Improvements in Oil Stoves.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 18th June, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Oil Stoves.
I, WILLIAM HENRY WILDER, 34, Woodland Avenue, Gardner, Massachusetts,
one of the United States, of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
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My invention is designed to provide an oil stove adapted to be used with
petroleum without a wick, other than an initial lighting medium, and the object
of my invention is to provide a stove in which the burner is adjustable in relation
to the reservoir, and to the stove top, so that the oil level in the fuel holder of the
burner may be raised or lowered, or the oil may be drained entirely therefrom,
and the flame will be regulated to correspond with the position of the burner
relative to the stove top. In carrying out the invention I employ a reservoir of the
type used in the ordinary student lamp and thus secure a maintained oil level,
and by raising or lowering the burner in relation to the reservoir it will be seen
that the level of the oil in the burner may be accurately adjusted to the require-
ments of the work and after once adjusted this level will be automatically main-
tained by the fuel from the reservoir. No cut off valve is used nor is there any
wick and the care and attention which the stove requires is reduced to a minimum.
My invention is distinguished from stoves using wicks and from vapor burning
stoves in that I use a holder for receiving and containing a limited quantity of
fuel in liquid form and this oil is vaporized directly from its surface, the cil
supply being increased, diminished or withdrawn from the chamber at the will
of the operator, while in the vapor burning stoves using petroleum a vapor
chamber is provided, the oil being vaporized as fast as it enters the holder, filling
the same by gravitation, and rising through a convenient space to a combustion
chamber.
In the accompanying drawings.-
Figure 1 is a sectional view through the stove frame, with the oil holder also in
section and the burner and reservoir and attached parts in elevation.
Figure 2 is a detail sectional view of the burner with mechanism for raising
and lowering the same.
Figure 3 is a plan view and Figure 4 a detail view of the said mechanism.
Fig. 5 is a detail view of another form of bowl.
I have shown a convenient form of frame at A, comprising a sheet metal top
and suitable legs which may be of any ordinary or improved construction.
The burner comprises an oil holder and a combustion, chamber composed of
perforated tubes and certain accessories as will be hereinafter more fully described.
The oil holder B is preferably made of drawn sheet metal forming an annular
channel, as shown in the sectional view, of considerable depth the lower part
being contracted and the upper part being enlarged by reason of the upper walls
flaring inwardly.
The shape of the oil holder gives a depth sufficient to maintain a supply of oil
in the lower part thereof and the enlarged space in the upper end of the holder
gives a greater vaporizing surface and also provides for the use of an initial light-

page_text: ing device b¹ which may be of asbestos or any suitable material adapted for the
purpose. It is of importance, when this initial lighting medium is used, to
locate it properly so that it will be in such relation to the top of the oil holder as
to always be capable of lighting easily but not too high as to be so far above the
oil as to coke and get hard. As soon as the stove has been started through the
initial heating means the oil in the holder begins to vaporize on the surface and
the oil is continually supplied to the holder from the reservoir and in such
quantities as may be required by the work being done on the stove, the supply
being under the control of the operator, who may make it regular, or flood the
burner, or drain it according to the requirements of the work.
The combustion chamber comprises two concentric tubes C, C¹, perforated and
suitably secured together with shields upon the interior of the inner tube and
the exterior of the outer tube adapted to protect the combustion space from the
injurious effects of the air currents and at the same time properly feed just the
right quantity of air in order to make the combustion perfect. The tubes are
held together by rods c crossing each other at right angles and the shield for the
inner tube is made of corrugated metal with the upper ends of the corrugations
bent inwardly to close the channels at the upper end formed by the corrugations.
The shield indicated at D extends below the end of the inner tube and has its
lower end closed by a cap d held in place by a hook which engages an opening.
in a grating e at the top of the shield, the lower end of the hook engaging a nut
as shown at f. This grating has fingers el extending into the spaces of the
corrugations and fingers el which rest upon the shield. The grating serves to
stiffen and brace the structure at the upper end of the shield. The outer shield E
is made of corrugated metal and encircles the outer combustion tube as shown,
and the channels of the shield formed by the corrugations are preferably open
at the top and bottom. The projecting end of the shield D indicated at F is
adapted to pass down through the central opening of the oil holder while the lower
end of the inner and outer combustion tubes rest upon the shoulders g and gl
of the oil holder, thus forming a close joint.
It will be seen that the arrangement of the shield D is such that the air coming
in at the bottom of the inner tube C finds outlet to the combustion space through
a series of vertical channels closed at the top but in connection with the combus-
tion space through the perforated tube and as these channels are practically
independent of each other the air is fed in columns through the perforated inner
walls of the combustion space and thus the combustion is not affected by irregular
quantities of air or by drafts. The outer shield protects the outer combustion
tube from drafts and currents of air but by reason of its series of corrugations
provides a number of channels around the outer periphery of the outer combus-
tion tube so as to feed air thereto in vertical columns.
The oil holder has a supply tube passing across its center on a level with its
lower edge as at a and this in turn is connected to a vertical tube b which sup-
plies the oil to the holder from a pipe a¹. As the holder must have vertical
movement in order to regulate the flow of the oil thereto it is necessary to provide
such a connection between the movable feed pipe 6 and the stationary pipe al as
will allow the necessary vertical movement and one way of doing this, though I
do not wish to limit myself to this, is by using for the pipe al a tube of larger
diameter than the pipe b and adapted to surround the same, the connection
between the pipes at the upper end of a¹ having a suitable packing box d¹. The
pipe freely slides within the pipe a¹ and its lower end is open so that the oil
flows from the reservoir and oil chamber m where the level is automatically
maintained, through the tube a¹ to its vertical extension and in through the open
end of the pipe b. I may use any form of connection instead of the sliding joint
to allow the vertical movement of the burner such for instance as a flexible con-
nection between the burner and the oil supply pipe.
As the oil is automatically maintained in the chamber m at a certain level it
will be seen that the oil holder B will be full of oil, partially full or empty

page_text: In
depending upon its adjustment in relation to the maintained oil level. As it is
elevated the oil drains out and as it is lowered the oil rises in the holder.
order to adjust the holder easily and intelligently I provide a hand lever h pivoted
upon the bracket i the front and rear sections of which are clamped to the pipe a¹.
The bracket i terminates in a dial o marked with words or signs such as
'put out
low flame," "high flame," light." The hand lever has a pointer p
and by moving the hand lever to set the pointer opposite one of the marks the
burner will be adjusted accordingly. The hand lever has a segment q connected
to it and engaging a rack bar guided in the bracket and having its upper end
forked and hooked to engage the cross tube of the burner.
66
وو
In order to ignite the stove initially it is necessary to separate the holder and
combustion chamber and thus expose the surface of the oil in the holder and in
order to cause this separation at the proper time I use projections n forming
extensions of the bracket and these projections extend up to a position directly in
the path of the lower plate or cap d of the combustion chamber, this plate fitting
within the central opening of the oil holder. Thus as the holder is lowered the
combustion chamber moves down with it being supported by it until the cap d
comes in contact with the projections n and further operation of the hand lever
lowers the holder alone leaving the combustion chamber supported on the pro-
jections and exposing the oil in the holder for the purpose of ignition. Vaporiza-
tion may be begun by the use of a volatile liquid or in any suitable manner.
It is necessary to provide a way of adjusting the burner and its operating
mechanism vertically as a whole so that in setting up the stove any slight varia-
tions in the length of the vertical pipes a¹ may be allowed for in order to locate
the burner in a definite relation to the oil level, so that for instance when the
burner is down all the way the oil holder or bowl will be flooded and when the
burner is raised all the way the bowl will be completely drained. For this pur-
pose the apron or bracket i, which carries all the operating parts, is clamped to
the pipe aby bolts y, y, and by loosening these the apron may be raised or
lowered. In setting the parts the hand lever is turned so that the oil holder or
bowl is in its lowest position with respect to the bracket or apron and then the
apron with all the parts is slid up or down on the pipe a¹ until the oil just floods
the bowl and the bolts are then tightened to set the apron in this position. By
moving the handle the bowl may be raised to get the desired height of flame or to
drain the bowl and put out the light.
The grate E is of substantially ordinary construction comprising an outer
ring and a series of radially extending bars u but I connect the inner ends of
the bars by an inclined ring 1, this ring being positioned directly above the
opening between the combustion tubes and in the boiling over of any liquid the
ring will shed it outwardly and prevent it from dropping into the annular
combustion space.
Heretofore it has been customary to arrange the oil reservoir outside of the
frame either at the rear or to one side where it was liable to be wrenched and dis-
placed in transportation and use and I have aimed to overcome this objection by
locating the reservoir within the frame directly beneath the top where it is pro-
tected and is easily accessible for filling or cleaning purposes. To protect it from
the heat I use a shield s having a flange 4 fitted into a depression around an open-
ing in the top plate of the stove.
In case the valve of the reservoir should fail to work properly and feed
out more than the usual amount of oil this would cause some difficulty if not
corrected, at the burner, but I avoid any difficulty of this kind by arranging an
overflow pipe which will not permit the oil in the chamber to get so far
beyond the ordinary level as to do any damage and from the pipe v the overflow
may be caught in any suitable vessel.
A very great advantage also results from the adjustment of the burner towards
and from the grate in that when the flame is high the burner is in its lowest
working position and can draw oxygen freely from the surrounding air, there

page_text: being more clearance between the top of the burner and the grate for the access
of the air to the flame. When the flame is low not so much oxygen is required to
support perfect combustion and at this time the burner is raised. This increase
and decrease of the flame when the burner is moved respectively away from and
towards the grate tends also to keep the heat regular at the grate.
I wish it to be understood that the projections n may be adjustably supported
so as to change the limit of movement of the combustion chamber in relation
to the oil holder.
While I have shown the overflow pipe as arranged in connection with the
chamber, I do not limit myself in this particular as an overflow might be
provided in the fuel holder or in the pipe line with the same results.
Under some circumstances I may make the fuel holder deeper on one side than
the other instead of having the bottom on a level. This construction will
materially aid in perfectly draining the holder and still further vary the vapor-
izing surface for it will be obvious, from an inspection of Fig. 5 which shows
this form of bowl, that when the oil reaches only to the level ar, the high side z
of the bowl would not have any oil exposed for vaporization and there would
not therefore be an annular surface of oil from which the vapor could be generated.
When the oil is so low as to fill only a small portion of the deep side z¹ of the
bowl only a very small surface would be exposed and hence with this form of
bowl the burner could be regulated so as to burn lighter oils successfully and
heavy oils as well. For the heavy oils, of course, the whole annular area is
exposed while for the lighter oils only a small area on the deep side of the burner
is exposed for vaporization.
-
As shown at 7. in the drawing the initial lighting device b¹ may be serrated
at its lower end to prevent a too free raising of the oil in case the asbestos, of
which the lighting device may be composed, is of a fluffy or soft nature with a
high capillary power.
It will be noticed that in the lighting action the combustion chamber is
separated from the oil holder or bowl by a limiting device which arrests the
combustion chamber as the burner is lowered while the bowl continues to move
down. The. combustion chamber is maintained in this elevated position with
respect to the bowl and air is admitted immediately to the bottom of the com-
bustion chamber for the combustion of the vapor and in this separation by the
limiting action on the combustion chamber and the downward movement of the
bowl the oil rises in the bowl and is thus exposed for lighting which together
with the air supply enables the flame to be produced quickly and to pass into
the combustion chamber.
Marked advantages arise from making the burner vertically movable instead
of making the reservoir movable as has been heretofore proposed as it enables
the automatic separation of the combustion chamber from the oil bowl to be
performed simply by lowering the burner; it raises the oil in the bowl simul-
taneously with the separation of the combustion chamber from the bowl so that
the oil is exposed to the maximum extent for lighting; and it separates the
burner from the stove top at the time the flame is raised so that the air supply
to the flame is materially increased. All of these advantages are directly due to
the vertical movement of the burner with respect to the maintained oil level.
It will also be seen that when two or more burners are used each burner is
independently adjustable and may be raised or lowered without regard to the
other burners while if the burners were stationary and the reservoir movable
this movement would effect all the burners alike and it would be necessary to have
intermediate valves to properly control the burners.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1-An oil stove comprising a reservoir having a maintained oil level, and a

page_text: burner having an oil supply connection with the reservoir, said burner being
movable vertically in relation to the oil level to increase or diminish the supply
of oil in said burner, the vertical movement of the burner relative to the stove
top also admitting more or less air to the flame, substantially as described.
2 An oil stove comprising the oil holder and combustion chamber movable
vertically as a whole in relation to a fixed oil level in which the combustion
chamber may be separated from the oil holder for lighting purposes by hand,
by stops or other means, substantially as described.
3-An oil stove in which the burner is vertically movable across the line of
a maintained oil level and raising and lowering mechanism with indicating
means to enable the burner to be set for lighting, high, or low flame, or to be
put out, as described and shown.
4-In an oil stove a combustion chamber having perforations in its walls with
a shield extending over said perforations and adapted to admit air in vertical
columns to either the inner or outer wall or both, the upper end of the inner
shield being preferably closed between itself and the perforated wall and also
closed across its center at the bottom, substantially as described.
5-A burner for light or heavy oils, comprising a combustion chamber and an
oil holder or bowl adapted to expose the oil for vaporization direct from its sur-
face, said oil holder being of varying depth, as shown and described.
6 The arrangement of the reservoir within the limits of the frame and adapted
to be removed through an opening in the said frame with preferably a protecting
shield for said reservoir extending down from said opening in the frame, sub-
stantially as described.
7-An oil stove comprising a reservoir, an oil chamber having a maintained
oil level and two or more burners having a supply connection with the oil chamber,
said burners being vertically movable in relation to the oil level and each burner
being independently movable of the other or others, substantially as described.
8 The construction and arrangement of the stove as herein shown and
described.