Improvements in or connected with Moderator Petroleum Lamps.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Mar., 1896-Accepted, 22nd Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Moderator Petroleum Lamps.
I, CHARLES LUCIEN CHARLOPIN of 7, Boulevard de Port Royal, Paris, in the
French Republic, Doctor of Medicine and Chemist, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to moderator lamps, burning petroleum, and consists in the
use of a layer of denser liquid between the piston of said lamps and the petroleum,.
and in the arrangement or construction of burners, preferably interchangeable, by
means of which the petroleum can be burned in the form of a liquid by means of
a wick or in the form of vapour so as to give light either by raising a mantle to
incandescence or by direct combustion.
On the drawing appended hereunto Fig. 1 shows a vertical section of an improved
moderator lamp with wick tube Fig. 2 a vertical section of the vapour burner, and
Fig. 3 a horizontal section along line of Figs. 1 and 2.
Moderator lamps as made for other oils, have when used for petroleum the
defect that the piston, whatever may be its construction, cannot force or lift
petroleum in a regular manner as required for regular or steady feeding of the
Hames. In order to obtain such regular feeding, or a proper forcing action, I do.
not let the petroleum come into contact with the piston but separate it from the
same by a layer of a heavier liquid such as water which will neither become mixed
with nor be acted upon by the petroleum. The lamp. may have a single reservoir
in which case the piston will be arranged to force the liquids upwards, or it may
contain two reservoirs connected at the bottom, one containing the heavier
liquid and the other the petroleum, in which case the piston will be arranged in
the former so as to force the liquid in a downward direction. These two reservoirs
may he arranged concentrically one inside the other, or side by side, or in any
other suitable way.
The improved lamp consists of one or more reservoirs as aforesaid, a spring, a
piston provided with a rod and rack for compressing or winding up the spring, a
feed pipe, a filling valve and a burner.
Where only one reservoir is used, as in the lamp represented by Fig. 1, the
reservoir R has a cylindrical shape and is closed at the top and bottom. Upon
the latter in the space marked A, a helical spring a is placed underneath the
piston B. The cover R' has a suitable thickness to withstand the pressure of the
liquid and carries the filling valve E, the stuffing box O for a cup leather or other
packing, and a feed pipe D, starting from this cover and fitted with a cock d for
regulating or stopping the supply of oil to the burner. The piston B is of any
ordinary kind used for moderator lamps. To the piston is attached a hollow piston
rod T which is open at the bottom and closed at the top and provided at the sides
near to the top with one or more holes for admitting air into the spring box A
below the piston. To the piston rod top a rack C is secured and may be central
or excentric, and is operated by a pinion c on a spindle c' with button to move
the piston downwards and compress the spring a. The valve E and its seating
may consist of two hollow truncated cones one encased in the other, and is operated
by hand by means of a rod e. The outer wall of the reservoir is prolonged above
the top plate, so as to form an overflow chamber R, and contracted at the top for
the reception of the intermediate part P carrying the burner.

page_text: The intermediate part P is composed of two upright pieces p and p' connected
by hoops and fixed in the neck of the overflow chamber R. The upright p
forms bearings for spindle and the part contains a slot for the handle part of
the rod e with a Interal extension at the bottom forming bayonet lock for the
bent end of the rod.
a
a
The action of these arrangements is as follows:-To fill the lamp, the piston B
is pushed down to the bottom position shown on the drawing, and the spring
compressed, by turning the button c so as to push down the rack C by the pinion c.
The valve E is opened by disengaging the rode and lifting it, and some water
filled into the reservoir R through the valve opening, after which the reservoir R
is filled with petroleum, the valve E closed, and the button released. The
spring a then forces the oil upwards through the pipe D to the burner when the
cock d is opened, the quantity supplied to the burner during a certain period being
regulated by opening or closing the cock more or less. Any overflow from the
burner collects in the chamber R above the division plate R and is returned to
the reservoir R by opening the valve E and depressing the piston B.
The burner may be constructed in three different ways. It may be a single
wick burner, as shown by Fig. 1 provided with an overflow pipe s, or it may be a
vapour burner for burning the vapour with a light giving flame or for rendering a
mantle incandescent.
For the latter purpose it consists of a vaporiser Fig. 2, formed of an unnular
chamber connected by pipes to a central heater and having the petroleum
feed pipe G connected to it. The heater H receives at its upper part vapours
from the vaporiser, while a small pipe 1 is brazed to its lower part, this pipe being
bent under it and allowing vapour to escape through one or more small openings
in order to be ignited and supply the necessary heat for vaporisation. The top or
cover of the heater has a small hole for the escape of vapours which are mixed
with air in the burner and ignited to render the inautle incandescent. The burner
covers the upper part of the heater and consists of a cylindrical pipe M surmounted
by n cylindrical chinumber M of larger diameter and partly closed at the top and
buttom. The bottom of the chamber is provided with air inlet holes and the top,
which is solid at the centre, is formed of a truncated cone N open at the top aud
attached by means of three arms to the periphery of the chamber M', the smaller
end of the truncated cone being solid. This cone forces the flame outwards against
the mantle surrounding it.
When the burner is designed to produce light while burning without a mantle,
the truncated cone N of the burner is reversed, the large end being soldered to the
periphery of the chamber M' and the small end being open, the air holes being
regulated so as to produce the maximum intensity.
To start vapour burners of either kind an igniter consisting of a rod armed with
an asbestos brush is dipped in alcohol, ignited and held under the vaporisers. The
petroleum in the vaporiser is evaporated and ignited under the latter and in the
burner, the burner giving light above and being heated below.
The burners may be made interchangeable by forming the upper part G of the
feed pipe with a socket at the bottom end fitting tightly upon or over the feed
pipe D, as shewn on Figs. 1 and 2 so that one can readily be removed and another
substituted, and the moderator petroleum lamp be used for lighting purposes with
a wick, an incandescent mautle, or without either.
The lamp may be made of any suitable material, shape and dimensions.
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. In petroleum moderator lamps the arrangement of a piston separated from
the petroleum by a layer of denser liquid, whereon the piston ncts in order to
raise the petroleum to the burner, substantially ns hereinbefore described and
illustrated by the drawings.

page_text: 2. The arrangement of petroleum moderator lamps with interchangeable burners
so as to burn the petroleum in the form of liquid by means of a wick, or in the
form of vapour with or without an incandescent mantle, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated by the drawings.
3. The construction of moderator petroleum lamps for lighting purposes fed
by the aid of a wick, or by vapours with or without an incandescent mantle
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the drawings.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1806
R J. URQUHART,
57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.