AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CANDLES." A communication.
Sealed the 11th March 1859, and dated the 25th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 25th October 1858.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE
OP CANDLES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to indurate the exterior of tallow and other
candles that are manufactured of inferior materials, in such a manner that a
firm, smooth, and handsome external surface will be obtained, not liable to
crack and shell off, but capable of preventing the candles from "guttering,"
while their illuminating power is materially increased.
In carrying out this Invention, tallow candles, or candles manufactured of
other inferior material, that fuses at a comparatively low temperature are
coated with a pluralty of compositions, three compositions being preferred.

page_text: The first is made of stearic acid, good tallow, gum camphor, white rosin,
and gum damar, in suitable proportions, so as to produce a material whose
melting point is somewhat higher than that of which the body of the candle
is composed.
The second composition is somewhat harder and is composed of stearic
acid, good tallow, gum camphor, white wax, and gum damar in suitable
proportions.
The third or outer coating consists of a composition formed of stearic acid,
good tallow, gum camphor, and white wax, mixed in such proportions as to
produce a still less fusible material; and these several compositions are
applied by dipping the candles into them while in a fluid state in the
order above mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to a mode of indurating the exterior of tallow and other candles that
are manufactured of inferior materials, the object being to obtain a firm,
smooth, and handsome external surface not liable to crack and shell off, and
one that will prevent the candles from "guttering," while their illuminating
power will be materially increased, and they will not soften sufficiently by a
warm temperature in any climate, to be deteriorated in value.
In the annexed Drawing Fig. 1 is an external view of the improved
candle; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section of the same; and Figures 3
and 4, are longitudinal sections of candles in unfinished stages of the process of
manufacture by which the improvement or Invention is carried out.
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
Similar
This Invention is carried out in the following manner:-Tallow candles or
candles manufactured of other inferior material that fuses at a comparatively
low temperature are coated with a plurality of compositions, three compositions
being preferred.

page_text: The above three compositions have their several ingredients melted and
well mixed together, in suitable vessels and the candles are dipped successively
in each of the three compositions in the order above given, so that they will
be coated with three different layers, one over the other, as shown clearly in
Fig. 2, a representing the inner, b, the intermediate, and c, the outer coat.
By referring to the table of parts of the three compositions it will be seen
that they chiefly differ in the amount of stearic acid and tallow, the former
gradually increasing from the first to the third composition, and the latter
decreasing. Each succeeding coat that is applied to the candles is therefore
of increased hardness; the object of this is to ensure a perfect coating of the
candles.
The first composition a fuses at a comparatively low temperature, not
greatly exceeding that at which the tallow fuses, and consequently when the
tallow or other inferior candles are dipped into it, a perfect coat will be formed
on the candles (that is to say) the material composing the crude candles and
the composition a will not run together if the dipping operation be done
expeditiously, their union being a contingency which would occur if the
melting temperature of the composition a was very much above that required
to melt the crude candles.
The second composition 6 fuses at a higher temperature than a, as it contains
more stearic acid and less tallow, but not at so high a heat as to cause the
two to unite as the candles are being dipped.
The third composition c is still less fusible or melts at a higher temparature
than ; but the difference in fusibility is not so great as to cause b and c to
unite. Therefore it will be seen that an external coating c will be formed on
the candles of sufficient hardness, and one that will fuse at a comparatively
high temperature, so as not to be materially affected by a warm climate nor
be softened by being handled. There is another object in applying a plurality
of coats to inferior candles, vizt, the external coating is not liable to shell off,
for the diversity in the hardness in the several coats that are in contact is not
sufficiently great to cause such result. If a coating c could be immediately
•

page_text: coat c.
applied to a soft tallow candle it would crack and shell off, for the soft
material within would not form a firm support or bed for the outer brittle
Stearic acid is very brittle, so much so that it will crumble readily
when cold, and, in cooling, its crystals agglutinate in large masses alone;
therefore it would not answer as a coating for candles. The tallow is neces-
sary to render it soft or ductile, and also to vary its degree of fusibility. The
camphor, white wax, rosin, and gum damar are introduced, to act as divisors
or as a flux, to prevent the formation of large crystals, or the agglutination of
the same in large masses; and these ingredients thus conduce to form a hard,
smooth, and handsome surface; the gum camphor, however, being a volatile
hydro-carbon, and forming an ingredient in the compositions, one or more of
them, as described, adds materially to the illuminating power of the candles.
Each of the three compositions should be melted in a vessel of such form
as to facilitate the operation of dipping, and the compositions should be at
such temperatures as just to keep them perfectly fluid, as the coating when
the candles are dipped into the compositions in that state will be more
transparent than otherwise.
The proportions of ingredients given in the tables or formulas herein-before
stated for the compositions, may be varied as occasion may require. Stearic
acid is not always of the same quality; it varies considerably in hardness, and
more or less tallow may be used, according to the quality of stearic acid
employed; if the purest and best acid be used, the quantity of tallow should
be increased about ten per cent. above that given in the tables or formulas.
As regards the camphor, wax, gum damar, and rosin, the quantity used is not
material, as a very small portion will answer. And in the third composition c,
gum damar and rosin are not necessary; and as the wax is used more for a
finish, or to give a smooth surface, than for any other purpose, it is not
necessary in the first composition a.
Candles of inferior quality have been coated or enamelled, and stearic acid
and white wax, in connection with spirits of wine, have been used for such
purpose candles of good material having also been moulded and allowed to
cool externally and the fluid interior poured out leaving a tube of good
material to be filled by an inferior substance. A varnish formed of gum damar,
white rosin, and white wax, has been used, and applied by a brush to inferior
candles; but a coating obtained in either of the above-described ways will
crack and shell off, owing to the diversity existing between the coating and
the body of the candle. By the within-described process of manufacture this
difficulty cannot occur; the candles give a good light superior to common
tallow candles, and a basin of fluid tallow containing a portion of the coatings

page_text: is formed around the base of the flame. The hard external coating does not
fuse as readily as the interior, and hence the formation of the basin'; and
owing to the external coating fusing at a higher temperature than the tallow
at the centre, the candles will not "gutter," in case any of the warm fluid
tallow escapes over the side.
By this Invention candles can be coated at a very small advance above first
cost, and be greatly enhanced in value, the chief objection to their use being
thereby obviated.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improvement in
the Manufacture of Candles," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim generally, the coating or
covering of tallow or inferior candles with a composition or material of superior
quality to form a hard smooth surface; but what I claim under the above in
part recited Letters Patent, is, coating or covering candles manufactured of
tallow, or other inferior substance, with a pluralty of compositions formed of
stearic acid and tallow in varying proportions, together with proper fluxes, to
give different degrees of fusibility, and also certain degrees of hardness and
smoothness to the same, in connection with an increased illuminating power,
substantially as described, the candles being dipped into the several compo-
sitions, in the order of the sequences set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)