IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' SIGNAL LAMPS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sampson Starnes, of No. 13, Broad Street,
Ratcliff, in the County of Middlesex, Lamp Manufacturer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' SIGNAL LAMPS."
Sealed the 16th February 1869, and dated the 18th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sampson Starnes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th August 1868.
I, JOHN SAMPSON STARNES, of No. 13, Broad Street, Ratcliff, in the
County of Middlesex, Lamp Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' SIGNAL LAMPS," to be
as follows:
My Invention of improved signal lamp consists in its construction,
by which means it is made applicable to every light required by the
Admiralty, both for steam ships and sailing ships when under weigh
or at anchor, that is to say, it is efficient according to Admiralty
regulations for anchor light for steam ships, mast-head light, for port,
or starboard lights, and can be used on all occasions as an ordinary.

page_text: anchor light. This lamp would be found quite effective by such vessels
as do not carry a set of signal lights as described in Article 9 of the
Merchant Shipping Amendment Act of 1862.
To construct a lamp on the principle here described I make use of
an ordinary circular plano-convex glass, or an ordinary globe glass; I
fix it in a metal frame supported and connected by three uprights, in
which I form groves for the slides in which I place my red and green
glasses and blank slides, and raise them by means of a spring or other
power so that they may be kept in the positions required, and so used
either for port, starboard, or mast-head lights for steamers or for the
purposes of an ordinary anchor light.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Sampson Starnes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th February 1869.
TO ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SAMPSON STARNES, of No. 13, Broad Street, Ratcliff, in the County of
Middlesex, Lamp Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Sampson Starnes, Her special
licence that I, the said John Sampson Starnes, my exccutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Sampson Starnes,
my executors, administrators, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' SIGNAL LAMPз," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John. Sampson Starnes, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 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 Sampson Starnes, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the construction of a signal lamp
in such manner that it shall thereby become applicable for use for
every description of light that is required by the Admiralty regulations,
whether for steam or sailing ships, either under weigh or at anchor.
For example, it may be used either as an anchor light, as a mast-head
light for steamers, or as a port or as a starboard light. This lamp alone
also will meet the requirements of the "Merchant Shipping Act, 1862,"
and of an Order in Council, dated January Ninth One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, having reference to open fishing boats, small
yachts, and other open boats where a set of lights cannot conveniently
be carried.
I attain the end aimed at in my Invention mainly by dividing the
circle of which the lamp is composed into three equal parts, portions,
or segments, and I provide a separate means of obscuring each or
either third or segment at will, so that I can exhibit the light through
any particular third of the circle as may be required, or through two of
the thirds or segments, or through all equally around. And further I
provide two of the thirds or segments in addition each with one coloured
slide, one red and one green.
In carrying out my Invention I construct a lamp with an upper and
a lower casing. Between these two casings I interpose, by preference,
a circular glass, which may be of that description known as the plano-
convex, or a globe glass of the ordinary kind. The glass is securely
held in position by vertical ribs or uprights. One end of each rib is
secured or fastened to the upper casing, and the other end of each rib
is fixed to the lower casing. The sides of these ribs are provided with
one or more grooves according to the position in the lamp and for the
purpose as will be herein-after explained for which they are intended.
The lower casing of the lamp is made double, that is to say, as a cylinder
within a cylinder, and the annular space thus formed between the two

page_text: cylinders is used for the reception of slides, which are either of coloured
glass in frames or are opaque or blank slides by preference of metal.
These slides can be moved up and down in the grooves herein-before
mentioned as formed in the sides of the ribs of the lamp. The central
circular space within the inner cylinder receives the lamp proper.
In order that the nature of my Invention and the means by which
the same is effected may be particularly described and ascertained I
append to this Specification a Sheet of Drawings having figures and
letters of reference marked thereupon, the like letter being used to
denote a similar or corresponding part in each Figure.
In these Drawings Figure 1 is a plan of the lower casing of my
lamp shewing the relative position of the opaque or blank slides and
the coloured glass slides. The opaque or blank slides are lettered
a', a, as, the red glass slide which serves as the port signal is marked b,
and the green or starboard signal is marked c. When my lamp is
required as an anchor lamp the whole of the slides are run down into
the annular space so that the white light is exposed all around; this is
represented in Figure 2. When used as a mast-head light I raise the
opaque or blank slide a' which obscures one-third of the circumference
of the glass circle; the light therefore is thrown not all around but
over two-thirds of a circle. This mode of using the lamp is shewn in
Figure 3. By retaining the opaque or blank slide a¹ in the position
just named, raising the blank slide a', and the red slide b, the lamp
becomes a port signal, (see Figure 4). For a starboard signal the
slide a is still kept in position, the red glass b is slid down, and the
opaque or blank slide is run up over that part of the lamp. The green
glass c is now raised as represented in Figure 5.
Figure 6 represents the lamp as used for open fishing boats, small
yachts, or other open boats, exhibiting a green light on the starboard
side and a red light on the port side. The lamp can be so arranged for
this purpose that the green light cannot be seen from the port side,
neither can the red light be seen from the starboard side.
Figure 7 represents the arrangement I prefer to employ for the
purpose of retaining the slides in position when raised for signalling. d
is a spring of metal with horizontal tongue e, which passes through a
slot formed in each blank side at its under or lower side, so that when
the slide is raised the tongue e will by entering the slot keep the slide
in position. The slides a² and a³ are slotted also at their upper or top

page_text: sides. The slides b and c are not slotted, but when raised rest on that
part of the upper side of tongue e that has passed through the upper or
lower slots in slides a, a. Figure 8 represents slides a² or a³.
I have above described my Invention in the way I have carried it
out, but it will be obvious that some modifications may be made whilst
still retaining the chief features of my Invention, for example, instead of
using the blank slides a² and as the slide a' may be grooved to receive
and contain one or more slides working horizontally instead of vertically
for the partial obscuration of the lamp. Instead of placing the blank
and transparent slides internally, as described, they may be placed
externally, and instead of being arranged in or on lower casing they
may be placed in or on upper casing, and arranged to be lowered instead
of raised for signalling purposes..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I
wish it to be understood that what I claim as of my Invention is, the
construction and arrangement of a lamp in the manner in this
Specification described, or in the accompanying Drawing illustrated,
by which means one lamp is rendered sufficient for the purpose of
answering all the requirements of the Government regulations herein-
before referred to; and I claim the construction and arrangement of this
lamp (as also herein described) so as to render it capable of being used
either as an anchor or as a mast-head lamp as may be required.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sampson Starnes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
JOHN SAMPSON STARNES. (L.S.)