AN IMPROVEMENT IN LAMPS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ALEXANDER MILLER, of No. 179, Piccadilly, in the Parish of Saint James,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Wax Chandler, Spermaceti
Refiner, and Dealer in Lamps, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixth day of February, in the fourth year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Alexander Miller, His especial licence that I, the said George
Alexander Miller, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, my
exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter, 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, ny Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN LAMPS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said George Alexander Miller, by an instrument
in writing under my band and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said 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
George Alexander Miller, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described
and ascertained as follows (that is to say) :-
My Invention is an improvement in such lamps as are used with that
description of burner which is commonly known as an Argand burner,
constructed with a spiral movement; and throughout this Specification, when-
ever use the expression Argand burner, I mean an Argand burner con-
structed with a spiral movement. And I claim as new, and as my Invention
and improvement, an alteration in the construction of Argand burners having
the spiral movement, so as to adapt the same to the convenient use of several
detached wicks in each burner, in lieu of the one entire cylindrical wick
now in ordinary use in such burners. The effect of my improvement is a
purer and more brilliant light from such lamps than is produced by the
Argand burner with the one entire cylindrical wick from the same quantity
of oil.
I perform and practise my Invention and improvement by making such
alterations in such Argand burners, and newly applying such pieces or parts
thereto only as are herein-after particularly specified and described. In all
other respects I retain the materials, form, parts, construction, and arrangement,
and also the glass chimney, as they now exist and are used in the Argand
burner with the spiral movement in ordinary use. I remove and entirely
reject the cotton holder and the cylindrical cotton wick of the Argand burner,
and in place of such cotton holder I substitute and use the wick supporter
herein after particularly described; and as the wick supporter used in my
improvement requires more room between the inner tube and the loose tube
than the cotton holder used in the Argand burner, I obtain part of the
additional space by using an inner tube of smaller diameter than that now
used in the Argand burner, and the rest of the required space I obtain by
using an outer tube and loose tube of larger diameter than those used in the
Argand burners. This space is of course determined by the size of the wick
supporter, no more space being required than to permit such wick supporter
to work easily up and down, and to allow the oil to flow up. It is necessary,
however, that the inner tube should not be too small to permit the passage of
a sufficient current of air through it, and from my experience I consider and
recommend that for a lamp made with my improvement to produce a flame
equal to the flame of an Argand burner having an ordinary cotton holder
seven eighths of an inch in diameter, the cavity of my inner tube should not
be less than half an inch in diameter in the clear. For large burners this
inner tube should be proportionally increased, and for smaller burners propor-
tionally diminished. My wick supporter is represented in two of the annexed

page_text: Drawings delineated in the margin hereof, Figures 1 and 2, Figure 1 repre-
senting the wick supporter in elevation, and Figure 2 being a plan exhibiti: g
a view of it from above, and shewing the circular position of the wick tubes
herein-after particularly specified and described. I construct my wick
supporter as follows:-I make a short metal tube (a), Figure 1, of about the
same length as the cotton holder in the Argand burner. This short tube is
open at both ends, and is made of such a circumference as to fit round the
inner tube of my burner of the aforesaid reduced dimensions, in the same way
as the cotton holder fits round the inner tube of the Argand burner, the object
and intent of such short tube being to move up and down my inner tube in
such and the same manner as the cotton holder of the Argand burner moves
up and down the inner tube of such burner. This short tube should be made
of metal of about the same thickness as the thickest part of the cotton holder
of the Argand burner. This tube is provided with a pin projecting exter-
nally (6), Figures 1 and 2, and a pin projecting internally (f), Figure 2,
the inner pin (f) to fit and move in the spiral groove or worm of the inner
tube, and the external pin (6) to fit and move in the longitudinal slit or
opening of the loose tube in such and the same manner, and for such and the
same purposes, as the corresponding pins of the cotton holder of the Argand
burner. The exterior pin (6), however, should be longer than the corre-
sponding pin of the cotton holder in the Argand burner, to allow for the
increased space in my improvement between the inner and loose tubes, and to
allow it to enter the longitudinal slit or opening of the loose tube. At one
end of this short tube is fixed a flat metal ring or collar (c), Figures 1 and 2,
of about the thickness of a shilling, projecting outwards horizontally, so as to
form a shelf or base of about three sixteenths of an inch for supporting the
wick tubes (e), Figures 1 and 2, but not projecting inwards within the short
tube, or in any manner obstructing such tube in its free motion up and down
the inner tube of the lamp. Upon the upper surface of the flat ring or collar
are firmly soldered by one of their extremities, in a vertical position, at equal
distances apart, a number of small metal tubes (e), Figures 1 and 2. These
tubes should be about ths of an inch shorter than the wick intended to bo
used with them. These tubes should be so placed as not to extend in the
least degree over the hollow or cavity of the short tube, or to obstruct it in its
motion up and down the inner tube. Each of these small tubes (e) is to
contain a wick, and for the sake of distinction I shall hereafter call them the
wick tubes; and these wick tubes, with the said flat ring or collar and short
tube, being conjoined as above mentioned, I shall denominate the wick
supporter. The wick supporter so constructed is placed between the inner
tube and the loose tube of the lamp in such and the same manner as the

page_text: cotton holder of the Argand burner, the inner pin of such wick supporter
fitting into the above-mentioned spiral groove or worm of the inner tube, and
the outer pin fitting into the longitudinal slit or opening of the loose tube,
and when so placed the wick supporter is made by the spiral movement to
descend into the oil, and to move upwards or downwards for the purpose of
regulating or extinguishing the flame, such movement being effected by means
of the gallery or glass holder in the same way as the movement of the cotton
holder is effected in the Argand burner. Each of the wick tubes must have
an opening for the admission of the oil to the wick. I make them with an
opening or slit from the top to the bottom, and these slits or openitgs are
described by (d), in Figures 1 and 2. In soldering the wick tubes upon the
flat ring or collar of the wick supporter place the slits or openings outwards,
and care should be taken not to stop up any part of such opening or slit.
The number of the wick tubes may vary according to the size of the lamp and
the degree of light which it may be desired to produce. I consider that
they ought to be so near to each other as that the flames of the several wicks,
when in full light, should adjoin each other; and to accomplish this I put
eight tubes in making a lamp with my improvement to produce the same
circumference of flame as is produced by such an Argand burner as is now
made for a cylindrical wick ths of an inch in diameter.
I do not claim as new, or as my Invention, any of the respective parts of
the wick supporter; but I claim as new, and as my Invention, the combination
of the wick tubes thereof with the short tube and flat ring or collar thereof,
and the application of the said wick supporter to the Argand burner having a
spiral movement, so as to adapt the said burner to the use of separate detached
wicks in lieu of the one cylindrical wick now in ordinary use. It is desirable
to construct lamps with my improvement in such a way that the wick tubes
cannot be raised so high as to have their tops much more than ths of an
inch higher than the top of the inner tube, because no good can result from
raising them higher; but, on the contrary, if raised higher, the flame might
be raised too far out of the oil. To prevent, therefore, the possibility of this
occurring, I do not make the spiral groove upon the inner tube of the lamp
to extend from the very top of it, but such groove commences at an inch and
one eighth from the top, and thence extends downwards in the same way as the
Argand burner. The extent of the part left ungrooved is not necessarily an
inch and one eighth, but is determined by the situation of the inner pin on the
short tube of the wick supporter. My rule is to make such ungrooved part
the same length as the wick tubes, and to place the inner pin on the short
tube of the wick supporter three sixteenths of an inch below the bottoms of
the wick tubes, which has the effect of raising the tops of the wick tubes

page_text: three sixteenths of an inch higher than the top of the inner tube. The
ungrooved part of the inner tube is not so large in its exterior circumference
as the exterior circumference of the same tube lower down, but is reduced
by being turned off so as to be flush or even with the depth of the spiral
groove in the lower part of the same tube, except that about three eighths of an
inch from the top I. leave a small projection for the purpose of steadying the
wick supporter, which projection extends like a ring nearly all round, leaving
a small gap or passage. The purpose for which the ungrooved part of my
inner tube is reduced in circumference, and the gap or passage is left in the
projection round it, is, that there may be room enough to admit the pin which
is on the inside of the wick supporter, for unless a space were provided by this
or some other method for such pin, the wick supporter could not be placed in
its proper position. I do not set forth this mode of constructing the inner
tube for preventing the wicks from being raised too high as a necessary part of
my improvement, but only as a convenient mode of making the lamps so as to
prevent them being mismanaged by people who do not properly understand
them. And as I do not consider such mode of construction as indispensible to the
manufacture of my improvement I have not adverted to it in the carliert part
of this Specification, but, to prevent confusion, have described my Invention in
such carlier part of this Specification as if the inner tube had the spiral groove
all the way up, like the Argand burners now in use.
It is therefore necessary
here to point out that when the inner tube is made with a space at the top
left ungrooved, the movement of the wick supporter is not to be altogether
compared to that of the cotton holder, but its movement is like that of the
cotton holder, except that instead of the wick supporter being moved down
from the very top of the burner by the spiral movement as the cotton holder
is, it is placed between the inner tube and the loose tube, with its outer pin in
the slit or opening of the loose tube, and on its inner pin being directed into
the gap or passage in the projection of the ungrooved part of the inner tube,
which is easily done by turning the gallery or glass holder, it (the wick sup-
porter) drops down until its inner pin rests upon the shoulder formed by the
outer circumference of the inner tube, and it cannot afterwards be raised higher
by means of the spiral movement.
(a) represents
(c), the gap or
and (e) repre-
Fig. 3, in the margin, is an elevation of my inner tube.
the ungrooved part; (6) represents the projection round it;
passage in such projection; (d) represents the spiral groove;
sents the shoulder. Altho I do not claim as new the tubes which I call the
wick tubes, yet, for the sake of geving every information in my power to
render the use of my improvement as beneficial as I can, I proceed to give a
description of them.

page_text: I make all my wick tubes of one uniform diameter, viz', as near as possible
one eighth of an inch in the interior diameter, and I think that any considera-
ble deviation would be attended with disadvantage, for if they were made of a
much larger diameter they would not only be clumsy, but, if used with the
sized wick which I find most proper, and which I herein after describe, the oil
would not, I think, be drawn so well up; and if made of a smaller diameter
they would not allow a free passage of the oil thro' the wick, nor would the
wick be so well saturated with the oil, or have space for sufficient expansion.
I make all my wick tubes of an equal length for all sizes and descriptions of
lamps with Argand burners, namely, an inch and one eighth long. I do not,
however, consider that an adherence to one length for all descriptions of
Argand burners is necessary, for in some lamps the oil is supplied in such
a manner as to continue at one regular height in the burner until it is nearly
exhausted; but in sinumbras, and some other kinds of lamps, the oil is supplied
in such a manner that the height of it in the burner diminishes gradually as it
is consumed, in proportion to the diminution of it in the receptacle containing
the supply. The rule for regulating the length of the wick tubes must depend
upon the construction of the lamps with reference to the flow of oil into the
burner, and I do not consider that the length of them is material, so that they
are made of a sufficient length to reach while the lamp is burning well down
into the oil, and so that the oil is brought to within proper burning distance of
the flame according to the usual construction of Argand burners, and so that
they be not too long to prevent them from being depressed low enough to be
effectually extinguished. It will, therefore, readily appear that the length
of wick tubes which I use is not necessary to be strictly adhered to on all
occasions, but the reason of my making them all of the length which have
stated is, that such length is desirable as regards the efficiency with which it
draws up the oil, and it must also be a great convenience to consumers to have
them of one uniform length, to prevent the necessity of keeping wicks of
various lengths. It is material, however, that all the wick tubes which are
used in the same lamp, at one and the same time, should be of one uniform
length. The wick tubes are open at the top, and they are closed at the bottom
by being firmly soldered to the ring or collar of the wick supporter; and there
is, as before stated, a small longitudinal opening or slit all down on one side of
each tube, so that the oil may flow freely into them. This opening or slit is
about the thirty-second part of an inch wide. The metal with which I prefer
to make the wick tubes is tinned copper, that is to say, copper sheeting coated
over with tin on both sides. I consider the copper less liable than any other
metal that I have tried or am aware of, to collect or form an incrustation
around the tops of the tubes, and it being tinned I consider renders the copper

page_text: less liable than it otherwise would be to corrosion by the oil. The copper
sheeting with which these tubes are made is as near as possible the thirty-
second part of an inch thick.
That the full benefit of my Invention may be understood, I proceed to
explain the kind of wicks which I consider it best to use in lamps constructed
with my improvement, although I claim nothing as new in such wicks. They
are made in long lengths of what is called wax lamp wick, and which consists
of a number of threads of fine Turkey cotton, which are drawn through a hot
liquid mixture consisting of melted wax and spermaceti and of Venice turpen-
tine, the proportions of this liquid mixture being two of spermiaceti and one of
wax and one of Venice turpentine. The wick when the mixture cools
upon it
becomes stiff, and in a convenient state for being cut into proper lengths for
use, and the proportion of spermaceti being larger than that of the wax causes
the mixture on the wicks to melt more readily when the wicks are lighted than
if there was more wax, and consequently the oil sooner flows into the wicks
and rises up to the flame. The number of threads must depend upon the size
of the cotton, which, however, ought always to be fine, though a little varia-
tion does not signify. If there are twenty-eight threads they should weigh
fifteen grains to the yard, which may be taken for a standard or criterion,
both as to the bulk of the wick, and also as to the fineness of the cotton
which it is best to use. To prevent the wick from being too bulky it is
drawn, while hot with the liquid mixture, through a hole in a brass plate,
about balf the diameter of the inside of the wick tubes. The wick is after-
wards cut into lengths proper to be used. Such lengths depend upon the
length or depth of the wick tubes, but each wick should be five sixteenths
of an inch longer than the depth of such tubes; consequently, as I make
my tubes an inch and one eighth of an inch in depth, the wicks which I
use are an inch and seven sixteenths of an inch in length. An uniformity of
length in the several wicks used for the same lamp is necessary, to preserve
a steady even flame, but so that they are uniform, I do not consider that a
slight excess of length in them beyond what I have stated is material, because,
by the spiral movement, they would be depressed, and so too great a flare
would be prevented; but I am not aware of any good which could be obtained
by exceeding the directions I have given, and if the length were much exceeded
the wicks would not be sufficiently supported by the wick tubes.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Alexander Miller, have here-
anto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.
G. A. MILLER. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1834, the aforesaid George Alexander Miller came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-four.