IMPROVEMENTS IN BURNERS AND LAMPS FOR MINERAL OILS OR THEIR EQUIVALENTS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, GEORG WILHELM LYTH, of 7 Bryggaregatan Stockholm in the Kingdom of
Sweden, Philosophical Instrument Maker, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BURNERS AND LAMPS FOR MINERAL OILS OR
THEIR EQUIVALENTS," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
In the burners for mineral oils hitherto in use the upper part of the burner is
heated by the flame in some way or other, and consequently the oil in this upper
part also gets heated and is transformed into gas that escapes through one or more
minute orifices or holes in the burner, and feeds the flame. But after a while the
holes in such burners become clogged with some pitchy bydrocarbon deposits from
the oil, and the flame goes out.
The object of this invention is to prevent the holes in such burners from being
filled up so soon, and to increase the power of the light; further, by combining
two or more of my improved burners, to procure a lamp for mineral oil or its
equivalents, that will without attendance burn uninterruptedly for a considerable
length of time, and that emits a light equally powerful in all directions.
Figure 1 in the accompanying drawing represents in a vertical section an
improved burner; fig. 2 the same seen from above, and fig. 3 the same in cross
section alorg the line -y in figure 1. Figure 4 shews in elevation, and partially
in section, a combination of two such burners to one lamp; figure 5 represents the
same in plan, and figure 6 the same in cross section with the upper part or cap-
taken away.
In the single burner, figures 1-3, A is the feed-pipe for the mineral oil or its
equivalent, which pipe in its upper part C is filled by a wick D. This upper part :
is by means of the nut B, in the way shewn in the drawing, firmly and tightly
screwed to the pipe A. To the upper end of this part C the burner proper E,
containing the jet-hole or holes F for the vaporized oil, is secured in the same way,
metal against metal Beneath that hole (or holes) in the burner proper E is a
small piece of fine wirenetting G, through.which the oil, or the gas, must pass
before reaching the orifice at F. The burner is also provided with a common
flame-spreader H, and the whole of the upper part of the burner is surrounded by
a metallic cap or cover I provided with a hole J at the top for the flame and the
upper part of the spreader H, and with several smaller holes K round the bottom
for the air. The cap I is supported by a concave perforated plate L, which in its
turn is supported by the feed pipe, or in some other way.
In using this improved burner the pitchy substances are now deposited in the
network inside the burner, and do not ascend to the hole F, which thereby
continues to remain open, and a long while (many weeks) will elapse before all
the orifices become closed and the flame extinguished, provided of course sufficient
oil be found in the reservoir (not shown on the drawing), from which the pipe A
takes the supply. The cap I, heated by the flame, serves in its turn to heat the

page_text: air of combustion which penetrates through the holes in the cap and the bottom;
by this means the burning of the vaporized oil becomes more perfect and more
rapid, the flame steadier, the light whiter and the lighting power considerably
increased. The concave form of the plate L serves to collect the oil which may
possibly overflow when the lamp is not lighted, which oil is carried away by the
pipe M; but it also serves to receive a small quantity of spirits which may be
ignited when the lamp is to be lighted to hasten the heating of the burner and
thereby also hasten the vaporizing of the oil.
The lamp represented in figures 4-6 consists, as shown, of two single burners of
the construction above described, mounted side by side with their spreaders
inclined at an acute angle to each other, the whole enclosed in a common cap or
cover. The same letters of reference represent the corresponding parts.
One of the advantages of this combination is that, in consequence of the angular
position of the spreaders H H to each other, the power of the light from the two
flames becomes practically the same in all directions, which is not the case when
only one burner, and consequently only one flame is used; another advantage is
that such a lamp burns uninterruptedly as long as it contains oil; for when the
pitchy hydrocarbons from the vaporized oil have been deposited in such quantities
that the gas no longer penetrates through one of the burners, its flame goes out.
In consequence thereof this burner becomes somewhat cooled and the oil comes
(in a fluid state) into contact with the pitchy substances in the net G and dissolves
them pretty quickly, after which the oil rises into the burner proper E and through
the orifice at F, when it is instantly ignited; because of the great heat proceeding
from the other flame which still continues to burn. After a while the other flame
is extinguished by the same cause and its burner purifies itself. In this manner
the automatic purifying of the burners goes on without the light of the lamp
being extinguished. It is not likely that both flames will go out at the same time,
but should the oil be very impure so that such an occurrence might be feared, it
would be an advantage to have separate reservoirs from which the pipes A A would
take their supply. In ordinary cases only one reservoir is required, then the pipes A A
Another way of
are united to one pipe somewhere below the screw-joints B B.
preventing the lamp from going out, as long as it contains oil, is to place together
three or more single burners in the same way, but it is unnecessary unless one
wishes still more to increase the lighting power of the lamp.
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
1. In burners for mineral oils or their equivalents a fine wirenet inside the
burner beneath the orifice or orifices for the issue of the vaporized oil, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
2. In burners for mineral oils or their equivalents a cap or cover surrounding the
upper part of the burner, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
3. The combination of two or more such burners with the spreaders of the flames
mounted in angles and the whole surrounded by a cap or cover, substantially as
described and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this Fifteenth dev of February 1884.