IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF APPARATUS FOR RAPIDLY PRODUCING AND EFFICIENTLY MAINTAINING HIGH DEGREES OF HEAT FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Theodore Dann, of 32, Canterbury Road,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF APPARATUS FOR
RAPIDLY PRODUCING AND EFFICIENTLY MAINTAINING HIGH DEGREES OF
HEAT FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES." A communication from
abroad by Michael Flürscheim, of Gaggenau, in the Empire of Germany.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Theodore Dann
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th October 1880.
JOSEPH THEODORE DANN, of 32, Canterbury Road, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, Civil Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF
APPARATUS FOR RAPIDLY PRODUCING AND EFFICIENTLY MAINTAINING HIGH
DEGREES OF HEAT FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES." A communi-
cation from abroad by Michael Flürscheim, of Gaggenau, in the Empire of
Germany.
The object of this Invention is to produce and keep up an intense heat for the
working of all kinds of mechanical and chemical apparatus and appliances for
soldering metals, for heating flat irons, cauterising instruments, castrating irons,
and instruments for branding animals and marking packing cases, for working
small steam boilers, and actuating small steam engines and other prime movers, as
well as for blasting and illuminating purposes, and to effect all this with great
rapidity and efficacy, and without employing therefor any kind of blast or incurring
any of the manifold drawbacks, such as spilling of liquids, priming, or clogging,
which are more or less unavoidable in all the existing constructions of heating
apparatus fed with liquid fuel. To this effect I provide a casing or vessel of
cylindrical, prismatical, spherical, or other suitable shape, which I fill with a
volatile hydrocarburet, such as gazoline or naphtha, or with ether, benzoline, or
other appropriate liquid fuel. Such casing vessel may be furnished with a con-
venient handle, either in a line with or at an angle to the axis of the vessel.
Within the same casing or vessel I place a pipe or tube filled with wick, and
likewise sheathed therein, for which any other porous or capillary material may be
substituted. In connection with the casing, and either in a line with or at an
angle to its axis, I provide a burner of the description known as Bunsen's, which I
fill with asbestos, sand, metallic granules, or any other capillary or porous substance,
and which may be enclosed within a metallic tissue or wire-gauze; this burner
being directly fixed to the casing or vessel by means of suitable joints, when its
axis coincides with that of the vessel, or else communicating with the aforesaid

page_text: vessel by means of an intermediate pipe, channel, or orifice to which it is fitted in
those cases in which it is preferred to place the burner at an angle to the vessel.
The casing or vessel having been filled with the desired liquid through an aperture
provided for that purpose, I close this aperture hermetically by means of a screw
or other suitable appliance, and all other joints closing also hermetically the vessel
is then hermetically sealed. In order to adjust the supply of liquid or vapour to
the burner I provide a wire penetrating through the interior wick, and having a
conical, spherical, or other suitable termination which communicates with the
interior aperture of the burner, that is to say, with that part of the burner that
connects it directly or indirectly with the recipient of the hydrocarburet, so that
by either withdrawing that wire or pushing it further in I am enabled to reduce
or increase the size of that aperture. The external extremity of the wire I furnish
with a micrometer screw or other suitable appliance, by means of which the conic
or spherical end may be pressed further down through the wick or partly with-
drawn therefrom so as to regulate the size of the flame or extinguish it when
required. For the pointed wire a tap, screw, or other suitable appliance may be
substituted, and instead of being inserted into the interior wick it may be placed
at a right angle thereto in a vessel, or else in the burner. With the burner, the
internal tube of which may itself have perforated sides, I connect a perforated
external tube or casing made of platinum, iridium, or other suitable metal, and
forming a kind of focus, by means of which I facilitate the combustion of the gases
or vapours evolved from the liquid, and am enabled to re-light the flame when it
has been accidentally extinguished. To the external burner tube or focus a chimney
with perforated sides may likewise be fitted.
The working of the apparatus constructed according to my Invention is as
follows: The vessel or casing having been filled with the requisite liquid in the
manner herein before stated, I partly withdraw the conic point of the wire by means
of a twist of the micrometer screw, and by this means place the burner in com-
munication with the liquid that has permeated through and impregnated the wick
within and around the concentric pipe or tube. I then heat the vessel or the
burner, or both, by means of a small auxiliary flame, whereby I evolve from the
liquid combustible gases or vapours that escape under the pressure to which they
are exposed from the burner, and are ignited by the auxiliary flame. The
atmospheric air with which they are commingled as they issue through the per-
forations of the burner chimney imparts enhanced heating power to these gases or
vapours, by means of which the casing or vessel containing the liquid is heated in
its turn, and a continuous production of gas or combustible vapours is effected.
While this is being done the size of the flame may be regulated by twists of the
micrometer screw at the external extremity of the pointed wire, or the flame may
be extinguished by screwing the wire down, and thus precluding all further
accession of liquid to the burner.
By fitting the apparatus constructed according to my Invention to the implement
or appliance that is to be heated, or placing it directly or indirectly in communi-
cation with such implement or appliance am enabled to effect the object for
which it is designed. Thus the burner with its tube and chimney may be fitted
within one of the usual hollow flat irons, and the vessel containing the liquid and
furnished with a suitable handle may be fitted outside the same, the two parts of
the apparatus communicating with each other by a vertical tube or channel.
Similarly any other appliance that is to be exposed to the heat produced by the
apparatus may be fixed to or connected with the said apparatus, and the shape or
configuration of each individual part or organ may likewise vary in accordance
with the requirements of each individual case, so that, for instance, instead of
bringing the vapours or the flame to bear upon the object directly they may be
transmitted thereto through one or more rectilinear tubes, through a worm, or any
other suitable channel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph Theodore Dann in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
April 1881.
JOSEPH THEODORE DANN, of 32, Canterbury Road, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF
APPARATUS FOR RAPIDLY PRODUCING AND EFFICIENTLY MAINTAINING HIGH
DEGREES OF HEAT FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES." A communi-
cation from abroad by Michael Flürscheim, of Gaggenau, in the Empire of
Germany.
In
This Invention has for its object to produce and keep up an intense heat, such as
is required in the working of all kinds of apparatus and appliances designed for
various mechanical and chemical purposes, as, for example, blasting and illuminating,
the heating of flat irons, of cauterising instruments, of castrating and soldering
irons, and of instruments for branding animals, and for marking packing cases, the
working of small steam boilers, and the actuating of small steam engines and other
prime movers; and to effect all this with great rapidity and efficacy, and without
requiring any kind of blast or incurring any of the manifold risks or inconveniences,
such as spilling liquid, priming, or clogging, which are more or less unavoidable in
all the existing constructions of heating apparatus fed with liquid fuel. To this
effect I provide a casing or vessel of cylindrical, spherical, prismatical, or other
suitable shape, which I fill with a volatile hydro-carburet, such as gazoline or
naphtha, or with ether, benzoline, or other appropriate liquid fuel. I furnish such
casing or vessel with a convenient handle, either in a line with, or at an angle to,
the axis of the vessel. Within the same casing or vessel I place a pipe or tube
filled with and sheathed in wick or other porous or capillary material.
connexion with the casing, and either in a line with, or at an angle to, its axis, I
provide a burner of the description known as Bunsen's, which I fill with either
asbestos, sand, metallic granules, or any other permeable or porous substance, and
which may be enclosed within a metallic tissue or wire-gauze; this burner being
directly fixed to the vessel by means of suitable joints in those cases in which its
axis coincides with that of the vessel, whilst in those cases in which it is preferred
to place the burner at an angle to the vessel, the burner communicates with it by
means of an intermediate pipe, channel, or orifice. The casing or vessel having
been filled with the requisite liquid through an aperture provided for that purpose,
I close this aperture hermetically by means of a screw or other suitable appliance,
and all the other joints also closing hermetically, the vessel is then hermetically
sealed. In order to adjust the supply of liquid or vapour to the burner, I provide
a long pin or wire penetrating through the wick contained within the pipe or tube,
and having a conical, spherical, or other suitable termination which communicates
with the interior aperture of the burner, that is to say, with that part of the burner
which connects it directly or indirectly with the recipient of hydro-carburet, so
that, by either withdrawing that wire or pushing it further in, I am enabled to
either increase or reduce the size of that aperture. The other extremity of the
long pin or wire, that is to say, the external one, I furnish with a micrometer screw
or other suitable appliance, by means of which the conic or spherical end aforesaid
may be pressed further down through the wick or partly withdrawn therefrom, so as
to regulate the size of the flame or extinguish it, when required. A tap, screw, or
other appropriate appliance may be substituted for the pointed wire, which, instead
of being inserted in the wick within the tube, may also be placed at a right angle
thereto, either in the vessel or in the burner. The burner consists of one tube which

page_text: is closed at the top, and whose sides are perforated with minute openings, and another
tube surrounding the first, and furnished with suitable apertures for the air to
enter, and forming the usual kind of chimney of the Bunsen burner. With the
burner I connect at the top of the surrounding tube a third small perforated tube
or casing, made of platinum, iridium, or other suitable metal, and forming a kind of
focus, by means of which I facilitate the combustion of the gases or vapours evolved
from the liquid, and which enables me to re-light the flame when it has been
accidentally extinguished. Around the Bunsen burner an external tube may be
placed, to which the article or implement that is to be heated may be fitted.
By attaching or fitting the apparatus constructed according to my Invention to
the implement or appliance that is to be heated, or placing it directly or indirectly
in communication with such implement or appliance, I am enabled to effect the
object for which the apparatus is designed. Thus, the burner, with its tube and
chimney, may be fitted within one of the usual hollow flat irons, and the vessel
containing the liquid and furnished with a suitable handle may be fitted outside
the same, the two parts of the apparatus communicating with each other by a
vertical tube or channel. Similarly, any other appliance that is to be exposed to
the heat produced by the apparatus may be fixed to or connected with the said
apparatus, and the shape or configuration of each individual part or organ may
likewise vary in accordance with the requirements of each individual case, so that,
for instance, instead of bringing the vapours or the flame to bear upon the object
directly they may be transmitted thereto through one or more rectilinear tubes,
through a worm, or through any other suitable channel,
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings I have shewn in Figure 1 a longitudinal
section, and in Figure 2 a plan of au apparatus constructed according to my
Invention, with a case or box mounted thereon for the article to be operated upon
to be fitted to; Figure 3 is an end view of the same apparatus, and Figure 4 a
cross section through the continuation of the vessel or casing and the Bunsen
burner; Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of a similar apparatus with a soldering
iron attached to it, and Figure 6 is a cross section of part of the apparatus
representing a longitudinal section of the soldering iron; Figures 7 and 8 are
external views of lamps constructed upon the principle of my apparatus, as
herein before described, the former being fitted with the usual kind of worm and
intended for culinary and general heating, the latter for lighting purposes;
Figure 9 is a longitudinal section of a hollow flat iron with the apparatus
constructed according to my Invention attached thereto. Identical letters of
reference denote identical parts throughout. A is the handle; B, the tube or
casing, which, in Figures 1 to 6, is cylindrical, and in Figures 7 to 9 spherical; Cis
the opening for admitting the hydrocarburet or other liquid fuel to the interior of
the tube B; D is the concentric tube, with the wick or other porous material
shewn within and without, being in a line with the handle A in Figures 1
to 6, and perpendicular thereto in Figure 9; E is the Bunsen burner, concentric
with the tube D in the arrangements Figures 1 to 6, and perpendicular
to that tube in Figure 9; F is the chimney of the Bunsen burner; it has
perforated sides, whilst the interior burner tube has only one small opening
The tube E is
at the top E¹, which is screwed into the burner tube E.
filled with asbestos or other porous substance.
G is the external tube that surrounds
the Bunsen burner E, F. H is the focus of the burner flame; it consists of a
platinum wire bundle or a tube of platinum netting, through which the flame when
accidentally extinguished, may be rekindled. G¹ is the regulating wire or pin
with its pointed internal extremity. It passes through the handle A, and is

page_text: concentric with the vessel or casing B, and the whole of the apparatus in Figures 1
to 6, whereas in Figure 9 it is at a right angle to the handle A and the burner E.
K is the micrometer screw, by means of which the wire G¹ may be pushed further
in or partly withdrawn. L is the casing fitted to the internal tube G of the
apparatus in Figures 1, 2, for supporting the article that is to be operated upon by
the flame issuing from the burner E, E¹. M is the soldering iron attached to the
same part of the apparatus in Figures 5, 6. N is the hollow flat-iron to which the
apparatus is fitted in Figure 9. O is the worm through which the heat produced
in the apparatus constructed according to my Invention is propagated and carried
to its destination in Figure 7, and P is the burner used for lighting purposes in the
arrangement shewn in Figure 8. In this last arrangement the vessel or casing B is
constructed upon an ornamental design, but I reserve to myself to give to the
apparatus constructed according to my Invention any shape or configuration that
may be suited to the purpose for which it is intended.
The working of the apparatus constructed according to my Invention is as
follows:-Through the opening C, which may be placed in any other part than
that shewn in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, I fill the vessel or casing B
with the requisite liquid in the manner herein before stated. I partly withdraw
the conic or spherical part of the wire G' from within the pipe or tube D by means
of a twist of the micrometer screw K, and by this action I place the burner E in
communication with the liquid that has permeated through and impregnated the
wick within and around the concentric pipe or tube D. I then heat the vessel B
or the burner E, or both, by means of a small auxiliary flame, and in doing so I
evolve from the liquid combustible gases or vapours that escape under the pressure
to which they are exposed from the burner E, E¹, and are ignited by the auxiliary
flame. The atmospheric air upon entering through the perforations of the burner
chimney F, and commingling with these gases or vapours, imparts enhanced heating
powers to them as they issue through the focus H, and by this means the casing or
vessel B which contains the liquid is heated in its turn, and a continuous production
of gas or combustible vapours is effected, so that the flame issuing from the
burner E, E, is kept permanently fed while the operation in which the apparatus
is employed is going on. During the progress of this operation the size of the
flame may be regulated by twists of the micrometer screw K at the external
extremity of the pointed wire G¹, and when the flame is required no longer, it may
be extinguished by simply screwing the wire G¹ down, for by this means that
extremity of the burner E into which the wire Genters is closed up, and all further
accession of liquid to the burner E is precluded, so that the flame being fed no
longer must necessarily die out almost instantaneously. As regards the working of
the flame itself, it differs in no way from that employed in any other contrivance
intended for the same purpose.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and illustrated the same
in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, I wish it to be understood that I do not
claim the use or employment of hydrocarburets generally as a means of producing
heat, the same having heretofore been used for the same purpose, but what I
claim is,―
Firstly. The use or employment of a recipient of liquid fuel in connexion with a
Bunsen burner attracting through capillary channels the fluid that feeds it, in
combination with an appliance for enlarging or reducing at will the opening or
orifice that connects the said burner with the recipient of liquid fuel for heating or
lighting purposes, in the manner herein set forth and illustrated in the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
Secondly. The use or employment of a burner fed by the gases or vapours
generated by its own heat, in combination with a hearth of platinum or other
suitable metal, for the purpose of more completely burning the gases and vapours
produced by the apparatus constructed according to my Invention, of re-igniting
such gases or vapours when extinguished, of heating the burner itself, and of

page_text: generating light, in the manner and with the object herein set forth and illustrated
in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Theodore Dann, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
JOSEPH THEODORE DANN. (L.S.)