A CERTAIN IMPROVED LAMP
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RALPH
WATSON, of York Place, Portman Square, 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 Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of February, in the second year of
His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Ralph Watson, His especial licence, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Ralph Watson, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Ralph Watson, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, the Invention of "A CERTAIN IMPROVED LAMP," communicated
to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Ralph Watson, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery, within six calendar months next and imme-
diately 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Ralph Watson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner of carrying it into effect, are described in manner following, refe-
rence being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say),—
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 represent one of the said improved lamps, adapted
for a table lamp. The burner is of the kind usually called an argand burner,
videlicit. It consists of a hollow circular cotton wick inclosed in the annular
space between two concentric tubes, which annular space is supplied with oil
from the oil reservoir, the internal surface of the wick being fed with a
current of atmospheric air passing up through the inside of the internal tube,
and the external surface of the wick being also supplied with a current of
atmospheric air surrounding it within the glass chimney. In the argand
burners commonly in use the external tube and the internal tube are soldered
together at the lower part in order to make an oil-tight channel for the oil in
which the wick is immersed, as is shewn in Figure R, which is a section of a
common argand burner. The wick is fitted upon a small piece of tube 1, 1,
which is enclosed within another tube 2, and this second tube fits over the
internal tube 6 of the burner, and has a vertical slit in it, into which a pin c
projects from the outside of the wick tube 1, and another pin on the inside of
the wick tube takes into a spiral groove on the outside of the internal tube b.
The carrier tube 2 has a ring or framework d, soldered on its upper end, to
turn it round by, in order to raise or depress the wick, and the ring d rests on
the top of the external tube. A defect of this plan is, that by having two tubes
within the annular space destined for the oil, that space is necessarily made
too wide, and the wick is not placed so as to receive the internal and external
currents of air with the greatest advantage, for the wick is usually placed near
to the internal tube, the thickness of the carrier tube 2 intervening between it
and the external tube, and hence it is not fed with so active a current of
air externally as internally, the annular space being in fact much wider than
the thickness of the wick, the latter cannot be so perfectly enclosed between
the two currents of air as it ought to be. Another defect is, that as the
ring d rests on the top of the external tube of the burner, the oil in the
annular space is considerably below the level of the top of the tube, whence
the wick is not properly supplied with oil, because the capillary attraction will
not draw the oil up into the wick more than a certain height, and so the wick
is obliged to be burned too close to the heated metal, and after a time
becomes charred, and causes the flame to diminish in brilliancy.
In the improved lamp represented in Figures 1 to 5, the internal and
external tubes are not soldered together, but are fitted together at their lower

page_text: ends, so as to form an oil-tight joint, and yet to be capable of being turned
round freely one on the other. In the improved lamp represented in Figure 1,
conical plug c is formed on the lower part of the internal tube b, which is
ground very truly, and fitted into a corresponding conical seat formed in the
lower end of the external tube a. Hence, when the latter is placed on and
fitted over the former, it presses down upon it, and forms a tight fitting of a
common cock into its conical seat, the reservoir and all the upper parts of the
lamps being attached to the external tube a, and tending by their weight to
press the two conical surfaces into close contact with each other, and so to
make the fitting quite oil-tight, if the work is properly executed. A small
groove is formed in the lower end of the conical plug c at d (see Figure 3),
and a corresponding pin e is fixed to the lower edge of the external tube,
which pin, when the external tube is fitted over the internal tube, enters into
the groove d, and catches under the lower end of the plug, so as to prevent
the external tube from being drawn up off its plug c, but to permit it to be
turned freely round upon it. Note. Instead of the groove d and pin e, a
couple of small screws a, a, Fig. 5, may be screwed through ears y, y, formed
on the lower end of the tube a. When screwed in with their ends under the
cone, as in Figure 5, they will prevent the tube a being lifted up, and will
allow it to be turned round freely. When the tube a is to be taken off to
clean the burner, the screws a, a, must be turned back so as to be clear of the
conical plug. The wick is fastened in the usual way on a small tube (i), see
Figure 4, which has a pin g projecting from its outer surface, taking into a
vertical groove in the external tube, and another pin on its internal surface,
taking into a spiral groove m formed on the outside of the internal tube. To
raise or lower the wick the upper part of the lamp is to be turned round upon
the conical plug of the internal tube, by laying hold of one of the branch
pipes C. The edge of the vertical groove in which the pin (9) enters will
compel the wick tube (i) to move round with the said external tube, rising at
the same time by reason of the spiral groove m, all which parts are sufficiently
obvious, by inspection of the Drawing, to persons conversant with the parts of
lamps, to require no further description.
By this method of making the external and internal tubes of the burner in
two independent pieces, one of which can be turned round upon the other to
raise the wick, I am enabled to dispense with a separate carrier tube for
carrying the wick tube, and consequently with a given size of burner the
annular space for the oil may be made narrower than usual. Hence the wick
can be placed, as it ought to be, close to the external tube, and be at the
same time close to the internal tube, so as to be enclosed between two

page_text: sheets of atmospheric air, and be more perfectly fed therewith than in lamps
in which the said annular space for the oil has to contain two tubes; also
by lifting the external tube off the internal one, the interior of the burner
The reservoir is placed above the top of
is accessible for cleaning the same.
the burner, as shewn by the Drawing, and is adapted to maintain the oil
always at the same level in the burner as long as there is any oil left in the
reservoir. It is formed of two parts, a broad flat tray or annular channel A, A,
to which the branch pipes C are soldered, and a reservoir B, B, fitting into
the tray. From the lower side of the reservoir B two short pipes n, n
descend, so that when the reservoir is placed in the tray A, the pipes n, n,
enter a little way into the pipes C, but they are of less diameter than the
pipes C, so that the external air can get into the pipes n,n (when their
mouths are uncovered), between the tray and the reservoir, and round the
annular space left between the pipes n and the pipes C, see Figure 1, the
reservoir B being made to fit only loosely into the tray for that purpose. To
fill the reservoir it is taken out and inverted, and oil is poured into one of
the pipes n through a small funnel. The air that is contained in the reservoir
will escape out of the opposite pipe n until the reservoir is full, which will be
shewn by oil issuing out at that same pipe n. The reservoir is then to be
turned round, keeping the orifices of the pipes n closed with the fingers and
placed in the tray A; and if in doing so the orifice of one pipe be kept still
closed by the finger while the other pipe n is inserted into one of the pipes C,
and then the former be put quickly into its place, hardly any oil will escape
into the tray, A. When the reservoir is placed, as in Figure 1, with both
pipes n entering into the pipes C, the oil will flow down from the reservoir B
through the pipes n and C, and rise up in the burner as high as the level of
the lower ends of the pipes n, an equivalent quantity of air getting into the
reservoir through the pipes n to occupy the space of the oil that flows out.
When the pipes C and reservoir are full up to a little above the mouths of the
pipes n, no more oil will pass out of the reservoir, because the mouths of the
pipes being closed by the oil, no air can get into the reservoir, and the oil is
therefore retained therein by the pressure of the atmosphere. The oil will
always stand in the burner as high as the level of the mouths of the pipes n,
during the burning of the lamp, as long as any oil remains in the reservoir;
because when any portion of oil is drawn up into the wick, and consumed
in the combustion, the oil in the pipe C will sink a little below the level of
the mouths of the pipes n and partially uncover them. Then air will get in
at those pipes and pass up into the reservoir, and so allow a corresponding
portion of oil to flow into the pipes C and into the burner.

page_text: The principle and operation of this mode of supplying a burner so as to
keep the oil always at a given level, are the same as in the ordinary fountain
lamp, and being well known to lamp makers, need not be further described.
The chimney is shewn in Figure 1. It is nearly cylindrical, like the
burner of a gas lamp, but not quite, videlicit, it is slightly tapering, the
diameter at the bottom being a little less that at the top.. I prefer this form
to that in common use, because it produces a better directed draught of air
around the wick; for the bend that is usually made in the chimney of a lamp,
as shewn in Figure R, tends to throttle the current of air just where it meets
the flame, and has thereby an injurious effect on the combustion proper for
producing a brilliant light; also a chimney of the shape shewn in Figure 1,
videlicit, slightly conical, the largest end being at the top, is less liable to.
break from the heat than a chimney cylindrical from the plate upwards.
The chimney is placed on a tube k, into which it fits tight; and
inside of that tube a small concentric ones is fixed by small arms or
plates, which is of a proper size to fit tightly on the external tube of
the burner, but yet it can be slided up and down upon it to shorten or
lengthen the chimney, according to the state of the atmosphere or the
quality of the oil; for sometimes an addition to or diminution of the
length of the chimney will materially influence the burning of a lamp.
Note. I sometimes make the lower part of the chimney of the shape shewn
by the dotted lines, Figure 1, whereby the tendency of the flame to flare up.
through the chimney, when the air is agitated in the vicinity of the lamp; is
diminished. The lower part of the tube 6 is soldered into a brass cup (p),
with holes around its upper part to admit air to enter into the interior of the
tube b, and to the cup (p) is soldered a short tin neck or tube that fits into
the upper part of the column, in which a chamber q is formed to receive any
waste oil or other dirt that may drop from the lamp in burning. A small
stud r is formed in the chamber q, which enters into a groove left in the neck
to prevent the internal tube from being turned round, and make it a fixture
with the column. There are small holes in the upper surface of the cup p,
see Figures 1. and 3, to allow any oil which may overflow and trickle down
outside the burner to drop into the waste cup p. Note.-I do not fix any
precise dimensions for the parts of the above-described lamp, but I have found
a lamp made with the parts of the sizes and proportions shewn by the Drawings
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, to burn very well with common oil, and with liquid
cocoa-nut oil.
Figure 6 represents another mode of constructing the improved lamp. The
parts of the burner and the chimney are precisely the same as in Figure (1),

page_text: but the reservoir is somewhat different, videlicit, instead of being composed of
two distinct parts, a reservoir and a tray open to the atmosphere, it is
one broad hollow flat vessel, made in two halves, the upper one being
soldered tight all round to the lower one. A small tube n projects down-
wards from the upper part of the reservoir into one of the pipes C, C,
which are soldered into the lower part of the reservoir, see Figure 6, the
tube n being of such length that its lower end or mouth shall be at
the level that the oil is intended to rise up to in the burner. The
tube n is soldered to the upper part of the reservoir, and is open at its
upper end to the atmosphere, see Figure 6. To fill this reservoir with oil
for charging the lamp, the reservoir must be removed with the burner from
the column. The internal tube b is then to be taken out of its place, and the
reservoir turned upside down and placed over a tin tray D in the position,
Figure 7, videlicit, with the top of the tube a placed in a tin tube 2, which is
fitted into another tube 3, rising up from the bottom of the tray D. If any
oil be still in the pipes C, or the burner, it will drop into the tube 2. Care
must be taken to place the reservoir with the pipe n over the tray D, and then
the curved spout of a funnel 4 being placed in the branch pipe C, at the
opposite side of the reservoir to the pipe n, and oil poured through it, the air
that is contained in the reservoir will escape out through the pipe n as fast as
oil is poured into the reservoir until the same is full, which will be indicated
by oil beginning to flow out at the aperture of the pipe n into the tray D;
any oil which so flows out (from the reservoir being over filled) will drop into
the tray D. As soon as the reservoir is properly filled, the internal tube
of the burner must be put into its place, with the conical plug fitting accurately
into its conical seat, and the reservoir being then lifted up and turned round
into its proper position, and placed in the column, as in Figure (6), the oil will
flow down from the reservoir through the pipes C into the burner, and keep
the same filled up to the level of the lower end of the pipe n, as long as any
oil remains in the reservoir, on the principle of the fountain lamp, as already
described for the lamp shewn in Figure 1. Figure 8 represents one of the
improved lamps adapted to be hung against a wall as a hall or stair case lamp.
In this, as the body of the lamp to which the branch pipe C is attached
cannot be turned round, the internal tube b is adapted to be turned round
instead for that purpose; the conical plug is the reverse of what it is in the
lamps before described, as will be seen by the Drawing, videlicit, the
large part of the cone is at the upper end, and it drops into a conical seat
formed to receive it in the lower end of the external tube a. The lower end
of the internal tube projects a little below the external tube, and enters into a

page_text: cup p intended to receive the waste oil, and a cross pin is put through the
cup and the end of the tube (b) to fasten the cup thereto, and to answer at
the same time the purpose of preventing the conical plug from being drawn
up by any accident out of its seat. The wick is borne, as in the lamps before
described, by a small tube which fits over the internal tube (6), a pin on the
internal surface of the wick tube entering into a spiral groove in on the
internal tube, while another pin on its external surface enters into a vertical
groove in the external tube a.
Hence, to raise or lower the wick the cup (p):.
must be laid hold of and turned round, and that will cause the internal tube
to. turn round in its conical fitting, and raise or lower the wick by means of
the spiral groove m and vertical groove (c). B is the oil reservoir; videlicit,
it is a long cylinder, closed at the top and open at the bottom, fitting loosely
into the outer tube A, which communicates by the branch pipe C to the
burner. In the internal tube or reservoir B a plug or valve u is placed,'
which when the reservoir B is in its place in the tube A (videlicit, placed
vertically therein with the margin of its top resting on the upper end of the
tube A), is raised up so as to leave the aperture i uncovered by means of a
small rod or stem v projecting out from the under side of the said valve u,
which rod comes in contact with the bottom of the tube A, see the Figure,
and then the oil contained in the reservoir can flow out therefrom through the.
pipe C into the burner. To fill the reservoir it is to be drawn out and
inverted, and oil poured in at the aperture until it is nearly full. The
valve u should then be drawn by its stem v into close contact with the bottom
of the reservoir, so as to close the aperture i, and the reservoir being then
turned round upright, can be put into its place in the tube A without letting
the oil escape, the weight of the oil keeping the valve u shut. But as soon
as the stein v comes in contact with the bottom of the tube A, the valve u is
lifted up and allows the oil to flow as aforesaid into the burner. The valve u is
kept open as long as the reservoir B is in its place in the tute A. The mouth
of the aperture i is at the level that the oil is intended to rise to in the burner,
and the oil will pass from the reservoir through the pipe C, and remain at that'
level in the burner, during the burning of the lamp as long as there is any
oil in the reservoir, on the same principle as in the lamps known as common
fountain lamps; because any oil that is consumed by the combustion
is drawn away from the lower part of the tube A, whereby the mouth
of the aperture i becomes for an instant uncovered enough to let in
as much atmospheric air as will replace that quantity of oil. The air will
thus get into the reservoir B, and press on the surface of the oil so as to
allow an equivalent quantity thereof to flow out into the burner to that

page_text: which has been drawn off by the combustion, whereby the oil will be con-
stantly maintained in the burner to the level of the mouth of the aperture i.
The other parts of this lamp are sufficiently obvious by inspection of the
Drawing, and sufficiently similar to those already described to need no
description. Note.-For a suspended lamp with several burners a similar
arrangement to that described in reference to Figure 8 will be adopted,
videlicit, the internal tube must be turned round, while the external one
remains stationary. But I have not given any Drawing of a suspended lamp
on the plan of the improved lamp, as the mode of constructing it will be
obvious to any lamp-maker after perusing the foregoing descriptions.
Figure 9 represents another mode of making an oil-tight fitting between
the external and internal tubes of the burner by means of a screw stuffing box
and a ring or collar of packing. Instead of the lower end of the internal
tube being a conical plug, it is made cylindrical, and turned accurately.
The external tube is made of the proper size around that part where the wick
is placed, to leave an annular space for the oil, and a cylindrical box 2 is
formed at the lower end of it, with an internal ledge or ring at 3. Below
that ledge 3 an annular space is left all around the internal tube b, into which
a collar of packing 4 is inserted, the packing being interposed between the
shoulder of the internal tube and the ledge 3, as well as surrounding the said
internal tube. A female screw is cut in the mouth of the cutting box 2, and
a screw (5) that fits accurately over the lower cylindrical end of the internal
tube is screwed into the stuffing box 2 by branches or handles 6, the end
of the screw bearing on the packing 4, and forcing it hard in contact with the
ring 3, and also against the cylindrical surface of the tube b, by which means the
fitting is rendered sufficiently oil-tight for oil to stand in the burner, as shewn
in the Drawing; but at the same time the upper part of the lamp, videlicit,
the reservoir, external tube a, and screw 5, can be turned round upon the
internal tube b, which is fixed into the column in the way described in refer-
ence to the lamps, Figures 1 and 6. The reservoir of this lamp may be
either like the reservoir in the Drawing, Fig. 1, or like that shewn in Figure 6.
I prefer the former for a lamp made thus, because it is better that the packing
should not be disturbed, except when it is necessary to take out the internal
tube to clean the same or to renew the packing. But when the reservoir is
made as in Figure 6, then to fill it the upper part of the lamp must be taken
off the column, the screw 5 turned back till it quits the screw socket 2, and
the internal tube b drawn out of the burner. The reservoir will then be
placed over the tray D, Figure 7, and filled as described herein-before for the
lamp, Figure 6. The internal tube must then be put back in its place, keeping

page_text: the reservoir still inverted as it was while being filled, and the screw (5) must
be screwed round to press upon the packing until when the reservoir is turned
round and placed upright in its proper position, as shewn in Figure 9 (videlicit,
as it would stand in the column), no oil leaks by the joint at (7) or round
the screw 5. Note.--If hemp packing is used, it will, when first put in, become
saturated and softened by the oil, and allow leakage at the joint 7. The
screw must then be screwed in more, so as to compress the packing a little
more, and so on from time to time for a few days, by which time the packing
will become hard and impervious to oil, and make a sound fitting between
the external and internal tubes of the burner. For general use I prefer
the method described herein-before in reference to Figures 1 and 6,
videlicit, with a conical plug on the internal tube, because this last plan,
described in reference to Figure (9), requires more perfect workmanship
and more care in management than the former. But I have found
lamp on this plan, with the parts of the sizes and proportions shewn by the
Drawing, Figure (9), to burn well with a collar of packing made of hemp and
tow mixed; and I have also found a double ring or collar of such leather, as is
used for the cup leathers of pump buckets, to answer, one being interposed
between the shoulder of the internal tube, and the ledge 3 fitting tightly over
the small part of the internal tube, and the other fitting over the enlarged
cylindrical part of the internal tube, see Figure 10; the margin of the screw 5
and the brass cup 8 are pierced with a couple of holes to allow any waste: all
to drop down into the waste chamber. Note.-In all the lamps herein-before
described, the length of the short tubes n, n, Figures 1 and 6, or of the
tube B in Figure (8), through which the oil flows from the reservoir into the
branch pipe C, should be such, that a horizontal line drawn from the lower end
thereof through the burner will be somewhat below the top thereof, so as to
keep the oil constantly up to a level about one fourth of an inch, or a little
more below the top of the burner, the tops of the internal and external tubes
being exactly at the same height as shewn in all the Drawings. For if the
level of the oil be kept too high in the burner, it will be apt to overflow a
little when the lamp is moved, or the cotton wick suddenly raised or lowered.
Having now described several varieties of the improved lamp,, for which a
Patent has been granted to me as aforesaid, so as to enable a competent
workman to make the same, I do hereby declare that I do not claim any of
the parts thereof separately, as the same when taken separately and singly are
known, and may have been used for lamps or other purposes. But I claim
only the combination of the several parts with the method which I have
particularly described, and which has not been heretofore used for lamps, of

page_text: making the external and internal tubes of the burner in two independent
pieces, one of which can be turned round upon the other, by which combi-
nation I am enabled to produce the improved lamp which I have described
in this my Specification in reference to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ralph Watson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.