Hi all, I am in between lamp restorations, so I am having some spare time and am trying to educate myself of early stoves in this magnificent forum. I have seen a lot of posts about the Rex stoves and similar with different brand names. Interesting stove with that bottom lever and intriguing burner construction. I've gone through most posts but haven't seen the name of the constructor, patent holder. This is probably embedded in some posts I´ve missed, but the 1895 patent of Carl Östlund is very similar or is the patent for these stoves. There is an additional earlier patent in 1894. I don't know if that ever came into production. I have not found it on the pages I have read so far. /Conny
Conny, You've mentioned you have gone through most Rex related posts and may have already considered content in this link . Note figure 1 and the reference to Aktiebolaget Petroleumköket Rex in Stockholm. Credit Trevor for sharing that 1898 article. Not sure this helps, thx omc
@OMC Yes I saw that link after finding Östlund´s patent and it struck me that it is more or less the same drawing/sketch. In that 1898 Polytechnisches Journal it doesn't say anything about Östlund as the inventor. I found that strange and that I couldn't find that fact otherwise in CCS. But it may still be there somewhere. /Conny
Hi again, I've been doing some digging and I think Carl Östlund sold the patent rights to AB Petroleumköket Rex. For the German market Rex associate with the German company of H. Popfe & Co in Hamburg, and they make a joint apply and was granted the patent DE92619 for that stove invention in 1895. Nowhere in that patent is Carl Östlund mentioned. The H. Popfe (not Proppe as in PJ) company in Hamburg was an export company of chemicals and mining products. Why Carl Östlund applied for and was granted a patent for that "Rex" stove in his own name in the UK in 1895 and what came out of it in terms of an eventual production, and by whom, is till to be found out about. Also the Östlund Swedish patent. /Conny
Now it´s getting weird. Searching Rex and Östlund Swedish patents I found two patents issued for Rex and with a person A. E. Malmström as the inventor. Here is a composite of the Rex related patents compared to that of Carl Östlund, who is not mentioned i any of the others. Strange ! I did a typing error in my previous post ...should be Propfe & Co /Conny
@Conny C , I like that you are taking a break from lamps and sharing comments on CCS ( sorry, lamps just don't do it for me fwiw). 1st attachment dates 1895, 1905, 1905 in error, ok. Re patents, we're going with above, the latest (all 1895?): Östlund (granted for "Rex" stove ) in UK 1895 Rex and A. E. Malmström in Sweden 1895 Rex and Propfe & Co in Germany 1895 given that, we consider @Christer Carlsson comment: " Östlund's invention, the Excelsior stove which came in 1885, is an interesting piece because it is a real, wickless, paraffin stove, and working with a pressurised tank and vapourising system " [ sorry to confuse further but a bottom lever, flat top Petrolia stove, also quite similar to Rex was in-production / distribution in 1895 as well ] My impression, under consideration, is the origin for most/all of the above may be Östlund (Malmström may disagree ) or what? is this yet another ancient who copied who ? Making any sense of it is no easy task, try as we may shall. thx omc x-ref. tags: Ostlund , Bohlmark , Malstrom , AB Petroleumkoket Rex
Yes I think you are right. I like researching this kind of puzzle, nerdy as I am, but we will maybe never come to a definitive conclusion as we lack first hand information. Another thing though……….. Malmström was also granted an UK 1895 patent in his own name, here not associated with AB Petroleumköket Rex. This is a similar patent as the others of a valve regulated stove. He has five patent drawings, each with a different kind of valve regulating mechanism, seen here……… When comparing the Malmström UK fig.a stove drawing to that of Östlund,s 1894 UK patent drawing, it is obvious to me that the outline drawing of the stove is the same, not only similar. It looks the two inventors used the same outline drawing and both applied and adding different technics for regulating the valve. Cooperation or copying, who knows, because it couldn´t be accidental I think the Petrolia stove is a Swedish made stove as it uses "öppen" open - "stängd" closed, in Swedish. In the digital files of the Technical Museum in Stockholm, one can find the Petrolia stove, also in a cut out version. The tag from the museum says the stove is marked on top "Petrolia patent öppen - stängd" and on the fuel lid "AB Hjort Co Stockholm", which also is stamped on the bottom. Owner of patent is said to be "Petrolia" and general agent AB B.A. Hjorth & Co. So maybe Primus played it safe and put their money on both horses in 1894/95, maybe not knowing which stove would win in the end. Maybe this is already known and presented here, but also found from the files of the Technical Museum in Stockholm. This is a wickless paraffin stove with pressurized tank and vaporising system from a 1876 patent of C.E. Andersson, Stockholm. x-ref. tags: Ostlund , Bohlmark , Malmstrom , AB Petroleumkoket Rex @OMC
@Conny C This is all very good research! What are the orange balls on the bottom two stoves? Are they a pressure pump? Tony
@Tony Press Hi Tony, The last stove with the ball is shown from two sides, just one stove. Yes the rubber ball is the pump, blows air into the stove with the connecting tube. In the end of the tube is a cork gasket and a spring.
Excuse my efforts with ocr/translation! I think for the majority of members these great old adverts deserve some explanation & context. Please check @Christer Carlsson @Conny C Interesting Primus bring the Petrolia to market at all as the design did not stand the test of time that their original did! Advert from B.A. Hjorth PRIMUS The paraffin stove Primus has won several exhibitions, is undoubtedly the best and is recommended to everyone who values good and solid work. Burns without wick. Completely odor, soot and smoke-free. Is completely explosion-free. Price 10 kr. PETROLIA The paraffin stove Petrolia burns without ??? and is without a pump and completely odor-, soot- and smoke-free. Is completely explosion-free. Is extremely oil-saving. Is significantly superior to previously on the market stoves of similar construction. Made entirely of finely polished brass and polished neatly, and since "Petrolia" is of the same make as the previously well-known Primus cooker, this is probably the best guarantee for its durability. Price 7 kr. As Mr. Axel E. Malmström In the newspapers published a so-called warning against sales of paraffin stove "Petrolia", while the same would be an infringement of his patent law, we hereby inform Mr. resellers that the same warning is only nonsense, and that the sale of "Petrolia" does not entail any risk and that we otherwise wear all such. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The statement re patent infringement is in response to the following notice from Malmström Warning for Gentleman retailers of the paraffin stove "Petrolia" Sedan Kongl. The Patent Office, by resolution of 18 July 1895, declared itself unable to approve patent claims made by Factory Dealer JV Svensson for the paraffin stove "Petrolia" and this especially due to my patent no. 5516 for the paraffin stove "REX", and I therefore called for both Mr. Svensson as the company B, A Hjorth & Co, which later through newspaper advertisements brought "Petrolia" to the market to immediately seize to manufacture, sell and advertise the same paraffin stove, I hereby announce that I will hold liable for infringement of my patent rights anyone who in this country holds the paraffin stove "Petrolia" to sale. Ingressen till ofvan omförmälda af Kongl. The resolution issued by the Patent Office is as follows: »To Fabriksidkaren J.'V. Svensson. Upon further examination of the patent application 1858/94, Kongl. The Patent Office, in view of previously granted patents for similar devices and in particular patent No. 5516, has found itself unable to approve the patent claim submitted, unless it changes so that it is inexplicably clear that the patent object is the arrangement of the arms as open tubes. Stockholm, July 18, 1895. Hugo E. &. Hamilton. Nils Rahm, Karl af Geijerstam. Stockholm, July 27, 1895. Axel E. Malmström.
Announcement! Due to one Herr Axel E. Malmström some time ago through the newspapers announced that the sale of the paraffin stove would be an infringement of his patent, we hereby announce that the patent application for the paraffin stove 'Petrolia' by official announcement from Kongl. The Patent Office has now been approved. Stockholm, October 1895 B.A. Hjorth & Co ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Stove disputes continues. The company B. A. Hjorth & Co, which in the market for the paraffin stove Petrolia here again agreed to the town hall court of the limited company Rex with a claim for liability for infringement of the patent law, because the company claims Petrolia to be an imitation of its paraffin stove Rex. As is well known, this patent dispute has repeatedly been the subject of legal proceedings. For further investigation, the case has been postponed until further notice.
I have been following all this with great interest. This is an old written Swedish, and I would assume that many online translators may run in to some problem with phrasing and words that not are modern. However I find it very confusing with all these ads popping up here and there, and in large amounts in different threads... They are everywhere right now, and it must be even more confusing for the majority in here who don't speak Swedish. It's not easy to get a grip on what the meaning of the ad is trying to pin-point when posted in certain threads, and to translate everything in pointless. I'm away for a couple of days, so have not really the time to do this right now, but perhaps later on.
Thanks Christer. & spell checkers! Although what is the modern equivalent is sometimes offered as spelling is similar. I only translated these as they were added to a discussion & it was clear they were more than just adverts.
A stove forum discussion . Topics with as many, or more, questions than answers. My thanks to @Conny C for posting this "bit of confusion" back in 2018 when less was known. btw Conny: "So maybe Primus [Hjorth] played it safe and put their money on both horses in 1894/95, maybe not knowing which stove would win in the end." More detail and maybe some answers have emerged. btw Ross: "Interesting Primus bring the Petrolia to market at all as the design did not stand the test of time that their original did!" @Christer Carlsson I add my thanks to you also for translation help with this and all you're constantly doing behind the scenes. @Spiritburner Ross, I'm confident, bar none, gieorgi & membership appreciate you jumping-in with initial translations of ads [from the dawn of gasification... STOVE-WARS !! ] and agreeable with "... these great old adverts deserve some explanation & context." --------------- "They were really going at it" in court and in the court of public opinion. I do recall similar impression of such conflict from gieorgi comments but the "at war" context hadn't sunk in with me. This is one of several similar conflicts. I consider ads with a Ross point made elsewhere: "... advertising standards were maybe not as robust as they are now." How did it end... is all we have that the market decided and (Hjorth backed ... then owned) "The Primus" survived and thrived, meanwhile by approx. 189? or 190? the others closed. Does that ring true? thx omc tag @gieorgijewski
imo Svenssons preparing for main problem - create cut off version - but thats was conflicted with second Ostlund patent https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/j-v-svenson-stove-patent.47519/
