IMPROVE. MENTS IN GAS AND OTHER LAMPS AND STOVES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Johnston, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Metal Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN GAS AND OTHER LAMPS AND STOVES,"
Sealed the 22nd August 1862, and dated the 24th February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Johnston.at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th February 1862.
I, WILLIAM JOHNSTON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Metal Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS AND OTHER LAMPS AND STOVES," to be as follows
that is to say:-
This Invention comprises various improvements in gas and other lamps,
a portion of such improvements being also applied to gas stoves, and combined
with additional improvements in the latter.
A portion of the present Invention relates to lamps for illuminating shops,
halls, stations, and other places, and which are of the kind comprising a
number of gas jets or other lights arranged star-fashion, or in a circular or,
similar form, beneath, above, around, or partly around a central reflecting
surface, or combination of reflecting surfaces, and comprises vario us improve-
ments in contriving, forming, shaping, or arranging the details of such
lamps.

page_text: In one modification of the improved lamps the central reflector is of a
cylindrical form, of uniform diameter or tapering slightly, being placed ver-
tically, and with the lights arranged round it.
An improvement applicable to the cylindrical reflector and to reflectors of
various other forms, such as spherical, ellipsoidal, vase-shaped, tazzo-shaped,
and urn-shaped reflectors, consists in forming the reflecting surface with a
series of flutings, or so as to present an indented outline in section, instead of
the ordinary circular outline, and in disposing the lights so as to obtain a
multiplication of reflections from such flutings. In constructing reflectors of
forms which are convex in general outline at the reflecting part, such as
cylindrical, spherical, ellipsoidal, vase-shaped, tazzo-shaped, and urn-shaped
reflectors, and being with or without flutings, polished metallic surfaces are
employed, such, for example, as thin sheet copper prepared by well-known
means with a silvered or other external reflecting surface. To prevent injury
by the
gaseous matters emitted at the lights, the reflecting surfaces are pro-
tected by a vitreous coating or by a coating of transparent lacquer or varnish.
In cases where very small cost is an object, the material used in construct-
ing the reflectors may be tinned plate or zinc, the surface being polished,
and being protected in the manner already mentioned. The reflectors may
also be constructed of earthenware of the kind known as "lustre ware,"
and this material may also be used in forming or ornamenting the other
parts of the lamp.
Another portion of the Invention relates to further modifications of the
reflectors, and comprises various combinations of what may be termed
"geometrical" reflectors. In one simple arrangement two flat reflecting
surfaces are fitted angularly together, and are disposed so that a flame pre-
sented at or near the angle will produce a multiplied appearance on the
principle of the kaleidoscope. The improved reflector comprises a number
of such elements or pairs of reflectors arranged round a centre, and a number
of gas jets may be disposed above them star-fashion, so as to present a jet
at each angle. This result may be obtained by arranging plates having
reflecting surfaces on both sides, so as to radiate outwards from a central
vertical axis. The reflecting surfaces may be made of various outlines, and
they may be flat, curved, or more or less fluted or indented, with the view of
increasing the ornamental effect, and they may be combined together angu-
larly in a variety of ways. Instead of arranging reflector lamps of the herein-
before described or similar kinds with a single pendent reflector and its set
of burners, such a reflector and burners are in some cases applied to a bracket,
or to two or more separate branches of a central pendent pipe.

page_text: To increase the ornamental effect of the various reflector lamps herein-
before described or referred to, provision is made for obtaining a rotatory
motion of the reflector, of the circle or circles of flames, or of both. In the
case of the reflectors the motion is obtained by mounting them so as to turn
freely, and by applying to them inclined vanes, which will be acted upon by
the upward curreut of air to or from the flames, so as to cause the rotation.
In the case of gas jets, the radiating branches are fitted to an inverted cup
mounted on a pivot, and dipping into an annular recess forined upon the gas
pipe, and containing a liquid, which forms a gas-tight joint, whilst leaving
the branched piece free to rotate. The rotation is obtained either by vanes
attached to the branches, or by arranging the gas jets all in one direction of
rotation, so that the reaction of the issuing jets may turn the branched piece;
or these two plans may be combined; or the rotating branched piece may be
suspended from within a pendent gas pipe, the bottom whereof dips.into an
annular cup containing liquid on the branched piece.
According to another portion of the Invention, the imparting of a rotatory
motion, such as that herein-before described, is applied in the case of gas jets
used for heating purposes, as in stoves. In this case provision is made for
mixing air with the gas prior to its combustion, as in the well-known Bunsen
burner, and no liquid joint is required. The buruer in one modification
consists of two or more radiating branch tubes pierced with holes, and is made
to rotate, by preference, by means of inclined surfaces acted upon by the
ascending air or gas. The described form of branched burner may also be
advantageously used without the rotatory movement. The part of the Bunsen
arrangement for the admission and admixture of the air may according to
this Invention be made of cast iron or thin sheet metal in conical and other
forms of varying diameter:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Johnston in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHNSTON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Metal
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tweifty-fourth day of February, in the year of.
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in. the twenty-fifth
'

page_text: year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Johnston, Her special licence that I,
the said William Johnston, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Johnston, my executors, administrators,
and 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 GAS AND OTHER LAMPS AND STOVES," upon
the condition, amongst others, that I, the said William Johnston, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument 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 immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Johnston, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention comprises various improvements in gas and other
lamps, a portion of such improvements being also applied to gas stoves,
and combined with additional improvements in the latter.
And in order that such parts of the said Invention as are capable of or
seem to require illustration may be properly understood, I have hereunto
appended a Sheet of explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to,
and I may here remark that in such Drawings the same reference letters
mark the same or like parts in all the figures in which they occur.
A portion of the Invention relates to lamps for illuminating shops, halls,
stations, and other places, and which are of the kind comprising a number of
gas jets or other lights arranged star-fashion, or in a circular or similar form,
beneath, above, around, or partly around a central reflecting surface or
combination of reflecting surfaces, and comprises various improvements in
contriving, forming, shaping, or arranging the details of such lamps.
In one modification of the improved lamps the central reflector is of a
cylindrical form, of uniform diameter or tapering slightly, being placed ver-
tically, and with the lights arranged round it. Figure 1 of the Drawings is
a vertical section of such a cylindrical reflector lamp, the parts of which are

page_text: put together in an improved and simplified manner.
The central pendent
gas tube A carries upper and lower rings B, C, having each two or more
spoke arms with a central eye fixed at suitable positions on the tube A by
screw nut b, c. The rings may be formed out of flat sheet brass, bent to a
right-angle section, and afterwards attached to the spoked centre pieces. The
cylinder D is introduced when the rings are slightly moreapart than as shown,
and the rings are then screwed nearer together, when their flanges securely
hold the cylinder. This cylindrical reflector D may be made of glass silvered
internally, of lustre" ware, or of polished metal. The gas jet pipes E
spring from the bottom of the gas tube A, and are beut so as to cause the
burners to encircle the cylinder. Figure 2 is a section of a lamp with a
slightly tapering or conical reflector D.
An improvement applicable to the cylindrical reflector, and to reflectors
of various other forms, such as spherical, ellipsoidal, vase-shaped, tazzo-
shaped, and urn-shaped reflectors, consists in forming the reflecting surface
with a series of flutings, or so as to present an indented outline in section,
instead of the ordinary circular outline, and in disposing the lights so as to
obtain a multiplication of reflections from such flutings. Figure 3 is a
perspective view of a lamp, the reflector Dof which is formed with ornamental
flutings according to this part of the Invention, and Figure 4 is a horizontal
section of such a reflector, and may be considered as the horizontal section
of a reflector whose vertical section presents any of the various forms
herein-before mentioned. Another way of forming the fluted cylindrical
or conical reflector is shown in vertical section in Figure 2, and in horizontal
section in Figure 5, the latter figure showing three varieties. The reflector 1)
is made up of a series of prisms of glass silvered on their insides, as at a andy,
Figure 5, of glass tubes silvered internally or at the upper surface, as at zor
again of separate pieces of other forms of glass, "lustre" ware or polished
metal. The details (Figure 2) may be put together as already described
with reference to Figure 1, the rings or frames B, C, being formed with
V grooves, or grooves of other suitable shape to retain the upper and lower
ends of the prisms or reflecting pieces. The rings or frames B, C, may
sometimes be polygonal in plan, to receive polygonal reflectors, or reflectors
composed of a number of separate flat or other shaped pieces.
According to another modification, relectors are formed of any of the
herein-before mentioned shapes of transparent glass, having a thin surface,
coating, or enamel of colored or opaqueglass. The glass is silvered internally,
and indentations are cut on the external surface through the coating or
enamel so as to present ornamentally-shaped reflecting portions.

page_text: According to another part of the Invention, in constructing reflectors of
forms which are convex in general outline at the reflecting part (whereby the
light is diffused and spread instead of being concentrated on points as by
concave reflectors, thereby making other parts appear darker by contrast),
such as cylindrical, spherical, ellipsoidal, vase-shaped, tazzo-shaped, and urn-
shaped reflectors, and being with or without flutings, polished metallic surfaces
are employed, such for example as thin sheet copper, prepared by well-known
means, with a silvered or other external reflecting surface. To prevent injury
by the gaseous matters emitted at the lights, the reflecting surfaces are pro-
tected by a vitreous coating, or by a coating of transparent lacquer or varnish.
In cases where very small cost is an object, the material used in constructing
the reflectors may be tinned plate, or zine, the surface being polished and
being protected in the manner already mentioned. The reflectors may also be
constructed of earthenware of the kind known as "lustre" ware, and this
material may also be used in forming or ornamenting other parts of the lamp.
Figures 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 14, may be taken to represent reflectors D,
of this material, lustre "ware, the use of which is very advantageous on
account of the facility with which ornamental forms may be imparted to it,
and on account of its withstanding the heat of the gas flames. Figures 8
and 11, represent gasaliers with the centre piece F, from which the branches
G, spring, made of the said "lustre" ware. In Figure 8 one of the globes, H,
is delineated in section, to show the manner of constructing it so as to
prevent shadow, and so as to make the globes H combine with the central
spherical ornament F, in a unique general design.
"
23
Another portion of the Invention relates to further modifications of the
reflectors, and comprises various combinations of what may be termed
geometrical reflectors: In one simple arrangement two flat reflecting
surfaces are fitted angularly together and aredisposed so that a flame presented
at or near the angle will produce a multiplied appearance on the principle
of the kaleidoscope. A modification of the improved reflector is represented
in elevation in Figure 6, and in plan in Figure 7, and comprises a number of
such elements or pairs of reflectors I, arranged round a centre J, and a
number of gas jets, E, are disposed above them star-fashion so as to present a
jet at each angle. This arrangement is designed for being placed above the
Jevel of the eye.
A similar result may also be obtained by arranging plates
having reflecting surfaces on both sides so as to radiate outwards from a central
vertical axis, or the plates may be disposed so as to be tangential in plan to
a circle of moderate radius, as indicated by the dotted lines in the plan,
Figure 13.
The reflecting surfaces may, be made of various outhmes,

page_text: and they may be flat, curved, or more or less fluted or indented with
the view of increasing the ornamental effect, and they may be combined
together angularly in a variety of ways. Instead of arranging reflector
lamps of the herein-before described or similar kinds with a single pendent
reflector, and a set of burners, such a reflector D, and burners E, are in some
cases applied to a bracket K, as shown in Figure 9, or to two or more
separate branches G, of a central pendent pipe A, as shown in Figure 11.
To increase the ornamental effect of the various reflector lamps herein-
before described or referred to, provision is made by another portion of the
present Invention for obtaining a rotatory motion of the reflector, of the circle
or circles of flames, or of both. In the case of the reflectors D, the motion is
obtained as shown in Figures 9 and 10, the latter being a plan, by nounting
them on a pivot or otherwise,so as to turn freelyand byapplying to them inclined
vanes L, which will be acted upon by the upward current of air caused by the
flames, so as to produce the rotation. In the case of gas jets the radiating
branches E are fitted to an inverted cup or closed tube M, as shown in vertical
section in Figure 12, and in plan in Figure 13, and this cup M is mounted
on a pivot fitted into the top of the gas pipe N, and dips down into an annular
recess P formed on the gas pipe, and containing a liquid which forms a gas_
Light joint whilst leaving the branched piece free to rotate. The rotation is
obtained either by inclined vanes attached to the branches E, or centre
tube M, or by arranging the gas jets all in one direction of rotation, as shown
in Figure 13, so that the reaction of the issuing jets may turn the branched
piece, or these two plans may be combined. In the case of pendent reflector
lamps the arrangement shown in vertical section in Figure 14 may be adopted.
In this case the rotating branched piece E,M, is suspended within the pendent
gas pipe A, the bottom whereof dips into an annular cup P, containing liquid,
and formed on the branch piece.
According to another portion of the Invention, the imparting of a rotatory
motion, such as that herein-before described, is applied in the case of gas jets
used for heating purposes, as in stoves. In this case provision is made for
mixing air with the gas prior to its combustion, as in the well-known Bunsen
burner, and no liquid joint is required. A modification of the burner is
shown in vertical section in Figure 15, and in plan in Figure 16, and consists
of radiating branch tubes Q, pierced with holes, and is made to rotate, by
preference, by means of vaties L, attached to the outer vertical. tube R of the
burner, and acted on by the ascending air. This burner Q, with its tube R,
is centred on a pivot inserted in the top of the gas pipe N, the latter being
perforated below the pivot for the escape of the gas, whilst the tube R is as

page_text: much larger than the central gas pipe N, as will permit the necessary proportion
of air to enter and asceud between them. If the parts are made large enough
internally, inclined surfaces may be introduced therein, so that the internal
ascending currents of air or gas may cause or assist in causing the rotation of
the burner. The rotation may also be caused or assisted by perforating the
burners Q, so as to give the jets a lateral direction. The object of the rotation
in the case of stoves or heaters is to cause the jets to act equally over the
entire surface of the pan or other vessel placed over them. The described
form of branched burner Q, may also be advantageously used without the
rotatory movement, as for example in a warming stove, such as is shown in
vertical section in Figure 17. This stove consists of a cast-iron sole S, per-
forated for the entrance of air, and covered by an earthenware dome T,
perforated for the egress of air. In this example the part R of the Bunsen
arrangement for the admission and admixture of air is made of cast iron, and
is of a conical form; it may also be made of thin sheet metal and of other
forms of varying diameter.
having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I
consider to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the contriving, form-
ing, shaping, or arranging of the details of lamps and of gas-stove burners
substantially according to the improved modes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Johnston, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
. One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
W. JOHNSTON. (L.S.)