Improvements relating to the Supply of Combustible Liquids at a Constant Pressure to Lighting or Heating Appliances.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Mar., 1898--Accepted, 9th Apr., 1898
[Communicated from abroad by LA COMPAGNIE CONTINENTALE D'INCANDESCENCE
ET DE CHAUFFAGE (systemes Franck et Poitrimol), a Joint Stock Company of
Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium.]
Improvements relating to the Supply of Combustible Liquids at a
Constant Pressure to Lighting or Heating Appliances.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:
-
The object of this invention is to permit of establishing and automatically main-
taining at a pre-determined value, an air-pressure upon a combustible liquid
contained in a feed reservoir with a view to distributing such liquid regularly in
suitable quantity to the combustion appliances either for lighting or heating
purposes.
The method consists in adding to the supply reservoir a vertical pump body
provided with a piston working as tightly as possible and loaded with a weight in
proportion to the constant pressure under which it is desired to maintain the
liquid.
The upper face of the piston communicates with the atmosphere and its lower
face with air chamber existing above the liquid in the supply reservoir.
The pipe placing this air chamber in communication with the pump body is
provided with a three-way cock the three positions of which are indicated by guide-
marks and permitting:
1. Of placing in communication the pump body and the air chamber both of
these being isolated from the external air.
2. Of cutting off the air chamber from the pump body placing this latter in
communication with the atmosphere.
3. Of causing the air chamber and the pump body to communicate simulta-
neously with the atmosphere.
The first of these positions is that corresponding to the normal action of the
apparatus.
The second allows the piston to be raised, when it has reached the lowest point
of its stroke, without causing either the extinction of or even a variation in the
intensity of the light or heat given by the consuming appliances. Immediately
the piston has been raised to its fullest extent, however, the cock should be caused
to occupy its initial position.
The object of the third position is to extinguish the appliances by means of the
escape of the air compressed upon the liquid by this descent of the piston.
The said cock, which has the advantage of entirely obviating the extinction of
the burner and also any variation in intensity, whatever means is employed for
raising the piston, is not however absolutely necessary when this piston consists
of a flexible piece of leather or of some other similar material in order to permit

page_text: air to re-enter. In this case communication must be established between the pump
body and the air chamber of the reservoir by means of an extremely fine tube in
order to reduce to a minimum the variations of pressure in this reservoir during
each impulsion given to the piston, or better, to provide the communication tube
also with a kind of air retaining clack-valve or other suitable device for the purpose
of impeding the return of the air into the body of the pump.
The raising of the piston may be effected in any desired manner-advantageously
by means of a winch arranged at the upper part of the pump body, and of a
flexible connection, or by means of a rack gearing with a toothed pinion.
These are the means which we employ for actuating the piston of our portable
incandescent lamps provided with their burner for vaporising ordinary petroleum
lamp oil.
In this manner abrupt shocks and oscillations so injurious to incandescence
mantles, are avoided. The small winch on the toothed pinion in question are
actuated by means of a key similar to those employed with the moderator oil
lamps formerly in use.
For our lyre-shaped lamps having two or three branches, and for all our other
suspended lighting appliances, we arrange the pump body at the upper part above
the crown.
The pump body, which is open above and closed below, is fastened to the ceiling
by any of the usual methods of suspension. The head of the lyre shaped part is
fixed to the piston by means of a hollow rod of suitable length having three con-
nections or supports one of which is tubular and places the pump body in com-
munication with the air chamber of the reservoir by means of one of the branches
of the lyre-shaped part, which is likewise tubular.
This branch of the lyre-shaped portion is provided, if necessary at the point
where the lamp-shade holder is situated with the three-way cock before mentioned.
It is the weight of the "lyre" itself suitably loaded if need be, which places the
liquid of the reservoir under pressure by means of the air comprised below the
piston and above the liquid.
The apparatus is started, or the piston raised whilst it is acting, by causing the
cock to occupy the second position raising the "lyre" with one hand until the
piston reaches the top of its stroke, then releasing it whilst with the other hand
the cock is brought back to its original position. In this form, however, as in
the preceding, the three-way cock is not indispensable, and may be entirely
dispensed with, as we shall hereinafter see.
In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1-5 illustrate by way of example a
portable lamp and a lyre-shaped lamp having two branches, respectively, both
forms being based upon the above described means for producing pressure.
In Figure 1,
a, is the vertical pump body, b is the piston, c and d the cylinders of lead or
other weighty substance with which the piston is loaded, e the flexible connection
attached to the piston and which is wound upon the winch f. Instead of this
arrangement I may if desired use a rack. The said winch f is actuated by a key,
or I may substitute for such key a toothed pinion.
g is a tightly fitting stopper for the supply of petroleum or other combustible
liquid. h is a tube conducting the liquid to the vaporising burner k. is a three
way cock, shown to a larger scale in Figure 1^.
m a pipe placing the cock in communication with the bottom of the pump body.
n is a pipe placing the cock in communication with the air chamber of the lamp
and as far removed as possible from the higher level of the petroleum in order to
avoid the introduction of this liquid into the pump body.
p is a stopper permitting of the inspection and unstopping of the pipe n in case
is an air discharge aperture in the cock.
of need.
Figures 2 and 2^ show the arrangement we adopt for the communication
tube (mn) and the supply stopper (9) when we dispense with the three way cock.

page_text: All the other arrangements of the lamp remain unaltered,, the communication
pipe (m), (shown in Figure 2) ends in an enlargement (l) in which is arranged
a sort of conical seating on which rests a small globe (n), a lead, shot, for example,
which acts as an air valve, that is to say, which prevents the compressed air con-
tained in the air chamber of the reservoir from returning under the piston, when
this is raised after a certain number of hours working, in such a way as to prevent
the extinction of the lamp during this, raising. As a set off, with this arrangement,
to extinguish the lamp it is sufficient to unscrew the supply stopper (9), shown in
Figure 2; this is, in fact, provided, with a pointed screw screwing, into a suitable
socket in which is situated an air outlet (r), it is obvious that it is sufficient to
raise the screw (s) to open the air outlet passage (r) and thus, to let the pressure
in the air chamber escape..
1
I will now examine the arrangement adopted for applying the same system to
the lyres, which is shown in Figures 3-5. of the drawings. In Figure 4 I is the
petroleum reservoir at the lower portion of the lyre-shaped part with its burner K
its immersed tube H, its filling stopper and the tube N, ior introducing the air
pressure, bent upwardly, in order to prevent the admission of petroleum and form-
ing a continuation of the branch of the "lyre". M which is in communication with
the upper pump body.
The air supply pipe N conducts the air compressed by the piston into the
petroleum reservoir, and forms a continuation of the hollow branch M. A is a
pump body, suspended from the ceiling by chains G G or in any other suitable
manner, in which is displaced the piston B, provided with a hollow rod D estab-
lishing communication of the air compressed in the pump body with the petroleum
reservoir by means of the hollow branch of the "lyre" MM. The rod of this
piston supports the whole weight of the "lyre" by means of the frame having three
or more branches FFFF. L is a three-way cock inserted in this branch of the
"lyre" C, a mass of lead or other weighty substance for loading the pump body
and preventing it from over turning when the "lyre" is raised for the purpose of
lifting the piston.
Figure shows the application of the system to the lyre when the three way
cock is dispensed with. All the other parts of the apparatus remain the same as
in the cases of Figures 3 and 4; it will be noticed that the piece of lead C¹ has been
extended here around the circumference of the cylinder A¹. D¹ is the rod of the
piston B¹, suspended and fixed by a nut E¹ to the supporting frame F¹ F¹, to which
the lyre proper is suspended; the hollow branch M, which serves as a communi-
cation tube, is itself joined to the bottom of the body of the pump by a flexible
tube Q, of india rubber or other material, in which is fixed a plug of cotton P¹,
corresponding in its purpose with the retaining valve of the portable lamp and
intended to impede the return of the air into the body of the lamp when the lyre
is lifted up for the purpose of raising the piston. It is evident that the working
of these lyres is exactly the same as in the portable lamp; but here it is the weight
of the lyre itself, suitably ballasted as required which acts on the volume of air
and comprises the liquid in the reservoir by means of the air contained below the
piston.
It will of course be evident that I reserve the right of applying the arrangement
to any description of lighting or heating appliance not here described, whether
the same be portable or suspended, and I do not restrict myself to constructional
details, materials to be employed or the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. A regulator permitting the placing under pressure of combustible liquids
by the compression of air in a tight reservoir and their supply under this pressure,
which is automatically kept constant, the same being characterised by a vertical

page_text: pump body in communication with the air chamber of the reservoir and a piston
closing this pump body and loaded with a weight proportionate to the constant
pressure which it is desired to produce in the reservoir.
2. The combination of the said pump body of its piston and of the combustible
liquid reservoir with a three-way cock intended either to place the pump body in
communication with the reservoir, or to separate them causing the pump body
(beneath the piston) to communicate with the atmosphere or finally to place
them both simultaneously in communication with the atmosphere; also with a
winch provided with a flexible connection or with a rack actuated by a toothed
pinion and a key or handle.
3. The combination of the same parts grouped together in the form of a lyre
or any other hanging appliance characterised by the fact that it is the weight of
the apparatus itself, suitably loaded if need be, which produced a constant pres-
sure upon the combustible liquid in the reservoir.
Dated this 5th day of March 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.