AN IMPROVED MODE OF APPLYING COTTON AND OTHER WICKS TO TALLOW AND OTHER THE LIKE SUBSTANCES USED FOR CANDLES, IN ORDER TO CONSUME THE SAME
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
CROCKFORD, of Litchfield Street, Soho, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twentieth day of July, in the third year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joshua Crockford,
Her especial licence that I, the said Joshua Crockford, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joshua Crockford, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF APPLYING COTTON
AND OTHER WICKS TO TALLOW AND OTHER THE LIKE SUBSTANCES USED FOR CANDLES,
IN ORDER TO CONSUME THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Joshua Crockford, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
of

page_text: to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joshua Crockford, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to con-
sist in applying the wick through the centre of the material to be melted and
consumed, by first casting the said material hollow and then introducing a
short wick at the end of an adjustable rod through the same. And in further
compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Joshua Crockford, do hereby
describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed by the
following statement theroof, reference being had to the Drawing annexed, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents two moulds in which I cast the material to be con-
sumed, which, for the purposes of this statement, I will suppose to be tallow,
A, A, are the outer casing of the moulds; B, B, the cores, made in two
parts, to be more easily withdrawn, the outer part being a tube or sheath, as
shewn at Figure 2, and the inner part a solid wire or rod, with an eye at one
end and a disc at the other, as shewn at Figure 3; the tallow being melted
and cast in the usual manner into the moulds, with the core arranged as shewn
in Figure 1. The outer tube or sheath of the core should be withdrawn as
soon as the tallow sets and while it is yet warm; this will enable the
operator to withdraw the inner part of the core or solid rod when the tallow is
quite cold without difficulty, by introducing a hook into the eye of the rod, s
while the disc at the other end draws out the tallow at the same time.
Having thus obtained my hollow column of tallow, I will proceed to describe
the lamp in which it is to be used, and which is shewn in section at Figure 4.
J, J, is the outside ornamental casing; K is a vertical cylinder with a fixed
division across it at L; at m, m, is a vertical tube fixed into the division L,
and rising nearly to the top of the lamp; N is another but a loose division,.
sliding easily up and down in the cylindar K, and over the tube in, m;
between this loose division N and fixed division L is the ordinary spiral spring
for raising the tallow column, which is placed in the lamp by sliding it over the
tube m, m, from the top, and kept down by the coned top fixed with a bayonet a
joint in the usual way; P, P, is a solid rod, with the rack Q at one end and
the hook R at the other. The rack Q is raised or drawn down at pleasure by

page_text: the pinion S, and when it is required to introduce the wick, this rod should be
raised by the pinion till the hook protrudes at the upper end of the lamp. A
short cotton or other wick, stiffened by dipping in wax, should then be
fastened on to this hook, and the pinion turned till the rod is drawn down
sufficiently low to bring the lower part of the wick within the tube m, m, the
upper part being left out sufficiently high for lighting. Now, it will be evident
from this arrangement that the wick being lighted, as the tallow melts, the
spring will force up the hollow column of tallow to the wick till the whole
is melted and consumed, while the rack and pinion below enable the person
using the light to raise the wick when a strong light is required, to lower it
when a dim light is sufficient, or to extinguish it entirely by drawing the wick
completely into the tube m, m, in which case it should be immediately raised
again to the height for lighting while the tallow is yet warm. Figure 5 is an
elevation of my said Invention, shewing the lamp complete, with shade and
chimney glass. Figure 6 is another mode of applying the spiral spring.
In this case, instead of the spring being compressed, and exerting its
power by elongation, it is elongated by force, and exerts its power by con-
traction; for this purpose it is fixed at both ends, the plate V, V, being fixed
to the tube T, T, to the bottom of which tube the bottom of the spring is
attached.
Now, whereas cotton and other wick applied in manner aforesaid to
tallow and other the like substances used for candles, in order to consume
the same, and whereby I do away with any necessity for ordinary snuffers and
extinguishers, being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely new and
never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said Dominion of Wales,
or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Speci-
fication of the same, and that I do verily believe this my said Specification
doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve or disguise with the
proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;
wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my
said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth
day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty.
JOSHUA (L.B.) CROCKFORD.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid Joshua Crockford came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord One