Improvements in Miners' and other'Safety Acetylene Hand Lamps.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Miners' and other'Safety Acetylene Hand Lamps.
We, WILLIAM BERNARD FLETCHER, of the Firm of William Fletcher and
Sons, of No. 52, Edgbaston Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Hardware Merchants, and JOSEPH CUTLER, of No. 42, Holte Road, Aston, near
Birmingham, aforesaid Commercial Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists in the construction and arrangement hereinafter described
of the parts of lamps for burning acetylene. Lamps constructed according to
our invention are especially suited for use in mines but are also applicable to
other purposes where a safe acetylene hand lamp is desirable.
We will describe our improvements in connection with a miner's lamp.
The body of the lamp consists of two chambers preferably cylindrical and of the
same diameter the said chambers being situated one immediately over the other.
The upper chamber is for containing water and the lower chamber is for contain-
Eng calcium carbide the acetylene burned by the lamp being produced by the
re-action of the water and calcium carbide as is well understood. The two
chambers described are connected in the following manner. A tube opening
into the lower part of the upper or water chamber is connected to a tube opening
into the middle of the lower or calcium carbide chamber the connection of the
Two chambers being effected by means of a stop cock of the following con-
struction. The plug of the said stop cock is provided with the usual handle or
thumb plate for turning it. The plug of the said stop cock has a prolonged
horizontal spindle which passes through a stuffing box near the top of the lower
or calcium carbide chamber and terminates at the axis of the said chamber in
a second plug which forms with a barrel at the bottom of a vertical tube in the
axis of the upper or water chamber, a second stop cock. By turning the handle.
or thumb plate the two stop-cocks are simultaneously wholly or partially opened
or closed. The rate at which the water is allowed to pass into the lower chamber
is thus regulated at pleasure and the rate of evolution of acetylene automatically
determined.
The acetylene liberated by the decomposition of the calcium carbide passes
through the tube in the axis of the upper or water chamber. The top of the
said tube terminates in a jet at which the gas is ignited and burns.
The lower chamber is provided with a light spring safety valve for permitting
of the escape of acetylene into the air should an excess under any circumstances
be generated.
The body of the lamp is surmounted by the usual hollow glass cylinder and
wire gauze and ring or handle by which it is carried.

page_text: Lamps not specially designed for miners may be made without the appliances
necessary for miner's lamps.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Miners' and other Safety Acetylene Hand Lamps.
We, WILLIAM BERNARD FLETCHER, of the Firm of William Fletcher and
Sons, of No. 52, Edgbaston Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Hardware Merchants, and. JOSEPH CUTLER,, of No. 42, Holte Road, Aston, near
Birmingham, aforesaid, Commercial Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of our
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention consists in the construction and arrangement hereinafter described
of. the. .parts of lamps for burning acetylene. Lamps constructed according to
our invention are especially suited for use, in mines as safety lamps or for use in
mines as naked or unprotected lights, but are also applicable to other purposes
where a safety acetylene hand lamp is desirable, such for example as cart lamps,
carriage lamps, table lamps and all kinds of hand lamps.
The two
We will describe our improvements in connection with a miner's lamp.
The body of the lamp consists of two chambers preferably cylindrical
the said chambers being situated one immediately over the other. The
upper chamber is for containing water and the lower chamber is for contain-
ing calcium carbide the acetylene burned by the lamp being produced by the
reaction of the water and calcium carbide as is well understood.
chambers described are connected in the following manner. A tube opening
into the lower part of the upper or water chamber is connected to a tube opening
into the middle of the lower or calcium carbide chamber, the connection of the
two chambers being effected by means of a stop cock of the following con-
struction. The plug of the said stop cock is provided with the usual handle or
thumb plate for turning it. The plug of the said stop cock has a prolonged
horizontal spindle which passes through a stuffing box or barrel near the top of
the lower or calcium carbide chamber and terminates at the axis of the said
chamber in a second plug which forms with a barrek at the bottom of a vertical
tube in the axis of the upper or water chamber, a second stop-cock. By turn-
ing the handle or thumb plate the two stop cocks are simultaneously wholly or
partially opened, or closed the flame of the lamp being thereby regulated at
pleasure and the supply of water and rate of evolution of acetylene automatically
determined in accordance with the flame desired.
passes
The acetylene liberated by the decomposition of the calcium carbide
through the tube in the axis of the upper or water chamber. The top of the
said tube terminates in a jet at which the gas is ignited and burns.
The lower chamber may be provided with a light spring safety valve for per-
mitting the escape of acetylene into the air should an excess under any circum-
stances be generated.
The body of the lamp is surmounted by the usual hollow glass cylinder and
wire gauze and ring or handle by which it is carried.
Lamps not specially designed for miners may be made without the appliances
necessary for miners' lamps.

page_text: Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents in elevation a miner's safety
lamp containing our inprovements; Figure 2 represents the same partly in
elevation and partly in vertical section; Figure 3 is a plan of underside of the
upper portion of the body of the lamp (above the inverted conical water rose or
receptacle projecting into the lower part of the body) and Figure 4 is a horizontal
section taken on the line x, x Figure 2; Figure 5 represents a portion of the lamp
in vertical section the said section being taken in a plane at right angles to
that of the sectional part of Figure 2.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawing.
"
a, a is the body of the lamp which is connected to the upper part or bonnet b
preferably by screwing the two parts together at c. The body part of the lamp
consists of two chambers one situated above the other, the upper chamber being
marked a and the lower chamber a² the said chambers being connected together pre-
ferably by a bayonet joint fastening as represented in Figure 1 and locked by a
set screw or pin d. The upper chamber a is filled with water through the hole
or mouth all which is opened and closed by a screw plug (see Figure 5) and the
lower chamber a2 has an inner vessel a¹ into which calcium carbide is put as
represented in Figure 2. The inner and outer vessels a¹, a² are separated by an
asbestos cup e which fits the exterior of the vessel a¹ and prevents the trans-
mission of the heat generated in the carbide vessel a¹ to the outer part of the
lower chamber a².
$
The upper chamber a has an air inlet or vent tube f opening at one end above
the surface of the water in the chamber a and at its other end to the side of the
chamber a as seen in Figure 2. The upper chamber a has also an axial pipe g
terminating at its upper end in the burner h and at its lower end opening into
one of the barrels of a double or compound stopcock i on the underside of the
upper chamber a.
The two passages or ways in the, plug of the double or com-
pound stopcock i are marked respectively i, 22. The passage when open com-
municates with the interior of the chamber a and also with the horizontal pipe k
which passes into or communicates with the axial water delivery pipe 7. The
passage when open communicates at one side of the second barrel a³ (forming
part of the vessel a) with the upper part of the lower chamber a² and also with
the axial gas delivery pipe g. On the barrel a³ is screwed a plate m carrying
an inverted hollow conoidal receptacle or water rose n the side of which is per-
forated with fine holes. The pointed end of the rose n reaches nearly to the
bottom of the carbide chamber.
A ring or disc p of wire gauze closely fitting the upper part of the lower
chamber a2 is preferably arranged on the top of the plate m.
The action of the lamp is as follows:-
The thumb piece or handle of the stopcock i being turned in the direction
of the arrow in Figure 1 the two ways or passages 1, 2 of the plug i of the double
or compound stopcock are simultaneously opened. Water consequently descends
through the pipes k and into the rosen which water slowly percolates through
the fine holes in the rose n into the calcium carbide containing vessel a¹. The
acetylene gas generated by the re-action of the water and calcium carbide rises
and passes through the opened passage of the double or compound stopcock
and through the axial tube g to the burner'h.
The ring of wire gauze 2 (or disc of wire gauze) used above the plate m serves
to arrest moisture carried by the gas generated and to preserve the upper part
of the lower chamber a³, and the gas passage.22, opening thereto, clear.
acetylene lamp of the construction described and represented when charged will
serve for several hours.
An
With a lamp of the strength or dimensions indicated in the drawing no safety
valve is required but where the strength of the materials employed render it
necessary or desirable a spring safety valve is employed in connection with the

page_text: lower chamber a² for permitting of the escape of gas should the pressure exceed
that which the chamber can with safety bear.
The application of our invention to hand lamps other than miners' safety
lamps differs in no essential respect from its application to a miner's safety lamp
as herein before described and illustrated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we claim as
our invention;
In miners and other hand lamps for burning acetylene gas the arrangement of
two chambers one above the other, the upper chamber constituting the water
supply chamber and the lower chamber constituting the calcium carbide con-
taining chamber and the combination with the said chambers of a double or
compound stopcock by the turning of which the supply of water to the calcium
carbide chamber and the delivery of the acetylene gas generated in the last named
chamber to the burner are effected and regulated substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated this Sixth day of January 1899
WILLIAM BERNARD FLETCHER.
JOSEPH CUTLER,