Improvements in Lamps.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 11th Nov., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lamps.
I, SALOMON FALK, of 83, Farringdon Road, in the County of London, Lamp
Manufacturer, 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 improvements in lamps and has for object the prevention
of explosion in case of the burning or incandescent wick being turned below the wick
regulating wheel and falling into the oil reservoir.
Hitherto it has frequently been the practice to provide the burner of a lamp
with a tubular casing or sheath, enclosing the wick, and made of wire-gauze or of
suitable porous material such as pumice stone, so that, in the event of the wick
being turned down too low it cannot fall into the reservoir and any explosion which
might occur within the sheath is prevented from being communicated to the gas
contained in the oil reservoir. This arrangement possesses disadvantages inasmuch
as that the wick can only be inserted from the top of the burner and in the case of
it being turned down too low the wick cannot be recovered without detaching the
sheath. Further it has also been found in practice that the sheath is frequently,
either wilfully or by accident, detached from the burner.
According to my invention I make the sheath of unperforated or non-porous
material so that any vapour which may be contained therein is not in communi-
cation with the vapour within the reservoir and I make the sheath short and
provide a curved or sinuous opening in the bottom thereof through which the
lower end of the wick is passed; or in place of attaching the sheath or casing to
the burner I fix it permanently in the reservoir of the lamp, in which case it is
advantangeously extended to the bottom of the said reservoir and is provided with
a bottom of wire-gauze or perforated metal.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figures 1, 2 and 3 are an elevation, an elevation partly in section and an under-
side view of a burner constructed according to my invention and provided with a
short wick sheath; and,
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of a lamp, the wick sheath of which is
permanently fixed to the reservoir and extends down to near the bottom of the
latter:
Figure 5 is a view illustrating a slight modification of the latter form of
sheath.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the burner, and 6 my sheath of unperforated metal. The sheath shewn in
Figures 1 to 3 is made of comparatively short length and is represented as being
attached to the base of the burner by bayonet joints c, c.
The bottom of the said
sheath b is provided with a curved or crooked slot d of a size corresponding to the
size of the wick which the lamp is designed to take, so that when the lower end of the
wick is in the slot d the latter will be closed so that practically no vapour can
escape therethrough from the reservoir into the sheath. The object of making the
slot d curved is that in case the wick is turned down to extinguish the flame,
sufficient resistance or friction is offered to prevent the wick from sliding through
the slot d whereby the wick will bend in the sheath b, as indicated by the dotted
lines in Figure 2. With this arrangement it will be obvious that it is practically
impossible to turn the wick low enough for the incandescent end thereof to enter
the sheath b or to fall into the reservoir as when the wick has moved out of
contact with the regulating wheel, it will not slide further down in the wick-tube.

page_text: In the arrangement shewn in Figure 4 the sheath b is fixed permanently in the
oil reservoir and is made sufficiently long to extend nearly to the bottom of
the said reservoir. The bottom of the sheath is made perforated to allow
the oil to enter the interior of the sheath. With this arrangement should the wick
be turned sufficiently low to become disengaged from the regulating wheel and
drop into the sheath no serious harm would accrue, as the quantity of vapour
contained in the sheath would be insufficient to cause any damage even if it
exploded.
The sheath shewn in Figure 5 is similar to that represented in Figure 4 except
that the lower part of the sheath as well as the bottom is composed of wire-gauze
or perforated metal.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The combination with a lamp burner of a sheath attached to the burner and
having a curved slot in the bottom thereof closed by the wick in the manner and
for the purposes substantially as described by reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of
the accompanying drawings.
2. The combination with a lamp of a sheath extending nearly to the bottom of
the lamp reservoir, the said sheath being permanently connected to the reservoir in
the manner and for the purposes, substantially as described by reference to
Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 9th day of October 1893.
G. F. REDFERN & Co..
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.