IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY KEMPTON, of South Street, Pentonville, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, 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 First day of June, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Henry
Kempton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Henry Kempton, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Henry Kempton, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times 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, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF CANDLES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said William Henry Kempton, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be fully 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 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 Henry Kempton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to 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):-
or
My Invention relates to Improvements in the Manufacture of Candles
wherein platted wicks are employed, and consists in combining a cord, bobbin,
braid, string, or yarn, or such like preparation of fibres, with each platted
wick. It is well known that the use of platted wicks in the manufacture of
candles is at present limited to those candles which are made of pressed
prepared tallow or other material which melt at comparatively high tem-
peratures, and where the additional heat on one side of the candle, consequent
on the bending of the wick in that direction, does not, to an injurious extent,
cause the candle to be consumed too fast in that one direction; and it has
been discovered, that when platted wicks have been applied in candles inade
with common or unprepared tallow, or other materials which melt at a com-
paratively low temperature, the wicks bend too freely in one direction, and the
material of which the candles have been made has melted too quickly on that
side towards which the wicks bend, and the candles have guttered away.
Now, although the Invention herein described is applicable to candles made of
materials which melt at comparatively high temperatures, such as pressed
tallow, margarine, stearine, composition, spermaceti, or wax, platted wicks will
be rendered capable of consuming the materials of which the candles áre
made more evenly in consequence of the stem of each wick being better con-
trolled, and the extent of the turning of the wick out from the flame regulated;
yet the Invention will be more particularly applicable to common tallow
candles, cocoa-nut oil candles, or other candles manufactured with materials
which melt at comparatively low degrees of temperature, as, by means of my
Invention, such candles can be made with platted wicks, which will consume
the tallow or other substance of which the candles may be made with con-
siderable uniformity, without requiring candle lamps to burn them in, and
the wicks will not require snuffing. The platted wicks are to have the
cord, braid, bobbin, string, or yarn combined therein, or affixed thereto,
which combination may be obtained in various ways. If the cord, braid,
bobbin, string, or yarn, is to be combined in the platted wicks, I cause it to
follow the course of one of the strands in making a platted wick, the cord,
braid, bobbin, string, or yarn being added to one of the strands of the plat
which is to constitute a wick; or two or three cords, braids, bobbins, strings,
or yarns may be used and incorporated in the platted wick, in which cases I
cause two of the strands or the three strands each to contain a cord, braid,

page_text: bobbin, string, or yarn, of a substance or manufacture different to the yarns
used in compiling the platted wick, the object being to restrain the too great
tendency of platted wicks to turn out in one direction, particularly when
And in
common tallow is used, for making candles with platted wicks.
thus naming cord, braid, bobbin, string, or yarn, I do so in order to state that
the object of the Invention being to restrain the bending of platted wicks by
the application of fibrous materials in a manufactured state, in addition to the
ordinary materials of platted wicks used in making candles, I do not confine
myself to any exact preparation of fibrous materials into a cord or yarn suit-
able for the purpose. And when the cord used is to be affixed to the platted
wicks after it is made, I bind tightly round the ordinary plat and the addi-
tional cord at intervals a fine cotton or other thread, thus combining the plat
and the cord together; or I, with a needle, run a small hard twisted cord of
cotton, or bobbin, or braid, or hempen cord, or thread, or yarn, into one side
of the platted wick, care being observed that whatever be the description of
the thread, cord, bobbin, braid, or string affixed to or applied in a wick,
that it shall not be of such a strength and relative dimensions, in respect to the
platted wick employed, as to prevent the platted wick turning sufficiently out
of the flame in order that the burned end may be dissipated. In affixing a
cord, yarn, bobbin, braid, thread, or yarn to a platted wick for a candle, care is
to be observed that it is on that side of the wick where the strands of which
the plat is composed run upward and from the centre outwards to the edges of
the plat; for it will be found, on examining a platted wick which is burning in
a candle, that the wick at all times bends on that side of the wick where the
strands of which it is composed run in a direction upwards from the sides of
the plat into the centre thereof. This will be better understood by reference
to the Drawing.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawing, where part of a platted wick is shewn on
a magnified scale, and where the strands are shewn to run upwards and out-
wards from the centre to the sides, a being the small hard-twisted cord, which
is attached to the platted wick by a binding thread b, which I believe is the
best mode of attaching the cord to the plat.
Figure 2 shews a view of part of a platted wick on a magnified scale, taken
on the reverse side to that shewn in Figure 1; and it will be seen that the
strands of which the plat is composed proceed from the sides upwards, and to
the centre of the plat, and it is this side on which the plat will bend when
being consumed in a candle. These platted wicks are of the ordinary con-

page_text: struction, but not so hard platted; they are composed of three strands of soft
cotton yarns, there being several yarns in each strand, which are simply laid
side by side, and in that state the three strands are platted; and the twisted
cotton cord which I am using therewith consists of three strands of cotton yarn,
each strand consisting of three yarns of cotton, the strands being twisted
separately, and then the three strands are twisted together; and I find that,
taking any length of wick and the same length of cotton cord, that the platted
wicks weigh eight and a half parts, and the cord three parts. I am thus
particular in giving exact quantities, because much attention is required in
seeing that the twisted cord or other preparation of fibres into a cord or yarn
should not be too strong for the wick with which it is used, otherwise the
wick will be prevented turning out sufficiently; and it will be desirable, when
commencing with any cord, to try a few candles first to ascertain whether the
combined wick is too strong or too weak; and when properly adjusted the
manufacturer may go constantly using the same materials, and the workmen,
after a little practice, will quickly judge of the proper using of my Invention,
and platted wicks will require less controuling by the cord used, and when
the matter of which the candles are made melts at higher temperatures. The
wicks and cords above described are for common tallow candles.
Having described the mode of making the wicks, I proceed to describe its
action. It has been already stated, that when ordinary platted wicks are burnt in
common candles, the excess of heat arising from the preponderance of flame
on one side of the candle causes the tallow or other substance to nielt rapidly
on that side, and gutter or run down the side of the candle. Now, by the
addition of the twisted cord or other preparation of fibres into a cord, when the
same is incorporated in the platted wick it will prevent the wick bending too
much out of the flame; and when it is affixed to one side of a platted wick
it causes the flame to descend lower on that side of the wick opposite to that
which turns outwards, in addition to its preventing of the wick bending so
much outwards, thus counterbalances the excess of heat on the other side,
and the candle burns evenly, steadily, and brilliantly. I would remark, that
I am aware that it has been before proposed to apply paste, starch, or other
matter on one side of a platted wick. I mention this fact in order to state
that I make no claim to the application of paste, starch, or other adhesive
matter to the platted wicks of candles. In some cases I find it advantageous
to use two platted wicks in the same candle, each wick having a cord or
thread as above described, the cords or threads of the two wicks being towards
each other when in a candle, by which arrangement it will be evident that the
two wicks will turn out from the flame in opposite directions, and for this

page_text: purpose I prefer to use hempen twine or yarn. It should be stated, that I am
aware that it has been before proposed to make candles each with two platted
wicks; and a mode of applying two platted wicks in a candle was described
in a Specification of a Patent granted to William Palmer, of Sutton Street,
Clerkenwell. And I mention this circumstance in order to say that I do not
claim the making of candles each with two platted wicks, when such wicks
are uncombined with cords of fibrous materials according to my Invention.
In making mould candles, the combined wicks, each composed of a plat and a
cord, bobbin, braid, string, or such like preparation of fibres, are to be inserted
in the moulds in the usual manner, taking care, however, that the wick is the
right end upwards, as above described and explained. The candle is then
completed in the usual manner; and when making "dips" the wicks are to
be dipped successively into the tallow as heretofore, care being taken to keep
the cotton straight at the commencement of the dipping.
IIaving thus described the nature of my 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 the
Invention be retained. But what I claim is, the application of platted wicks,
combined with bobbin, braid, cord, yarn, or other like preparation of fibres,
whereby the platted wick is regulated and controlled in its bending out of the
flame, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Kempton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.