CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ILLUMINATING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris,
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR ILLUMINATING."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 24th August 1854.
I, PETER ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR ILLUMINATING" to bo as follows:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in certain arrangements of
apparatus applicable to candle, oil, and gas lamps. The means I employ are
as follows:-
I use chimney glasses much lower than those ordinarily used; I substitute
more convenient and economical oil lamp burners than those in general use;
I use also wire gauze caps of different degrees of fineness to place on the
glasses for regulating the supply of air and protecting the light.

page_text: I employ, besides, chimneys provided with caps, for candles, when used for
night lights or lanterns. When employing the low chimneys before mentioned,
I apply small gauze or perforated cylinders furnished with caps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 24th February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND lo Comto DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, & 89, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing dato the Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our-Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Her special license,
that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand le
Comte de Fontaine Moreau, 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 of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ILLUMINATING," communicated to me by
a foreigner residing abroad," upon the condition, amongst others, that I,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and scal, 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 Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine-
Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Figures of the Drawing hereto, and to the letters marked thereon, that is
to say

page_text: The Invention communicated to me consists in certain arrangements of
apparatus applicable to candle, oil, and gas lamps.
The object of the Invention is,-
First, the replacing of high glass chimneys by others usually much shorter.
Secondly, the replacing the present guide pins of lamps with a double current
of air by others much more convenient, and which diminish the loss of oil in
cleaning, but the principal utility of which is to regulate the quantity, direction,
and distribution of the air, as shewn by Figures 1, 2, & 3.
Thirdly, the employment of perforated caps of different kinds, one of which
is called an extender, and serves chiefly to increase the volume of flame by
impeding in a suitable degree the escape of the gases.
Fourthly, the employment of a fine wire gauze cap, called a protector, above
the chimnies, to protect the flame.
Fifthly, the employment of chimnies with caps for wax candles, especially
when used as night lights or in lanterns, to prevent the candles from
running.
When chimnies of about 2 inches high are used in lamps with a double
current of air, it will generally be advantageous to place at the top a small
cylinder pierced with small holes, or a fine wire gauze and cap.
Since science has taught us that the volume of gases given off by combustion
is much more considerable than the volume of air necessary to sustain it, it is
rational to infer than in giving a greater facility for the escape of the gases of
combustion than is given to the admission of air, a more satisfactory result will
be obtained.
Experience has shewn that in fire-place chimnies combustion becomes moro
perfect in proportion to the slowness at which the air arrives. The application
of this principle to lighting has fully proved that in general it is necessary to
diminish the draught, and, consequently, make the chimney glasses as low as
possible. The flame will increase in developement in proportion to the
attainment of this object.
To obtain a flame of great brilliancy and whiteness in apparatus with a double
current of air, the external current, instead of being parallel with the internal
current, should be made perpendicular to it. When a voluminous flame is
required, it is necessary either to diminish the quantity of air which arrives, or
impede, in a suitable degree, the escape of the gases; in the latter case, one of
the best means is to employ an extender cap of ordinary wire gauze. What-
ever the height of the chimnies may be, combustion is much improved by
covering them with a protector cap, in such manner as not to diminish or
scarcely diminish the size of the egress orifice.

page_text: To protect the light in apparatus with a single current of air from the action
of moths and insects, caps similar to those hercin-before described are employed.
These caps with a fine wire gauze have also the advantage of preventing too
great a supply of air to the combustion. The choice of wire gauze for the said
caps require care, as a small difference in the size may make a considerable
difference in the result. When a stearine candle is surrounded by a chimney
of sufficient size which does not allow the air to reach the flame except through
an appropriate cap, and receives a much less quantity of air than it could:
consume if freely exposed to the air, the effect produced is a considerable
diminution in the consumption of material and in the evolution of heat and
light; and, on the other hand, a combustion of such a kind that the stearine is
scarcely ever liquid, but is constantly in a pasty state...
When, in order to have as slow a combustion as possible, chimnics about two
inches-long-are applied to apparatus with a double current of air, and in which
the flame almost reaches the top, it would be advantageous to prevent as much
as possible the injurious action of the air without increasing the draught to:
make the chimney higher, which is effected by adding to it a minutely perforated
cylinder, of about one inch in height, and supplied with a cap.
In the annexed Drawing the Figures represent the several parts in their
full size.
One of the properties that these different contrivances possess is that of being.
at once applicable to the apparatus already in use, with but slight modifica-
tions, which occasion very small expense. The apparatus for lighting may be
divided into two classes, viz., those with a double current of air and those with
a single current. The principle modification necessary for the application of
my contrivance to the lamp called moderator, which is the most general in
use, consists in replacing the chimney support by another chimney.
For a moderator lamp of an ordinary size, a cylinder of thin tin, of about
one inch in height and half an inch in diameter, should be used, in the interior
of which three small vertical guides are soldered, at equal distances apart, and
of such a horizontal section, that being placed upon the burner it can be made
to slide on with a gentle friction. A disc, hollowed out internally, in order that
it may enter the said cylinder, is soldered to its upper end, upon which the
chimney is to rest, which may be kept in its place by a rim or by claws to
prevent its shaking. The diameter of this piece should be a little less than 3
that of the opening of the globe support, as it supports underneath a socket for
the globe support to fit on, and allowing very little air to pass through. The
height of the socket should be such that, when the chimney support is at the
highest point of its elevation, the opening will be nearly shut.

page_text: Figures 1, 2, and 3, are views of the chimney support.
Chimnies of various heights and diameters have produced excellent results
with this contrivance. The chimney support, which has just been described,
can be very much clevated, which produces many different results.
In order to apply to the above-described chimney support the contrivance
for obtaining a more brilliant light than usual, the following arrangements are
necessary: first, to suppress the rim or gallery; secondly, solder upon the disc
a cylinder of about one and a half inches diameter, and two-third inches in
height, pierced with small holes, or made of wire gauze, and fix at its upper
end a horizontal disc, having in its middle an opening of about one inch in
diameter for the passage of gases and flame.
The chimney should stand on this disc. The whiteness and fullness of the
light are greater, according as the diameter of the opening, above mentioned, is
properly determined. Towards the bottom of the chimney and at two opposite
points a small conical hole is made; then opposite to each a piece of metal
forming a spring is fixed upon the cylinder, and terminated by a small cone,
which enters the hole opposite to it. This is the most simple form of the
apparatus; but in order to render it more commodious I prefer the arrange-
ments shewn in Figures 4, 5, and 6. The top of the wick should always be a
little lower than the level of the upper disc.
In this mode of lighting, as in the preceding, chimnies of various dimensions
may be used; nevertheless the whiteness and brilliancy of the light is generally
much greater when the internal diameter is not more than one-tenth of an inch
greater than the opening of the upper disc. The shorter the glass the shorter
is the flame; I therefore consider it preferable that it should not exceed
three inches in height. When a brilliant light is to be replaced by an ordinary
light, it is necessary to push down the chimney support until the wick passes
sufficiently above the disc. This change requires some precaution, whilst the
reverse operation may be performed without any; for this reason it is
generally preferable not to produce these two degrees of light in the samo
apparatus.
In order to obtain in ordinary lighting the extension of the volume of flame,
the following process has succeeded best in lamps :-I place round the part of
the globe support where the openings are, either a ring, moveable from top to
bottom, by means of which the introduction of air may be intercepted as
required, or a ring which can turn freely round, but neither move upwards or
downwards, perforated in such a manner that on moving it the same effect can
be produced at pleasure. An extender cap may be used for the same purpose.
Independently of the ring, it is useful to employ a "protector cap."

page_text: The description which I have just given, as applied to the moderator lamp,
will suffice to show in what manner it can be applied to gas and other lamps
with a double current of air.
I will, however, explain how it is applied to gas lamps, first to produce au
ordinary light, and then a brilliant light.
. Suppose the burner to be of porcelain, of one inch in diameter at its upper
part, with about forty holes, which are situated on a circumference of about
two-thirds of an inch in diameter. In order to adapt my system the following
means are employed: first, I place upon the round plate which unites the
burner to the chimney a small annular grating, which allows as much air as
possible by passing through the small holes or meshes; then I-replace the
moveable сар, of a trumpet-mouth form, which diminishes the volume of the
current of external air, by another, the upper part of which is parallel to
the porcelain burner, and being slightly conical in about one-third of an inch
of its height only, affords to the air in this part a passage of about one-eighth
_ of an inch in thickness.
I also employ a glass tube, having an internal diameter at bottom of one
and three-quarter inches, and two inches at top, and 6 inches in height. The
result of this arrangement is, that the external current is much better divided,
and also that the volume of the current is considerably lessened, and the flow
much diminished in rapidity. I make a cylinder of tin, of about one and a
half inches in diameter and half an inch in height, terminating underneath in
a horizontal disc of about two inches in diameter, which by means of an open-
ing in its center descends to the round plate with claws, and there intercepts
the passage of the external current. To this disc are soldered three small
bands of tin, bent so as to permit them to be fixed under the claws. To the
upper part of the cylinder is soldered another cylinder, pierced with small
holes, forming the prolongation of the first.
It consists of a rather fine wire gauze, of about two-thirds of an inch in
height, upon the top of which is fixed a small horizontal disc, having an
opening of about an inch by an inch and a quarter in diameter in its center, to
allow the flanie and gases egress; this dise is about one-eighth of an inch
above the upper part of the burner, so that the combination of air and gases of
combustion takes place specially between these two surfaces. A chimney of
about four inches high, and having an internal diameter of about one and a
quarter inch, but rather narrower at top than at bottom, is fixed, as upon the
oil lamps, by two small hooks. The cylinder must be made moveable upwards
and downwards.

page_text: LAMPS WITH A SINGLE CURRENT OF AIR, CALLED TURKISH LAMPS.
If the agitation of the flame only is to be remedied in such lamps it will
suffice to put upon the chimney a cap of wire gauze chosen for that purpose.
The circular part through which the air flows can be pierced with holes
considerably smaller than at present. In order to remedy other defects, upon
the internal ring of the said part a horizontal disc is soldered, having an
opening of about one inch in diameter in its center, and above the external
edge of this disc three or four small portions of a gallery are set, forming a
spring, between which a chimney is placed, of about two inches in height only,
and about the same diameter, provided with a cap. By means of these
arrangements the center of gravity becomes sufficiently low to allow the crutch
of the axis to be fitted to the reservoir itself. It is advantageous to apply
underneath a heavy ring of wrought iron or lead. The principle improvement
to be made in such lamps is the addition of this apparatus.
APPLICATION OF THE SAID CONTRIVANCE TO GAS BURNERS.
I take a butterfly burner, of the size of the largest Manchester burners, and
employ a socket of thin metal (copper, for example), of about an inch in length,
which may be fitted upon it closely, and upon the upper end of which is
soldered the middle of a horizontal tube, flattened vertically, of about three
inches in length, having on its upper part and along almost the whole of its
length a great number of small holes, very close to each other, equal in
size and at equal distances apart, placed horizontally upon one straight line,
and of about one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter, through which the gas is to
pass on the cock being turned on.
Under the tube, and horizontally, I solder a piece of fine wire gauze, of
about four inches in length by two inches in width; upon this I place a chimney
of about five inches in height, the horizontal section being of about the same
dimensions as the gauze, and the top of which may be covered or not with
a protector cap. The light is thus much improved.
In the following arrangement it is necessary that a chimney should be used
and the air received from above. I take an ordinary stearine candle, having
the same or nearly the same diameter at the upper and lower ends, and set
a cylinder of about two-thirds of an inch in height over it, in such a manner
that it will fit very easily without shaking.
A bottle without a bottom, similar to that shewn at Figure 7, is place:l upside
down in a gallery, soldered to the said cylinder, and perforins the function of a

page_text: chimney; the whole is fixed to the candle by means of one or two small hooks.
It is better not to let the apparatus touch the candle except at the top or
bottom, which is easily avoided by means of the two small rings of wire which
are soldered horizontally to the interior of the cylinder, one at the upper, the
other at the lower end. The cap to be applied should be made moveable, as
shewn in the Drawing, upon a stiff' horizontal hinge, by means of which it can
be turned, and shuts the bottle by degrees as the combustion proceeds.
It is important, in order to diminish the action of the rays on the candle, to
make the upper shoulder of the bottles considerably lower than that of tho
upper part of the candle. With the dimensions of tho bottles represented in
the Drawing, I have adapted a wire gauze, the meshes of which are about
one-thirtieth of an inch apart, and the threads about one-ninetieth of an inch-
in diameter. If tho meshes and threads were finer, it would be an advantage,
and allow the bottles to be of smaller dimensions; the forms of the bottles may
be varied. In order to obtain a quiet flame, the mesh should be of small
diameter.
Figure 8 shews another apparatus for burning pieces of candles from two to
three inches long, covered with a chimney having a cap similar to that last-
herein-before described.
.
To construct oil night lights, if a cylindrical drinking glass be taken, having
an internal diameter of about two and a quarter inches and a height of
about two and a half inches, a tin disc may be introduced, having a vertical
small hollow tube of about two inches high for receiving a wax or stearine
wick, provided at its circumference with a vertical rod about two inches high,
and with a wick of about an inch or an inch and a quarter long. The oil is
poured in until it nearly reaches the top of the wick, when it is lit, and imme-
diately afterwards a cap is put upon the glass, which allows only the quantity of
air to reach the flame which is necessary for the quantity of oil to be consumed.
This will form a night light combining all the necessary qualities. The metallic
rod may be dispensed with, and the small tube for the wick, which may be of
glass or other material, fixed to the bottom of the glass.
To economise the oil, it becomes necessary to choose thin wicks and fine gauze
caps. Plaited wicks, similar to those of stearine candles, but much thinner,
should be employed. When the ordinary wick-holders of cork, tin, or porcelain
are used, it will be well that the vertical axis should not be far from the glass,
which is easily effected by means of three or four pins or needles placed
horizontally on their circumference.
Figure 9, plan of an arrangement of apparatus according to this Invention;

page_text: Figuro 10, section; Figure 11, section through P, O; Figure 12, section
through M, M.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into execution, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise forms and dimensions herein laid down, as the
same may be varied; but what I claim is, the application of certain mechanical
arrangements to oil, gas, and candle lamps for improving their lighting qualities,
as herein-before described and referred to in the Figures of the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day
of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five.
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (LS.)
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.S.)