IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS, AND IN DOMESTIC GRATES, STOVES. AND FURNACES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Young Hall, of the Town and County of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Coal Owner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SAFETY LAMPS, AND IN DOMESTIC GRATES, STOVES. AND FURNACES,"
Sealed the 16th October 1861, and dated the 23rd April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Young Hall
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd April 1861.
I, THOMAS YOUNG HALL, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, Coal Owner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS, AND IN DOMESTIC GRATES. STOVES, AND
FURNACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in miners' safety
lamps, whereby they are rendered safer and will impart a better light
than has hitherto been obtained from lamps of this description. It
relates also to improvements in domestic fire-grates, stoves, and furnaces.
According to the first part of this Invention it is proposed to apply
to a miner's safety lamp a wick and burner adapted for the combustion
of petroleum, paraffin, or other hydrocarbons, in lieu of the ordinary
oil lamps, and to apply a suitable chimney to such burners, whereby
a very superior and economical light is obtained. This superiority in
the illuminating powers of the lamp enables a considerably finer gauze
to be employed. And for extra safety and strength, when thought
necessary, will admit of two or more gauzes being used placed one

page_text: within the other, without diminishing the light to an inconvenient
extent, and consequently the lamp is rendered much safer than the
ordinary lamps, where on account of the dimness of the light the gauze
is required to be of a coarse mesh, in order that it may be obscured as
little as possible. The chimney may be made either in one length, its
upper part projecting inside the upper chamber of the lamp, or it may
be made in two parts, the upper part being secured inside the upper
part of the lamp, and so fitted that when the parts are united they will
form one chimney. The wire gauze in the lower part of the lamp is
surrounded or protected by a glass cylinder, which prevents the dust
from coming in contact with the gauze and keeps the lamp clean. The
air for supporting combustion may either impinge on the flame at the
top of the wick or wicks in a cold state, or it may be first heated, as
preferred. In the former case it will enter through suitable adjustable
perforations in the lower part of the lamp, and after passing through
a series of gauzes into a vault placed above the liquid pan impinges on
the flanie close to the wick, and passes up the chimney without entering
the space in the body of the lamp between the ordinary gauze cylinder
and the chimney. The chimney or shaft admits of expansion when the
air is heated, and the gauze cylinder being made to fit closely against
a solid flange or collar, or against the chimney surrounding the burner,
the hot air is thrown out at the top. Or, if hot air be preferred it will
enter by a series of perforations at the top of the lower half of the lamp,
and will pass down between the outside of the chimney and the inside
of the gauze cylinder or cylinders, and will then enter beneath the
burner, where a double or single cap, dome, or arch perforated with
small holes causes the principal part of the air to impinge upon the flame
at the top of the wick as before; or both hot and cold air may be used
together. Suitable adjustable air holes are formed in the upper part
of the lamp for the purpose of ventilating or expelling the heated air or
smoke (if any) therefrom. The top of the chimney of the lamp is pro-
vided with a double cap or cover of gauze, and is surrounded externally
or internally with wire gauze. The same principle is adopted at the
bottom of the lamp, which bottom is removeable from the top, and may
be replaced by another liquid pan when the first has become empty, so
as to maintain a constant supply of liquid to the wick. For this purpose
double locks are provided, one at the bottom and one near the top. An
additional guard or shield surrounds the whole outside of the upper
part of the lamp, composed either of glass or of a cylinder of metal
perforated near the top on one side only so as to protect the lamp against
any current.
The lamp above described may, if found desirable, be provided with a

page_text: suitable gas burner in lieu of the wick, and may be made to burn any
illuminating gas or gases supplied thereto either from portable receivers,
or otherwise as preferred. These lamps may, if desired, be provided
with dioptric lenses in lieu of the outer glass cylinder, in order to intensify
the light, and to throw it to great distances, so that one lamp will serve
to light up several workmen or workings in lieu of having a lamp in
each. When it is requisite to penetrate in to very dangerous gases,
where there is little or no air, a case or jacket partly of glass to admit
light through, and made air-tight, may enclose the whole safety lamp,
the whole or only the glass portion being surrounded or lined if thought
necessary with gauze, and the fresh air in this case will then be allowed
by suitable air pipes in connection with a receiver to circulate air freely
in and out of the lamp, and into the air-tight casing surrounding the
miner, enabling him to penetrate safely the dangerous gas or gases for
short or long distances when such is needed in dangerous mines. The
lamp may be provided with one or more wicks of different sizes, the
smaller ones being distributed in such a manner as to admit of the access
of cold or heated air through ducts terminating at the point where the
flame springs from the wick. Various kinds of wicks may be used,
composed either of cotton alone, or of cotton intermixed with asbestos.
By adapting this lamp so as to hang from a stand or supporting bar, .
it may be moved or adjusted by the miners to suit their work without
leaving their places.
The second part of my Invention relates to the consumption of smoke
in ordinary fire-grates underground, or other furnaces or stoves. The
smoke-consuming chimney employed in the lamp is equally applicable
to the consumption of smoke in fire-grates, stoves, or underground or
other furnaces. In the case of furnaces where large chimneys or upcast
shafts are used to carry off the products of combustion, the fire is
partitioned off into compartments, each compartment being dome-shaped
transversely, with air holes at the side for the admission of air upon
the fire on one or both sides of the outer arch. These fires can be stoked
separately, by which means combustion of the gases is ensured, and
smoke prevented. The furnace is widened near the chimney or shaft
to allow of the expansion of the heated air. In underground furnaces.
where dangerous gases are likely to come upon the fire, a double gauze
to admit air, or air and gas, is fixed behind the furnace, so that the air
comes through it, and in case there should be any foul gas in the fire,
the explosive gas might be taken up the chimney or upcast shaft by the
current. A safety lamp might be placed between the double gauze,
which would indicate the presence of dangerous gases to the fireman
in charge of the furnace:

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Thomas Young Hall in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
YOUNG HALL, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Coal
Owner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Young Hall, Her special license that
I, the said Thomas Young Hall, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Young Hall, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY
LAMPS, AND IN DOMESTIC GRATES. STOVES. AND FURNACES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Young Hall, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Young Hall, do hereby
declare my nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in miners' safety
lamps, whereby they are rendered safer, and will impart a better light
than has hitherto been obtained from lamps of this description; it relates
also to improvements in domestic fire-grates, stoves, and furnaces.
According to the first part of this Invention it is proposed to apply
to a miner's safety lamp a wick and burner adapted for the combustion
of petroleum, paraffin, or other hydro-carbons in lieu of the ordinary
oil lamps, and to apply a suitable chimney to such burners, whereby a

page_text: very superior and economical light is obtained. This superiority in
the illuminating powers of the lamp enables a considerably finer gauze
to be employed; and for extra safety and strength, when thought
necessary, will admit of two or more gauzes being used, placed one
within the other, without diminishing the light to an inconvenient
extent, and consequently the lamp is rendered much safer than the
ordinary lamps, where, on account of the dimness of the light, the
gauze is required to be of a coarse mesh in order that it may be obscured
as little as possible. The chimney may be made either in one length.
its upper part projecting inside the upper chamber of the lamp, or it
may be made in two parts, the upper part being secured inside the
upper part of the lamp, and so fitted that when the parts are united
they will form one chimney. The wire gauze in the lower part of the
lamp is surrounded or protected by a glass cylinder which prevents the
dust from coming in contact with the gauze, and keeps the lamp clean.
The air for supporting combustion may either impinge on the flame at
the top of the wick or wicks in a cold state, or it may be first heated
as preferred; in the former case it will enter through suitable adjustable
perforations in the lower part of the lamp, and after passing through a
series of ganzes into a vault placed above the liquid' pan, impinges on
the flame close to the wick, and passes up the chimney without entering
the space in the body of the lamp between the ordinary gauze cylinder
and the chimney. The chimney or shaft admits of expansion when the
air is heated, and the gauze cylinder being made to fit closely against
solid flange or collar, or against the chimney surrounding the burner.
the hot air is thrown out at the top; or, if hot air be preferred, it will
enter by a series of perforations at the top of the lower half of the lamp,
and will pass down between the outside of the chimney and the inside
of the gauze cylinder or cylinders, and will then enter beneath the
burner, where a double or single cap, dome, or.arch perforated with
small holes causes the principal part of the air to impinge upon the
flame at the top of the wick as before, or both hot and cold air may be
used together. Suitable adjustable air holes are formed in the upper
part of the lamp for the purpose of ventilating or allowing the heated
air or smoke (if any) to escape therefrom. The top of the chimney of
the lamp is provided with a double cap or cover of gauze, and is
surrounded externally or internally with wire gauze. The same principle
is adopted at the bottom of the lamp, which bottom is removable from
the top, and may be replaced by another liquid pan when the first has
become empty so as to maintain a constant supply of liquid to the wick;
for this purpose double locks are provided, one at the bottom and one
near the top. An additional guard or shield surrounds the whole

page_text: outside of the upper part of the lamp, composed either of glass or of a
cylinder of metal perforated near the top on one side only so as to
protect the lamp against any current.
The lamp above described may, if found desirable, be provided with a
suitable gas burner in lieu of the wick, and may be made to burn any
illuminating gas or gases supplied thereto, either from portable receivers
or otherwise, as preferred. These lamps may, if desired, be provided
with dioptric lenses in lieu of the outer glass cylinder in order to
intensify the light, and to throw it to great distances so that one lamp
will serve to light up several workmen or workings in lieu of having
a lamp in each. When it is requisite to penetrate into very dangerous
gases, where there is little or no air, a case or jacket partly of glass
to admit light through, and made air-tight, may enclose the whole
safety lamp, the whole or only the glass portion being surrounded or
lined if thought necessary with gauze, and the fresh air in this case
will then be supplied by suitable air pipes in connection with a receiver
to circulate air freely in and out of the lamp and into the air-tight
casing surrounding the miner, enabling him to penetrate safely the
dangerous gas or gases for short or long distances when such is needed
in dangerous mines.
The lamp may be provided with one or more wicks of different sizes,
the smaller ones being distributed in such a manner as to admit of the
access of cold or heated air through ducts terminating at the point
where the flame springs from the wick. Various kinds of wicks may be
used, composed either of cotton alone, or of cotton intermixed with
asbestos. By adapting this lamp so as to hang from a stand or support-
ing bar it may be moved or adjusted by the miners to suit their work
without leaving their places.
The second part of my Invention relates to the consumption of smoke
in ordinary fire-grates, underground, or other furnaces or stoves. The
smoke-consuming chimney employed in the lamp is equally applicable
to the consumption of smoke in fire-grates, stoves, or underground or
other furnaces. In the case of furnaces where large chimneys or upcast
shafts are used to carry off the products of combustion, the fire is
partitioned off into compartments, each compartment being dome-
shaped transversely with air holes at the side for the admission of air
upon the fire on one or both sides of the outer arch. These fires can
be stoked separately, by which means combustion of the gases is ensured.
and smoke prevented. The furnace is widened near the chimney or
shaft to allow of the expansion of the heated air. In underground
furnaces where dangerous gases are likely to come upon the fire, a
double gauze to admit air, or air and gas, is fixed behind the furnace,

page_text: so that the air comes through it, and in case there should be any foul
gas in the fire, the explosive gas might be taken up the chimney or
upcast shaft by the current.
A safety lamp might be placed between the
double gauze which would indicate the presence of dangerous gases to
the fireman in charge of the furnace.
And in order that the first
part of
my Invention may be more clearly
understood I shall now proceed to describe the annexed Drawing, which
represents a vertical section of one modification of my improved safety
lamp adapted to the burning of petroleum, paraffin, or other hydro-
carbon in lieu of ordinary oil (as hitherto employed in lamps of this
class) and supplied with cold air.
A is the chimney of the lamp, the top of which projects into the upper
chamber or safety part of the lamp B; C is the wire guaze in the lower
part of the lamp; it may be made of a much finer mesh than heretofore,
and of one, two or more thicknesses, as desired; D is a glass cylinder
which surrounds and protects the gauze from dust; at E, E, are a series
of adjustable air apertures, the orifices being regulated or adjusted by a
similarly perforated ring e, e, made to turn round in front of and so
close or partially close the apertures E, or in lieu of this ring any other
simple contrivance may be adopted for the purpose of regulating the
inlet of the air. Immediately inside the apertures E is a wire gauze f,
or if desired, two or more thicknesses of such gauze may be used form-
ing the sides of air vault F, situate beneath the burner G, and above the
liquid or oil vessel H. The air on entering this vault F ascends as shewn
by the arrows into the hood or dome I, and impinges directly upon the
top of the wick, as shewn; K is the wire gauze cap or cover placed on
the top of the chimney, and L is a double wire gauze which surrounds
and encloses the upper part of the lamp; the gauze C in the lower part
of the lamp fits closely at its upper end against the collar or
flange M surrounding the chimney, which flange may be perforated,
and divides the upper from the lower part of the lamp; this collar or
flange may, however, be dispensed with if desired; N is the shield which
surrounds the gauze L at the safety part of the lamp, and is perforated
on one side with holes to allow of the egress of the hot air and products
of combustion, whilst the other side is left solid, so as to protect the
upper part of the lamp from draughts or currents of air by being turned
towards such draughts. This shield may in ordinary cases be dispensed.
with, and is only required in the presence of highly dangerous gases, so
as to shield them in a great measure from the upper or safety chamber
of the lamp.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the

page_text: said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I woud observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the hereinbefore in. part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st, the general constructions and arrangements of miners' safety
lamps, as herein-before described.
2nd, the peculiar combination of parts constituting a miners' safety
lamp adapted to the burning of petroleum, paraffin, and other hydro-
carbons, as herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawing.
3rd, the general constructions and arrangements of furnaces or fire-
places, for the purpose of effecting a more perfect combustion of fuel,
and the prevention of smoke, as herein-before described under the
second head of my Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Young Hall, have to this
my Specification hereunto set my hand and seal, this 19th day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
THOMAS Y. HALL. (L.S.)