Improved Petroleum Lamp for Photographic and other Purposes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Mar., 1889
Specification Accepted, 27th Apr., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Petroleum Lamp for Photographic and other Purposes.
I, MICHAEL ILJINSKY of Charlottenburg, near Berlin, Prussia, in the Empire of
Germany, 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 :-
The object of the invention is a lamp for photographic and other purposes, which,
by its peculiar construction, combines a number of properties not combined in any
existing lamp, and which therefore is of great value for photographers. The new
lamp burns petroleum, a cheap material which can be got everywhere. It is to be
used for all operations, which are performed in the dark room, as well as for
It is
illuminating in the common way and for enlarging pictures in the camera.
very convenient and effective for producing flash light with magnesium powder, which
hitherto has not been accomplished with a petroleum lamp. Possessing these properties
it is also a compact and simple lamp for travelling, as it can be safely packed
even filled with petroleum, which by an ingenious contrivance is prevented from
leaking out.
In the accompanying drawing,
:―
Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of the lamp drawn on the line 1-1 of
figure 2.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same partially in section and Figure 3 shows the
magnesium flash device in enlarged section.
Upon the petroleum tank or reservoir a is screwed at an Argand burner of any
known but superior construction. The lower portion of the wick occupies the
concentric perforated or reticulate cylinder c extending from the bottoin to the top of
the tank or reservoir a. The ring shaped space between the cylinder c and the wall
of the tank or reservoir a contains common sponge or other absorbent material,
which is saturated with petroleum, and upon which rests the metal ring e carrying
two vertical rods g, which latter slide through suitable openings in the top plate or
cover of the tank or reservoir, and can be arrested in any position and releaseil when

page_text: desired by a locking device of any suitable construction.
When it is required to use
the lamp, the ringe is forced down hardly upon. the sponge or other absorbent
material d by pushing down the rods g, and the petroleum is thereby squeezed out
of the sponge or other absorbent material d, so as to flow through the perforated
cylinder c to the wick and to feed the flanie. When the lamp is prepared for travelling,
the ring e is drawn upward by the rods g, and the sponge or other absorbent material d
being then released from its pressure will again absorb all the petroleum, so that even
in upsetting the lamp, no fluid will leak out therefrom. The lamp is provided with a
clear glass chimney with a neck and, for the dark room work, with a cylindrical ruby
or otherwise colored chimney: In packing the lamp in its box or canister, the
clear chimney, the upper portion of which is narrower than the lower one, is placed
inside the ruby chimney. A cylindrical shade i surrounds the perforated basket h of
the burner, descending low enough to prevent white light from shining through the
openings of the basket. The application of a light-tight cap on top of the ruby
chimney completes the arrangements for adapting the lamp for the dark room. When
the ruby chimney is replaced by the clear one, the lamp is ready for all purposes to
which a clear light may be used. For copying and magnifying, a more intense light
is wanted, which is attained by the employment of a reflector q, the stem p of which
is supported by the socket r fixed in a suitable position on the shade i.
Heretofore a magnesium flash light has not been produced by means of a petroleum
lamp. The new lamp produces such light with the greatest ease and with a very small
quantity of magnesium powder. A narrow pipe passing through the burner basket h
terminates at a very acute angle flush with the top of the burner ring k and is at the
lower end in communication with a device 1 containing the magnesium powder,
distributing it, and presenting it to the air stream of any convenient blowing device.
Upon the short tube m, one end of which is connected with the pipe and the
other by a rubber hose with the blower or pneumatic bulb, is mounted a measuring
or distributing cock n, which is in communication with the magnesium holder or
funnel o.
The plug of the cock n contains two recesses, opposite each other, and
corresponding with the funnel and with the passage leading from the cock n to the
tube m.
Each recess in the plug serves as a measure for the magnesium powder,
which is sufficient for one flash. The device works as follows:-After having inserted
a quantity of the magnesium powder into the funnel o and closed its cover, the
plug n, the upper recess of which has been filled with powder, is turned halfway
round, thereby pouring out the powder of this recess into the bore of the tube m.
The stream of air forced through the latter blows the powder through the pipej into
the flame, producing a brilliant flash of light, by which instantaneous photographs are
obtained. In such process the lamp is used, firstly, for illuminating the object to be
photographed so that the focussing can be effected, and secondly for flashing. As a
portion of the clear chimney is clouded or darkened, it is in the power of the operator
to let the flash act directly, or to cause it to be softened. down uniformly by using
either the clear or the clouded or darkened portion. The transition from the petroleum
light to the magnesium light is not so unpleasant and alarming as that from darkness
to the dazzling magnesium flash of the instantaneous-flashing processes hitherto in
The pictures taken with the new lamp therefor represents the persons photo-
graphed more at ease and more natural than those taken with the flashing apparatus
hitherto in use. The burnt magnesium, or the magnesia dust is deposited on the
inside wall of the chimney, from where it can be easily removed, and therefore it is
not in the least troublesome. Whilst the lower recess of the plug delivers its contents;
the upper one is filled with powder, and another half turn of the plugicombined with
the working of the air blower, will produce a second flash. The operator is therefore
enabled to use at will either a single flash, or a series of flashes, as the work
requires.
use.
For sake of completeness I would remark that the box or canister in which the
lamp is packed for travelling, contains separate compartments for the storing of the
rubber hose with bulb or other blowing apparatus and a box for the magnesium

page_text: 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
the
1. In a petroleum lamp for photographic and other purposes, the use of sponge or
other absorbent material in the petroleumi tank or reservoir for soaking up
petroleum, which, after being squeezed out of the compressed sponge, feeds the
Hame of the lamp, substantially as shown and described and for the purpose
explained.
2. In a petroleum lamp for photographic and other purposes, the tank or reservoir a
provided with the perforated or reticulate cylinder c, in combination with the ring e,
moved up and down by rods g, which can be arrested and again released at any
position, and with a sponge or other absorbent material d and the wick of the burner,
substantially as shown and described and for the purpose explained.
3. In a petroleum lamp for photographic purposes, the petroleum of which is
contained in a compressible sponge or other absorbent material, the shade i, so that
if a ruby or colored chimney with light-tight draft cap is employed, the lamp
answers to the requirements of a dark rooin lamp, substantially as shown and
described.
4. In a petroleum lamp for photographic purposes, the petroleum of which is
contained in a compressible sponge or other absorbent inaterial, the employment of a
clear glass chimney with narrow neck and partially clouded or darkened, and either
without or in combination with a reflector q mounted on the lamp, substantially as
shown and described and for the purpose explained.
5. In a petroleum lamp for photographic purposes, the petroleum of which is
contained in a compressible sponge or other absorbent material, a clear glass chimney
with narrow neck and partially clouded or darkened, in combination with a flashing
device 1, the tube j, and a pneumatic blower of suitable construction, substantially as
shown and described and for the purposes set forth.
6. A petroleum lamp for photographic purposes, the petroleum of which is contained
in a compressible sponge or other absorbent material, in combination with a flashing
device 1, consisting of the tube m attached at one end to the pipe j and at the other to
a suitable pneumatic blower, the cock n with measuring plug, and the magnesium
funnel o with cover, and with a chimney with narrow neck, substantially as shown and
described and for the purposes set forth.