IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH ELECTRIC LAMPS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Guillaume André, of Dorking, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH
ELECTRIC LAMPS.”
Sealed the 18th June 1880, and dated the 19th December 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Guillaume André
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th December 1879.
GEORGE GUILLAUME ANDRÉ, of Dorking, in the County of Surrey. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH ELECTRIC LAMPS.”
In the Specification of my Patent dated 1st of March, 1879, No. 830, I have
described an electric lamp working by incandescence, and having one or more
carbons enclosed in an atmosphere of common air, from which the oxygen when the
lamp is lit is gradually abstracted or absorbed by the combustion of a small portion
of the carbon; the carbon stick is contained in a tube and is pressed down by a
light loose weight in the tube.
Now, according to this Invention, I reverse the arrangement of parts so far that
I place the base or bed plate at the top and the enclosing glass cylinder I make
short or shallow and attach it air tight to the bottom of the plate. To gain the
necessary height for the carbon or carbons I carry the enclosing tubes for same up,
through, and beyond the plate, and enclose same in an outer larger metal tube or
casing which is fixed air tight to the plate, and is closed air tight at the top by a
removeable lid. The commutating magnets are placed by preference on the top of
the plate and outside the just named metal casing. The lower or negative electrode
is carried down from the plate and may be of metal.
By the employment of the short glass cylinder and the upper metal casing I
obtain as large and effective a cooling surface as is needed for keeping down the
temperature of the enclosed atmosphere without using a large glass cylinder, and
am enabled to replace the carbon or carbons without breaking the joint between
the glass cylinder and the plate by simply removing the small lid on the top of the
metal casing. Or the casing may be made permanently closed at the top and would
then have to be made removable from the plate, or the joint to be broken may be
in any other part of the casing.

page_text: I form the lower electrode with a sloping recess, against the side of which the
lower end of the point of the carbon rests, and I thus obtain lateral contact
therewith, so that the heat is not so concentrated in one point and the carbon is in
consequence worn away less rapidly, while the electrical resistance is diminished;
the sliding of the carbon point on the incline also throws the carbon against the
upper or positive contact in or in connection with the carbon enclosing tube. Or
the carbon point may pass through an eye formed in the upper part of the lower
electrode and rests on an inclined surface below the eye.
The next part of my Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
commutator for electrical lamps. In order to reduce the electrical resistance of the
coil of the electro magnet and to weaken its hold on the armature while the lamp
is burning I shunt part of the current after the armature has been attracted; for
this purpose I cause the armature to come against a stop or pillar, around which I
place a coil so proportioned as to take away from the magnet the requisite part of
the current.
When the carbon in a lamp working by incandescence ceases to approach the
other electrode, the electric are will be formed between the two; the resistance
thus occasioned will at once and for a short interval diminish the light of the other
lamps in the same circuit, and if there be many of them such "blinks" will at times
be of rather frequent occurrence.
In order to obviate this I at such times so shunt a portion of the current that the
power of the electro-magnet is more or less neutralized, so that the armature is
instantly let go and the are extinguished.
For this purpose I provide one of the cores of the electro magnet with a
comparatively short and thick coil, and the other core with a relatively long and
thin coil, and I cause the current through the latter to neutralize more or less the
effect of the current in the other coil.
The end of the thin coil may be connected to an insulated piece, against which
the armature forms contact when attracted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Guillaume André in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th
June 1880.
George GUILLAUME ANDRÉ, of Dorking, in the County of Surrey. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH ELECTRIC LAMPS."
In the Specification of my Patent dated the 1st of March, 1879, No. 830, I have
described an electric lamp working by incandescence, and having one or more
carbons enclosed in an atmosphere of common air, from which the oxygen, when the
lamp is lit, is gradually abstracted or absorbed by the combustion of a small portion
of the carbon. The carbon stick is contained in a tube and is pressed down by a
light loose weight in the tube. Now, according to this Invention, I reverse the
arrangement of parts so far that I place the base or bed plate at the top, and the
enclosing glass cylinder I make short or shallow, and attach it air tight to the
bottom of the plate. To gain the necessary height for the carbon or carbons I carry
the enclosing tube for same up, through, and beyond the plate, and enclose same in
an outer larger metal tube or casing, which is fixed airtight to the plate and is
closed airtight at the top by a removable lid. The commutating magnets when
used are placed by preference on the top of the plate and outside the just named
metal casing. The lower or negative electrode is carried down from the plate and
may be of metal.
By the employment of the short glass cylinder and the upper metal casing I
obtain as large and effective a cooling surface as is needed for keeping down the
temperature of the inclosed atmosphere without using a largo glass cylinder, and
am enabled to replace the carbon or carbons without breaking the joint between
the glass cylinder and the plate by simply removing the small lid on the top of the
metal casing. Or the casing may be made permanently closed at the top and would
then have to be made removable from the plate, or the joint to be broken may be
in any other part of the casing.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a vertical part section and part
elevation of a lamp constructed according to this part of my Invention. Figure 2
is a cross section through line A, A, and Figure 3 a cross section through
line B, B.
The carbon stick a is enclosed in a tube b, passes out below through a steatite or
other insulating ferrule c in the bottom part b and rests on the negative
electrode k; the weight d presses down the carbon and may, if desired, be insulated
from the carbon stick a, but practically but a small portion of current has been
found to enter the carbon from this direction. The bottom part of the weight is very
slightly less conical than the corresponding conical recess in the bottom part of the
tube b so as to prevent sticking, at the same time the carbon is sufficiently guided
as to enter the cylindrical recess in the bottom of the weight. The tube b is
enclosed in an outer tube e, the intermediate space between them being filled partly
or wholly with some kind of non-conducting cement, such as plaster of Paris. The
tube o has the bedplate ƒ formed or fitted thereon, the latter is formed as a screwed
cap or ring into which the ring g is screwed, which latter is fixed on the top of the
enclosing short glass cylinder à; an india rubber washer may be used for forming
the air tight joint between fand g.
An outer globe k' may, if desired, be attached to the plate j, as indicated in dotted
lines. The tubes 6 and e pass up beyond the plate or socket f to any desired height
according to the length of carbon used.
The lower or negative electrode k may be made in copper, and is by a bracket Z
connected to the outer tube & on which the negative terminal is fixed, as shown, the
fixing screw m. passing through an oblong slot through the bolt or flange of the
tube e to admit of adjustment relating to the carbon.

page_text: The contact n, o, between the inner tube b and the carbon a is jointed to the
lower part of the tube b and falls by its own gravity against the carbon a; the
bent rod part o is of copper and is a segment of a circle, the radius of which is
equal to the distance between the fulcrum of the part n and the fixed end of the
part o; thus the part of the latter in contact with the carbon will always, though
it gradually consumes away at this place, press on the carbon at the same point.
The first carbon is put in by disconnecting the cylinder / from the bedplate or
cap, removing the negative electrode k, and then inserting the fresh carbon into
the tube b from below.
The tube or casing e may, if desired, be closed by a lid at the top so as to enclose
the top of the inner tube b, which latter would then be open at the top for the
purpose of inserting a fresh carbon at that place.
I may form the lower electrode with a sloping recoss against the side of which
the lower end of the point of the carbon rests, and I thus obtain lateral contact
therewith, so that the heat is not so concentrated in one point, and the carbon is in
consequence worn away less rapidly, while the electrical resistance is diminished.
The sliding of the carbon point on the incline also throws the carbon against the
upper or positive contact in or in connection with the carbon enclosing tube.
Figure 4 is a partial view illustrating this part of my Invention. The carbon a
rests on or in a sloping recess or notched formed in the lower electrode k. Or the
carbon point may pass through an eye formed in the upper part of the lower
electrode and rest on an inclined surface below the eye, as shown in Figure 5.
The next part of my Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
commutator for electrical lamps. In order to reduce the electrical resistance of the
coil of the electro magnet and to weaken its hold on the armature while the lamp
is burning I shunt part of the current after the armature has been attracted. For
this purpose I cause the armature to come against a stop or pillar, around which I
place a coil so proportioned as to take away from the magnet the requisite part of
the current.
When the carbon in a lamp working by incandescence ceases to approach the
other electrode the electric arc will be formed between the two. The resistance
thus occasioned will at once, and for a short interval, diminish the light of the other
lamps in the same circuit, and if there be many of them such blinks will at times
be of rather frequent occurrence. In order to obviate this I at such times so shunt
a portion of the current that the power of the electro magnet is more or less 3
neutralized, so that the armature is instantly let go and the arc extinguished.
For this purpose I provide one of the cores of the electro magnets with a
comparatively short and thick coil, and the other core with a relatively long and
thin coil, and I cause the current through the latter to neutralize more or less the
effect of the current in the other coil. One end of the thin coil may be connected 4
to an insulated piece, against which the armature forms contact when attracted.
Figure 6 is a side elevation of a commutator arranged in accordance with this
part of my Invention. Figure 7 is a plan, and Figure 8 an end view of same.
C is the armature which is jointed to the standard D, at its outer end there is a
stop or pillar E, the upper end of which is fitted with an insulating ring e; F is a
pillar, the projecting upper end f of which forms contact with the armature when
it is in its upper or released position. The pillar E has a helical spring which can
be adjusted by a nut e¹ on the lower screwed part thereof. In connection with the
pillar E there is a pillar G, shewn in Figure 7 and 8, around which is placed a
wire coil N so proportioned as to take away from the magnet the desired proportion
of the current; one end of the wire is fixed to the pillar G, and the other end of
same forms junction with the wire H leading to the lamp, as shewn at h in
Figures 7 and 8.
The wire H is coiled round the core A of the electro magnet and passes off to the
standard D. Round the second coro B, but in a contrary direction to the wire H, 5
so as to neutralize the effect of the latter to some extent, is coiled a longer but
thinner wire I, one end of which is connected to the pillar F, and the other to

page_text: the insulated stop K. The armature lever C is beyond the fulcrum c provided with
a spring bar L.
The resistance of the long and thin wire I is, say, fifty times that of the lamp
when burning; one end of the main cable M is attached by terminal screw to the
standard D, and the other end of same similarly to the standard F.
The current passing into the standard D divides itself between the thick coil H
and the armature C which is in contact with F. The magnetism excited in the
core A of the electro magnet draws down the armature C and thus cuts of
communication with the standard F at f, and forms contact with the pillar E.
The current in the armature now passes into the pillar E through the coils of
wire N and shunting it into the wire H at h. Simultaneously the spring box L
makes contact with the stop K, whereby the thin wire coil I on the core B is
thrown into circuit. The effect of the coil on A is thereby partly neutralized. If
the arc should form in the lamp the increased resistance occasioned thereby in the
lamp circuit causes a larger proportion of the current to pass through the thin
coil I, hereby the effect of the thick coil is then fully neutralized, and the armature
consequently let go. This arrangement may also obviously be applied to the
regulation of the arc in are lamps.
And having thus described and ascertained the nature of this Invention, I declare
that I claim,
Fustly. The outer tube e closed at top and with bed plate, or socket ƒ near the
lower end for securing the glass cylinder h below it for the purpose of obtaining a
large cooling surface with a small glass cylinder, and at the same time obtaining
facility for the employment of any desired length of carbon which can also easily
be replaced, substantially as described and shown.
Secondly. The outer tubes with socket f and glass cylinder h in combination
with the lower electrodo secured to such tube as set forth, and in combination with
an inner tube b for guiding the carbon, and with the contact n, o, substantially as
set forth.
Thirdly. The form and construction of the contact n, o, substantially as described
and shown.
Fourthly. The form of lower electrode, as described with reference to Figures
4 and 5.
Fifthly. The mode herein described for shunting a portion of the current away
from the coils of an electro magnet for the purpose of reducing the electrical
resistance and lessening the heating effect of the current in the coil.
Sixthly. The extinguishing of the voltaic arc when accidentally forming in a
lamp working by incandescence by automatically shunting a portion of the current,
so that the power of the electro magnet is more or less neutralized and its armature
let go, substantially as set forth.
Seventhly. Providing one core of the electro magnet with a relatively long and
thin coil wound in the contrary direction to that on the other core, so as to
neutralize the magnetic effect and to let go the armature at any required moment
for the purpose of extinguishing or regulating the voltaic aic in electric lamps.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Guillaume André, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
ANA
2
GEO. G. ANDRÉ. (1.S.)