Year: 1887

page_text: I WILLIAM SNELGROVE of 42, Hillsboro Road, North Dulwich, Surrey, Engineer lo
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of this invention is, to suspend a weight loosely to a fixed bar or pro-
jection outside of a burner shell and to arrange in connection therewith a jointed lever
having a ring or its equivalent at one end, and a catch or claw at the other, the weight
to be hung centrally to the ring and to have a freedom of action within certain limits,
so that the lamp may be carried and the weight have an oscillation within those
limits without effecting any motion of the ring by which when the lamp is tilted
beyond those limits from any cause that the weight should have a sliding motion in
contact with the ring and the latter be lifted for releasing the claw or catch from the
extinguisher lever which is otherwise held by it, said lever when released being forced
downwards under the action of a spring and its opposite end to which the extinguishing
appliances are connected having a rising motion for extinguishing the flame.
The extinguisher or extinguishers proper may have a fall to action to close over the
top of the burner or burners of the wick or wicks or they may be in pairs and have a
tumbling motion towards each other to close 'over the wick or wicks.
. Instead of the outer end of the extinguisher lever having a downward motion when
released from the claw it may have a rising motion by reversing the order of the claw
or catch and pivoting the lever at its further end.
The pendent weight has a somewhat long neck or stem and its head which rests
upon the fixed bar or projection centralizes it in relation to the ring as to keep it from
contact for ordinary purposes and instead of the weight being suspended from a bar
it may hang from the burner shell itself or from an eye attached to said shell.

page_text: I prefer that the weight should be spherical but it may be a cone, or other suitable
form for providing an inclined surface for contact with the ring and be partially within
the ring but free thereof when in its normal position.
To reduce the friction of the spherical weight against some portions of the ring I
may provide the ring or its equivalent with one or more rollers or I may pivot the
spherical weight at the end of its neck or suspending rod in such a way as to permit
it to revolve on its own axis.
The arrangement of my outside pendent and its associated devices are available for
operating the extinguisher or extinguishers by hand by a movement of the weight
itself or by a direct action upon the ring to liberate the claw.
I purpose fitting the appliances for operating the extinguisher directly under the
outside of the gallery as to be clear of the oil reservoir which is of the ordinary con-
struction it not requiring any fittings or alteration to enable my invention to be
employed.
My invention will be clearly understood by reference to the annexed drawings in
which at Figure 1 I show a burner, with my extinguisher releasing mechanism fitted
to the outside thereof, having a spherical weight a loosely suspended from a bar b
outside the burner e by a head d. The upper part of spherical weight is surrounded
by a ring e not in actual contact therewith said ring e forming an extension of a plate
or strip which is suspended by a pin at g and on which the ring can be lifted should
the lamp be tilted beyond a given angle in any direction that would put the sphere
and ring into contact. The plate or strip has a claw, hook or tooth i so shaped that
the lever j, by which the extinguisher or extinguishers are operated, rests upon it, to
hold the extinguisher or extinguishers against the action of the spring, in position for
lighting, i.e. below the wick or wicks.
I have shown the lever j in section in this figure, but its end is provided with a
knob or other finish as seen in dotted lines to enable it to be raised by hand for
setting the extinguisher or extinguishers ready for lighting.
l
In Figure 2 the lever ; is supposed to have been released by a movement of the
sphere by hand such as for extinguishing the light at night and the mode of suspending
the sphere a in this figure is slightly modified to that shown at Figure 1. In Figure 2
the sphere a is provided with an eye and is suspended loosely from a staple or link m
attached to the gallery rim n whereby the bar bis dispensed with but the rod p of the
sphere may be otherwise hung or suspended for carrying the sphere a at the outside
of the burner c. An example of this is shown at Figure 3 in which the weight a is
hung from an eye q projecting from the burner c. The pin joint g in this Figure
is direct from the burner shell c and the claw, hook or tooth i is reversed in its action
so that the lever j when released from contact has a rising motion to operate the
extinguisher or extinguishers.
In all the foregoing Figures a sphere is shown as the weight on the outside of the
lamp and I prefer this shape but the weight may be of other shape such as a parallel
sided one with a conical tapered upper part as at Figure 4 for acting against the
ringe to give it a sliding lift up motion for drawing the claw or tooth clear of
the lever whether said lever has an uprising or a downward travel when released.
The sliding lift movement of the ring will be understood by comparing Figure 5,
showing the lamp burner tilted, to that of Figure 4, the ring is about level with the
centre line of the conical part of the weight a but at Figure 5 it is near the top of
same, the tilting of the burner having caused it to slide on the cone for that distance
by reason of the weight preserving its vertical suspension position during such
tilting motion.
The actual feature of this invention is a weighted pendent suspended centrally in
relation to a ring or its equivalent the said ring being part of a suitable catch arrange-
ment for holding or liberating the extinguisher lever the latter being actuated by an
independent force. The pendent is formed of such a shape as to bring a sloping or
inclined portion of its surface into frictional contact with the ring whenever (and in
whatever direction) the pendent or the lamp itself is moved to a certain degree out of
the perpendicular. The inclined surface of the pendent acting against the ring

page_text: causing the latter to move in the constant and desired direction to release the catch,
the said direction of movement being more or less at a right angle to that of the
pendent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is
The automatic or hand operation appliances, as above described, and as shown on
the annexed drawings, said appliances consisting of a suspended weight a, and ring e,
connected or affixed to the outside of a lamp burner, for releasing the extinguisher-
mechanism, in the manner set forth.