Invalidity dossier
US 954092
Added 9/21/2026, 9:25:45 AM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 954,092
Title: Vapor-Burner
Inventor: Martin Gratz, of Prescott, Arizona Territory
Assignee: One-half assigned to C. E. Ryer, of Prescott, Arizona Territory (listed current assignee: C F RYER)
Application No.: 489,621, filed April 13, 1909
Granted/Published: April 5, 1910
Legal Status: Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration April 5, 1927)
Classification: F23D 11/00, 11/36, 11/44 (liquid-spray/vaporized-liquid burners; preheating and vaporizing devices)
Purpose: The invention provides a "comparatively simple and inexpensive" vapor burner that positively prevents gasoline or other hydrocarbon from reaching the mixing chamber and causing a red flame at the burner tip. Further objects are a relatively long mixing chamber that heats air and gas after mixing and en route to the burner (ensuring an intimate mixture and a strong, steady light), and a generator giving the hydrocarbon a long travel while exposed to burner heat, producing "a very dry and rich gas."
Plain-language scope: A tubular hanger (5) depends from a support and carries a supply tank (6) with a filler cap (7) and pipe section (8). The hanger passes through a coupling (9) into an elbow (11) and a tubular generator (12) with a perforated tip (13); a needle valve (14) controls oil flow. Inside the generator, a cylindrical core (15) has spaced transverse openings (16) joined by staggered longitudinal grooves (17) to retard oil flow for thorough vaporization. A superheater (18) sits above the generator, connected to the coupling at one end and bent downwardly and inwardly at the other so its mouth aligns with the generator. A vapor conductor (19) depending from the coupling forms the mixing chamber and carries mixture to the burner tip (20), which lies beneath the generator and superheater. In use, the generator is preheated by a torch, the valve is opened, and the burner is lighted; burner heat sustains gas generation. The claims cover the conductor/coupling/superheater/generator combination, the grooved core, and the valve-controlled oil admission.
Not established by the excerpt: The drawings and some claim text are incomplete/OCR-garbled; the excerpt omits the full claim set, any prior-art references, prosecution history, and the express limitations that would define claim scope precisely.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US954092](/patent/US954092)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:02:26 PM
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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