IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Marcius Silber, of Wood Street, Cheap-
side, in the City of London, Merchant, and Frederick White, of
Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, Watchmaker, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 2nd August 1870, and dated the 20th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert Marcius Silber
and Frederick White at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 20th May 1870.
We, ALBERT MARCIUS SILBER, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the
City of London, Merchant, and FREDERICK WHITE, of Camberwell, in
the County of Surrey, Watchmaker, do hereby declare the nature of the
said. Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus employed as
herein-after described for lighting and heating purposes by means of
the combustion of petroleum oil and other combustible liquids of an

page_text: analogous character in place of gas. Our improved apparatus is intended
to be used for lighting houses, churches, theatres, roads or streets, railway
trains, ships, or other public or private buildings or structures or places,
and for heating fire-places; furnaces, steam boilers, and for other heating
purposes.
In the application of our Invention the petroleum or other liquid is
supplied to a reservoir or tank, whence it flows through pipes or conduits
to one or more receiving vessels or chambers constructed and used as
herein-after described, one being employed for each lamp or burner or
set of lamps or burners. The receiving vessel or chamber is made of
any convenient form, and is provided with a self-acting float valve,
throttle valve, or ball valve, which when the liquid received into the
chamber or vessel rises above a certain level closes the supply or service
pipe. A pipe or passage leading from the receiving vessel or chamber
communicates with and supplies combustible liquid to the burner so
long as the burner is giving forth the burning liquid, that is to say, so
long as the wick is burning and the liquid is in a state of combustion so
long will the liquid be supplied to it and be continued to be drawn from
the receiving chamber, but when the light is extinguished the liquid
will cease to be so drawn, and if the service pipe be still in communi-
eation with the reservoir and the petroleum or other liquid continue to
pass into the receiving chamber or vessel when it reaches a certain
elevation therein (which it will do as it is not being carried off by com-
bustion at the burner) the float valve or ball or throttle valve will rise
and close the service pipe, and thereby prevent the further admission of
petroleum or other liquid to the vessel or chamber.
We use by preference hollow burners or wick holders, so that a light
'may be applied to kindle the required flame without it being necessary
to remove a shade, globe, and chimney. This burner consists of two
concentric rings or tubes closed at bottom and containing a wick or
wicks. A hollow central space allows the passage of the air. The
petroleum or other inflammable liquid is introduced through a pipe or
passage leading into the space between the concentric rings or tubes.
In some cases the petroleum or other liquid may be received in a
vessel or chamber inside another vessel or chamber with an orifice of
communication, so that when the fluid is at a certain level it passes from
one to another.
•

page_text: For heating purposes apparatus of a similar construction to that used
as above described for lighting purposes is employed. According to
our Invention for supplying the liquid through pipes to a number of
burners the burners may be arranged in rows upon a moveable frame
made to move on rails so as to travel to and from the boiler or other
furnace or place to be heated. Air is introduced through pipes or
passages between the rows of burners, which by preference we make of
pipeclay.
By the use of the improvements above described we are enabled to
regulate and control the supply of combustible liquid which is con-
ducted from the reservoir in which the liquid is stored to the burners,
where it is efficiently and economically applied to lighting and heating
purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, ALBERT
MARCIUS SILBER, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, and FREDERICK WHITE, of Camberwell, in the County of
Surrey, Watchmaker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White, Her
special licence that we, the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick White, our exc-

page_text: cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their,
or one of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Albert Marcius Silber and Frederick
White, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof; reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say:
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus employed, as
herein-after described, for lighting and heating purposes by means of the
combustion of oils, mineral or vegetable, and other combustible liquids
of an analogous character in place of gas. Our improved apparatus is
intended to be used for lighting houses, churches, theatres, roads, or
streets, railway trains, ships, or other public or private buildings or
structures or places, and for heating fire-places, furnaces, and steam
boilers, and for other heating purposes.
In the application of our Invention the burning oils or liquids are
supplied to a reservoir or tank, whence they flow through pipes or con-
duits to one or more receiving vessels or chambers constructed and used
as herein-after described, one being employed for each lamp or burner
or set of lamps or burners. The receiving vessel or chamber is made of
any convenient form, and is provided with a self-acting float valve or
other suitable valve which when the liquid received into the chamber or
vessel rises above a certain level closes the supply or service pipe. A
pipe or passage leading from the receiving chamber or vessel com-
municates with and supplies the oil or other combustible liquid to the
burner so long as the burner is giving forth the burning liquid, that is
to say, so long as the liquid is burning or in a state of combustion so
long will the liquid be supplied to the burner, and be continued to bo
drawn from the receiving chamber. When the light is extinguished
the liquid will cease to be so drawn, and if the supply pipe or service
pipe be still in communication with the reservoir, and if the oil or other
liquid continue to pass into the receiving chamber or vessel, then when
the oil or liquid reaches a certain elevation therein the valve will riso
i

page_text: or be made so to act as to close the supply or service pipe, and thereby
prevent the further admission of oil or other liquid to the vessel or
chamber.
We use, by preference, in certain cases hollow burners or wick holders
so that a light may be applied to kindle the required flame without it
being necessary to remove a shade, globe, and chimney. This burner
consists of two concentric rings or tubes closed at bottom and con-
taining a wick or wicks. A hollow central space allows the passage of
the air. The oil or other inflammable liquid is introduced through a
pipe or passage leading into the space between the concentric rings or
tubes;
these burners, however, are not claimed as forming separately a
part of our Invention.
In some cases the oil or other liquid may be received in a vessel or
chamber inside another vessel or chamber, with an orifice of com-
munication, so that when the fluid is at a certain level it passes from
one chamber to another.
For heating purposes apparatus of a similar construction to that used
as above described for lighting purposes is employed according to our
Invention for supplying the oil or other combustible liquid through
pipes to a number of burners. The burners may be arranged in rows
upon a moveable frame made to move on rails so as to travel to and
from the boiler or other furnace or place to be heated. Air is intro-
duced through pipes or passages between the rows of burners which by
preference we make in certain cases of pipeclay.
By the use of the improved apparatus above described we are enabled
to regulate and control the supply of combustible liquid which is con-
ducted from the reservoir in which the liquid is stored to the burners
where it is efficiently and economically applied to lighting and heating.
purposes.
The accompanying Drawings shew modes in which the Invention
may be carried into practical effect.
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of our apparatus applied to
a house, two floors of which respectively marked X and Y are indicated.
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional elevation, and Figure 3 á plan of the
chamber H, and filtering box F (with top of latter removed); Figure 4
is an elevation partly in section of the float. These three Figures aro
on a larger scale than Figure 1.

page_text: A is a tank or reservoir for holding the oil or liquid to be used for
lighting the house. This tank or reservoir is by preference fixed or
placed outside the house, and at the top thereof a is a neck through
which is an opening for filling the tank. This neck is closed by a
screw cap a*. When the tank is supplied by feed pipes communicating
with a general reservoir by which all the tanks of a town or city are
fed, then the feed pipe and opening a should be at one of the sides of
the tank instead of at the top.. B is a pipe, which may be called the
main service pipe, and which leads from the bottom of the tank A to
the cellar or lower part of the house. It is preferred to place it
parallel with and close to the ordinary waste (water) pipe C, though
it is not shown so close in the Drawing. This pipe B is opened and
closed near its upper end by a tap or cock b. At bottom this pipe
opens into a reserve tank D sunk in the ground so as to be protected
from explosion or fire. Communication between the pipe B and the
reserve tank D is opened and closed by a cock d. This cock is usually
kept carefully closed so as to shut off communication between the
pipe B and the tank D; but in case of danger of fire the cock dis
opened and the tank A and pipe B are allowed to discharge their
contents into the sunken tank D. The oil or liquid can be pumped up
again into the reservoir A by any ordinary well-known means. Or, the
pipe B may communicate at bottom, and in like manner, with the drain
of the house instead of with a tank D. w, Figure 1, is a filter placed
in the tank A, over the mouth of the main service pipe B, to filter the
It is a
oil or liquid as it passes from the tank A to the pipe B.
rectangular hollow case of wire gauze or finely perforated metal. The
oil or liquid is conducted from the pipe B to the receiving box H
through a branch pipe E widened out into a box at F and terminating
in a tap G, that is to say, E, E, are branch pipes, which lead from the
pipe B through filtering boxes F and taps G, into receiving boxes or
chambers H. Each pipe E is provided with a tap e. The box F and
tap G form, in effect, portions of the service or supply pipe leading from
the main service pipe B; or, in other words, the branch E, box F, and
tap G form a service or supply pipe. The filtering box F, which is
connected with the branch E, is also attached to the back of the
chamber H, presently to be described, and it contains a partition or
diaphragm f, made of wire gauze or perforated metal; g is an opening
at the bottom of the box F (closed by a joint, nut, or screw cap g*) for
removal of subsidence or deposit from time to time.
G is a tap

page_text: connected with and leading from the box F, and forming the termina-
tion of the service or supply pipe. This tap G leads from the box F
into the chamber H. The pipe E opens into the box F below the
partition f, and the tap G opens out of that box at a point above the
partition f, so that the oil or liquid in passing from E to G is filtered
by its passage through f. H is a vessel or chamber which contains a
float valve for opening and closing the pipe G. I is or are (one, two,
or more) pipes, which lead from the vessel H, and communicate with
burners L through conduits i. J is an overflow pipe leading from the
interior of the chamber H into the waste pipe C. The oil or liquid in
the tank A will, by the law of equilibrium of fluids, flow through the
pipe B and branch pipes E into the filtering box F and passing through
the diaphragm therein it will rise into and flow through the tap G
into the chamber H, the tap or pipe G being open, because the float
herein-after described will be depressed while the chamber H is empty,
and it will rise when the chamber H is filled with oil or liquid to a
certain level or height. From this chamber H the oil or liquid will
flow through the pipes I and through the conduits i communicating
therewith (arms, brackets, pendants, as the case may be), to the
burners L, where such oil or liquid is to be burnt and used for
illuminating purposes. So long as the burner gives off the oil or liquid
by combustion, that is to say, so long as the wick or burner is alight
and consumes the oil or liquid the flow of oil or liquid thereto will
be continuous, though its passage from the tank to the burner is not a
continuous uninterrupted passage but it is intercepted or broken in the
chamber H, as shewn. But if the burner should be extinguished and
cease to draw oil or liquid from the chamber Ḥ the level of the oil or
liquid (so long as it is supplied through E, F, G,) will rise in that
chamber until it reaches a certain elevation, then the float M. rising
with it will act through the stem K on the tap or pipe G and will close
the passage through that tap G so as to stop the supply of oil or liquid
to the burner.
.
We recommend that the pipes used for conveying the oil or liquid
to the box and burners should be made of best tin. The receiving box
may be of tin or brass. The brackets, arms, joints, and other parts

page_text: .
which (when actuated by the float M at the end of the stem) opens and
closes the fluid way through the spout. or tap G. At its further end the
stem K is jointed to a hollow float M made of, well fired china or
porcelain. A vertical section of this float is shewn in Figure 4. When
the float is moulded a hole is left in it in the thickness in between the
two internal hollows m*.. Into this hole a cotter or wedge of hard wood
t is driven, and into it a tapering flat sided or otherwise shaped brass
pin or point t* is forced, the upper end of which is fastened by a short
pin to the stem K. By these means the float is delicately hung or
articulated to the stem (which curves upward beyond the point of sus-
pension of the float) and thus great nicety of adjustment and regularity
of work are obtained. When the tank A is supplied with oil or liquid
and the main tap 6 opened and all the taps e in the branch pipes E are
opened (the tap d being of course carefully closed) the oil or liquid will
be continuously supplied to the burners while these are kindled or ignited,
and owing to the operation of the valves as above mentioned it will
cease to be supplied to the burners when the lights are extinguished.
In Figure 1 a pendant lamp is shewn similar in general construction
(apart from the application of our Invention) to a chandelier or gasalier.
Here the pipe or conduit i leads into a receiving chamber or vessel H
similar to the chamber H above described, and near the end of this pipe
where it enters the chamber is a valve worked by a float M on a steni K
arranged and operating similarly to the float M above described. The
chamber H is fitted in a hollow spherical chamber P formed of two
separable halves closing together like a lid and a box. The upper half
has a central orifice at the top and slides up and down on the outside of
the tubular rod p in which is the conduit i. It is slidden up in order
that one may get at the chamber H which rests on the lower half of the
spherical case P. Pipes i, i, lead from the chamber H through holes in
the case P to the burners L. An orifice is provided in the bottom of
the box H through which an overflow pipe is inserted. The end of this
in the chamber P under the box H for the
pipe opens into the spacc
discharge of the overflow oil which can be removed by opening a hole in
the bottom of the chamber P usually kept closed by a joint or nut p*.
The apparatus may be applied to burners used for heating purposes,
such as heating furnaces, boilers, ovens, and other arrangements for
obtaining and applying heat.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention and in what
manner the same may be performed, we declare that we claim, the con-

page_text: struction and use of apparatus for lighting and heating purposes wherein
the flow of the burning oil or liquid is regulated and controlled
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Albert Marcius Silber and
Frederick White, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Eighteenth day of November, in the year One thousand eight
hundred and seventy.
Witness,
E. DE PASS,
68, Fleet Street,
London.
A. M. SILBER. (L.S.)
(L.S.)
F. WHITE.