Improvements in Lamps.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Oct., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 12th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 29th May, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lamps.
I, AUGUSTUS WILLIAM BRITTAIN of 64 Gresham Street in the City of London,
Produce Buyer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In filling the containers of lamps with oil, when they are of opaque material, it
is generally difficult for the operator to see what is the actual level of the oil or
when he ought to cease pouring it in, and various devices have been inade to
remedy this but they are all more or less clumsy or inefficient or open to other
objections.
Now my invention is intended to remove this difficulty by rendering the level of
the oil quite plain and easy to be seen and I do this without disfiguring the lamp,
and without the other objectionable features of some earlier devices.
According to my invention I affix to the container a glass gauge preferably of
small diameter but not so small as to let the capillarity of the tube interfere with
its indications and I make such gauge tube open into the oil container near the
bottom of it and the upper end of it may either open into the upper part of
the container or it may terminate in a capillary or small opening into the air.
In the side of the container I provide a hollow or recess of size to receive the
gauge tube and reaching from the lower to the upper part and in this the gauge
tube fits so that its front surface is about or nearly flush with the surface of the
lamp and the tube being thus sunk in the body of the lamp is protected from injury,
and the gauge tube may be curved or made of shape to correspond with and fit the
shape of the lamp, and so fitted is no disfigurement but rather ornamental than
otherwise and the tube may be made of coloured glass or otherwise decorated.
Dated the 8th date of October 1806
NEWNHAM BROWNE,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Lamps.
I, AUGUSTUS WILLIAM BRITTAIN, of 64 Gresham Street in the City of London,
Produce Buyer, 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 :-
In filling the containers of lamps with oil when they are of opaque material, it is
generally difficult for the operator to see what is the actual level of the oil or when
he ought to cease pouring it in, and various devices have been made to remedy this
but they are all more or less clumsy or inefficient or open to other objections.
Now my invention is intended to remove this difficulty by rendering the level of
the oil quite plain and easy to be seen both when the container is being filled and
when it is becoming exhausted and 1 do this without disfiguring the lamp and without
the other objectionable features of some earlier devices.
According to my invention I affix to the container a glass gauge preferably of
small diameter but not so small as to let the capillarity of the tube interfere with its

page_text: indications and I make such gauge tube open into the oil container near the bottom of
it and the upper end of it may either open into the upper part of the container or it
may terminate in a capillary or small opening into the air.
In the side of the container I provide a hollow or recess, of size to receive the
gauge tube, reaching from the lower to the upper part or so far as may be convenient
according to the construction of the container, and in this the gauge tube fits so that
its front surface is about or nearly flush with the surface of the lamp, and the tube
being thus sunk in the body of the lamp is protected from injury, and the gauge tube
may be curved or made of shape to correspond with and fit the shape of the lamp, and
:so fitted is no disfigurement but rather ornamental than otherwise and the tube may
be made of coloured glass or. otherwise decorated.
'tube
In the accompanying sheet of drawings Fig. 1 represents a lamp with a gauge
according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same taken diametrically
through the gauge tube and the centre of the lamp.
The lamp represented in the drawings is of the Argand type with the automatic
extinguishing apparatus described in my Specification' dated April 23rd 1896 No. 8529
but my present invention is equally applicable to lamps of different construction
whether with circular or flat wicks or otherwise.
In the drawing A is the oil container, and B a hollow or channel of dimensions to
receive a gauge tube C which is formed to correspond with the shape of the container
and so as to lie evenly in the recess, d, d, are holes opening into the container one near
the top, the other near the bottom or at such points as the shape of the container may
render convenient; the ends of the tube C are bent as shewn at c c in Fig. 2 so as
to, be parallel to each other and at the distance apart necessary, to fit into the
holes d, d.
The tube C is sealed into the holes d, d, so as to form permanently oil tight joints
Eand. for this purpose I prefer to use plaster of Paris with which I may combine a small
quantity of gum arabic. In fitting the tubes in I find it convenient, in order to
prevent the ends of the tube becoming stopped by the cement, to plug the ends of
the tube, and to attach to each of the plugs a fine string or the like by means of
which the plugs may be withdrawn by pulling the strings through the principal
central opening of the container.
The channel B should be of sufficient depth so that every part of the tube may
lie completely within the curve formed by the surface of the container so that it
"may be effectually protected against accident. Instead of making the upper end of
the gauge tube turn inwards and enter the oil container I may make it terminate
outside the container at a somewhat higher level and in such case I form the upper
end of the tube with a capiliary or very small opening so as to prevent the spilling of
the oil therefrom when the lamp is being moved.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
-claim is,
1. The improvements in lamps hereinbefore described and shown in the drawings.
2. In a lamp the combination of an oil container such as A with a gauge-glass-
tube (fitted into a recess B substantially as hereinbefore described and shown in the
drawings.
3. A. lamp the oil container of which is fitted with a gauge tube both ends of which
terminate in openings into the oil container substantially as described.
4. A lamp the oil container whereof is fitted with a gauge tube the lower end of
which opens into the lower part of the oil container and the upper end of which
terminates in a capiliary opening into the air above the level of the interior of the
-container substantially as described.
A. W. BRITTAIN.