IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMP BURNERS AND PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jolin Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman; for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS
IN LAMP BURNERS AND PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH."-A communication
from abroad by Rufus Spaulding Merrill and William Lincolu, both of
Boston, States of Massachusetts, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 22nd August 1865, and dated the 16th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1865.
'I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inventiou
for IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMP BURNERS AND PARTS CONNECTED. THEREWITH," a
communication to me from abroad by Rufus Spaulding Merrill and William
Lincoln, both of Boston, State of Massachusetts, in the United States of
America, to be as follows:-.
This Invention relates more particularly to the burners of lamps in which
hydrocarbons and similar fluids are burnt, and has for its object the rendering
of such lamps perfectly safe and free from the risk of explosion, whilst at the
same time their illuminating power is increased. The principal defects which
it is proposed to obviate by this Invention are, first, the transmission of heat
through the burner to the cap of the vessel containing the volatile fluid which
occasions the undue development of vapour therein, resulting sometimes in
Price 8d.1

page_text: an explosion of the vessel; second, the condensation of vapour or excess of
fluid drawn up by the capillary action of the wick, causing it to overflow and
collect round the base of the burner, where it is liable to become ignited by
the heat at that part.
According to this Invention it is proposed to insulate completely the wick
tube from the cap of the vessel by embedding a considerable portion of it in
plaster of paris or other good non-conducting cement or material contained
inside a tubular socket attached to the cup. The wick tube passes through a
central aperture in the cap, but without being in actual contact with it at any
part, in order to prevent it from slipping down into the vessel (the tube
being tapered towards its upper end) a small inverted cup-shaped or other
flange is fitted to the wick tube and completely embedded in the insulating
material. At the upper end of the wick tube are fitted two concentric annular
chambers or reservoirs, the upper edges of which are about level with the tip
of the burner, their object being to collect and keep cool any excess of finid
which may be drawn up by the wick. These chambers are composed of two
concentric tubes tapered to correspond to the taper of the wick tube. The
inner tube has an outer flange formed on the lower edge, but the outer one
may be made without any flange. These two tubes are fitted on to a disc
having a raised circumferential rim on its outer circumference projecting
from its upper surface, and another rim projecting downwards from the
circumference of the central aperture, which is made to fit the outside of the
wick tube. The flange on the inner of the two concentric tubes fits tightly
against the raised outer rim of the disc, and the bottom edge of the outer
tube rests upon this flange, so that when the two tubes are adjusted an
annular space or chamber is formed surrounding the wick tube, and another
annular space or chamber left between the two concentric tubes. The outer
rim is pressed down and over the flange of the inner tube, the two tubes and
the disc being thus secured together without soldering. These parts are also
made separately, without soldering of any kind, by stamping them up in the
well-known manner. It is also proposed to employ a flat ring surrounding
the top of the burner, but not in actual contact therewith, such ring being
held in position by spring clips acting against the lower portion of the wick
tube. By this arrangement the air, as it rises to the flame, is divided at such
a height relatively to the flame as to impinge just above the wick, thereby
aiding and completing the combustion of vapours and fluid about the tip, and
rendering the annular chambers or reservoirs above described unnecessary,
but I prefer the arrangement previously described. For the purpose of regu-
lating the flame without the necessity for disturbing the wick the annular

page_text: chambers above described are mounted upon a conical tube or jacket which
is connected at its narrow upper end to the upper end of a tube made adjust-
able up and down the wick tube, which is made parallel for this purpose.
The connection between the jacket and the sliding tube is made without
solder by simply indenting the one into the other. By raising or lowering
the sliding tube and parts carried thereby the flame can be increased or
diminished at pleasure; and in order to protect the fingers from the heat of
the parts a closely perforated metal disc or plate is fitted to the jacket tube,
the perforations, by allowing the air to have free course through the disc,
tending to keep it cool. The lower or expanded end of the conical jacket
tube is open to admit of the air rising and circulating in the space sur-
rounding the wick tube, and thereby preventing the wick tube from becoming
overheated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 28th year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 LAMP BURNERS AND PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH," a com-
munication to ine from abroad by Rufus Spaulding Merrill and William
Lincoln, both of Boston, State of Massachusetts, in the United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of

page_text: 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 :-
The said Invention relates more particularly to the burners of lamps in
which fluid or certain products of the distillation of petroleum or coal oil, or
other light hydrocarbon fluids are burned, and the object of this Invention is
to render such lamps perfectly safe and increase their illuminating power.
The dangers attending the use of such light volatile hydrocarbon fluids have
several sources, first, the heat conveyed from the burner to the cap of the
lamp aiding the development of vapour whose expansive force may exceed
the resistance of, the fluid vessel and result in its exploding; second, the
condensation of vapour or excess of fluid drawn up by the capillary action of
the wick at the tip of the burner causing it to overflow, rendering the fluid
thus collected around the base of the burner liable to be ignited. These are
the principal defects which it is proposed to obviate by these improvements,
which consist, firstly, in the method, herein-after more fully explained, of
insulating the wick tube from the metallic cap; and, secondly, in the mode
herein-after described of collecting the overflow and condensed vapour at
and around the burner, and of keeping the burner at a comparatively low
temperature.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corre-
sponding Figures.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings is a perspective view of the improved burner; Fig.2,
a vertical section through the axis thereof; Fig. 3, an elevation of the wick
tube detached; and Fig. 4, a perspective view of a modification in part of the
burner. E is the cap of the fluid vessel or base of the burner. As usual it is
provided with an annular screw-threaded flange, whereby it is secured to the
metallic collar cemented to the fluid vessel. In most burners heretofore
constructed the wick tube is directly attached to the cap. This is generally
effected
ted by soldering. The objection to this mode of construction is two-fold

page_text: First, the heat of the flame is conveyed from the tip of the burner to the cap,
causing undue evaporation of the fluid; and, secondly, the solder is often
melted by the heat transmitted, or by the overflowing burning fluid igniting in
the immediate vicinity of the solder. To remedy this the wick tube is insulated
in the following manuer:-A central opening is left in the cap, through
which the wick tube B passes without touching the sides of such opening, and
projects a short distance below into the vessel. From the cap plate rises a
concentric cylindrical socket A within which the greater part of the lower part
of the lower half of the wick tube is held by being embedded in plaster of
paris M or other suitable plastic and cementing material being a non-conducter
of heat. To prevent the wick tube, which is slightly tapering from the base
to the tip, from slipping down into, or from being drawn out of the reservoir,
the tube is provided with an annular flange G, made in preference in the
shape of an inverted cup, care being taken first to interpose some plaster of
paris or other like substance between the internal parts of the cap and the
edges of the cup flange. Within a centrally perforated disc O, having an upper
flange on the outside periphery, and an under flange on the inner periphery,
there is combined one or two concentric cones C and D, of a pitch equal to
that of the wick tube, under such an arrangement as to leave annular spaces
or chambers equal in width, but closed at the bottom around the wick tube
and flush with the top thereof. In making this attachment it is preferred
entirely to dispense with solder each of the three pieces composing it being
struck up in the manner well known. I have here showu the lower disc to
consist of a thin plate struck up so as to form the outer and inner flanges, the
cone C is shown struck up with a horizontal flange bracing it against the
outer flange of the disc O, and the cone D is made without a flange and is
held in place by the outer flange of the disc O projecting above the flange of
the cone C; but the disc may be made with grooves so as to form a tight
joint therein. This cone attachment when slipped on to the wick tube will
be securely held in place without solder, which presents the additional ad-
vantage of being easily removed for the purpose of cleaning the lamp or
trimming the wick. From the foregoing it will be understood that the excess
of fluid drawn up by the capillary action of the wick and the condensed
vapours will be collected in the chambers, and there, by abstracting the heat
of the burner, cool the enclosed wick tube and become revaporized to supply
the flame. The second annular chamber has for its office to maintain an
equable temperature in the first chamber and to heat the outer air before
striking the flame. A cheaper but inferior mode of carrying this into effect
is represented in Fig. 4. A ring R in one piece with braces h and two small

page_text: rings S, one at the end of each brace, bent to bring the rings together, as
shewn, is set upon the wick tube and held thereon by the elastic or spring
action of the branches or braces h. The effect of this contrivance is the air
rising to the flame is divided at such a height relatively to the flame as to
impinge just above the wick, thus aiding and completing the combustion of
vapours and fluid about the tip, and therefore rendering the reservoirs
unnecessary. For the purpose of regulating the flame the annular collecting
chamber is mounted upon a concentric jacket open at its lower end, but
secured at its upper end to a friction sleeve sliding on the wick tube. The
jacket being open below will allow the air to rise and circulate in the space
surrounding the wick tube, and thus keep it sufficiently cool to allow of its
being liandled whilst the burner is in operation. For further protection of
the fingers, and to facilitate the operation of adjusting, the jacket is provided
with a disc, the outer rim of which is kept cool by means of a close circular
series of holes.
With reference to Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the Drawings, a is
the
cap of the vessel which contains the fluid to be burned. From the centre
of this cap or disc springs the wick tube c, upon which is fitted, so as to have
frictional hold upon it, another tube d somewhat shorter than the wick tube,
so as to allow of its travelling up and down around the wick tube for the
purpose of reducing or contracting, or spreading or lengthening, the portion
of the wick protruding at the tip of the burner. To this adjustable sliding
tube, and at the upper part thereof, is attached a jacket or conical sleeve e,
the upper diameter of which suugly fits the sliding tube, with which it is
secured by oue or more indentations or depressions, whilst its lower diameter
is larger, so as to present a wide opening through which the surrounding air
is induced to enter and to circulate within the conical space of the sleeve for
the purpose before-mentioned. On to the jacket are fitted the annular col-
lecting chambers f, which are made of three distinct pieces united, that is to
say, of an exterior upright flange of a cone h, at the base of which is a
'horizontal flange fitting against the exterior upright flange of the disc g, and
of a second cone i, larger in diameter than the former, and provided with a
horizontal flange or flare smaller than the horizontal flange of the other cone.
These three parts are fitted together by first placing the cone h in to the
trough-like disc g, by then placing upon it the second cone i, and by finally
-swedging down the exterior upright flange of the disc on to the horizontal
flare of the outer cone i. By means of the flanges the positions of the inner
and outer cones are firmly secured in relation to the disc. Thus the three parts
are united 'without the employment of any solder, and consequently without

page_text: %
liability of their giving way by their exposure to heat. In addition to the
jacket a circular, plate m is used, secured to and around the sleeve or jacket,.,
for the more convenient handling of the adjustable parts of the burner. Thei
plate is. by preference perforated with numerous holes withinitscircumference
so as to break, as it were, the conduit of the heat from the jacket to the
circumference by means of air channels which will necessarily establish them-
selves through the said holes. From the description herein before given of
the parts and their individual functions the operation of this Invention willbe.
readily understood, it may be well, however, to state that the application of
the adjustable wick tube operating in unison with the collecting chambers
dispenses with the necessity of any nice adjustment of the wick in the main
tube, as is the case in ordinary fluid burners, for if there be too much wick
at the tip of the burner it can be reduced without trimming it downbysimply
elevating the sliding tube and collecting chambers, and vice versa; if there be
an insufficient amount of wick it may be increased by depressingthecollecting
chambers.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the method herein described of insulating the wick tube fromthecap
of the vessel by the interposition of a non-conductor of heat, in the manner
and for the purpose set forth.
Second,in combination with the cap and wick tube I claim the socketwhen
containing an insulating cementing substance to hold the said wick tube,in
the manner and for the purpose set forth.
Third, the combination with a cap,provided with a socket to contain the
insulating cementing substance, of the wick tube provided with an annular
plate to prevent its being moved within the cementing matter.
Fourth, as an attachment to, and in combination with the wick tube, I
claim annular chambers as reservoirs, arranged in the manner and for the
purpose described.
Fifth, the mode of uniting the cones to the supporting disc, substantially
as herein described, whereby the use of solder may be dispensed with.
Sixth, the employment of annular concentric collecting chambers at or near
the tip of the burner when the same are made adjustable in relation to the
burner, substantially as herein-before described.
Seventh, the attachment of the annular collecting cham berorchamberscon-

page_text: centrically with the wick tube to an adjustable sliding tube or friction sleeve,
whereby. the flame of the burner may be regulated without interference with
the wick itself.
Eighth, in combination with the above I claim the concentric outer jacket,
open at the underside so as to allow of air entering the same, in the manner
and for the purpose substantially as set forth.
Ninth, in combination with the above I claim the perforated disc or flange
for the purpose specified.
Tenth, the method described of attaching the outer jacket to the adjustable
slide by indentation, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson,bave hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of December,. One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)