button or mushroom-shaped stud
or 'deflector, supported only by its stalk or central stem, and not touching the
internal surface of the pipe, tube, or cavity which contains it. Encountering
this stud the gas is deflected radially towards the periphery thereof, between
which and the sides of the containing tube or cavity it is compelled to flow.
I apply this deflector either within the cavity of the burner or in the small
chamber before mentioned. It is shewn so applied at 1, in Figures 2 and 4,
in which examples its supporting stem or stalk is a continuation of the stem
of the screw a. This is the simplest and easiest method of supporting it when
the screw is used, but where there is no screw, it may be supported in
the manner herein-after exemplified in my third improvement. When the
deflector is not 'used, I have found the best substitute to be a piece of wire
gauze extended across the tube immediately above the screw, as shewn by
the dotted line k in Figure 6.
My third improvement is one upon a certain part of a former Invention of
"Improvements in the Production and Management of Artificial Light, and in
Apparatus applicable thereto," for which Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent
were granted to me, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven: This improvement consists in the use
and application of the button or mushroom-shaped deflector before described
as my second improvement, in place of and as a substitute for a small disc or
plate of metal placed transversely across and dividing an expansion chamber
used for rarefying "and expanding the gas, and for raising the temperature
thereof, and which" chamber with the transverse plate thereof," shewn as
supported by the sides of the chamber, is described in the Specification filed
in pursuance of the condition contained in the aforesaid Letters' Patent, and is
delineated in Figures 8 and 9 of the Drawings thereto appended. The manner
of applying the deflector in this case is explained by Figures 9, 10, and II
of the Drawings annexed to these Presents. Figure 9 is a vertical section of
the expansion chamber before mentioned, with the disc or transverse plate
removed; is the expansion chamber; m and n, two burners, the first of
which is inverted acting as the inlet, the other as the outlet or consuming
barner; o is the deflector supported by its stem p, which is inserted into the

page_text: cavity of the lower or inlet burner. To permit free passage of the gas, the
stem p is made with longitudinal cavities or grooves in its sides, so that it
may be supposed to have a transverse section similar to that shewn at
Figures 10, and 11, the latter of which is a horizontal section of the chamber 1,
at the dotted line X.
I have found by experience that the more the spiral groove or canal is
prolonged the greater the diminution effected by it in the pressure of the gas,
and vice versa. I avail myself of this property of the spiral groove in my
fourth improvement, which also has reference to gas-burning apparatus, and
consists in the construction, combination of parts, and arrangement of a certain
apparatus for regulating the pressure of and for governing, restraining, and
shutting off the supply of gas flowing to the burner. The apparatus consists
of a small chamber or receiver surmounted by the consuming burner, to which
the gas is admitted through a spiral canal, formed as described under the head
of the first improvement, between a deeply grooved screw and the inner
surface of a tubular neck or cylinder, which contains it, and in which the
screw being moveable can be raised or lowered, so as to lengthen or shorten
the spiral canal at discretion. The construction is explained by Figures 7
and 8, the former a vertical section, the latter a horizontal section at the
dotted line Y, in Figure 7. a is the screw, the thread of which works in a
corresponding internal groove tapped in the neck or tube q, but so shallow
that it only admits the edge of the deep thread of the screw a. The neck q
fits into the socket of the branch, and forms the connection between that and
the small chamber or receiver r. The latter is fitted closely on the upper part
of the neck, but so that it can be turned round by a milled edge projecting
at s, s; it rests upon a sinall collar, and is kept down by small screws u, u, the
points of which enter a shallow annular groove in the upper part of the neck.
The screw a carries on its upper extremity a head or flat disc large enough
to overlap the upper edge of the neck at w, w; on one side of this is a small
projection or tongue, which enters a vertical groove sunk in the internal
surface of the chamber r. y is the burner, which fits into and closes the upper
part of the chamber r. The apparatus operates thus:-The chamber r being
turned round by the milled edge s, carries with it the screw a, in consequence
of the projecting piece on the head of the latter being confined in the groove x,
and according to the direction in which the chamber is turned the screw will
be raised or lowered, and the effective part or that which is within the neck q
will be shortened or lengthened, and by such shortening or lengthening the
pressure of the gas will be varied as desired. If the screw be depressed until

page_text: the head is in contact with the top of the neck w, 10, the passage through
the latter will be entirely closed, and the gas shut off, so that this apparatus
may be made to answer the purpose of a regulating tap.
The fifth of my improvements: applies to lanterns or street lamps, and con-
sists in the use and application of tortuous winding or spiral passages, for the
admission of fresh, and the evacuation of vitiated air or vapors. into and from
the same. It is carried into effect, as shewn in Figure 12, which represents a
section of a street lamp. 1 is the lamp; 2, the supply pipe; 3, a metal
cylinder fitted into or forming part of the bottom of the' lamp. Within the
cylinder 3 is fitted closely a spirally twisted plate or. volute of thin metal 4, 4,
through the centre of which the supply pipe passes with a close joint. The
air for the support of combustion in the burner finds admission through the
winding channel enclosed by the volute of metal and the containing cylinder.
The top of the lamp is crowned by another metal cylinder 7, 7, containing also
a volute of thin metal 8, 8, similar to that before described. The cylinder is
roofed with a conical cap 6, through which .a. spindle 5, which forms the axis
of the metal volute. 8, passes, and is secured by an ornamental nutt 11 upon
its screwed end. Another nutt 10 at the bottom of the spindle serves to
fasten the volute thereon. 9, 9, are holes in the cylinder 7, 7, which allow the
escape of the vapor or smoke from thet lamp. after it has passed up the spiral
passage or canal.
The construction of these parts may be varied in the manner shewn in
Figures 13 and 14, which exhibit sections of the cylluders 3, 3, and 7, 7, with
different internal arrangements. Instead of the volutes are introduced trans-
verse plates 12, 12, 12, and 13, 13, 13, each of which closes the cylinder,
except as to a segmental opening left at one side. The transverse plates,
however, are so arranged that the segmental openings occur alternately at
opposite sides of the cylinder, so that the passage left for air or smoke. is from
side to side of the cylinder and below and above each plate in turn, as indicated
by the small arrows in the Drawing. The effect of the improvement under
both constructions is to shield the light more perfectly from gusts of wind,
violent gales, and other atmospheric influences prejudicial to the maintenance
of a steady flame.
In conclusion, I desire it to be understood that I do not restrict myself to
the details of construction herein shewn and described, and which are liable to
variation, without departure from the nature of the Invention, and that I claim
as of my Invention the following improvements:-
Firstly, the use in gas-burning apparatus of tortuous, winding, or spiral

page_text: channels or passages, and the art or method herein-before described and
explained of constructing such aforesaid tortuous, winding, or spiral channels
or passages, through which the gas is. conveyed to the burner, and by which
the current thereof is deflected in its course for the purpose of retarding and
moderating its velocity, and of causing the gas to issue from the burner under
a reduced pressure.
Secondly, the use in gas-burning apparatus of a button or mushroom-shaped
stud or deflector, supported centrally by its stem, and not by contact or attach-
ment of any part of its edge or periphery with or to the interior surface
of the pipe, tube, or cavity within which it is placed, as herein-before
described.
Thirdly, the use of the button or mushroom-shaped stud or deflector before
mentioned,. in place of a transverse disc or plate supported by the sides or
interior surface of a chamber in the apparatus before referred to, as described
in the Specification herein-before mentioned.
Fourthly, the construction, combination of parts, and arrangement of the
apparatus for regulating the pressure, and for governing and shutting off the
flow of gas to the burner, and more particularly the use of a spirally grooved
plug or screw for diminishing and increasing the pressure of gas according to
the method herein-before described and pointed out.
And, fifthly, the application of tortuous, winding, or spiral passages for the
admission of fresh and evacuation of vitiated air, smoke, and vapor into or
from lanterns or street lamps, and the modes or methods of constructing the
parts of the said lanterns or lamps containing such passages, as herein-before
described and explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wadsworth, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES WADSWORTH. (L..S.)
Signed and sealed by the above-named
James Wadsworth in the presence of
JN. TAYLER, Patent Agent,
Manchester.