US355351A - Abraham m - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

A. M. SOUTHARD.

APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING BUILDINGS.

Patented Jan. 4, 1887.

N. PETERs. Phclo-ljlhognpher, Waahingion. D C. v

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM M. SOUTHARD, OF DENVEB, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR TO THE. SOUTHARD PORTABLE GAS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BPECIFICAIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,351, dated January 4, 1887.

Application filed March 30, 1586. Serial No. 197,141. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM M. SOUTHARD, of Denver, Arapahoe county, in the State of Colorado, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Lighting Buildings, of which the following is a specification.

I use stationary lamps burning Excelsior oil, alight product of the distillation of petroleum.

My apparatus conduces to safety and convenience. I provide a sufficient tank within the top of the building, protected, as far as practicable, from the heat of the sun, to which I supply Excelsior oil at intervals, as required. with the several lamps, and the oil is let down to each bya valve,which may at will be tightly closed or be controlled automatically so as to let the oil down in the exact quantities required. A cook or other valve closed at will furnishes additional means for shutting off the oil. This latter means of excluding the fluid is particularly importantwhen it is desired to examine or repair a lamp.

The following is a description of What I con sider the best means of carrying out the invention.

The accompanying drawings forma part of this specification.

Figure l is a vertical section through a portion of a building having my invention. Fig. 2 is on a larger scale. It is a vertical section through a portion of one of the lamps.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in both the figures where they occur.

A is the building; B, the tank; 0, the pipes, properly branched and connected for leading the fluid to the several lamps under the pressure due to the difference of level between each lamp, respectively, and the reservoir.

D is a tight-fitting stop-cock, and E is the body of the lamp.

F F are curved pipes, having smooth interiors, partly choked with a wicking tipped by burners G G, which latter are considerably removed from and at a little height above the reservoir. There may be globes, shades, or other devices for shielding the flame and modifying the effect of the light.

This tank is connected by pipes A vertical tube, e, with both ends open, is fitted in the axial line of the body, its lower end being tightly soldered or otherwise joined to the bottom. Its upper end opens into the interior of the body near the top. H is an annular float, filling nearly the whole space between this tube and the interior of the body E. A tube, H, larger than tube 0, extends upward from the inner edge of this float. H is a hollow cone soldered or otherwise fixed on the top of H. The apex of this cone matches in a corresponding conical recess or valve-seat at the junction of O with E. v t

A thumb-screw, K, tappedthrough the bottom, extends up and presses, or is capable of pressing, against the interior of the cone. When this screw is turned in one direction, it is forced up, and lifting the cone H presses it tightly against its conical seat. This forbids the descent of oil so long as this condition obtains. The parts should be thus adjusted when they are to be for a long time disused.

When it is desired to operate one or more of the lamps, the corresponding screws, K, are turned in the direction to unscrew or sink the screws. This sets the cone H, and consequently the tube H and float H, at liberty to rise and sink. If the surface of the oil in the body E is below the proper level, the float H and its connections will sink. This allows oil to descend from G into E. This raises the float H and closes thevalve H This constitutes an automatic regulation, the float H rising and closing or partially closing the valve.

whenever the level of the oil in the body E gets too high, and sinking and opening the valve and allowing more to descend whenever the surface of the oil in the body gets too low.

It may be understood that the gradual flow of the oil from the reservoir B to the burner is the same as is set forth in the patent to me dated December 29, 1885, N 0. 333,354; or I can use other devices and forms for utilizing the oil in the body. Devices for burning the oil in the vicinity of the reservoir B, but sufficiently removed therefrom to allow E and its contents to be kept cold, constitute an important part of my invention; but their forms may IOO izing the oil kept at proper levels in the several lamp-bodies E E.

I attach importance to the fact that the automatic regulation due to the free rising and sinking of the float H and its connections will allow the oil to come down in just the proper quantities to supply the lamps when they are at liberty to move; and I also attach importance to the provision by the screw K for holding the valve and its connections tightly up into its seat, so as to exclude the oil entirely when desired. I also attach importance to the seperate cock D, operated at will. Closing this allows me to safely unscrew the branches or arms F, or the entire lamp E, at will. Beeswax or analogous material insoluble in Excelsior oil should, after each disconnection, be

applied to the screw-threads, to insure a tight joint when the screw is again introduced.

Modifications may be made in the forms and proportions within wide limits without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. I can use one alone of the bodies E instead of a series, as shown. I can have only one burner connected to each body instead of a number, as shown. The form of the body and of the burner and the relative sizes and lengths of the tubes may be Varied within wide limits.

the tube H, fitting over the tube eand having the valve H", of a screw-rod, K, arranged to operate the said valve independent of the float action, as set forth.

2. The combination, with; the reservoir E, having inlet and outlets, as described, and having central vertical tube, 0, of the float H, hav

ing tube H and valve H and the screw K,

operating through the tube e, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at New York city, this 4th day of March, 1886, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. A

ABRAHAM M. SOUTHARD.

Witnesses:

MANIERRE ELLIsoN,

EDw. \VM. FRANCIS.

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