IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PALMER, of Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Ninth day of November, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Palmer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said William Palmer, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Palmer, my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," partly com-
municated to me from abroad, and partly of my own Invention; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Palmer, should
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Palmer, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):
The Invention relates, first, to a mode of preparing wicks for candies,
whereby they are caused to turn out from the flames when being consumed.
Secondly, the Invention relates to a mode of constructing a wire instrument
for introducing wicks in the manufacture of candles.
Thirdly, the Invention relates to a mode of constructing what are called fence
rings, to be placed round the wicks of candles, and to slide down such wicks as
they consume; and, Fourthly, a wick carrier.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to explain the means pursued by me,
by attention to which a workman will readily be enabled to carry out the
Invention.
In the manufacture of candles there are two description of wicks now
used, which, in consuming, turn out from the flame; hence such wicks do not
require to be snuffed from time to time, as is the case when the wicks are so
formed as to stand upright within the flames when consuming; such two
descriptions of wicks being platted wicks and spiral wicks. The platted wicks,
as is well known, turn outwards, notwithstanding the circumstance of their
being placed within the candle in straight lines; a spiral wick being caused to
turn out of the flame when being consumed, in consequence of its having
been introduced into the candles in a spiral form, by placing it around a
wire previously to making the candle, and then removing such wire after the
candle has been formed,
Now, the object of the first part of the Invention is to cause a wick to be so
prepared at one portion of its surface that it may be introduced into a candle
in a straight line, and yet have the property of turning out from the flame
when the candle is being burned. It will readily be understood, that if a
common wick or soft cord of cotton be introduced into a candle in a straight
line, if such wick be equal in all parts, (which in its ordinary state it usually
is,) when in a candle, such wick will have no tendency to move out of a straight
linc, but will continue to be consumed in an upright position, requiring to be
snuffed from time to time; but if a wick be so prepared on one side as to
produce an inequality, by causing it to be made more or less stiff or more or
less combustible, there will be a tendency in the wick to bend; and it is the
giving to a wick of a candle such inequality or preponderance on one side, in
order to induce it to bend out of the flame, which constitutes the first part of
the Invention. And such preparation of one side of a wick may be performed

page_text: with various materials, but I believe the most simple is by the use of common
paste, or starch or other matter may be used, which, as above stated, will give
stiffness or reduce the combustibility of one portion of the surface of a wick,
and thus so alter the uniformity of the wick as to obtain a preponderance in
one direction.
In preparing wicks according to this part of the Invention, I cause a line to
be drawn on one side of a wick with paste or other material used, by any con.
venient means. I usually perform this process in the following manner :-I
take a length of cotton cord suitable for the wicks of candles and wind it on
a bobbin, and in winding such cord off the bobbin on to a roller, I cause it to
be supported on the under side in a groove formed in a flat table or board, and
on the upper surface I place a plate similar to a stencilling plate, that is, a
plate of metal having a long slit or opening through it, and as the cord is
moved under the plate, by means of a brush I apply the paste or other material
used through the slit of the plate; and when the whole length of cord is wound
on the roller, and the material put on one surface thereof is fixed and dried, I
cut the cotton cord into lengths; or the cotton cord and material for wicks may
be wound in the first instance on the roller, and the surface so produced be
covered with paste or other material. It may here be desirable to remark, that
although platted wicks have a tendency to turn outwards without any prepa-
ration, yet by means of the improvement above described, platted wicks may
be rendered more certain in their action; and I would further remark, that
round wicks so prepared will be found to act better if flattened. or pressed on
the side where the surface is prepared, and the wicks will burn more clear if a
small quantity of bismuth be mixed with the paste or other material used.
I will now describe the second part of the Invention, which relates to a mode
of constructing a wire instrument to facilitate the applying of wicks into
candles. Figure 1 reprosents a wire instrument according to this part of the
Invention; a is a stem of wire having a nick or notch at its lower end at b,
within which the wick is placed. The upper end of the wire is bent into the
form shown, the parts being brazed or soldered together at the point c, leaving
the projection & in order to form a clip to hold the two ends of the wick. In
applying a wick to the instrument, Figure 1, the workman bends the wick and
places it in the nick or notch 6, he then brings the wick up the two sides of the
stem a, and introduces first one end and then the other end of the wick under
the part d, by which such ends would be held secure, and the wick will be kept
separate during the making of the candle, whether when making dip candles
or mould candles; and when the candle is made the wire instrument is to be
withdrawn, by first removing the ends of the wick from under the part d, and
then the wire may be drawn out; and it should be stated, that in using the

page_text: prepared wicks as above explained with the wire instrument, Figure 1, the
prepared surface of the wick is to come against the stem a, in order that the
two ends of the wick in burning may turn out from the flame and from each
other.
I will now describe the third part of the Invention, which relates to
constructing what are called "fence rings," or rings which are placed on the
wicks of candles, and slide down them as the wicks are consumed. In forming
fence rings for candles, as heretofore practised, it has been usual to make the
rings complete on all sides, whereby any melted tallow or other material of
which the candles may be composed, which may be outside the rings, cannot
pass to the wick excepting by flowing over the rings. I, therefore, in place of
making the fence rings complete, form a narrow split or a hole or holes in each
of the rings, in order for the melted matter of the candles to flow through
towards the wicks. Figure 2 shows a fence ring having a narrow slit formed
through it, as shewn at e, which will allow of the melted matter to flow through
from the outside, but will prevent any portion of the wick which may have
fallen into the cup of the candle passing towards the wick. And further, in
some cases I cause the upper part of fence rings for candles to be reticulate or
open, as shown at Figure 3. The most convenient mode of making this
instrument is to stamp out of sheet metal a portion similar to a comb, and
then bend the same into the figure shewn at Figure 3, or the open work may
be produced by other means, or the open work may be in another form, without
departing from this part of the Invention.
I will now describe the fourth part of the Invention, which relates to a wick
carrier. Figure 4 shews the section of a candle and wick carrier according to
this part of the Invention, the candle consisting of a cylinder of tallow or
other suitable material for candles. This cylinder is hollow from end to end, as
represented. z is the wick holder, which consists of the hollow cone of metal
into which a short wick or wicks are placed, and there are slits or openings at
the upper parts of the holder, to allow of the melted tallow or other material
of the candle to pass to the wick. It will readily be understood, that as the
candle is consumed the wick holder will descend down the hollow of the
candle, and the conical figure or shape of the holder will prevent the melted
tallow or other material of the candle descending down below the wick
holder.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details, provided the peculiar character of either part of
the Invention be retained. But what I claim is :-

page_text: First, the mode of manufacturing candles by preparing the wicks, by applying
a suitable material or materials to one surface of a wick, in order to cause it
to bend out from the flame when burning, as above described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of forming an instrument to hold wicks for
candles, whereby the ends of the wicks are held by the part d, as described.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of making fence rings for candles, with a slit or
opening as above described, and I also claim the mode of making such fence
rings with an open upper surface as above described.
And fourthly, I claim the mode of applying wick holders to candles, as
described in respect to Figure 4.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
Jicht hundred and faster burn
W (L.s.) PALMER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid William Palmer came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification nfore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.

page_text: En the Matter of a Patent granted to WILLIAM PALMER, of Sutton
Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for
"Improvements in the Manufacture of Candles," bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-one, to which Letters Patent a Specification was
duly inrolled.
DISCLAIMER, to be entered by the said William Palmer with the Clerk of
the Patents of England, pursuant to an Act passed in the sixth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled "An
Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
I, the said William Palmer, in the said Specification did describe the
Invention to consist of four parts; and, since the enrolment of the said Speci-
fication, the second, third, and fourth parts of my Invention have not been
found to be so useful as to induce me to wish to retain the same as parts of my
said Patent, for which reason I wish to disclaim, and do hereby disclaim, all
those parts of the Specification which relate to the second, third, and fourth
claims of invention, which are in the following words:-" Secondly, I claim the
"mode of forming an instrument to hold wicks for candles, whereby the
"ends of the wick are held by the part d, as described. Thirdly, I claim
"the mode of making fence rings for candles with a slit or opening, as above
"described. And I also claim the mode of making such fence rings with an
open upper surface, as above described. And, fourthly, I claim the mode of
applying wick holders to candles, as described in respect to Figure 4."
In witness whereof, I, the said William Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
ALMER. (L.B.)
To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify that the above-named William Palmer has applied to me 3
for leave to enter with you the above-written Disclaimer of part of the Specifi-
cation of a certain Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to him
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at Westminster, the Ninth day
This is to certify that the above-named William Palmer has applied to me 3
for leave to enter with you the above-written Disclaimer of part of the Specifi-
cation of a certain Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to him
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at Westminster, the Ninth day

page_text: of November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and to which a
Specification was duly enrolled; and having considered of the said application,
and no objection having been made to the same, I have accordingly granted
leave to the said William Palmer to file his said Disclaimer, pursuant to the
Statute passed in the fifth & sixth years of the reign of His late Majesty King
William the Fourth, entituled An Act to amend the Law touching Letters
Patent for Inventions.