IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-GOVERNING GAS-BURNERS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Beverley Fenby, of Sutton Coldfield, in the
County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-GOVERNING GAS-BURNERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Beverley Fenby at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd November 1881.
JOSEPH BEVERLEY FENBY, of Sutton Coldfield, in the County of Warwick, Civil
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-GOVERNING GAS BURNERS."
Self governing gas burners constructed according to this Invention consist of a
cylindrical body, partly open at the bottom to admit the gas, and screwed on to
the supply pipe. Within the cylindrical body is a louble piston.
The double piston consists of two dises fixed at a short distance apart on to a
short rod. This double piston is freely movable within the cylindrical body, and
is raised more or less by the pressure of the gas against its under side.
At the top
of the cylinder is a plate having a small central hole through which the gas passes
to the burner tip. A small central boss on the upper disc of the double piston
allows more or less gas to pass through the central hole in the abovementioned
plate according as the pressure of the gas raises the double piston more or less.
Above the plate which covers the cylinder is a small cap or chamber, into which
the burner tip is screwed.
In this chamber is a small disc fixed at a very little distance above the central
hole of the plate which covers the cylinder; this is to prevent the gas from making
a hissing sound in passing to the burner tip.
To allow the necessary quantity of gas to pass the double piston, the discs of
which it consists do not fit the cylinder for the whole of their peripheries.
Preferably I make them polygons in shape, having their angles an easy fit to
the bore of the cylinder.
The practical effect of this construction is to divide the burner into four
chambers, namely, one beneath the double piston, one between the two discs
forming the said piston, one between the upper disc of the piston and the cover

page_text: plate of the cylinder, and the fourth in the cap which carries the burner tip. The
pressure of the gas is progressively reduced in passing from chamber to chamber,
and is kept uniform or nearly uniform in pressure in the last chamber, despite
considerable variations in the pressure of the supply.
If the upper and lower discs of the double piston or either of them be formed
of two thin plates of metal, the consumption of gas may be regulated by turning
one plate of each pair part of a revolution on the other.
The regulation of the consumption can be effected in the following manner :-
A small passage is provided for the gas to pass from the under side of the double
piston to the top of the same. This passage is on or in the side of the cylindrical
case, and is opened and closed by a gastight plug. This method enables the
regulation to be effected from the outside while the gas is burning.
For cheap governor burners the piston may be made with one disc only, with a
thin rod working in a guiding hole to keep the piston upright.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Beverley Fenby in the Great Seal Fatent Office on the
1st May 1882.
JOSEPH BEVERLEY FENBY, of Sutton Coldfield, in the County of Warwick, Civil
Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-GOVERNING GAS BURNERS."
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Self-governing gas burners constructed according to this Invention consist of a
cylindrical body, partly open at the bottom to admit the gas, and screwed on to the
supply-pipe. Within the cylindrical body is a double piston. This doublo piston
consists of two discs fixed at a short distance apart on to a short rod. This double
piston is freely movable within the cylindrical body, and is raised more or less by
the pressure of the gas against its under side. At the top of the cylinder is a
plate having a small central hole through which the gas passes to the burner tip.
A small central boss on the upper disc of the double piston allows more or less
gas to pass through the central hole in the above mentioned plate according as the
pressure of the gas raises the double piston more or less.
Above the plate which covers the cylinder is a small cap or chamber, into which
the burner tip is screwed.
B
In this chamber is a small disc fixed at a very little distance above the central
hole of the plate which covers the cylinder; this is to prevent the gas from
making a hissing sound in passing to the burner tip.
To allow the necessary quantity of gas to pass the double piston, the discs of
which it consists do not fit the cylinder for the whole of their peripheries.
Preferably I make them polygons in shape, having their angles an easy fit to the
bore of the cylinder.
The practical effect of this construction is to divide the burner into four
chambers, namely, one beneath the double piston, one between the two discs
forming the said piston, one between the upper disc of the piston and the cover
plate of the cylinder, and the fourth in the cap which carries the burner tip. The
pressure of the gas is progressively reduced in passing from chamber to chamber,
and is kept uniform or nearly uniform in pressure in the last chamber, despite
considerable variations in the pressure of the supply.
If the upper and lower discs of the double piston or either of them be formed of
two thin plates of metal, the consumption of gas may be regulated by turning one
plate of each pair part of a revolution on the other.
The regulation of the consumption can be effected in the following manner :-
A small passage is provided for the gas to pass from the under side of the double
piston to the top of the same. This passage is on or in the side of the cylindrical
case, and is opened and closed by a gas-tight plug. This method enables the
regulation to be effected from the outside while the gas is burning.
For cheap governor burners the piston may be made with one disc only, with a
thin rod working in a guiding hole to keep the piston straight.
In the accompanying Drawings the construction of a governor burner made
according to this Invention is shewn. The Drawings are made to an enlarged
scale for the sake of clearness.
Fig. I. shews a vertical section of a complete governor burner.
Fig. II. shews a plan of one of the discs of the double piston illustrating its
polygonal shape.
Fig. III. shews an inverted plan of the plate which prevents hissing.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the three Figures.
The parts are as follow-a is the cylindrical body; b is the cap carrying the
burner tip; c is the burner tip; d is the rod of the double piston, shewn hollow

page_text: for lightness; e and fare the polygonal discs of the double piston; g is the cover
plate, and g the hole in the same for the passage of the gas; h is the plate for
preventing hissing; i, i, i, i, are passages through the edge of the same; j,j, j, are
projections on which the double piston rests when not raised by the gas.
K, L, M, and N shew the four separate chambers through which the gas passes
to the burner tip.
When gas enters the bottom chamber K the action is as follows:-
The gas passes from K to L through the spaces left between the polygonal sides
of the disc f and the interior of the body a; and in the same way from L to M
around the disc e. It then passes through the hole g into the chamber N and to
the burner tip by the passages i.
When the pressure of the gas in K increases sufficiently to raise the double
piston, the said piston is raised, and the domed top of the hollow piston rod tends
more and more to check the flow of gas through the hole g'. But the said piston
rod cannot under any increase of pressure entirely close the said hole g' because
of the regulated pressure of the gas in the chamber M. This pressure in M increases
and diminishes in proportion to that in K, and the piston is thus held in suspension
at a due distance from 7 so long as the pressure in K is sufficient to support the
weight of the said piston.
If the discs e or f, or both of them, be made of two plates of the same shape, one
of each pair being free enough on the piston rod to be turned, the consumption of
gas can be regulated within certain limits.
When the sides of the polygons of cach plate of a pair coincide, the consumption
will be the greatest. If the free plate be turned so that the sides of the polygons
no longer coincide, the consumption will be lessened.
The-consumption may also be regulated by providing a separate passage of
very small bore from K to M. This passage must be made in the side of the
cylindrical body a, and a gas-tight plug must be fitted for opening and closing the
passage.
For all ordinary cases I prefer to regulate the consumption to a fixed standard
by the amount of passage left between the sides of the polygonal discs and the
body u.
Having now described my Invention and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, I do hereby claim as my Invention,―
The construction of governor burners for gas, in the manner described and shewn
by the Drawings, or any construction which is merely a variation thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Beverley Fenby, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.