Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Lighting and Extinguishing Lamps at Predetermined Times.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Dec., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 29th Aug., 1900-Accepted, 20th Oct., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Lighting and
Extinguishing Lamps at Predetermined Times.
I, JOHN GUNNING, of 100, Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, in the County of
Hants, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
-
My invention relates to apparatus by means of which day after day a lamp or
a set of lamps is automatically lighted and extinguished at predetermined hours.
For gas lamps I employ a stopcock with passages through its plug such that on
turning it partly round the gas can pass, on turning it another step round, the
passage is closed and so on, there being however, in the latter case, a small
by pass to maintain a kindling light. When the lamps are electric I employ a
rotating switch which when turned partly round closes the circuit, when turned a
step farther, opens it and so on. I effect the turning movement of the stopcock
or switch by means of clock work, such as that of an 8 day clock which will go
a week or more with one winding up, and I adjust parts of this clock to act
on the stopcock or switch so as to partly turn it at the hours to which the parts
are adjusted.
This movement may be effected in the following manner on a spindle of the
clock work timed to make one revolution in 24 hours I fix a disc with screw
threaded holes circularly arranged near its periphery, one marked for each hour.
On the spindle are two arms free to turn so that they each can be fixed by means
of a setting screw entering a hole of the disc, the one arm to the hour for light-
ing and the other arm to the hour for extingushing. As these arms are carried
round with the disc they act successively on a star wheel fixed on the plug of the
stop cock on the spindle of the switch, turning it partly round.
As the arms move slowly, the lighting and extinguishing are not done at once,
but occupy several minutes. When it is desired to effect them more rapidly a
cam moved by the clockwork, may move a pawl lever in opposition to a weight
or spring and then at the proper time releases the lever so that the pawl partly
turns a ratchet wheel on the axis of the cock or switch and thereby cause the
lamps to be lighted, and another cam may operate in like manner to cause the
lamps to be extinguished.
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DEAL day of December 1800
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Lighting and
Extinguishing Lamps at Predetermined Times.
I, JOHN GUNNING, of 100, Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, in the County of
Hants, 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:-
My invention relates to apparatus by means of which day after day, a lamp or
a set of lamps is automatically lighted and extinguished at predetermined hours,
For gas lamps I employ a stopcock with passages through its plug such that on
turning it partly round, the gas can pass, on turning it another step round, the
passage is closed and so on, there being however, in the latter case, a small
by-pass to maintain a kindling light. When the lamps are electric I employ a
rotating switch which when turned partly round closes the circuit, when turned a
step farther, opens it and so on. I effect the turning movement of the stopcock
or switch by means of clockwork such as that of an 8 day clock, which will go
a week or more with one winding up, and I adjust parts of this clock to act
on the stopcock or switch so as to partly turn it at the hours to which the parts
are adjusted, as I shall describe referring to the accompanying drawings.
Figs. 3
Fig. 1 is a front view and Fig. 2 is a part plan of apparatus according to
my invention for lighting and extinguishing a single set of lamps.
and 4 are longitudinal sections, on planes at right angles to each other, of the
stopcock employed for gas lamps.
Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a front view and a part plan of a modification
applicable when there are two sets of lamps, one set of which has to be extin-
guished before the other set, and Figs. 7 and 8 are sections on planes at right
_angles to each other of the stopcock employed for this apparatus. Fig. 9 shews
the position of the plug when all the lamps are extinguished.
Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4, a is the case of a clockwork of any known kind,
arranged like an ordinary eight-day clock to work for a week or more. with one
winding by applying a key to the arbor which is timed to make one revolu-
tion in 24 hours.
On this arbor is fixed a disc e to which is loosely held by clamps d another
disc e which has in it 24 screw threaded holes marked with two sets of numerals
each from 1 to 12, indicating hours. The disc e is centred but free to turn on
the arbor and so also are two arms f and g each of which has through it a
screw with a milled head to be turned by the finger and thumb. On a
bracket projecting from the clock case is fixed the gas cock having shell
plug and on the plug a star wheel m having eight arms. Through the plug
there are two passages crossing each other at right angles. the plug has also a
groove which is always in communication with the supply port p and with a
passage provided with a regulating screw and leading to a pipe which com-
municates with small kindling jets one at each lamp.
and
The passages of the stop cock leads to a pipe which communicates with the
main jets of all the lamps."
The apparatus operates as follows. The attendant winds up the clock and
turns the star wheel m to such a position that the gas passages are closed as
shewn in Fig. 3, (of which positions there are 4 indicated by marks on the arms
of the star wheel). He then moves the arm f round to the hour at which the
lamps are to be lighted say 6, and enters the screw h into the hole of the disc e

page_text: which is marked with 6. He in like manner moves the arm ground to the hour
at which the lamps are to be extinguished say 2 and enters the screw h into the
hole of e marked 2. He now observes the hour of the day at which he is operating
say 2 o'clock and turns the disc e along with the arms and g as they have been
set round until the hole 2 comes opposite the arm of the star wheel which points
towards the centre of the disc. He then clamps the disc e firmly to the disc c
by screwing in the screws h. The clock, as it goes on, brings the arm f round
to act on the arm of the star wheel at 6 o'clock, turning the wheel one eighth
part of a revolution and thus opening one of the passages through the plug so
that gas flows to the lamps which are lighted by the small kindling jets. The
clock still going on brings the arm ground to act on the arm of the star wheel
at 2 o'clock and turns the plug again one eighth round thus closing the passage
and extinguishing the lamps. This action of alternately lighting and extin-
guishing is repeated once every 24 hours as long as the clock continues to go.
Sometimes lamps are arranged in two sets both of which have to be lighted at
a given hour daily, but one of which has to be extinguished before the other. To
provide for this the apparatus is modified as shewn by Figs. 5 to 9 of the draw-
ings. In these figures the parts which correspond with those in Figs. 1 to 4
are marked by the same reference letters and need not be again described. The
modifications are as follows. Besides the two arms f and g there is a third
arm t, the plug of the stop cock has two parallel holes through it at different
parts of its length, the one hole u in one position facing the supply passage p
and putting it in communication with the passages which leads to a pipe supply-
ing the lamps of the one set which have to be soonest extinguished: the other
hole communicates by lateral grooves in the surface of the plug and a lateral
groove in the shell, on the one side with the supply port p, on the other side
with a passage w leading to a pipe which supplies the set of lamps to be last
extinguished. There also a lateral port a with regulating screw r leading to
a pipe supplying kindling jets for both sets of Tamps. In this case the star
wheel m has six arms. When the plug is in either of its two positions closing
passages to both sets of lamps as shewn in Fig. 9, the attendant sets the arms f
and gas above described to the hour for the lighting and extinction of lamps of
the one set, and sets the third arm to the hour for extinguishing the lamps of
the other set, and thereupon the clock goes on causing every 24 hours the
lighting of all the lamps at the hour to which arm f is fixed, the extinction of
the lamps of the one set at the hour to which the arm g is fixed, and the extinc-
tion of the lamps of the other set at the hour to which the arm is fixed.
When the apparatus is employed for electrical lamps, suitable switches are
substituted for the stop cocks. Thus instead of the stop cock shewn in Figs. 1
to 4 the switch would have 4 metal arms fixed insulated on its spindle, and two
fixed contacts opposite to each other. And instead of the stop cock shewn in
Figs. 5 to 9 the switch would have on its spindle two arms for connecting a
pair of contacts on one plane, and on another part of the spindle two arms
widened at the ends for connecting the contacts on another plane.
There would of course be no other contacts required for kindling.
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-
1. Apparatus for automatically lighting and extinguishing lamps at predeter-
mined times, comprising clockwork operating with one winding for a week or
more, on its spindle revolving once in 24 hours a fixed disc and also a free
disc and a free pair of arms with setting screws adapted to fix the arms in
different positions on the free disc and to clamp the free disc to the fixed disc,
a stopcock or an electric switch having on its plug or spindle, an eight armed
star wheel and suitable passages or contacts, substantially as described with
reference to Figs. 1 to 4.

page_text: 2. Apparatus modified substantially as described with reference to Figs. 5 to 9
for lighting lamps of two sets extinguishing those of one of the sets before those
of the other set.
Dated this 29th day of August 1900.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.