Im- PROVEMENTS IN LAMPS AND LAMP BURNERS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN LAMPS AND LAMP BURNERS."-A communication from.
abroad by Horman Gotthilf Mochring, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 22nd May 1875, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN
LAMPS AND LAMP BURNERS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant
unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that

page_text: the said Invention is communicated to me from abroad by Herman
Gotthilf Moehring, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of
America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
scal, fully describes-and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to bo performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
These improvements have referenco principally to lamps and lamp 1
burners constructed on the Argand principle.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of referenco indicating corresponding parts in all the corre- 1
sponding Figures.
The first portion of the improvements (represented in Figures 1 to 6
inclusive) is directed to a lamp burner, in which two or more inde-
pendent flat wicks aro assembled together in the shape of a tubular or
annular wick. :
Figure 1 is a vertical central section, and Figure 2 is a plan partly in
horizontal section of a burner embodying these improvements. A is the
scrow-threaded base; B, the body or walls of the burner; C, the chimney
gallery; D, the shade rest or ring; B', the removable cone or deflector ;
a, a, a, are three short flat wick tubes which extend up through the base a
of the burner, and through a horizontal diaphragm or division plate b, to
which plate is attached the central draft tube or flue c. The plate 6 at its
outer edges is fast to the horizontal base flange e of the conical or
tapering shell d, by which shell the several independent wicks are
assembled in the shape of an annular wick around the central draft
flue c: The parts 6 and e, divide the air entering the perforated walls f
of the burner into two currents, the one entering the central draft flue
through openings between the wick tubes, the other passing up around
the shell d to the exterior of the flame. The wicks are raised and
lowered by pinions and toothed wheels i, two for cach wick tube. Tho a
several sots are arranged as shown in Figure 2, so that one of the pinions
of cach set will mesh with the adjoining pinion of the next set. The
0

page_text: shaft of one of the sets is prolonged to project outside of the burner.
By rotating this shaft the several sets of wick raisors will all be moved
in unison.
A modified form of burner is shewn in Figures 3 and 4. In this
burner there are but two wick tubes a which are assembled. around a
central draft tube / extending through the base A of the burner.. The
body B, a removable cone B', chimney gallery C, and shade rest. or
ring Dare of ordinary or suitable construction. The diaphragm 6 used.
in the other burner is here dispensed with, and the flanged base of the
wick assembling shell & constitutes the dividing plate which separates
the air currents. The passages for the air to the central flue are formed
in the sides of the said flue between the two wick tubes. The central
draft flue k of this burner is open at the bottom and communicates with
the interior of the lamp. This enables the lamp to be filled without
removing the burner; the tube k serving at once as a central draft flue
and as a passage through which oil may be poured into the lamp. The:
lower end of the tube is closed by a removable plug or stopper 7, which
is put in place and removed through the upper end of the draft flue, and.
is provided for this purpose with a centre stem or handle of about the
length of the flue. It is preferred to make this stem or handle serve at
the same time as the means of regulating the central draft. To this end”
there may be mounted upon it radial blades or wings, which serve when
the stem is within the flue as vertical partition plates to break up and
equalize and steady the air currents; such a device is shewn detached in
Figure 5. It is however preferred to use as the stem a tube m (see
Figure 6 which represents this device detached), which when in position
in the burner is within and concentric with the draft tube k. This draft
regulating tube m is perforated at a point m' about on a level with the
lateral air passages in the draft flue, but preferably not in a line with the
said passages, in order to cause the current of air entering the flue to
change direction before any portion of it can enter the inner tube. A
convenient means of assuring this position of the tube m is a pin ♫ pro-
vided on, the bottom of the stopper 7, and registering with a properly
located groove or socket formed in the base of the draft flue.
:
It should be observed that so far as this feature of these.improvements
is concerned, the tube need not form part of the plugging device. It
can be applied to any Argand burner, and may be a fixture. or removable
as desired. It is preferred to form the plug or stopper in cup shape as

page_text: shown in Figures 3, 5, and 6, so that it may serve to catch whatever
refuse may happen to drop into the central draft tube.. With the inner.
draft regulating tube m, there may be combined if desired vertical
partition plates m³, as shewn in Figures 3 and 6.
. The devices employed for raising the wicks of the burner represented
in Figures 3 and 4 are shewn more fully in Figures 7 and 8, which
represent respectively a perspective view of a portion of the burner and
ȧ horizontal section of the same. A is the base of the burner; B, the
central draft flue; a, the air openings in the said flue. Each wick tube
C on its outer face has an offset bulge or corrugation 6, which may
extend throughout or over a portion only of the length of the tube. The
wick c is wider than the tube so that when pushed in, it will be crimped,'
bent, or folded into the corrugated part b, as shewn in Figure 2. In
one of the sides of each corrugation is an aperture & through which the
wick raising pinion f works against the crimped portion of the wick.
The two pinions are fixed on a single shaft 9 provided with the usual
milled head, and arranged to revolve in bearings in the burner in the
ordinary way.
The above described wick raiser can be used not only in Argand
burners, but in other burners which have two or more wicks and wick
tubes.
The next portion of these improvements is represented in Figures
9, 10, and 11, of the Drawings. The lamp there shown has been devised
with special reference to the burning of heavy oils, such for instanco as
"mineral sperm oil" one of the heavier products of the distillation of
petroleum, but the improvements are in great part applicable as well to
the lamps in which lighter oils are used. Figure 9 is a perspective view
of the lamp; Figure 10 is a vertical central section of the same; Figure
11 is a perspective view of the lamp proper removed from its supporting
shell.
The lamp here represented follows in its external configuration the
"moderator" pattern of lamp. A is the oil reservoir or lamp body into
a collar, in the top of which screws the screw-threaded base of an Argand
burner B of suitable structure. The central draft tube or that tube
which supports the annular wick and conveys air to the interior of the
flame is shewn at a. It is attached to the lamp body and not to the
burner.
:

page_text: In burning heavy oils it is difficult by the capillary action of the wick
to carry the oil to any great height. According to this Invention therefore
the lamp body is made comparatively shallow, as shewn, but in order to
adapt the lamp to carry a long annular wick, which can be used for a
considerable length of time without requiring renewal, the lamp body is
provided at its bottom with a central extension or woll C, to the lower
end of which is fastened the central draft tube a. By the combination
of these parts a, O, there is formed an annular chamber of considerable
depth which receives the lower part of the annular wick.
The parts a, C, are united by a collar 6 which is screw-threaded on its
exterior, and is designed to screw into a tubular perforated stem c pro-
jecting centrally from the base D; through this perforated stem c the air
for the central draft enters the central tube a, and in it is received the
drippings of oil which pass down the central tube. The stem o at its
base has an aperture d through which this oil can pass into the base D
which is formed to receive and hold it, and in effect constitutes the drip
cup; on one side of the said drip cup is a shield e and spout ffor
emptying the drip cup, in performing which operation the base D should
first be unscrewed from the lamp. The lamp thus made is designed to
fit as shown into the shell or case E, which is constructed of suitable sizo
and shape to receive the same, and with perforations g in its sides for
the passage of the air required for the central draft. This shell or caso
is provided with a heavy or weighted base.
In order to trim or cleanse the lamp it should be first removed from
the shell E, when the drip cup will serve as a base upon which the lamp.
may stand.
For filling the lamp it is preferred to use the arrangement shown,
which consists of an annular oil receiving recess or groove / formed in
the metallic top of the lamp, around the lamp collar, from which groove
or recess lead one or more tubes i, each of which extends nearly to the
bottom of the oil reservoir. This, with oils of the character for which the
lamp is particularly designed, is a convenient arrangement.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
mo is,
1. In an Argand lamp burner the combination with two or more

page_text: independent wick tubes of a central draft tube, and an external wick
assembling shell, which with the central draft tube forms an annular
chamber to receive the wicks from the independent tubes and assemble
them in the form of an annular wick, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated by the accompanying Drawings..
2. In an Argand lamp burner the combination of the following
instrumentalities, namely, two or more independent wick tubes, a central
draft flue or tube, a wick assembling shell, which extends above the wick
tubes surrounds the central draft tube, receives the wicks from said
independent tubes and assembles them around the central draft tube in
the shape of an annular wick, one or more lateral air passages located
between the wick tubes and leading to the central draft flue or tube,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
3. A lamp burner formed with a filling orifice or passage extending
through it from top to bottom, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated by the Drawings.
4. In an Argand lamp burner a central draft flue or tube which com-
municates with the oil reservoir of the lamp, and constitutes a passage.
through which the lamp may be filled, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated by the Drawings.
.
5. In an Argand lamp burner the combination with a central draft
fluc or tube formed to communicate with the lamp reservoir as described
of a plug or stopper within the tube, closing the said channel of com-
munication and removable through the upper end of the tube, substan-
tially as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
6. In combination with the central draft flue or tube of an Argand
burner, an inner draft regulating tube concentric with the central draft
flue and formed with an opening or openings for the reception of a
portion of the air admitted to the said draft flue, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
7. In combination with the central draft flue the inner concentric
draft regulating tube and one or more transverse vertical plates or
partitions, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
8. The removable plug or stopper for the central draft flue formed
.--

page_text: receptacle for catching the refuse that may drop from the wick into the
draft flue, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
9. A wick tube formed on one of its sides with an offset bulge or
corrugation to receive a portion of the wick which is crimped or bent
therein, in combination with a wick raiser working through an opening
in said bulging part or offset of the tube upon the crimped portion of
the wick, substantially as heroin-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
10. The combination of two or more wick tubes, cach formed with an
offset bulge or corrugation to receive a crimped portion of the wick as
described, with wick raising pinions or ratchets, one for each tube,
working through openings in the bulging parts of the tubes upon the
crimped parts of the wicks, and a single rotary shaft or spindle upon
which all the pinions are fixed, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated by the Drawings...
11. The annular oil receiving recess formed in the top of the metallic
lamp body around the lamp collar, in combination with an oil conducting
tube or tubes leading from said recess into the lamp body, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
12. The lamp body or oil reservoir in combination with an extension
or well projecting below the bottom of and communicating with the oil
reservoir, and a central draft tube which at the bottom is united with.
said well, and forms with it an annular chamber for the reception of the
lower portion of the tubular wick, substantially as heroin-before
described and illustrated by the Drawings.
13. The lamp body and the annular receiving chamber projecting
below the bottom of said body and formed by the union of the central
draft tube, and an outer enveloping jacket as described in combination
with a drip cup constituting the base of the lamp, and provided with a
tubular perforated stem which is detachably connected with the lower
end of the annular wick receiving chamber, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
14. The lamp body, the detachable drip cup constituting the base of
the lamp, and the tubular connecting stem through which air is
admitted to the central draft flue of the lamp, in combination with an
°

page_text: outer perforated shell or receptacle into which the lamp fits and from
which it is removable, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings.
15. The detachable drip cup formed to constitute a base for the lamp
when the latter is removed from the outer shell or jacket, and provided 5
with a discharge spout and shield, and a central perforated stem having
at its base an opening through which the drip may pass
into the cup,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings