IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING THE ILLUMINATING POWER OF HYDROCARBON OILS AND GASES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Searle Street, Lincoln's
Inn, in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28. St. Enoch Square, in
the City of Glasgow, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING THE
ILLUMINATING POWER OF HYDROCARBON OILS AND GASES."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Thomas Say Speakman, of the City of Camden,
State of New Jersey. in the United States of America.
Sealed the 5th September 1865, and dated the 6th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
April 1865.
1, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Searle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County
of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow,
Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING
THE ILLUMINATING POWER OF HYDROCARBON OILS AND GASES," (a communication
to me from abroad by Thomas Say Speakman, of the City of Camden, State
of New Jersey, in the United States of America,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in consuming the carbon in and increasing
the brilliancy of a flame produced by burning animal, vegetable, or mineral
oils or fatty matter, or the flame of gas_containing an excessive amout of

page_text: carbon, by causing the said flame to decompose a supply of water conveyed
to it by means of a wick or its equivalent, substantially in the manner
described hereafter.
The oil reservoir of the lamp may be made of any form which the manu-
facturer may consider most tasty and convenient, and of any of the materials
heretofore employed for the same purpose. To the mouth of the reservoir is
adapted a metal cap to which is secured a tube of the usual form for receiving
a flat wick. Above the said reservoir is another reservoir containing a supply
of water, and from the bottom of this reservoir a tube projects upwards
through the cap of the water reservoir, the tube being of proper dimensions
for receiving the wick tube. On the cap of the water reservoir is a hollow
projection which is of an oblong form, and which surrounds those portions of
the wick tube and exterior tube which project above the said cap. Over this
projection and the tubes within the same is placed the usual perforated dome
baving the ordinary elongated opening. An annular strip of metal is con-
nected to the cap of the water reservoir by such legs, or projections as will not
interfere with the access of a plentiful supply of external air to the space
about the dome and to the interior of the, chimney.
A proper supply of any of the animal, vegetable, or mineral oils or of fatty
matter, heretofore used for illuminating purposes, is, deposited in the first-
named reservoir, and a wick situated on one side of the tube is introduced
into the space between the said tube and the inside of the hollow projection,
the lower end of the wick being immersed in a supply of water contained in
the second reservoir. On igniting the upper end of the ordinary wick the
flame will in the first instance assume the form and condition of that of an
ordinary oil lamp, but in a very short time the heat of the flame will decom-
pose all or a portion of the water which rises to the upper end of the second
wick. By this decomposition of the water oxygen and hydrogen gases are
evolved, and these uniting with the flame produced by the oil will consume the
excess of carbon which in ordinary oil lamps passes off in smoke. By this
union of the gases evolved from the decomposed water with the flame the
latter is rendered more brilliant and entirely free from the offensive vapors
which emanate from oil lamps of the ordinary construction; at the same time
as the gases evolved: from the decomposed water add to the illuminating
quality of the flame it will be evident that the consumption of the oil must be
economized.
In a modification of this Invention there is but one reservoir which contains
both the oil and the water, a supply of the former floating on the surface of
the latter. The tube containing one wick and the wick itself are carried

page_text: downwards into the supply of water, the other wick being so arranged as to be
immersed in the oil only above the water.
The Invention is also applicable to flames produced by illuminating gas
containing an excessive amount of carbon, such as the gas produced by the
consumption of resin or the residuum of coal oil after distillation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1; Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Davies, Her special licence that I, the said Georgo
Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING THE ILLUMINATING
POWER OF HYDROCARBON OILS AND GASES," being a communication to me from
abroad by Thomas Say Speakman, of the City of Camden, State of New
Jersey, in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Davies, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Davies, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
that is to say:-
This Invention consists in consuming the carbon in and increasing the
brilliancy of a flame produced by burning animal, vegetable, or mineral oils
or fatty matter, or the flame of gas containing an excessive amount of carbon,
by causing the said flanie to decompose a supply of water conveyed to it by
means of a wick or its equivalent, substantially in the manner described
hereafter.
Such being the nature and object of the said Invention for "Improvements
in the Means of and Apparatus for Increasing the Illuminating Power of
Hydrocarbon Oils and Gases," I will now proceed to describe more in detail
the manner in which the same to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect. And in order that the same may be distinctly understood, I
have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with
those in the following explanation thereof, that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a coal oil lamp designed for carrying out
this Invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1; Figure 3, a vertical
section of a modified lamp, and Figure 4, a plan view of Figure 3.
On reference to Figures 1 and 2, A represents the oil reservoir of the
lamp, which may be made of any form which the manufacturer may consider
most tasty and convenient, and of any of the materials heretofore employed
for the same purpose. To the mouth of the reservoir is adapted a metal
cap B, to which is secured a tube C of the usual form for receiving a flat
wick D. Above the reservoir A is another reservoir E containing a supply of
water, and from the bottom of this reservoir a tube G projects upwards
through the cap F, the tube being of proper dimensions for receiving the
wick tube. On the cap F of the reservoir E is a hollow projection a, which
is of the oblong form represented in Figure 2, and which surrounds those
portions of the wick tube C and exterior tube G which project above the said
cap F; over this projection a and the tubes within the same is placed the usual
perforated dome H, having the ordinary elongated opening e. I is an annular
strip of metal connected to the cap F of the reservoir E, by such legs or pro-
jections as will not interfere with the access of a plentiful supply of external
air to the space about the dome and to the interior of the chimney.
A proper supply of any of the animal, vegetable, or mineral oils or of
fatty matter, heretofore used for illuminating purposes, is deposited in the
reservoir A, and a wick K, situated on one side of the tubo G, is introduced
into the space between the said tube and the inside of the hollow projection,

page_text: the lower end of the wick being immersed in a supply of water contained in
the reservoir E. On igniting the upper end of the wick D the flame will in
the first instance assume the form and condition of that of an ordinary oil lamp,
but in a very short time the heat of the flame will decompose all or a portion
of the water which rises to the upper end of the wick K. By this decom-
position of the water oxygen and hydrogen gases are evolved, and these uniting
with the flame produced by the oil will consume the excess of carbon which in
ordinary oil lamps passes off in smoke. By this union of the gases evolved
from the decomposed water with the flame the latter is rendered more
brilliant and entirely free from the offensive vapors which emanate from oil
lamps of the ordinary construction; at the same time, as the gases evolved
from the decomposed water add to the illuminating quality of the flame it will
be evident that the consumption of the oil must be economized.
It will be seen that the usual serrated wheel fand spindle are used for
adjusting the wick D; a similar device may also be applied to the adjustment
of the wick K, for it should be understood that the best results can only be
obtained by a proper adjustment of the wicks in relation to each other.
In the modification illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 there is but one reser-
voir A, which contains both the oil and the water, a supply of the former
floating on the surface of the latter. The tube containing the wick K and
the wick itself are carried downwards into the supply of water, the wick D
being so arranged as to be immersed in the oil only above the water.
This modification of the Invention, which will be readily understood by
those familiar with the construction of lamps without further description, is
applicable to small lamps, in which the upper end of the wick K is but a
short distance above the water.
Although the use of a chimney in connection with the improved lamp is
preferred as a means of rendering the flame steady, the carbon is so effectually
consumed that the flame will burn brilliantly, and will be free from the usual
smoke without the aid of a chimney.
It will be evident that the arrangement and construction of the two
reservoirs may be modified without departing from the main features of the
Invention. A reservoir may, for instance, bo separated by a partition into
two compartments, one for containing the oil and the other the water. The
Invention, moreover, is not dependent upon a burner of any peculiar con-
struction, any of the burners heretofore used in connection with oil or lard
lamps may be used with very slight alterations, provided means are adopted
for conveying a continuous supply of water to the flame to be there converted
into aqueous vapor and decomposed, as described. Neither is the Invention

page_text: confined to lamps having flat wicks, as it can be readily applied to such
as have circular wicks; it is also applicable to oil lamps used for generating
heat and for other purposes. Any of the wicks or appliances heretofore used
for conveying a supply of fluid to the flame may be used in connection with
the oil or water reservoirs.
The Invention is also applicable to flames produced by illuminating gas
containing an excessive amount of carbon, such as the gas produced by the
consumption of rosin or the residuum of coal oil after distillation.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
Improvements in the Means of and Apparatus for Increasing the Illumi-
nating Power of Hydrocarbon Oils and Gases," together with the manner in
which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect,
I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as the Invention, communicated
to me by the said Thomas Say Speakman,―
First, the use in lamps for burning animal, vegetable, or mineral oils or
fatty matter of a wick or its equivalent for conducting a supply of water to the
flame, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Second, the use of the heat of the flame for producing the aqueous vapor
from water conveyed to the flame.
In witness whereof, T, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE DAVIES.
(L.S.)