Year: 1887

page_text: 1, ALBERT MARCIUS SILBER, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a construction of oil lamps in such a manner as to provide
for safety when oils of a somewhat volatile character are used in them, and also, when
argand burners are employed, to a construction of the air supply tubes and air
deflectors of such burners, whereby the brilliancy of their flames is greatly enhanced.
These two parts of my invention may be used separately or conjointly in oil lamps.
In order to provide for safety, I enclose those parts of the wick or wicks that
descend into the oil reservoir within a tube which extends nearly to the bottom of
the reservoir and has across it, a little above its lower mouth, a perforated diaphragm
domed upwards. The perforations allow the oil to ascend the tube supplying the wick
or wicks, whilst the diaphragm prevents the wick or wicks from extending farther
down into the oil of the reservoir. Should the lamp be accidentally overturned, the
tube allows the spilling of only a small portion of the oil it also acts as a safe-
guard against danger in the following manner. When the oil is consumed nearly
down to the lower mouth of the tube, the wick, owing to deficient supply of oil,
becomes heated and generates oil vapour in the wick tube, but this tube having its
lower end still immersed in oil, is sealed off from communication with the space
above the oil in the reservoir, and consequently there can be no mixture of the
oil vapour with air in the reservoir nor communication of flame such as might
otherwise cause explosion. An enclosing tube with its perforated diaphragm arranged
in this manner may obviously be applied to lamps having single wicks or several
wicks as well as to those having argand burners. Besides this appliance, I arrange
within the flame of an argand burner a deflecting knob or button which
hollow. A portion of the air for supplying the interior of the flame ascends a
central tube into this hollow deflector and becoming heated therein, passes out by
lateral perforations under the base of the deflector, and this heated air being directed
against the inside of the flame promotes combustion and enhances the brilliancy of
the light.
make
Dated th 14 L
ր
1007
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: 1, ALBERT MARCIUS SILBER of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, 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 a construction of oil lamps in such a manner as to provide
for safety when oils of a somewhat volatile character are used in them, and also, when
argand burners are employed, to a construction of the air supply tubes and air
deflectors of such burners, whereby the brilliancy of their flames is greatly enhanced.
These two parts of my invention may be used separately or conjointly in oil lamps.
In order to provide for safety, I enclose those parts of the wick or wicks that
descend into the oil reservoir within a tube which extends nearly to the bottom of the
reservoir and has across it a little above its lower mouth a perforated diaphragm
domed upwards. The perforations allow the oil to ascend the tube supplying the wick
or wicks whilst the diaphragm prevents the wick or wicks from extending farther
down into the oil of the reservoir. Should the lamp be accidentally overturned, the
tube allows the spilling of only a small portion of the oil; it also acts as a safeguard
against danger in the following manner-When the oil is consumed nearly down to
the lower mouth of the tube, the wick owing to deficient supply of oil, becomes
heated and generates oil vapour in the wick tube, but this tube having its lower end
still immersed in oil, is sealed off from communication with the space above the oil in
the reservoir, and consequently there can be no mixture of the oil vapor with air in
the reservoir nor communication of flame such as might otherwise cause explosion.
An enclosing tube with the perforated diaphragm arranged in this manner may
obviously be applied to lamps having single wicks or several wicks as well as to those
having argand burners. Besides this appliance, I arrange within the flame of an
argand burner a deflecting knob or button which I make hollow. A portion of the
air for supplying the interior of the flame ascends a ceniral tube into this hollow
deflector and becoming heated therein, passes out by lateral perforations under the
base of the deflector, and this heated air being directed against the inside of the flame
promotes combustion and enhances the brilliancy of the light.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical section shewing an argand burner which receives its central
air supply from below the oil reservoir, this burner being constructed according to
my invention in such a manner as to enhance the brilliancy of the flame, but without
the provision for safety above referred to.
Figure 2 is a vertical section shewing an argand burner which receives its central
air supply by lateral inlets, this burner being constructed so as to enhance the
brilliancy of the flame, and having also the provision for safety according to my
invention.

page_text: Figure 3 is a vertical section shewing a duplex or double wick burner with the
provision for safety but without the means of enhancing the brilliancy of the flame.
In these figures, the same letters of reference are, as far as possible, employed to
indicate corresponding parts.
Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, which shew the argand burner arranged
according to my invention, A is the central air tube forming the inner lining of the
annular space B occupied by the wick. Within the tube A I fix two concentric
tubes C and D, and in some cases, as shewn in Figure 2, a third tube M. The interior
of the tube A is thus divided into several concentric spaces.
First, there is the annular space between A and C, either single as shewn in
Figure 1, or divided by M as shewn in Figure 2; this space being open at the
bottom as shewn in Figure 1 or being, as shewn in Figure 2 in communication with
lateral orifices E, forms a channel by which a portion of the air ascends to supply the
interior of the flame.
Secondly, there is the annular space between C and D which is closed at the bottom,
so that no air ascends by it.
Thirdly, there is the central space of the tube D, which, as shown in Figure 1, is
open at the bottom, or, as shewn in Figure 2, communicates with lateral orifices F.
The tube D extends up into a hollow central air deflector G, which is fixed on the
top of the tube C, and immediately under the base of the deflector G there are a
number of perforations through the wall of the tube 0. The air that ascends by the
tube Drises into the interior of the deflector G and becomes heated therein, it
descends through the annular passage between C and D at the base of the deflector
and issues through the perforations of C, being thus directed against the interior of
the flame where it promotes intense combustion and consequently brilliancy of light.
The duplex or double wick burner shown in Figure 3 having no central air supply,
has no deflector or air supply tube, but it has the provision for safety which I will
now describe referring to Figures 2 and 3.
Instead of exposing the whole length of the wick or wicks below the burner open
to the space within the oil reservoir, I enclose it or them in a tube H, which, as
shewn in Figure 2, is the extension of the outer wick tube, or as shewn in Figure 3,
is a tube, that may be of elliptical or such like section enclosing both the wicks. I
extend the tube H down nearly to the bottom of the oil reservoir, and 1 fix nearly
at its bottom a finely perforated diaphragm which allows oil to pass upwards through
its perforations but prevents the wick or wicks from extending down into the oil below
the diaphragm.
Should the lamp be accidentally overturned, owing to the presence of the tube H
within the reservoir, only the small quantity of oil in that tube is spilled, the main body
of oil remaining still in the reservoir.
Furthermore, when the oil is consumed nearly down to the lower end of the tube EI,
as indicated in Figures 2 and 3, the supply to the flame becomes deficient and the
wick becomes heated generating vapour from the oil with which it is impregnated.
When this happens in a lamp such as is shewn in Figure 1 without the downwardly
extending tube H, the oil vapour generated in the wick tube can mix with the air
above the oil in the reservoir, and the mixture may become ignited, causing an
explosion.
But when the wick or wicks are enclosed within the tube II, as shewn in Figures 2
and 3, should the level of the oil be lowered to such an extent that vapour is generated
by the overheating of the wick, the lower lip of the tube H being still immersed in
the oil prevents communication from the interior of the wick tube to the air space
above the oil in the reservoir, and consequently no explosive gaseous mixture can be
formed in the reservoir. The lamp merely becomes extinguished in consequence of
deficient supply of oil, of which nevertheless there remains in the reservoir enough to
form a seal at the lower end of the tube H. Although I have shewn the wick
enclosing tube El as applied only to an argand and a duplex burner, it may obviously
bo applied to oil burners of other kinds such as those with single wicks or with triple

page_text: wicks, as well as to argand burners that are not provided with air tubes such as C
and D or deflectors such as G.
I am aware that it has been proposed to protect that part of the wick of a lamp
that descends into the oil reservoir by surrounding it by a tube sometimes of wire
gauze or of metal or perforated metal, but this being pervious or when it is
impervious having no perforated cover at the bottom does not attain the object which
I have in view by cutting off communication between the space within the wick
tube and that in the oil reservoir. I am also aware that the central air channel
of an argand lamp has been sub-divided by concentric tubes for the purpose of
equalising the air supply and steadying the flame, also that a solid central deflector
has been employed to direct the air against the interior of the wick, but the central
tube has not, so far as I know, been connected to a hollow deflector heated by the
flame, so as to heat a portion of the air supply and thereby enhance the brilliancy, of
the flame.
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. Enclosing the wick of an oil lamp within a tube which descends' nearly to tho
bottom of the oil reservoir and has near its lower mouth a perforated domed cover,
substantially as described.
2. In an argand oil lamp, in combination with the central air supply tube a hollow
deflector communicating with lateral perforations under its base, whereby heated air
is directed against the interior of the flame.
Dated this 16th day of March 1887
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.