IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOOTHING IRONS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SMOOTHING IRONS."-A communication from abroad by Antoine Jules
Alfred Cavelier de Mocomble, of Paris, in the Empire of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th December 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North,
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN. SMOOTHING IRONS," a communication from abroad by
Antoine Jules Alfred Cavelier de Mocomble, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements upon and modifications of.
that class of smoothing irons wherein two surfaces are used, the one surface.
being heated by the flame of a spirit or other suitable lamp, whilst the other
is in operation, and vice versa, the iron being reversed so as to bring the
newly heated surface downwards, and place the cooled surface over the flame
of the lamp. According to this Invention it is proposed, in order to econo-

page_text: mise as much as possible the volatile spirit employed in the lamp, to increase
considerably the length of the conducting tube containing the wick, and to
interpose between such tube and the spirit reservoir some good non-conductor
of heat, by which means the heating of the conductor and reservoir hitherto
so objectionable as tending to a waste of spirit by expanding and evaporising
the same is prevented. This increased length of conducting tube is obtained
by connecting it to the back part of the reservoir near its upper edge in place
of to the front side nearest the smoothing iron. A screw cap or stopper is
fitted to one end of the conducting tube, whereby the escape or evaporation
of the spirit when not in use may be prevented, and by making a lateral slit
or opening in the cap, and placing it at the reservoir end of the conducting
tube the wick which passes through the opening may be more or less squeezed
by turning the cap, thereby regulating the flow of spirit along it according to
the heat required. The lamp and conducting tube are carried by a circular
plate turning in an opening at the back of the iron, and held in its proper
position so as to allow either surface of the iron to be uppermost by means of
a spring catch taking into one or other of two notches made on diametrically
opposite sides of the circular plate so as to fix it in either position. In some
cases it is proposed to use a conducting tube with two wicks, one of which
is permanent, whilst the other may be replaced at will.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and
of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
+

page_text: might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOOTHING IRONS," a communication from abroad by
Antoine Jules Alfred Cavelier de Mocomble, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jolin Henry
Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements upon and modifications
of that class of smoothing irons wherein two surfaces are used, the one surface
being heated by the flame of a spirit or other suitable lamp, whilst the other
is in operation, and vice versa, the iron being reversed so as to bring the newly
heated surface downwards, and to place the cool surface over the flame of the
lamp to be heated. According to this Invention it is proposed, in order to
economize as much as possible the volatile spirit employed in the lamp, to
increase considerably the length of the conducting tube containing the wick,
and to interpose between such tube and the spirit reservoir some good non-
conductor of heat, by which means the heating of the conductor and reservoir
hitherto so objectionable as tending to produce waste of the spirit by expanding
and vapourising the same is prevented. This increased length of conducting
tube is obtained by connecting it to the back part of the reservoir near its
upper edge in place of to the front side nearest the smoothing iron. A
screw cap or stopper is fitted to one end of the conducting tube, whereby the
escape or evaporation of the spirit when not in use may be prevented, and by
making a lateral slit or opening in the cap, and placing it at the reservoir
end of the conducting tube, the wick which passes through the opening may
be more or less compressed by turning the cap, thereby regulating the flow of
spirit along it according to the heat required. The lamp and conducting tube
are carried by a circular plate turning in an opening at the back of the iron,
and held in its proper position so as to allow either surface of the iron to be
uppermost by means of a spring catch taking into one or other of two notches

page_text: made on diametrically opposite sides of the circular plate so as to fix it in
either position. In some cases it is proposed to use a conducting tube with
two wicks, one of which is permanent, whilst the other may be replaced
at will.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating correspond parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section of one
modification of the improved self-heating smoothing iron which the Inventor
calls the "Janus iron." It is composed of three parts, namely, the smoothing
iron proper A, with its two faces a, a', which may each be used alternately in
ironing; the wooden handle B, the front support C of which is connected to
the part d of the iron A by means of a pin, bolt, or other suitable contri-
vance; and the lamp E with its conducting tube F. The lamp E is con-
nected to the lamp holder G by means of the circular plate H, which is
provided at its periphery with stop notches or recesses h, i, j, k. This plate H
fits into notches or slots in the annular frame G, which are formed bebind the
three projecting lugs 1, 1, 1, and is held fixed in its position by the moveable
stop-m. The stop m is actuated by pressing the upper end of the lever M
towards the handle of the iron, a spring N serving to push-it-in-the-opposite
direction, and to keep it in such a position as will maintain the stop m in
the slot or opening p in the back end of the iron. The frame G is kept in
its place by the screw bolt O, which passes through the upper end of G
through the centre of the handle B, and through the end of the support C.
The stop m which passes through a notch k in the frame G, enters an
opening p made for that purpose in the back of the iron, thereby holding it
in its proper position, but admitting of it being turned over or reversed when
withdrawn from such opening p, by pressing inwards the upper end of the
lever M, the iron being again fixed in its reversed position by the entrance of
the stop m, into a corresponding opening p¹ made on the opposite side of the
iron. The conducting tube F carries 'a cap r, which may be screwed on to
its extremity to prevent any volatilization of the spirit which supplies the wick.
Figure 2 represents another arrangement of the lamp E, in which the
cover s is screwed on so as to facilitate the inspection of the interior of the
lamp and of the pipe F, and for effecting the compression of the wick (not
shewn in the Drawing), which passes along the entire length of the pipe F,
and enters the spirit reservoir E of the lamp.

page_text: Fig. 3 represents another arrangement wherein the desired regulation of
the flame by the compression of the wick is effected by a cap t fitted on to
the mouth of the wick tube F, and provided witli à slot or opening through
which the wick passes, which slot or opening may be enlarged or contracted
by turning more or less the cap t.
Figure 4 represents an elevation of the back end of the improved smoothing
iron with the lamp reservoir E removed; and Figure 5 is a horizontal section
of the same taken along the axis of rotation of the iron; Figure 6 represents
a sectional detail of the wick tube F adapted for the easy replacing of the
'wick, this 'tube really contains two wicks, the one which is permanent extend-
ing along the horizontal part F of the tube into the reservoir, and the other
contained in the short vertical branch at the inner end of the tube, the latter
being the one which is burnt, it is easily withdrawn and replaced by another
when required.
Figure 7 represents another arrangement fulfilling the same object. The
lamp E is provided with a tubular branch P screwed at its lower end, whilst
the end of the wick tube F carries an enlargement F¹, in which is inserted a
piece of hard wood Q. This piece of wood Q is screwed to receive the
screwed end of the branch P. By this arrangement the reservoir E will be
kept cooler, as the interposition of the non-conducting substance Q prevents
to a considerabie extent the transmission of heat thereto. Various means
may be adopted for fixing the wooden nut Q inside the enlarged socket F',
or this nut Q may be replaced by a series of washers of leather, india-rubber,
or other good non-conductor of heat, placed one above the other: In this
latter case a different mode of connecting the branch P may be employed.
The supply of air to the flame of the lamp should always be at the ends of the
iron, either by means of round or oval apertures made in the sides of the
iron behind or in front of the flame, or by means of orifices formed at the
two ends of the iron as shewn at x and y, Figure 1. Air may be allowed to
enter the back end of the iron by leaving a space between the disc H and
the frame G as shown.
the nature of the said
may be used or carried
I consider to be novel
Having now described and particularly ascertained
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
berein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1st, the general construction and arrangement of smoothing irons as herein-
before described and illustrated by the Drawings.

page_text: 2nd, the peculiar form of double-wick tube or holder, and the use therewith
of a permanent and a removeable wick as herein-before described.
3rd, the mode of regulating the heat or size of the flame by compressing
more or less the wick as herein-before described.
4th, the application and use of a non-conductor of heat interposed between 5
the flame and the spirit reservoir in self-heating smoothing irons, and the
lengthening of the wick tube, by causing it to enter the reservoir on the side
farthest from the flame in the manner and for the purposes herein-before
described.
5th, the peculiar mode of connecting the lamp to the hinder part of the 1
iron by the intervention of a notched disc plate as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)