AN IMPROVE- MENT tion. UK IMPROVE OVEMENTS IN CANDLESTICAS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Moffat, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
LETTERS PATENT to John Moffat, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT
tion.
UK IMPROVE
OVEMENTS IN CANDLESTICAS." Partly a communica
Sealed the 20th January 1854, and dated the 3rd November 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Moffat at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd November 1853.
I, JOHN MOFFAT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
5 Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN CANDLESTICKS," partly communi-
acated to me by a foreigner residing abroad, and partly invented by
myself, to be as follows:-
The Drawing represents in vertical section a candlestick constructed
O according to the said Invention. The lower part of the candlestick a
consists of a fixed vertical support; on the top of which the nozzle b, or
the upper part of the candlestick, slides. When the candle has burned

page_text: low the nozzle b is depressed, so as to bring the top of the said nozzle
below the wick, and as the said candle burns away the said nozzle is
from time to time depressed, instead of raising the candle as in the
ordinary candlestick. The nozzle b may be made to slide with suffi-
cient friction on the part a, either by its own elasticity, or by the
interposition of a spring between it and the said part a, or in any
other convenient manner. When thought desirable, the nozzle b may
be made capable of being fixed at any required height or heights by
means of a bayonet fastening or any other convenient fastening. The
said Invention may be applied to candlesticks of any size or kind, and
made of any material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Moffat in the Great Seal Patent Office 'ou
the 3rd May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, 115
JOHN MOFFAT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufac
turer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year,
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three. in the seven-20

page_text: teenth year of Her 'reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Moffat, Her special licence
that I, the said John Moffat, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Moffat, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and 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 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN CANDLESTICKS" (partly communicated to me 'by a
foreigner residing abroad, and partly invented by myself), upon the
condition (amongst others) that I; the said John Moffat, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what imanner 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Moffat, do hereby de-
clare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the sanie
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
The said Invention consists of methods of so constructing candlesticks
that the upper part thereof may slide upon the lower part thereof, and
the said upper part be depressed as the candle burning therein shortens,
instead of raising the said candle by a slide as in candlesticks of the
ordinary construction. The Drawing illustrates various methods of carry-
ing the..said "Invention into effect. Figure 1, represents in elevation
a chamber candlestick constructed according to the said Invention; -
the other Figures représent the acting or upper parts of other modi-:
fications of the Invention.. All the modifications of the said Inveni-
tion herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing
may
be applied to chamber, table, or other candlesticks, or 'to, candle.
sticks constructed of any material. a, Figure 1, is the foot of the..
candlestick; b, a fixed vertical support on the foot a; c, a tube sliding.
on the said vertical support 6;.the said. tube c, in which the candle is.

page_text: placed, is guided in its motion by a pin or stud-d, on the support
passing through a slot e, in the tube c: The candle placed in the said
candlestick rests on the top.of the support b, (indicated in dotted lines;)
and when the said candle is nearly burned away the tube c is depressed.
so as to keep the top of the said tube at or below the level of the top of
the said candle; the lower end of the tube c'may be slit so as to make
the support may press
Figure. 2, represents' a
it spring upon the support b, or a spring on
against the tube and keep it in its place.
modification of the Invention, which differs from Figure 1 in the
following respect; that is to say, the pin or stud d is fixed on the
inside of the upper part of the candlestick e, and the slót e in which
the said pin or stud d works, is made in the lower part of the candle-
stick. Instead of guiding the motion of the moveable part of the
candlestick by means of a pin or stud and slot, as illustrated in Figures
1. and 2, I sometimes make a depression or hollow stud f, Figure-3,
in the sliding part of the candlestick,, and a depression or channel y in
the lower part of the candlestick in which the depression or hollow
stud f engages, or the hollow stud may be raised on the fixed portion
of the candlestick, and work in a groove or chamel 1, Figure 4, in the
upper part of the candlestick. Figure 5, represents in vertical section
a modification in which a spring i, fixed on the lower part of the
candlestick, presses against the inside of the upper or sliding part so as
to retain the said sliding part in its place, or the spring may be fixed in
the upper part and made to press against the lower part. Any of the
methods of guiding the motion of the moveable part of the candlestick
herein described may be adopted in this modification, Figure 5.
Figure 6, represents in vertical section a modification of the Invention
resembling that represented in Figure 5, excepting that two or more
holes k, l, are made in the upper or sliding part, in which said holes the
spring i engages, and fixes the said sliding part more securely at those
points than in its other positions. The spring i, Figure 6, may be fixed
in the upper or sliding part, and made to engage in holes or depressions
in the lower or fixed part. Instead of making the upper or moveable
part of the candlestick move upon the lower or fixed part of the
candlestick with a vertical rectilinear motion, the said upper part may

page_text: be made to move upon the lower part with a helical or corkscrew
motion, as represented in Figure 7, in which said Figure a stud mon
the lower or fixed part of the candlestick engages in a helical slot n in
the upper or moveable part of the candlestick, and the said upper part
of the candlestick may be raised or depressed by giving a rotatory motion
thereto. Or the stud m, Figure 7, may be fixed in the upper part of
the candlestick, and the slot n made in the lower part.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise methods of carrying the same
into effect herein described and represented, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of the said Invention. But I claim
as the said Invention making the upper part of a candlestick moveable,
so that the same may be raised or depressed, and its height accommo-
dated to the level of a candle nearly burned out, instead of raising the
said candle as is ordinarily practised.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Moffat, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN MOFFAT. (L.S.)