Improvements in the Construction of Oil Burners.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 29th May, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Mar., 1896-Accepted, 29th May, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Oil Burners.
We, WALTER DARBY and ION DARBY of Weston Works, Weston Street,
King's Cross, London, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
Our present invention has for its object to produce oil burners of a very large
size and power and is designed primarily for burning liquid hydro-carbons (such as
ordinary petroleum or paraffin) for producing a very large amount of heat such as
for heating water or for stoves for heating purposes but the burners constructed
according to our present improvements may be used for any other purposes (either
for heating or lighting) to which same may be applicable.
Our present invention is as follows:-
Over a suitable oil tank or reservoir (advantageously of very large size) we
arrange in a continuous form a series of wick tubes for instance three wick tubes
arranged as a triangle or four arranged as a square or oblong or diamond or other
form or six arranged as a hexagon or eight arranged as an octagou or other
suitable number of wick tubes (either all equal in length or otherwise as desired)
arranged advantageously as a regular shaped figure around a large central opening
which affords a common air supply to all the said wicks.
For the sake of example we will describe a four wick burner arranged as a
square but wish it to be clearly understood that we do not limit ourselves either to
four wicks only or to an exact square.
"
Each wick has a separate and independent wick raising device or "wick
winder of any suitable or well-known construction-so that any single wick can
be raised or lowered without touching the others.
or equivalent arrangement
The usual or any suitable gallery and "basket
may be mounted all round outside these wick tubes any suitable chimney or
enclosing wall being carried thereon and extending to any suitable height.
Inside this chimney or enclosing wall (which may advantageously be made-or
have let into same parts-transparent or semi-transparent or translucent towards
the bottom thereof so that the flame can be seen when adjusting the wicks).we
arrange a " cone or low wall all round outside the wick tubes and parallel to the
latter which guides the air coming through the "basket" etc. to the outside of the
four-sided flame.
This "cone
יי
is advantageously detachably mounted or hinged in its place so as
to afford easy access to the wick tubes.
"
Over the large central air passage and just above the top of the wick tubes we
"spreader which
arrange a large deflecting plate or
serves to direct the air
coming up said central passage on to the inside of the flaine all round.
This spreader may he mounted in position rigidly if desired or we may
advantageously mount same on a rising frame or support or supports or otherwise
so mount and arrange same as to be adapted to be lowered when desired so
that it comes down over or close against the top of the wick tubes and thereby
extinguishes all four wicks. simultaneously-a spring or other arrangement
returning this spreader again to its normal position above the wicks.
For instance the spreader may be carried on four vertically disposed perforated
plates or other restrictors adapted to break up the air and regulate same on its way

page_text: to the inside of the flame (a horizontal perforated plate uniting the lower edges of
said vertical plates if desired) and prolongations of these vertical sides acting
as guides (or as a sort of skeleton plunger) inside the said central air passage and
a rod secured at one end to the underside of said spreader and at its other end to a
crank on a horizontal shaft which extends to the outside of the reservoir and has
a knob or handle thereon by turning which latter the aforesaid crank pulls down
the rod cemented thereto and with it the spreader against the action of a strong
spring which latter returns the spreader to its highest position again upon the
aforesaid handle being released.
By our present invention we are thus enabled to produce burners with any
length of wick desired for instance with each wick 4 inches long in a 4 wick burner
the total length of wick would be 16 inches or with a six wick burner 24 inches
and so on while by arranging these wicks in a continuous form round a common
central air passage (with the ends of the wick tubes butting or nearly so) thereby
the flames unite and form one continuous flame all round which thus prevents
escape of any gas or vapourised hydro-carbons this immense length of wick
while thus acting practically as one wick yet by our arrangement is easily managed
and adapted to be readily adjusted removed or replaced cleaned etc. or any part
thereof.
Another feature is that the reservoirs of burners constructed according to our
present invention keep perfectly cool notwithstanding the immense heating power
of said burners.
Improvements in the Construction of Oil Burners.
We, WALTER DARBY and ION DARBY of Weston Works, Weston Street,
King's Cross, London, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our present invention has for its object to produce oil burners of a very large
power and is designed primarily for burning liquid hydro-carbons (such as ordinary
petroleum or paraffin) for producing a very large amount of heat such as for
heating water or for stoves for heating purposes but burners constructed according
to our present improvements may be used for any other purposes to which same
may be applicable.
Our present invention is as follows:-
Over a suitable oil tank or reservoir (advantageously of very large size) we
arrange in a continuous form a series of flat wick tubes for instance three flat wick
tubes arranged as a triangle or four flat wick tubes arranged as a square or oblong
or diamond or other form or six arranged as a hexagon or eight arranged as an
octagon or other suitable number of flat wick tubes (either all equal in length or
otherwise as desired) arranged advantageously as a regular shaped figure around a
large central opening which affords a common air supply to all the said flat wicks
or if desired part of our present improvements may be used in combination with a
large circular wick.
For the sake of example we will describe with reference to the accompanying
drawings a burner having four flat wicks arranged as a square but we wish it to be
clearly understood that we do not limit ourselves either to four. wicks only or to an
"exact square.

page_text: Fig. is plan of a burner having four flat wicks arranged and operating in
conjunction with our other improvements according to our present invention.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof on line 1-1 Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation.
z is the oil reservoir (advantageously of large capacity) which is or may be
mounted on legs or a support such as the perforated flange y to keep same off the
ground and thereby permit free flow of large quantities of air to and through the
vertical air passage through the said oil reservoir to the burner flame.
is cover over filling orifice.
Each of the four flat wicks a has a separate and independent wick raising device
or "wick winder" 6 of any suitable or well-known construction so that any single
wick a can be raised or lowered without the others i.e. each independently of the
other.
The usual or any suitable gallery and "basket" or equivalent arrangement may
be mounted all round outside the wick tubes e for instance a horizontal restrictor c
and a diagonally arranged restrictor d on the outer side of each of the four wick
tubes e-any suitable chimney or enclosing wall (not shown) being used if desired
and extending to any suitable height.
66
"
"
Inside this chimney or enclosing wall (which may advantageously be made-or
have let into same parts-transparent or semi-transparent or translucent towar is
the bottom thereof so that the flame cau be seen when adjusting the wicks) we
arrange a cone or low wall fall round outside the "restrictors and wick
tubes e (and either at an angle to or parallel with the latter) which guides the air
coming through the "basket etc. to the outside of the flame from the said four
flat wicks.
"
This cone fis advantageously detachably mounted or hinged in its place so as to
afford easy access to the wick tubes e for instance this cone fmay be mounted and
held in its place on the burner by means of lugs or ears or projections f¹ thereon
adapted to engage under corresponding lugs or projections 9 fixed to the burner
body or to the support or oil tank thereof while a nose or projection f' on the
opposite side of the cone is caught and held by a releasing spring or spring
catch fixed to the burner or reservoir-or said cone fmay be otherwise suitably
secured. Over the large central air passage and just above the top of the wick
tubes e we arrange a large deflecting plate or spreader which serves to
direct the air coming up said central passage on to the inside of the flame all
round.
This spreader i is according to our present invention mounted and arranged in
such manner that same can be lowered when desired so that it comes down onto
the top of the wick tubes e and thereby extinguishes all four wicks simul-
taneously this spreader i being again returned to its normal position above the
wicks either by the operator or automatically by a spring or other suitable
arrangement.
In the arrangement illustrated the spreader iis mounted on and carried by a
central vertical rod or pillar j which passes through said spreader plate i the latter
being secured to said rod j by means of a winged nut & or other suitable means so
as to enable the plate i to be readily removed when desired for instance for cleaning
or trimming the wicks etc.-but the plate i is so held on to the rod j (when secured
in position thereof as shown in Figs. 1 to 3) that said plate must move vertically
with the rod when any vertical movement is imparted to the latter.
The vertical supporting rod or pillar j passes freely through the cross heads or
guides and m aud the lowermost end has a shoulder or enlargement j¹ thereon
which is normally kept pressed up against the fixed cross-piece m by means of a
spiral spring n mounted on said rod j between the cross-piece m and the collar
fixed to said rod j so that the spreader i is thus normally held and kept up in the
position shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
o is a horizontal rod or shaft journalled in the burner frame or support one end
thereof terminating in a handle o' on the exterior of the burner (see Fig. 1) and

page_text: the other end of o having a crank arm p extending therefrom and engaging in a
notch or slot in the lower end of the aforesaid rod ; (or a rack and pinion motion
or other equivalent mechanism for converting rotary motion into perpendicular
motion may be used) whereby when the shaft o is turned by means of the handle o²
thereupon the rod j is drawn down (against the action of the spring n) and
consequently the spreader is lowered or forced down onto the top of the wick
tubes e.
are vertical parallel pins on the underside of the spreader i which pins pass
through guide holes or openings provided for same in the guide plate 7 to thus keep
the spreader horizontal or this may be done in any other suitable or equivalent
manner.
Or the spreader may be carried on four vertically disposed perforated plates
(not shown) or other restrictors adapted to break up the air and regulate same on
its way to the inside of the flame (a horizontal perforated plate-not shown-
uniting the lower edges of said vertical plates if desired) and prolongations of these
vertical sides acting as guides (or as a sort of skeleton plunger) inside the said
central air passage and a rod secured at one end to the underside of said
spreader and at its other end to a crank such as p on a horizontal shaft such as o
which extends to the outside of the reservoir and has a knob or handle thereon by
turning which latter the aforesaid crank pulls down the rod connected thereto and
with it the spreader i against the action of a strong spring such as n which latter
returns the spreader to its highest position again upon the aforesaid handle being
released.
It will be obvious that mechanically equivalent or other suitable means may be
employed for the purpose of moving the spreader vertically i.e. for lowering same
and returning or raising it to its normal position (the spreader being mounted or
arranged and supported in any suitable manner for this purpose) for instance the
handle or knob such as o' on the exterior of the burner may be made to be pressed
down or up or have other movement imparted thereto instead of rotating same as
aforesaid and thereby the necessary motion transmitted to the spreader to lower
or raise same.
By our present invention we are thus enabled to produce burners with any
length of wick (i.e. any total length of flame) desired for instance with each flat
wick 4 inches long in a 4 wick burner the total length of wick would be 16 inches
or with a six flat wick burner 24 inches and so on-while by arranging these
wicks a in a continuous form round a common central air passage (with the ends of
the wick tubes e butting as shown in Fig. 1 or nearly so) thereby the flames unite
and form one continuous flame all round which thus prevents escape of any gas
or vapourised hydro-carbons this immense length of wick while thus acting
practically at one wick yet by our arrangement is easily managed (and the flames
easily extinguished simultaneously) and moreover the said wicks are adapted
to be readily adjusted removed or replaced cleaned etc. independently of one
another.
Another feature is that the reservoirs of burners constructed according to our
present invention keep perfectly cool notwithstanding the immense heating power
of said burners.
Fig. 4 is a plan illustrating our invention carried out as above described only
with a three wick burner arranged as an equilateral triangle instead of four wicks
as previously described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, and
Fig. 5 is a plan illustrating our improvements applied to a circular wick burner
instead of a many sided burner that is the spreader i can be raised and lowered as
described with reference to Fig. 1 to 3 and is also removable from its vertical
support by unscrewing and removing the winged nut k by which it is secured on
and to the rod ; as before described.
An important feature of our present invention consists in the vertically movable
spreader which is capable of being attached and entirely removed from the burner
although when attached to the vertical rod or mount such as j supporting same it

page_text: is so held as to be forced to move vertically when the desired movement is
imparted to its said support. We do not therefore confine ourselves to a winged
nut such as k by which to attach said spreader to its said support as any other
mechanical equivalent or other suitable means may be used to attach said spreader
to its support for instance a slot in the rod ; and passed through said slot above
the plate.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In oil burners-the combination with three or more flat wicks arranged round
a large central air shaft of a plate or spreader horizontally arranged above the top
of the wick tubes and said air shaft said spreader being of a shape corresponding
to the said air shaft but of a size rather larger than same said spreader plate being
adapted to be lowered on to the top of the wick tubes and means to lower said
spreader and to return same into its normal position independently of said wicks
substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein before set forth.
2. The combination in an oil burner of a vertically movable support for a
spreader or plate such as i and means to impart vertical motion to said support
independently of the wick or wicks in combination and acting in conjunction with
a removable plate or spreader such as i of a shape corresponding to the said air
haft but of a size rather larger than same so that when said spreader is lowered it
will serve to extinguish the flame and means to attach said spreader plate
to said support or readily detach and remove same from the burner when
required.
3. An oil burner having a removable spreader or plate such as i secured to
a vertically movable support for same in such manner that said spreader plate will
be lowered or raised hy-or can be readily detached and removed from its said
support in combination and acting in conjunction with means to lower and raise
sid support and spreader thereon independently of the wicks substantially as and
for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
4. An oil burner consisting of a reservoir such as a large vertical air shaft or
passage such as therethrough four or other number of separate wick tubes
such as e arranged continuously around said central air shaft a separate wick in
each said wick tube a separate wick winder or raiser to each said wick tube
respectively a cone such as fenclosing or surrounding the whole of the wick tubes
to guide the air to the exterior of the flame a movable plate such as i over said air
shaft and wick tubes adapted to serve the dual purpose of spreader and
extinguisher and means-independent of the wicks-to lower said plate i onto the
wick tubes e to simultaneously extinguish the flame from all the wicks and means
to return said plate into its normal position above the top of said wick tubes
substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
5. The improved oil burner constructed and arranged to act substantially in the
manner and for the purposes herein before described and illustrated in the drawings
hereunto annexed.
Dated this 29th day of February 1896.
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.