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![Graves Patent Marking.JPG - GRAVES PATENT - Hard to find tin face lamp with removable screw-in copper spout liner and brass spout cap, 2 in. to top of lid, 1 5/8 in. base dia., 1 11/16 in. spout length, marked on font PAT APL’D FOR, ex-Al Grazevich collection with O17 mark on bottom [This is a later model of the Graves patent oil wick lamp that includes the screw-in copper spout liner. Ralph L. Graves of Sumpter, OR was awarded three patents all of which dealt with a means to keep a paraffin-type solid fuel in a liquid state by using a heat conducting spout liner assembly. His first patent No. 853,078 was issued May 7, 1907. A second patent No. 886,204 modified his first by adding a removable perforated heat-conducting wick tube. His final miner’s lamp patent No. 942,823 was issued Dec. 7, 1909 and modified both earlier patents by adding a rotating disk on the spout cap to adjust the heat being provided to the fuel. The lamp shown here uses a removable screw-in copper wick tube perforated with several holes to transfer heat from the burning wick back to the fuel. It is thought this is a later model based on his patent that used a threaded recessed brass spout cap through which the copper wick tube protrudes. It seals through a screw-in fit on the threaded brass spout tip ring perhaps using a gasket made of non-combustible material as described in his claims to keep the liquid fuel from spilling out the spout. Another earlier version (shown elsewhere in my pics) of the wick tube assembly found on other lamps before the patent application was filed uses the same copper wick tube and brass spout cap but the cap is friction fit into the spout. Graves’ original patent feature used copper wires rather than a tube to transfer heat. The difficulty of fabricating the spout assembly with wires and the expected breakage and/or damage of the wires in use made the copper tube a preferred option. There are two aspects of the Graves miner’s lamp patent that I find interesting. The first is that Graves lived in Sumpter, Oregon, far from the coal fields in the east where oil wick lamps were in heavy use and where nearly all the major wick lamp makers were located. The second is that Graves’ patents all use a “typical” lamp font, lid and spout attachment for his improvements as described in his claims. It would appear that he decided to use a rare Husson No. 3-style lamp with a stick sleeve on the screw-on lid as the typical lamp, certainly not a typical lamp from my viewpoint.]](Graves Patent Marking.JPG) |
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| Graves Patent Marking | GRAVES PATENT - Hard to find tin face lamp with removable screw-in copper spout liner and brass spout cap, 2 in. to top of lid, 1 5/8 in. base dia., 1 11/16 in. spout length, marked on font PAT APL’D FOR, ex-Al Grazevich collection with O17 mark on bottom [This is a later model of the Graves patent oil wick lamp that includes the screw-in copper spout liner. Ralph L. Graves of Sumpter, OR was awarded three patents all of which dealt with a means to keep a paraffin-type solid fuel in a liquid state by using a heat conducting spout liner assembly. His first patent No. 853,078 was issued May 7, 1907. A second patent No. 886,204 modified his first by adding a removable perforated heat-conducting wick tube. His final miner’s lamp patent No. 942,823 was issued Dec. 7, 1909 and modified both earlier patents by adding a rotating disk on the spout cap to adjust the heat being provided to the fuel. The lamp shown here uses a removable screw-in copper wick tube perforated with several holes to transfer heat from the burning wick back to the fuel. It is thought this is a later model based on his patent that used a threaded recessed brass spout cap through which the copper wick tube protrudes. It seals through a screw-in fit on the threaded brass spout tip ring perhaps using a gasket made of non-combustible material as described in his claims to keep the liquid fuel from spilling out the spout. Another earlier version (shown elsewhere in my pics) of the wick tube assembly found on other lamps before the patent application was filed uses the same copper wick tube and brass spout cap but the cap is friction fit into the spout. Graves’ original patent feature used copper wires rather than a tube to transfer heat. The difficulty of fabricating the spout assembly with wires and the expected breakage and/or damage of the wires in use made the copper tube a preferred option. There are two aspects of the Graves miner’s lamp patent that I find interesting. The first is that Graves lived in Sumpter, Oregon, far from the coal fields in the east where oil wick lamps were in heavy use and where nearly all the major wick lamp makers were located. The second is that Graves’ patents all use a “typical” lamp font, lid and spout attachment for his improvements as described in his claims. It would appear that he decided to use a rare Husson No. 3-style lamp with a stick sleeve on the screw-on lid as the typical lamp, certainly not a typical lamp from my viewpoint.] |  Original Image |
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