A Safety Lamp or Stove Reservoir for Burning Petroleum and other Oils.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 18th June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 18th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 30th Apr., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Safety Lamp or Stove Reservoir for Burning Petroleum and
other Oils.
JOHN ARTHUR CLARK 14 Kingdon Road West Hampstead County of
Middlesex Warehouse Manager do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This improvement has reference to lamp and stove reservoirs for burning
petroleum and other oils with either round central draft or flat wicks and is so
arranged that there is no direct communication between flame from burner, and body
of oil or gas in reservoir. By my improvement the oil in reservoir is kept
perfectly cool, and cannot escape if lamp or stove is overturned, nor can it explode
under any circumstances. Shall now describe improvement as applied to round
wick central draft lamps and stoves. My first improvement consists of a reservoir
with air way through it giving a clear passage for air from top to bottom. My
second improvement consists of a tube (hereinafter called the wick tube) fixed in
centre of air way, the annular air space between reservoir, and wick tube to vary
according to size of burner used on lamp or stove. This will allow a clear air
passage between the wick tube, and body of oil keeping the latter perfectly cool,
and the reservoir free from gases, the generating of which present such a dangerous
feature in all other oil lamps. In all other lamps gas is generated through heat
being conducted direct from burner into reservoir of oil, and therefore the fact of
the oil in my reservoir being separated from the wick tube with a clear air passage
between I claim it to be a most important improvement. There is another tube
fixed in wick tube giving a clear air passage to burner (hereinafter called the inner
tube). The space between the outside of inner tube, and the inside of wick tube
is just sufficient to allow wick to work easily the latter filling the annular space.
My third improvement is as follows:-The oil is conveyed from oil reservoir to
wick tube by means of a small tube on each side passing from one to the other.
The oil thus conveyed falls below the conducting tubes th of an inch or more, and
rises th of an inch or more, above them before it can reach the wick. As the
oil cannot be consumed below the top level of the conducting tubes, the oil reservoir
is never quite empty therefore no flame can possibly pass from burner into
reservoir. Before reaching the wick the oil is filtered by passing through a felt
ring fixed between two rings of perforated tin thus freeing the oil from the many
impurities it contains. This will allow lamp or stove to be burnt without
odour and act as a stop to keep the wick from resting in any body of oil. To keep
the wick tube concentric a tripod support is fixed the support to be of metal or of
any non-conducting substance. For the purpose of filling the reservoir I employ a
side filler with screw cap, and leather washer. In the centre of screw cap is a
small hole to which a tube is attached. This tube extends to bottom of reservoir,
and is bent round, the upward portion extending close to top of reservoir. This
system will ventilate reservoir, & at the same time prevent oil escaping through
hole should reservoir be overturned.
The same system of safety as here described to be applied in like manner to
duplex and all flat wick lamps and stoves.

page_text: ÷
A Safety Lamp or Stove Reservoir for Burning Petroleum and
other Oils.
I JOHN ARTHUR CLARK of 14 Kingdon Road, West Hampstead, in the County
of Middlesex, Art Metal Worker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to lamp and stove reservoirs for burning petroleum
and other oils with either circular or flat wicks. By this invention the oil in the
reservoir is kept quite cool, there is no direct communication between the flame
from the burner and the body of oil or gas generated in the reservoir, so that
should the lamp or stove be overturned, the oil cannot escape and there is little or
no risk of explosion.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a partly sectional elevation of a circular wick lamp constructed in
accordance with my invention, and
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of same.
Figure 3 is a sectional plan of a flat wick lamp made according to this invention.
Briefly my invention relates to the construction of lamp and stove reservoirs of
annular shape, connected by small channels at or near the bottom to the wick
chamber, which latter is so placed that air circulates freely between it and the
reservoir. I also provide means for ventilating the interior of the reservoir.
In the drawings A is the annular reservoir and D) is the wick tube; E E are
the channels, of which there may be any suitable number, opening communication
between the bottom of the wick tube D and the reservoir A. At the bottom of
the wick tube I place a filtering ring F preferably consisting of a ring of felt
secured between two rings of perforated metal such as tin.
As shewn in Figure 1, the wick tube D and reservoir A are so placed with
relation to each other that the bottom of the wick tube D is above the level of the
.bottom of the reservoir. By this construction air can circulate from the air
space C between the wick tube and reservoir to the central air space H, so that
when the reservoir is stood upon a table or other stand the air necessary for
combustion will pass down the air space C and under the bottom of the wick tube D
into the central passage H as shewn by the arrows in Figure 1. I am thus enabled
to obviate the necessity which has hitherto existed of fitting the reservoir with
feet, or of puncturing the stand in which the reservoir is placed for the purpose of
supplying the central passage H with the air required for combustion.
To an aperture in the screw cap B of the side filling aperture the long end of
a Ushaped tube is brazed, soldered, or otherwise rigidly affixed in such manner
as to be open to the atmosphere. The U tube is made as long as the depth of the
reservoir A will allow, and its short or free end is brought up close under the
,inside of the screw cap B. When the cap B is taken off for filling, the U tube will
be taken off with it.
The air to take the place of the oil supplied to the wick will pass from the
exterior through the screw cap B down the U shaped tube and will discharge at
the short end just beneath the undersurface of the screw cap. Should the lamp be
upset no oil can escape through the ventilating tube as the U shape thereof will
act as an effectual trap and prevent its escape.
The oil in the reservoir A is kept quite cool by the circulation of air through
the air space C between it and the wick tube D as shewn by the arrows in Figure 1.
By placing the channels E at or near the bottom of the reservoir it is obvious that
if the lamp is upset, communication between the reservoir and wick tube is
immediately cut off so that no oil can escape in this direction; the small quantity

page_text: of oil which may be in the wick tube at the time of the upset will probably be all
absorbed by the wick.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An oil lamp or stove reservoir constructed of an annular shape and having
channels at or near the bottom opening communication with the wick tube, which
latter is secured in the central space enclosed by the annular reservoir, thus
providing for a free circulation of air between the wick tube and reservoir sub-
stantially as described and for the purpose stated.
2. An oil lamp or stove reservoir constructed of an annular shape and having
channels at or near the bottom opening communication with the wick tube, which
latter is secured in the central space enclosed by the annular reservoir with
its bottom above the level of the bottom of said reservoir so that air may freely
circulate under the bottom of the wick tube substantially as and for the purpose
hereinbefore set forth and illustrated.
3. In an oil lamp or stove reservoir a U shaped tube for ventilating the reservoir
and for preventing the escape of oil from the upset reservoir, one end of said U tube
being secured in an aperture in the screw cap of the filling aperture, the other end
opening inside the reservoir just immediately beneath the undersurface of said
screw cap, substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 1.
4. The improved form of reservoir suitable for circular or flat wick lamps or
stoves burning petroleum or other oils, constructed substantially in the manner
and for the purpose herein before set forth and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 18th day of March 189
F. W. GOLBY,
36, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agent for the Applicant.