Improvements in or appertaining to Street Gas Lamps and other similar Lamps.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or appertaining to Street Gas Lamps and other
similar Lamps.
I, AMOS FIRTH, of 11, East Squire Lane, Manningham, Bradford, in the County of
York, Draper, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in or appertaining to street gas lamps and
other similar lamps, and its object is to automatically raise and lower them night
and morning.
For this purpose I employ a time piece or clock work mechanism arranged to
operate a valve or tap in the gas service pipe and turn the gas on and off when
required. The tap or cock is formed or arranged not to turn the light quite out but
to leave a small light in during the day ready to be turned up at night. This small
light may be protected in any suitable way.
The clockwork mechanism may be fitted in a weather tight box in the ground and
it may consist of an ordinary time piece fitted with a separate train of wheels similar
to the striking train of a striking clock. The plug tap used to turn the gas on and
off is provided with a toothed wheel fixed to it and engaging the toothed wheel of
the spring barrel or its equivalent employed to drive the said separate train and
each time such train is put into operation it is constructed to remain in motion
long enough to turn the plug tap just a quarter of a revolution and turn the gas
either off or fully on. A bye pass is fitted to supply the gas for the small " peep
light kept burning during the day. To put the said separate train into operation at
the required intervals a disc or wheel is provided which is driven by the time piece
in a similar manner to the hour hand of an ordinary time piece but is this case
preferably only revolving once in 24 hours. A number of adjustable studs or pins
are provided which project through the disc or wheel and each time one of said studs
reaches a certain position its end projecting through the disc starts the
separate train and causes the gas to be turned up or down as the
may be.
The said disc may be divided into 24 divisions marked with the
hours a.m. and p.m. each of which hours divided into quarters and at each division
a hole is made for one of said studs. A fixed pointer is provided by which the disc
may be "set" to time.
case
Assuming, for example, it is required to light up at six p.m. and turn down the
gas at six a.m. a stud would be put into the hole in the disc at VI in the a.m. half
of the disc and another at the VI of the p.m. half and then the disc would be set by
the fixed pointer to the time of day so that at the required time the studs would be
successively brought into position put the separate train into operation.
Or the clockwork mechanism may be located in a weather tight recess formed in
the body of the lamp standard or its equivalent.
Dated this 20th day of January 1898.

page_text: tap C² is fitted in the pipe C and the plug C3 of this tap is coupled to the arbour D
of the wheel D driven by the great wheel D* of the striking train of the clock which
in this case is modified in such a way that each time it is set into operation it runs
long enough to exactly turn the wheel D² quarter of a revolution and thereby turns
the tap on or off as the case inay be.
The turning disc E is loosely mounted on the stud E² fixed in the front plate B²
of the case B and is driven round once in 24 hours by the pinion E3 driven from the
hour hand sleeve F by the wheels F2 and F3. The hour hand sleeve is provided with
a square projecting through the front plate by which it can be turned with a key to
"set" the disc. Holes G and G2 are made through the front plate to give access to
the winding arbours of the going and striking mechanism of the clock, and a curved
slot G³ is provided for the regulator pin G. The turning disc is divided into 24
equal divisions representing the hours of the day and night and each division is sub-
divided by six boles H in any of which a screw H2 can be placed so as to project
sufficiently behind to engage the arm or lever J and by lifting it and then releasing
it when the stud reaches the fixed pointer K thereby put the striking train into
operation and turn the gas on or off as the case may be. In the drawing, screws are
shown in the six o'clock divisions but they are inoved from time to time to meet the
requirements of the varying in the time the sun sets.
A bye pass pipe L is fitted in the pipe C and an extension 12 on the plug 13 of
the bye pass tap LA preferably projects through an opening G in the front plate to
permit of its ready adjustment.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
=
The combination with the gas lamp service pipe of a tap controlled by clock work
mechanism adapted to turn the tap on and off to raise and lower the gas light at
adjustable intervals, substantially as herein shown and described.
Dated this 18th day of October 1898
DRACUP & NOWELL,
Patent Agents, Bradford.