IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS."-A communication from
abroad by George Washington Thompson and John Thomas Tully, both
of New York City, United States of America.
Sealed the 15th March 1864, and dated the 12th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th November 1863.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention of "Improvements in Gas Burners" relates to a mode of
constructing the regulators to be applied to gas burners. In these regulators
the conical valve which controls the supply of gas to the burner is attached to
a flexible diaphragm, upon which the gas acts in such manner by rising and
falling in the supply passage as to produce a variation of the area of opening
of the valve in an inverse ratio to the pressure of the gas upon the diaphragm.
The improvement consists in providing an air chamber which is in cóm-
munication with the external atmosphere. This chamber, with its opening, is

page_text: placed above the flexible diaphragm, so that the diameter of the diaphragm
may be made much less than in other regulators of the same class, and the
costing of a shadow by the regulator is almost entirely obviated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS," being a communication from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
by an instrument 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner 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) :-
This Invention of improvements in gas burners relates to a mode of
constructing the regulators to be applied to gas burners. In these regulators
the conical valve which controls the supply of gas to the burner is attached
to a flexible diaphragm, upon which the gas acts in such a manner by rising

page_text: and falling in the supply passage as to produce a variation of the area of
opening of the valve in an inverse ratio to the pressure of the gas upon the
diaphragm.
The improvement consists in providing an air chamber which is in com-
munication with the external atmosphere. This chamber, with its opening, is
placed above the flexible diaphragm, so that the diameter of the diaphragm
may be made much less than in other regulators of the same class, and the
casting of a shadow by the regulator is almost entirely obviated.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is an elevation of a gas burner
baving the improved regulator attached; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of
the regulator.
A is a metal cup, having a central screw socket A', which is screwed on to
the pipe which supplies the burner; B is a cap, which is tightly fitted and
secured to the cup A, and combines therewith to form the outer casing of the
regulator. The cap B has a central socket B₁, on to which the burner C,
Fig. 1, is screwed tightly. D is an inner metal box placed within the
casing A, B, and divided horizontally (by means of the flexible diaphragm F)
into two chambers a and 6; the box D is made in two pieces, for the purpose
of introducing the diaphragm, and the diaphragm is secured between
flanges c, c, formed around the said pieces, one of the flanges having its edges
turned tightly over the edges of the other one. In the bottom of the box D
there is a central opening e for the entrance of gas from the supply pipe.
There is also another opening g in the lower part of the box, thereby forming
a communication from the lower chamber a to the space d, between the
exterior of the box and the interior of the casing A, B. There is also an
aperture in the top of the box forming a communication between the upper
chamber b, which may be termed the air chamber, and the atmosphere, but
not with the interior of the casing A, B, which is perfectly air-tight. The
box D is fitted to the bottom of the casing A, B, in such manner and so
secured that no gas can enter the space d, except through the chamber a.
The conical valve E is fitted to the central opening e in the bottom of the
box D, in such manner that by its upward movement it will contract the
passage left between it and the opening, and vice versa. The conical valve E
is suspended from the centre of the flexible diaphragm F, which is made of
kid or other leather, or any suitable flexible material that will not be injuriously
affected by the gas.
The gas enters the regulator from the supply pipe by the opening e around
the valve E, and fills the chamber a. It then flows through the opening g
into the space d, and fills the space. From thence it passes through the

page_text: gas
socket B¹ to the burner; as indicated by arrows in Fig. 2. The diaphragm F
is of such tension and the valve E of such weight that at the lowest pressure
of gas, say, half an inch, the flow of gas shall just equal the consumptive
capacity of the burner. As the gas enters the regulator it presses up against the
diaphragm F, thus raising it and the valve E in proportion to its pressure.
As the valve E rises with the diaphragm it diminishes the area of the annular
passage left around its exterior within the opening e, so that when the is
at a high pressure the smaller area of the passage e will allow no more gas to
pass through than would pass through with a lower pressure and a larger
passage. By means of the aperture f and air chamber 6 the use of a smaller
and more sensitive diaphragm is permitted, as may be proved by closing the
aperture when the diaphragm by failing to lift the valve as quickly or as
much as required, the gas will rush up to and through the burner much faster
than it can be consumed, and will thus become wasted.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Gas Burners,
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, as com-
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the air chamber 6 and aperture f
in combination with a flexible diaphragm for operating a conical valve, as and
for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane."
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.).