CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
DUNSCOMB BRADFORD, Citizen of the United States of North America, but
now residing in Dorset Place, in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-bone, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourth day of October,
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, in the second year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Daniel Dunscomb Bradford, His especial licence that I, the said Daniel
Dunscomb Bradford, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Daniel Dunscomb Bradford, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of fourteen years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of His Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, His Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and also in all His Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention
of which I am possessed in consequence of a communication made to me by
Solomon Andrew, residing at Amboy, New Jersey, in the said Province of
the United States of North America, of." CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging, me, the said
Daniel Dunscomb Bradford, by an instrument in writing under my hand

page_text: and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion of which I am so possessed as aforesaid, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Daniel Dunscomb Bradford, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
In Figure 1, A represents part of an arm, tube, or branch proceeding from
a reservoir or vessel containing oil or other fit and proper material intended to
be converted into vapour or gas and flame, in the manner to be described here-
after. The oil or other material is preserved at a constant level or height,
hereafter stated, upon the fountain principle, or in any other well-known
method. The supply may be admitted or shut off by the stopcock B, or other-
wise regulated. The end of the arm or branch A has a female screw C formed
within it, as shewn in the section in Figure 2. The upper end of this tube D
is surmounted by a cap or burner, consisting of the three following parts
soldered together, or otherwise permanently united:-E, the neck or base,
shewn connected with the other parts in elevation in Figure 1, and in section in
Figures 2 and 3, and detached in section in Figure 8, and in plan in Figure 10.
F, the jet, in figure like the frustrum of a cone, and pierced with a number of
minute apertures or orifices, shewn connected with other parts in elevation in
Figure 1, and in section in Figures 2 and 3, and detached in Figures 7 and 9, of
which latter Figure 7 is an elevation, and Figure 9 a view of the outside. G is the
turret, shewn connected with the other parts in elevation in Figure 1, and in sec-
tion in Figures 2 and 3. H is a perforated stopper, somewhat tapering, shewn in
section in Figure 11, and in plan in Figure 12. It is soldered to the tube D, near
the upper end of it, as shewn in the sections in Figures 2 and 4, and its use is
completely to close the bottom of the cap or burner by tightly fitting within
the neck E. Upon the upper end of the tube D a spiral coil of thin sheet
copper, pliable to the hand, is to be placed as shown in the section in Figure 2,
and the particular construction of which said coil will be described hereafter.
As the burner and the tube D to which it is affixed become heated, in the
manner to be described hereafter, the oil or other material rises up into the
spiral coil, and when in this situation is exposed to the heat given out by
the turret, and is converted into vapour or gas, which, in consequence

page_text: of its expansion, escapes through the minute apertures of the jet, and is there
kindled by the flame of alcohol or other readily inflammable liquid poured into
the small metallic cup I and set fire to. The flame thus produced heats the
tube D, and the burner affixed to it, sufficiently to volatilize the oil or other
material to be converted into vapour or gas, which then escapes through the
above-mentioned minute apertures in the jet F, and being ignited by the burn-
ing alcohol, or other material, forms as many flames as there are apertures,
and as these flames are adjacent to the turret G it thereby becomes sufficiently
heated to continue the volatilizing of the oil or other material, and the conse-
quent generation of vapour or gas, so long as the supply of oil or other mate-
rial continues. The use thereof of the alcohol or other inflammable liquid
poured into the cup I is only to begin the volatilization of the oil or other
material, which goes on afterwards by means of the heat produced by its own
combustion; but though I use and prefer a cup I filled with alcohol or other
inflammable liquid for commencing the volatilization of the oil or other
material, yet any other equally efficacious means of effecting the same purpose
may be employed.
Figure 3 is a section of the turret G, the jet F, and the neck E, which latter
is fitted to and supported upon the stopper H affixed to the upper end of the
tube D, as shown in Figure 2, and also in Figure 4, which latter is a section
of the tube D, stopper H, and cup I. In this Figure 4, and also in the
section in the Figure 2, the tube D will be seen to be formed with its internal
bore contracted near its upper end, the object of which is to present an obstacle
to the sudden repulsion of the oil or other material in the said tube by the
expansive force of the vapour or gas contained within the burner. The
stopper H may also be made into the form of a cup, tapering outwards, in
order to fit accurately over the neck E, as shown in the section Figure 5.
Although the burner is fitted on the part H so as to be air-tight, the two must
not be soldered together, as it will be necessary to take off the burner fron
time to time in order to be able the more readily to clear the minute aper-
tures in the jet from any carbonaceous matters which may occasionally form
there, and would otherwise obstruct the free passage of the vapour and gas
through them, as well as also to clean the other parts which may require it,
and to take out and clean the spiral coil of metal before-mentioned, or the
bundle or brush of wires hereafter mentioned, from any adherent carbonaceous
matters which might obstruct the rising of the oil or other material, or other-
wise embarrass the operation of the lamp.
In Figure 6, and in section in Figure 5, the upper part of the tube D is
shown as enlarged at J, the intent of which is to receive within the said

page_text: enlarged part a bundle or brush of wires similar to that shewn at K in
'Figure 13, it being affixed at its lower end to a metallic plate or block having
´a hole in its centre to permit the oil or other material to pass through and to
be received into the midst of the wires to be volatilized and exposed to the
'heated turret, and conveyed into vapour or gas to form the flames of the lamp
in the manner before described. But instead of a bundle or brush of wires K,
placed in the enlargement J of the tube D, a spiral coil of thin sheet copper,
before mentioned, and which is placed upon the upper end of the tube D, as
shown in the section in Figure 2, is preferred from its conveniences. In
Figure 4, L shews the upper end of the tube D as being made conical
or tapering in order to receive readily upon it a spiral coil of copper M, as
shewn in the section in Figure 2. The most convenient and useful shape
'of the coil M is shewn in extension in Figure 15. This should be coiled into
a roll, beginning at the widest end N, upon a round stick or wire, the diameter
of which is a little less than that of the tube D, and then separately and tightly
placed on the upper end of the said tube, as shewn in Figure 2. In Figure 4,
I is a section of the metal cup before mentioned, which is soldered to and
around the tube D near its lower end, and has a flat bottom which presses on
the arm or branch A when the tube D is screwed into the said arm or
branch, as is also shewn in the section in Figure 2:
The burners may be made in a variety of ornamental forms, and their
their jets may have more or fewer apertures in them, according to their size;
'thus they may be made even as small as that shown in elevation, with the
tube which supports it, in Figure 16, and yet contain four or five minute
apertures to produce as many flames. And as more vapour or gas is
generated by the flames of the lamp than is requisite for the continuation
of the process, the burners, when made sufficiently large, may even have
'affixed to them side branches or tubes with apertures, such, for instance, as
those shown at 0, 0, in Figure 17. The oil or other material is preserved
at a level or height even with the top of the tube D. And it is recom-
'mended, as preferable, that the bore of the tube D, for a burner of the size
of that shown in Figure 1, do not exceed one eighth of an inch in diameter,
and that it be increased or diminished as the burner is larger or smaller, in
about the same proportion. The burner, and the parts immediately connected
'and used therewith, may be made in a variety of ways, so long as their essential
principles or properties be retained, and they may be made of any fit and
proper material capable of sustaining the heat to which they are necessarily
subjected, but that which is least susceptible to the destructive influences of
'the heat caused and required is to be preferred. Brass answers a good purpose

page_text: for the tube D, stopper H, and cup I, Figure 4; and the same metal, well
plated with silver, offers an excellent article for the turret G, the jet F, and the
neck E, Figure 3, in the junctures of all which hard solder should be employed.
The spiral coil or brush F may be such as is commonly employed in the manu-
facture of thimbles, or other such like articles; and the jet and neck formed
of two separate parts, similar to those shewn in Figures 7 and 8, and in plan
in Figures 9 and 10, and combined in the manner shown in section in
Figure 14, that is, that the jet have its outer border made to receive the upper
part of the neck within it, and be burnished over the edge of the latter before
soldering them together. The parts thus united may afterwards be inilled or
corded in the usual way, in order to give a firmer hold to the burner in fixing
it upon or separating it from the stopper H attached to the tube D.
It is not intended to claim under this Patent either the conversion of oil or
other material into vapour or gas in order to kindle it into flame for affording
light in lamps; or the brush or bundle of wires, or spiral coil of metal, so far
as they are substitutes for the wick of a lamp. But I claim that part of
the apparatus herein described under the name of a turret, and the combina-
tion of that turret with a coil or brush of metal for the purpose of volatilizing
the oil or liquid for affording light by means of the heat produced by the jets
of inflammable vapour or gas with which the turret is nearly in contact.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Dunscomb Bradford, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
D. DUNSC (L.S.) BRADFORD.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourth day of April, in the
second year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
Daniel Dunscomb Bradford came before our said Lord the King in His
Chancery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
Instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the
Third.