IMPROVEMENTS IN OIL AND SPIRIT LAMPS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Baller, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer's Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OIL
AND SPIRIT LAMPS,"
aled the 29th December 1877, and dated the 10th July 1877,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Baller at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th July 1877.
EDMUND BALLER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer's
Clerk. IMPROVEMENTS IN OIL AND SPIRIT LAMPS."
"
My Invention consists of the construction and arrangement of parts, herein-after
described, for connecting the wick cases or tubes of the said lamps to and discon-
necting them from the bodies or reservoirs, whereby the connection and dis-
connection are very readily effected, the connection is very secure, and the parts
very durable.
My improvements in connecting and disconnecting the wick cases or tubes are
also applicable to the feed stoppers of oil and spirit lamps.
Instead of connecting the tube or wick holder plate to the collar of the body or
reservoir of the lamp by screwing as usual, I construct the parts to be connected
together and effect their connection and disconnection in the following manner :-
I make at the bottom and inner edge of the collar, fixed on the top of the body or
reservoir of the lamp, a flange, and in the said flange and at opposite points I make
a cross slot. Projecting from the bottom of the said flange and near each of the slots
described is a stop for the purpose herein-after described. These stops are situated
on opposite sides of their respective slots. I make these stops, by preference, solid
to or in one piece with the flange of the collar described; I effect this by piercing
the flange at the places where the cross slots are to be made, and bend the pierced
parts at right angles to the said flange, one part being bent in one direction, and
the other part in the opposite direction. There are thereby provided the cross slots
described, and the stops situated at the edges of the said slots. On the under side

page_text: of the tube or wick holder plate to be connected to the collar of the lamp body or
reservoir, I make two cross or fixing bars at opposite points, the said bars crossing
the tube or wick holder plate in the direction of a diameter.
In connecting the tube or wick holder to the body or reservoir of the lamp, the
cross bars described are introduced into the cross slots in the collar of the reservoir,
and the tube or wick holder is depressed until the outer ends of the cross bars are
below the flange of the collar, and then turned through a semicircle. The wick or
tube holder is thereby fixed securely to the collar. When the wick or tube holder
.is turned through a semicircle its cross bars strike the stops at the edges of the
cross slots, and its further motion is prevented. To remove the wick or tube holder
from the reservoir it is turned through a semicircle in a direction contrary to that
by which it was fastened, so as to bring its cross bars opposite the cross slots in the
flange of the collar, when the said cross bars may be raised through the said slots
and the wick holder removed from the lamp.
I prefer to make the locking cross bars of the tube or wick holder plate in one
piece with the said plate in the following manner :- I take a nearly elliptically-shaped
blank and form a slot or opening in it, partly crossing the middle of the blank, thus
leaving the metal solid or unpierced near the edges of the blank. Those parts of
the blank between the ends of the cut-away parts and the edges of the blank are
doubled or folded at their middle, so as to form projecting pieces near the edges of
the blank. These projecting pieces are afterwards properly shaped and constitute
the locking cross bars of the tube or wick holder plate herein-before described.
The shaping of the locking cross bars may be effected by the process by which the
blank is cut out.
The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before described for connecting
the wick holders to and disconnecting them from the oil reservoirs is also applicable
to the feed stoppers of oil or spirit lamps.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edmund Baller in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
January 1878.
EDMUND BALLER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer's
Clerk. IMPROVEMENTS IN OIL AND SPIRIT LAMPS."
My Invention consists of the construction and arrangement of parts, herein-after
described, for connecting the wick cases or tubes of the said lamps to and discon-
necting them from the bodies or reservoirs, whereby the connection and dis-
connection are very readily effected; the connection is very secure, and the parts
very-durable.
My improvements in connecting and disconnecting the wick cases or tubes are
also applicable to the feed stoppers of oil and spirit lamps.
Instead of connecting the tube or wick holder plate to the collar of the body or
reservoir of the lamp by screwing in the usual way, I construct the parts to be con-
nected together, and effect their connection and disconnection in the following
manner: I make at the bottom and inner edge of the collar fixed on the top of
the body or reservoir of the lamp, a flange, and in the said flange and at opposito
points I make a cross-slot. Projecting from the bottom of the said flange, and near
each of the slots described, is a stop for the purpose herein-after described. These
stops are situated on opposite sides of their respective slots.. I make these stops by
preference solid to or in one piece with the flange of the collar described. I effect
this by piercing the flange at the places where the cross slots are to be made, and
afterwards bending the pierced parts at right angles to the said flange, one part
being bent in one direction, and the other part in the opposite direction. There
are thereby provided the cross slots described, and the stops situated at the edges of
the said slots. On the under side of the tube or wick holder plate to be con-
nected to the collar of the lamp body or reservoir, I make two cross or fixing
bars at opposite points, the said bars crossing the tube or wick holder plate in the
direction of a diameter.
In connecting the tube or wick holder to the body or reservoir of the lanp, the
cross bars described are introduced into the cross slots in the collar of the reservoir,
and the tube or wick holder is depressed until the outer ends of the cross bars are
below the flange of the collar, and then turned through a semicircle. The wick or
tube holder is thereby fixed securely to the collar. When the wick or tube holder
is turned through a semicircle its cross bars strike the stops at the edges of the
cross stops, and its further motion is prevented. To remove the wick or tube
holder from the reservoir, it is turned through a semicircle in a direction contrary
to that by which it was fastened, so as to bring its cross bars opposite the cross
slots in the flange of the collar, when the said cross bars may be raised through the
said slots and the wick holder removed from the lamp.
I prefer to make the locking cross bars of the tube or wick holder plate in one
piece with the said plate in the following manner :-I take a nearly elliptically-
shaped blank and form a slot or opening in it, partly crossing the middle of the
blank, thus leaving the metal solid or unpierced near the edges of the blank.
Those parts of the blank between the ends of the cut-away parts and the edges of
the blank are doubled or folded at their middle, so as to form projecting pieces
near the edges of the blank, which projecting pieces constitute the locking
cross bars of the tube or wick holder plate, herein-before described. The shaping
of the locking cross bars may be effected by the process by which the blank is
cut out.
The arrangement or combination of parts, herein-before described, for connecting
the wick holders to, and disconnecting them from the oil reservoirs, is also applicable
to the feed stoppers of oil or spirit lamps.
I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing,
the manner in which my Invention may be performed.

page_text: Figure 1 represents in side elevation, partly in section, the burner or wick case
or holder of an oil or spirit lamp connected to the collar or metallic mount on the
body, or oil or spirit reservoir of the lamp, according to my Invention; Figure 2
is a plan of the under side of the same; and Figure 2A is also a plan of the
under side of the same, showing the burner in the act of being connected to the
mount.
Figure 3 represents in side elevation, and Figure 4 in plan of under side the
burner or wick case or holder of the lamp detached.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 represent the method of making the locking cross bars and
their plate.
Figure 8 represents in plan of upper side, and Figure 9, in plan of under
side, the collar or metallic mount which is fixed to the body or reservoir of the
lamp; Figures 10 and 11 represent cross sections of the same, the section Figure 10
being taken on the line a, a, Figure 8, and the section Figure 11 being taken on
the line b, b, Figure 8.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawing.
c is the collar or metallic mount which is fixed in the ordinary way to the top
or mouth of the body or oil or spirit reservoir of the lamp, and to which collar or
mount the lamp burner or wick holder is connected. At the inner edge of the said
fixed collar or mount c is a depressed flange d, in which flange cross slots e, e, are
made at opposite points, each slot being furnished with a stop marked e² projecting
from the bottom of the said flange. These stops e³, e², are situated on opposite sides
of their respective slots as represented. The said stops e², e², are made solid to or
in one piece with the flange d, by piercing the said flange d where the cross slots
e, e, are to be made, and bending the pierced parts at right angles to the flange, as
represented in Figures 10 and 11, one of the pierced parts being bent in one
direction, and the other pierced part in the other direction. The cross slots e, e, and
the stops e², e, are thereby formed. Those parts of the flange d which carry the
stops e, e, are slightly bent downwards out of the plane of the other parts
of the flange. These bent or depressed parts of the flange are marked d², d²,
and form inclines upon which the locking cross bars of the burner or wick holder
travel for binding the latter firmly to the mount or collar on the oil or spirit
reservoir.
On the under side of the lamp burner or wick holder f, a plate g is fixed. This
plate has on its under side two cross or fixing bars h, h. The outer ends of the said
cross bars h, h, are provided with the recesses h², h³, as best seen in Figure 3. I
prefer to make the cross or fixing bars h, h², h, h², in one piece with the plate g, in
the manner illustrated in Figures 5, 6, and 7; that is to say, I take the nearly
elliptically-shaped blank, Figure 5, and pierce in it a slot i, through which the wick
tube passes, and I also pierce the blank at the middle of each of its longer sides
with a pair of cross piercings k, k, k, k; I next double or fold the blank, Figure 5,
across its middle at the dotted line 7, and compress together the folded parts, so as
to form projecting pieces across the blank, as represented in Figures 6 and 7. A
circular plate g is thereby made, having across it the locking cross bars h, h, the
piercings k, k, in the blank forming the recesses: h², h, in the said locking bars.
The plate g thus made is soldered to the bottom of the burner or wick holder f, the
wick tube passing through the slot i.
:
In connecting the lamp burner or tube or wick holder f, provided with the
locking cross bars h, h2, h, h2, to the fixed collar or metallic mount c on the oil or
spirit reservoir, the cross bars h, h², h, h², are introduced into the cross slots e, e, in
the flange d of the said mount c, and the burner is lowered in the mount until the
recessed ends h2, 2, of the said cross bars are below the flange d of the said mount c,
as illustrated in Figure 2A, where the cross bars.h, h, are represented introduced
into the slots e, e. The burner is then turned through a semi-circle until its cross
bars h, h, strike against the stops e², e², as illustrated in Figure 2, and the. further
motion of the burner is prevented. The said burner is in this way readily and

page_text: securely connected to the collar or mount c on the oil or spirit reservoir. As the
burner is turned for fastening it the recessed ends h², 2, of the cross bars h, h, bear
against the under side of the flange d, and move in the direction of the arrows,
Figure 2. As the said recessed ends of the cross bars approach and bear upon the
inclines d², d², on the flange d, the said cross bars are drawn to or forcibly pressed
against the said flange, so as to tighten the said parts, and thereby to effectually
secure the burner rigidly to the mount.
To remove the burner or wick holder from the mount of the oil or spirit reservoir
the said burner or wick holder is turned in a direction contrary to that indicated
by the arrows in Figure 2A. The cross bars h, h, are thereby made to move from off
the inclines d², d, and are brought opposite the cross slots e, e, in the flange d,
when the said cross bars may be raised through the said slots, and the burner or
wick holder removed from the lamp.
In applying my Invention to the feed stoppers of oil or spirit lamps, I make
around the opening in the lamp in which the stopper is placed a flange similar to
the flange d, d, and having in it the cross slots e, e, and on its under side the stops
e², e², and I provide the under side of the stopper with cross or fixing bars, similar
to the bars h, h, and I connect the feed stopper to and disconnect it from the oil
or spirit lamp in the manner herein-before described with respect to the connecting
and disconnecting of the burner or wick holder to and from the fixed mount of the
lamp.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
of improvements in oil and spirit Inmps,―
The construction and arrangement or combination of parts herein-before described,
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, for connecting the burners or wick
cases or holders to and disconnecting them from the bodies or reservoirs of the said
lamps; that is to say, combining with the bottom of the lamp burner or wick case
or holder, cross or locking bars h, h2, and constructing the collar or mount fixed on
the top of the body or reservoir of the lamp with a flange d, having in it cross
slots e, e, and furnished on its under side with inclines d², d, and stops e², e², the
lamp burner or wick case or holder being connected to the fixed collar or mount
by introducing the cross bars into the cross slots in the flange of the mount, and
turning the burner or wick case or holder through about a semicircle, substantially
as described and illustrated.
Also, the adaptation of the said fastening mechanism to the connecting and dis-
connecting of the feed stoppers of oil and spirit lamps.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Baller, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
EDMUND BALLER. (L.S.)