Improvements in or connected with Miners' Safety Lamps.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 4th July, 1895-Accepted, 21st Sept., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Miners' Safety Lamps.
I AUGUSTE LAUNE of 108 Rue de l'Évêché Marseille in- the French Republic,
Mechanical Engineer, do 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 :-
This invention relates to miner's safety lamps and consists in the arrangement or
rombination therewith of mechanism or apparatus having for its object to allow
the lamp to be lit even in the mine itself and to be relit if it becomes extinguished,
without any danger and without placing matches within reach of the miners.
My improvements consist in the arrangement or combination with the lamp of a
receptacle divided into partitions each containing a match and enclosed in the
lamp and inaccessible when the lamp is locked, and of mechanism operated from
the outside of the lamp for seizing a match when desired, striking it and holding it
to the wick so as to light the lamp, then repeating the operation doing the same
with another match and so on till the receptacle is emptied.
In order that my improvements may be more readily ascertained I have shewn
on the drawings appended hereunto the improved mechanism or apparatus applied
to a safety lamp, which may be of any sort as far as the rest of the lamp is
concerned.
On the drawings'
.
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section through the centre of the lamp, the chimney
or upper part of which is broken off;
Fig. 2 a plan of the same;
Fig. 3 a vertical section of the match barrel which turns inside of the lamp
body, and Fig. 4 a plan of the same;
Fig. 5 shews a considerably enlarged view of the match and wick lighting
mechanism.
Figs. 6 and 7 enlarged views of the match pushing rod.
On the drawings A represent the bottom part of the lamp serving as oil
reservoir, B the removable upper part which is screwed upon the top of the
reservoir A and secured by a lock and key, soldering or otherwise according to
the system of lamp; C is the lamp glass resting upon an open ring a and held in
its place by means of the wire gauge b which prevents ignition of the explosive
gases in the mine, D is the holder for the wick d, dipping, into the oil contained in
the reservoir, the holder being: supported on a plate: pressed upon the top of the
reservoir by a screwed ring c. All these parts as well as the upper parts of the
lamp not shewn may be arranged in any usual way and their construction does not
form part of my invention.
Eis the match barrel composed of. a series of tubes attached to end plates, into
which tubes the matches are inserted.
F. is a cylinder enclosing the match barrel contained between. the top, and
bottom plates of the reservoir A and soldered or otherwise joined liquid tight
to them.
Gis-a bottom plate screwed into the end of the cylinder Frand supporting the
match barrel E, the spindle d of which passes through the plate G. The end. of
the spindled is made square and a small spur wheel e is pressed upon the square
end; or may be fixed in any other convenient way upon the spindle.
D927

page_text: f is a pinion gearing with the wheel e, the boss of the pinion finding a bearing
in the plate G and being arranged so that it can turn therein but not move
end ways; it is pierced by a hole in the centre in which the rod H can slide and
the hole is made square in the upper part to receive the upper square part of
the rod H.
is a cylindrical tube screwed upon the top of the cylinder F in the prolongation
of the centre line of the pinion and rod H, and carries at the top a perforated
cap to which the double jaw g g¹is hinged, (Fig. 5) the jaws g and g¹ being
connected respectively to rods hand h' which are pressed upwards by springs
inserted into tubes passing through the reservoir A and acting upon collars on the
rods h and h¹ so that the parts are held in the position shewn by Fig. 1 when not
acted on by the rod H in the manner hereinafter described.
k is a small rod which passes through the reservoir A in a tube and is screwed
at its bottom end into the lug i Fig. 3. ou the plate G, to prevent the latter from
being screwed off after the lamp is closed, for the purpose of extracting the
match barrel.
L is a rod held up by a spring catch; when disengaged therefrom it can be
pulled down upon the wick d to extinguish the lamp.
M is a plate rivetted upon the end of the rod H and serving for pushing it, the
plate being held up by means of a swivel catch m when the rod H is not in use.
With reference to the foregoing description the action of the apparatus will now
be readily understood.
Before handing the lamp over to the miner, the match barrel E is filled with
matches with their striking ends at the top and placed into the cylinder F, the
plate G is then screwed on to the cylinder and the rod k is screwed from the top
into the lug. i, after which the top part B of the lamp is screwed upon the
reservoir A and locked thereto. To light the lamp, the rod H which has been in
its lowest position as shewn on Fig. 3, is then pushed up and drives the match
which is in the tube above it forward. The phosphorated end of match passes
quickly between the jaws, which are in the position shewn by Fig. 1 and have
roughened opposite surfaces, and is ignited thereby. As the rod is pushed further
up, the hinged hoof shaped end 2 of the same engages in a small recess in the
bottom of the jaw g and turns the jaws g g' with the match a gripped between
them sideways as shewn by Fig. 5, and presents the ignited match to the wick and
so lights the lamp.
The rod H is then drawn back so far that the springs acting on rods hh' can
return the jaws into the position shewn on Fig. 1, and the swivel catch m is
turned under the plate M. The lamp is then ready to be handed over to the
miner.
If during the working one of these lamps becomes extinguished through the
introduction of fire-damp or is voluntarily put out by the workman for some cause
or other, it can be relit in the following way: The plate M is liberated by turning
the swivel catch m, and the rod H drawn down till the square end of the same
then
becomes located in the square recess in the boss of pinion f. The pinion
turned by means of the rod H and turns the wheel e and the match barrel till the
next tube with match is below the tube I. This new position of the match barrel
is assured by means of a click t, which passes through the plate G and is held up
by a spring, the top of the click being cut at an angle so that the barrel can be
turned only in one direction and the click engages into the tubes successively.
The rod H is then pushed up and the match contained in the tube above it is
ignited and presented by the jaws 9 g¹ in the manner hereinbefore described, and
so on.
To facilitate the first lighting of the lamp, it is well to warm it in order to
produce a draught facilitating the burning of the match, but it can be dispensed
with by lighting several matches in succession.
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the way in which the end of the rod H is formed, and
the jointing of the end 2 facilitates the inclination of the jaws 9 g¹ for lighting

page_text: the wick. Small pegs n n are fixed in the plate G for holding the plate M in
position and prevent it from turning when it is held up by the swivel catch m.
Obviously the details of the mechanism for seizing the match and applying it
to the wick may be varied and replaced by equivalent mechanism producing the
same result.
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:
1. In a miner's safety lamp the arrangement, or combination therewith, of a
partitioned receptacle containing matches enclosed in the lamp and inaccessible
when the lamp is locked, and of mechanism operated from the outside of the lamp
for seizing, striking and holding to the wick each match in succession, substantially
as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
2. In a miner's safety lamp the arrangement or combination therewith, of an
annular chambered cylinder composed of tubes or divided into compartments each
charged with a match, which cylinder is inaccessible when the lamp is locked, and
capable of being rotated from the outside of the lamp, and of mechanism for
pushing out, seizing, striking and presenting to the wick each match successively
substantially as and for the purposes herein before described.
3. In a miner's safety lamp, the arrangement or combination therewith of a
match barrel and mechanism for pushing out, seizing, striking and presenting each
match successively to the wick constructed substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated by the drawings.
4. In a miner's safety lamp the general construction and arrangement of parts
and mechanism for internally lighting and relighting and extinguishing the wick or
lamp substantially as described hereinbefore and illustrated by the several figures.
of the drawings.
1 1
1
1007
R. J. URQUHART,
57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.