USRE1032E - Improvement in lamps - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAMPS.

Specification fornliug part of Letters Patent No. 23,160, dated September 8, 1858; Reissue NO. 1,032, dated September 4, 1860. t

`T0 all whom it Huty concern:

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL A. DIETZ, of Brooklyn, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lamps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ol' this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view 'of a lamp-top det-ached from the oil-Chamber or body of the lamp, having my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2, a similar view showing the under side of the top, Fig. 3, a vertical section of the same; Fig. 4, a perspective view of the wick-tube with the spindle and feed-Wheels detached.

My improvement relates to that class of fiatwick lamps provided with a cone or defiector, such as is now in general use, for burning coal or kerosene oil and other such fluids. These as hcretofore constructed have been provided with two rows of apertures, or, what is the same thing, one row divided into two parts, for the admission of air into the interior of the lamp-top, the upper row being so arranged as to admit a current of fresh air between the outside of the cone and the inside of the chimney, and the lower row or half so a'rranged as to admit air into the interior of the cone immediately at its lower or bottom edge; the purpose of the first row being to prevent the overheating of the cone and chimney and the creation of a Vaeuum between the chimney and cone by the expulsion of the air on the inside of the chimney by the action of the heat, and for the further purpose of supplying` air to the flame on the'outside of the cone,-

the second row of holes being arranged immediately at the lower edge of the cone to admit fresh air into its interior with the intention of supplying the requisite amount of Oxygen to the flame by being forced into it by the curved shape ot' the cone. Thus constructed, experience has shown that the combustion of the oil was imperfect, a large portion cscaping in the room unconsumed, creating an exceedingly obnoxious odor, while the flame was far from being as brilliant, and hence as illuminating, as might be desired, burning with a flickering and irregular light. These defects, it has been discovered, are in a great measure to be attributed to the manner in Which the air is supplied to the Elaine on tlze inside of the cone or detlector, as by admitting it directly into the interior of the cone immediately at its lower or bottom edge through the lower row of openings cut in the sides of the chimney-band the fluctuations of the air in the room around the lamp are communicated directly to the fiame, and also because on the admission of the air into the' interior of the cone it is repulsed by the heated air Or gas' contained in the cone-chamber, and caused to ascend along` the inner side of the deflector and to mingle with the gase-` ous products evolved from the lamp at the upper part of the flame, little, if any, ot' the air so flowing in difl'using itself throughout the cone-Chamber as to mingle with the gaseous products at the lower part of the flamethat is to say, from the wick upward. An-

other cause of this imperfect combustion, but which is incidental to this mode of supplying the i'resh air to the interior of the cone immediately at the lower edge of the latter, (arising from the imperfect difl'usion of the cold air throughout the Chamber so as to cool the wicktube and heat itself to the requisite degree to promote combustion), is this: that just in proportion as the deflector or cone becomes highly heated it heats the wick-tube which it incloses, 'the peculiar shape of the former heating the latter as well by radiation as refiection, thereby causing the wick-tube to evaporate the oil more rapidly than is neces-" sary for the regular supply of the flame, and more rapidly than can bc thoroughly consumed from the limited supply of Oxygen, as presented to it by the old mode of constructing the lamps.

To obviate these defects and to provide a flat-wick lamp that will give a clear, stcady, and brilliant light With less Consumption ot' oil, or a more thorough combustion of the oil, is one of the objects of my present improvement, for which purpose I combine With the deflector Or cone of the lamp an air chamber or reservoir, into which the air intended for the interior of the cone is first made to enter and to difl'use itself, and so arranged as that the air shall then pass upward into the conechamber, where it also (lifi'uses itself and is then fed into the flame from the wick upward, la portion in its -ascent being brought in contact with the wick'tube, cooling it and being heated in turn previous to being brought into contact with the flame, and therefore, accord ing to the degree in which it has been heated, better calculated to promote combustion.

The next branch of myimprovement in flatwick lamp-tops relates to the generation of gas by the heated wick-tube from the oil chamber. These tops as previously constructed had no provision for the escape of gas from the oil-Chamber other than what could find vent or escape through the iuterstices or small spaces left between the male screwot' the lamp top and the female screw into which it took in the neck or month ot' the lamp, and therefore liable to eXplosion where there was not suficicnt space for its escape; but where such escape was effected as insuperable 'an objection was created, as it caused an exceedingly oi'ensive odor in the room, which few persons would tolerate, and therefore ott'ered a serious (lrawback to their introduction into general use, to remedy which I provide an opening in the bottom plate of the lamp-top, through which these gases escape into the air Chamber and there lningle with the air, and with the latter pass up into the cone-Chamber above, where these are fed into the flame and consu med with the other vapors generated from the oil in the wick.

To enable others skilled in the art to make, construct, and use my improvements I will now proceed to describe the bestmodes known to me of carrying them into effect, omittinga particular description of such parts of the laInp-top as were well known previous to my present invention and not essential to a full and complete understanding of them, here premising that in the accompanying drawings my improvements are represented in connection with the lamp-top in which the cone or deflector is united or permanently secured to the chilnney-band, although it is equally as applicable to lamp tops in which the deflector is loose that is to say, removable at will, it being made to fit into a chimneyband formed on or otherwise secured to the body of the lamp-top the manner of fitting in or otherwise securing the deflector to the lamp-top being simply a matter of judgment, not of necessity, for the purposes of my present ilnprovement, and that wholly irrespective of the shape or design of the lamp-top, so long as it is provided with a flat wick, a cone cham ber, and an air chamber or reservoir arranged immediately below the latter, into which the air is admitted and allowed to diffuse itself pre vious to passing upward into the cone-cham ber above, and this without regard to any pa rticular form sh ape, construction, and arrangement of the air-chamberother tha n its being arranged at a point below that of the conechamber, and so that the air may difl'use itself throughout the latter in passing up from the former, and so'that a portion may be brought in contact with the wick-tube previous to being fed into the flame-as, for example, it may either edge of the deflector or otherwise, forming the upper plate ot' the lamp-top; or it may consist of this space divided into two chambers by a perforated annular diaphragm surrounding the wick tube, so long as there are the requisite number of small apertures cut in the sides of the shell of the lalnp-top to provide for the requisite supply of -'resh air to the air-cham ber.

The l'amp-top represented in the drawings to which my improvements are applied consists of two principal parts connected together by a hinge, the first. of which is that part of the lamp-top that supports the wick-tube, and which in turn 'is secured to the month of the oil Chamber or body of the lamp by a lnale screw-thread cut on its lower extremity, taking into a female screw-thread cut in the month of the oil Chamber or reservoir; and the second is the burner consisting of the cone o1` deflector B and chimney-band A, suitably secured togcthen by means of a flange, n, formed on the lower edge of the cone, taking into a groove formed in the chimney band.

Immediately above and below this groove are pierced, respectively, a series of holes, the one series, y, being for the admission of air to the flame on the inside of the cone, and the other series, r, on the outside, the latter being for the further purpose of insulating the glass chim-- ney from -the actionof the heat evolved from the flame and heated cone or deflector by interposin g a cool current of air between them,

this current being induced by the action ot" the heat of the flame, which, as it ascends the chimney, naturally creates a strong current as well through the upper as lower series of holes, the band or support A for the chimney for this purpose being so formed as to present a sort of annular projection, c, on its inside, immediately above the upper row of holes, to. prevent the chimney from descend ing so far as to close the communication of the upper series of holes with its inside. Thus constructed, the lamp-top does not supply the requisite amount of Oxygen to the flame in a suitable and proper manner for the entire consumption of the oil as fast as it is generated into gas or gaseous vapors as, instead of the air being brought into contact with the flame throughout its entire surface, it is merely brought into contact with the latter at its top, the coolest part of the flame, and therefore cooling it still further, which, while it may supply Oxygen, instead of assisting combustion actually diminishes it, and allows a large portion of the gas to escape unconsumed, its temperature being reduced too low to in sure combustion, to remedy which I arrange an air-Chamber, d, immediately below the cone-Chamber g, in this instance between the shell-plate c' and upper plate, e, of that part of the lamp-top to which the wick-tubeis secured,havingoutlets or openings z, communicating with the open air, and other openings,f, in the upper plate communicating with the Chamber 0 of the cone B on the one side and the air-Chamber d on the other, in this instance these being so arranged as to cause the air passing from the air-Chamber below to pass up along the sides of the wicktube, cooling the latter in its ascent until it comes in contact with the flame, mingling with the latter as well at its lower as upper portion.

The air in its ascent as it cools the wick-tube and difl'uses itself through the hea ted cone- Chamber becomes heated to the requisite degree, or nearly so, to mix with the flame Without cooling it to such extentas to injuriously afl`ect or impair its burning, but, on the contrary, materially increases the bril- ]iancy oi' the light' obtained and consumes the Smoke, which would otherwise escape were there no such eombination of an air Chamber.

Instead of there being but. two apertures formed in the upper plate communicating with the air- Chamber d and the Chamber o, as many small apertures may be formed as may be deemed ad visable, in which event the lower series of holes, y, may be omitted altogether, without materially affecting theburning of the ]am p, care being taken to make the openings in the upper plateof a sufificient size and number to supply the requisite amount of Oxygen to the flame; or the whole upper plate may be re-.

moved'entirely,`in which case the size of the openings of the air-Chamber eommunicating with the open air should be lessened and their number increased, so as to steady and regulate the supply, and the depth of the chamber, if anything, increased, so as to give time to the air to difi'use itself throughout the Chamber previous to its passage upward into the conechamber above, into which it Would thus enter in a difi'used state, cooling the wick-tube in its ascent and in a measure acquiring the requisite degree of beat before mixing with the flame to promote combustion.

' In the lower plate, c', which separates the airchamber (l from the oil-chamber below, are cut openings, f', either at the sides of the wicktubeor at any other suitable points, so that any gaseous vapors generated by the action of the heated wick-tube or lamp-top will pass up from the oil- Chamber through the air-Chamber into the cone-Chamber o above by the holes communicating between them, andthere miX with the flame and air and be consumed, thus avoiding any disa gre'eable smell or odor by its escape unconsumed into the room, this same passage also serving, should occasion require, to conduct such oil as may happen to overflow the wick-tube back into the oilchamber again.

From the foregoing description and specification of my invention it Will be apparent that many different modes of carrying it into execution may be described to suit the Various for'ms of lamp-tops; but as they would be simpie modifications for that purpose, and no de parture from the principle of my invention, it is deemed here unnecessary so to do, as they will readily. suggest themselves to suit the various forms or styles.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new in flat-wick lamps, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An air-Chamber, in combinatlon with the Chamber 'ormed by the concavity of the deflector of a lam'p-top, substantially as described.

2. The combination of an air-Chamber for supplying air to the interior of the cone with openings for the admission of air on the outside of the cone between the latter and the inside of the chimney, substantially as set forth.

ln testimony whereof I hereunto set n y hand to this specification.

MICHAEL A. DIETZ.

Witnesses:

J AS. M. DIETZ, ROBERT E. DIETZ.

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