CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, AND IN THE FITTINGS AND PARTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SAME
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas Stroud, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Lamp and Chandelier Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, AND IN THE
FITTINGS AND PARTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SAME."
Sealed the 23rd September 1864, and dated the 24th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas Stroud at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th March 1864.
I, JOHN THOMAS STROUD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Lamp
and Chandelier Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, AND IN
THE FITTINGS AND PARTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SAME," to be as follows (that
is to say):-
My improvements in lamps have for their object economising the cost of
production, and improving their usefulness generally, as well as to greatly
improve the appearance of the fittings or connecting parts of the same when
glass is used, and also to better diffuse the light by a particular kind of shade
or reflector.
And my improvements in lamps required for halls, vestibules, passages, or
such like places where the flame, whether from gas or otherwise, is protected
by a globe or shade, consist in so supporting the globe or shade. that it may
be entirely lowered for the purpose of exposing the burner, either for dressing,

page_text: lighting, or extinguishing such lamps; and also an improved method of
raising and lowering suspended lamps for burning oil or spirits, such as are
used generally in India, and in some cases providing improved means for
raising or lowering the cotton or wick of such and other lamps, when oil,
paraffin, or other such like liquids are used for illumination, and where design
and embellishment may be desired of glass, the necessary metal portions may
be covered or obscured with that material, or glass tubes may, be bent or
moulded into a curved or scroll form, and in like manner pendant or radial
arms or parts of chandeliers or gasaliers may be formed in any suitable design
in press moulds, the surface of which being cut and polished, a brilliant effect
is obtained, and these additional parts I purpose securing to the arms or
otherwise in any desirable way. And in connection with such chandeliers, or
single globe, or other lights requiring a reflector, I purpose moulding such
reflector into a series of lenses on the surface, by which means the light is so
diffused as to throw no shadow.
And my improvements in lamps which are exposed to violent or irregular
motion, draughts, or currents of air, consist in the use more or less,
according to the exposed position of the light or lamp, of a windguard,
which, while it prevents draughts or currents of air from violent motion, or
otherwise affecting the light within it, provides ample means for the ingress
and egress of air for supporting combustion. This principle I purpose to
adopt in some description of hand lamps for railway purposes, as well as lamps
required by policemen, watchmen, coastguard men, or the like purposes in
connection with an improved wick-holder. The said improved wick-holder
consists in supporting the tube between two hollow dises perforated in opposite
directions which prevent the oil below from violent motion being flirted
through the airway to the outer part, and at the same time it has a tendency,
from its always ensuring a free air way, of keeping. the cotton holder cold,
adapting the mode for holding or securing such lamps to the person whether
riding, driving, or walking, as may be required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Thomas Stroud in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THOMAS STROUD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Lamp and 35
Chandelier Manufacturer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto mė
the said John Thomas Stroud, Her special license that I, the said John
Thomas Stroud, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Thomas Stroud, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, AND
IN THE FITTINGS AND PARTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Thomas Stroud; by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Thomas Stroud, 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):—
'
My improvements in lamps have for their object economising the cost of
production, and improving their usefulness generally, as well as to greatly
improve the appearance of the fittings, or connecting parts of the same when.
glass is used; but the reflector mentioned in my Provisional Specification. I
have found in practice not. of sufficient importance to further mention.
And my said improvements relate, firstly, to lamps required for halls,.
vestibules, passages, or such like places where the flame, whether from gas or:
otherwise, is protected by a globe or shade, and consist in so supporting the
globe or shade that it may be entirely lowered for the purpose of exposing
the burner either for dressing, lighting, or extinguishing such lamps.
Secondly, to an improved method of raising and lowering suspended lamps
for burning oil or spirits, such as are used generally in India, which consists
in dispensing with the usual diverging rods that connect the lamp proper with
the canopy or top ring, and substituting chains which serve not only for con-
necting the lamp with the upper part, but also for connecting it to the annular
counterpoising weight, whereby great economy is conserved, and an elegant

page_text: appearance is obtained. I also provide, in connection with this arrangement,
a kind of bayonet or lock joint, or other equivalent means whereby, I am
enabled, by a slight turn of the lamp or otherwise, to fix the weight close
against the pulley frame so as to destroy its counterpoising effect on the lamp
and parts below. By these means I am enabled, from the lamp being
lowered, to remove the glass shade for the purpose of trimming, dressing,
regulating, lighting, or extinguishing the flame. And in some cases I provide
improved means for raising or lowering the cotton or wick of such and
other lamps when oil, paraffin, or other such like liquids are used for illu-
.mination.
Thirdly, where design and embellishment may be desired of glass, the
necessary metal portions may be covered or obscured with that material, or
glass tubes may be bent or moulded into a curved or scroll form, and in like
manner pendant or radial arms or parts of chandeliers and gasaliers may be
formed of any suitable design in press moulds, the surface of which being
cut and polished, a brilliant effect is obtained, and these additional parts I
purpose securing to the arms or otherwise in any desirable way..
And, lastly, my improvements relate to lamps which are exposed to violent
or irregular motion, draughts, or currents of air, and consist in the use, more
or less according to the exposed position of the light or lamp, of a windguard,
which while it prevents draughts or currents of air from violent motion, or
otherwise affecting the light within it, provides ample means for the ingress
and egress of air for supporting combustion. This principle I purpose to adopt
in some description of hand lamps for railway purposes, as well as lamps
required, by policemen, watchmen, and coastguardsmen in connection with an
improved wick-holder; the said improved wick-holder consists in supporting
the tube between two hollow discs perforated in opposite directions, which
prevent the oil below from violent motion being flirted through the air-way to
the outer part, and at the same time it has a tendency, from its always
ensuring a free air-way, of keeping the cotton holder cold, adapting the mode
for holding or securing such lamps to the person, whether riding, driving, or
walking, as may be required.
But in order that I may be more clearly understood as to the nature and
extent of my improvements, as also the manner in which the same may be
carried into effect, I will now proceed to to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and refer, first, to Fig. 1, which represents, in a general and com-
prehensive view, my improvements as named under the first head, and which
consist in constructing lamps suitable for halls, vestibules, and such like
places in the following way:-The whole is suspended from a main tube and

page_text: ceiling rose, and may, if desired, be fitted with the usual ball-and-socket joint:
To the main rod A the branches B, B, are attached, the lower portions of
which are distinctly represented in dotted lines as constructed for burning
gas; but it will occur to any practical mind with what facility paraffin oil, or
other suitable lamp can be arranged either to rest on the centre, or to swing
between the arms within the globe. The range of action, that is, the lowering
the globe from the light, should be between the base of the weight C and the
bottom ornament of the centre tube A. and the neck moulding marked Don
which the pulley frame rests, but the range may be modified by lengthening
or shortening this part of the tube A as well as the lengthening or shortening
of the chains, but I prefer them: to be of such a length that when the
weight C is at the bottom of the tube A, the globe shall be in the proper
position in relation to the flame affording the illumination; thus in this view
I represent the globe, which may be in one or two parts, united with a metal
band in its proper position for use with all the attendant parts in full outline,
while in dotted lines I represent its position when the counterpoising weight
is elevated against the pulley frame, and thereby exposing the burner or lamp
for lighting, trimming, or extinguishing the flame:
"
My improvements, under the second head, will be understood by referring
to Fig. 2, which is a simple and economic mode of constructing pendant
lamps, and may be said an improvement upon the plan of constructing
ordinary India lamps, which heretofore have been constructed by connecting
the lamp proper to two or more pendant diverging rods attached at the top
in any convenient way to a centre, and constructed with a counterpoising
weight or weights for lowering the lamp, and which pendant rods I dispense
with altogether by constructing such kind of lamps as here represented,
namely, suspending the lamp proper marked E, F, and E, F, to chains
attached to the scrolls G, G, and which are united to a brass bezel, on the
lower inside edge of which is formed a rim for the glass part F to rest on, and
a suitable.rim for the lower edge of the glass part E to rest within, while the
upper ends of the chains are carried over the pulleys H, H, and attached to
an annular weight marked I. And in order to simplify and increase the con-
venience of this kind of lamp, I I purpose so arranging the weight, that by
means of a bayonet joint, as here shown, or other equivalent means, the
weight shall be temporarily fixed close below the pulley frame, and thereby
its counterpoising effect is destroyed, which permits the glass part E, E, to be
removed for the purpose of removing, trimming, or replacing the lamp within,
when the glass dome or shade E may be replaced, and the action of the weight
restored, and the lamp may be elevated to any desired height.. I have exhi-.

page_text: bited in the neck of the weight an angular slot marked a, similar to a bayonet
joint, which passing up vertically over a projection at 6 on the main tube, it is
evident that by slightly twisting the lamp, and thereby the pulley frame, the
weight will become locked, but other equivalent means may be used, and in
this view I have shown, in part dotted lines, the centre tube J, K, if it should
be so preferred.
Fig. 3 is simply drawn for the purpose of representing the means applied to
this and such like description of lamps for raising and lowering the lamp-wick
when oil, paraffin, or other liquid is used for illumination, and this I effect by
cutting a slot in the lower shade at L for the part c to fall in, the operation of
regulating the wick being effected by turning the little knob d, and this
improvement, although simple, greatly increases the convenience in using
such description of lamps. Further description is unnecessary, as its details
are apparent.
Fig. 4 represents a bracket or arm as constructed or formed under the third
head of my improvements. The part M, M, may be a hollow tube of glass cut on
its angles, as here represented, or otherwise, with projecting pins at e and ffor
uniting it to the other parts; or the glass portion might have been formed on
the surface of a tube bent into this or other shape, the ends of which may be
tapped or screwed as a means of uniting it to the body or parts to make up a
chandelier; and in like manner (namely, pressed in moulds) ornaments such
as the circular one g, with the parts h, h, might be formed and suitably cut
and attached by pins and screws, or a screw going through the arm, as at k,
and terminating with a knob at j, so in like manner may the volute 1, 2, be
formed and attached to the arm.
I have not thought it necessary to show other illustrations, for my
Invention under this head simply consists in making the bracket and other
ornamental parts of bracket lights and chandeliers by wholly or partially
moulding them in glass.
Fig. 5 represents in side view my improvements in connection with a lamp
suitable for policemen, but which may, in the form here shown, or with any
modification, be applicable to railway and other hand lamps for signalling or
other use.
And my improvements in such lamps consist, first, in applying the wind-
guard N, which allows the air to enter the lamp in the direction of the arrows
in such a way as not to influence the flame within, further than to supply it.
with the indispensable oxygen to maintain combustion. Secondly, in making
the finger and thumb bit marked m, m, (which is attached to the dome or top
part of the lamp marked O) of wood, which being a non-conductor of beat, the

page_text: user is thereby enabled to turn around this part with the screen within so as
to expose or obscure the light, without burning his fingers by bringing them in
contact with the metal on the top of the lamp, which in general is in a heated
condition when the lamp is in use, and which part is represented detached at
Fig. 6 with the part marked P in Figure 5 removed. The slot at n in this
Figure is for taking into a projecting pin within the body of the lamp, both.
when the screen is in front or behind the flame, for the purpose of preventing.
the part here represented from being pulled out from the lamp without the
user's permission, as it will be evident that in the hands of a policeman or
other user, if this part were pulled out, the flame may not only be readily
blown out, but it would be to a great extent exposed to external currents of
air, which according to their extent or force may blow out the flame.
Another important improvement is the means here shown by which this
lamp may be held or attached to a policeman's belt, which is by passing the
hook part marked Q under the belt, and next to elevate until the hook R may
also be passed down inside the belt, when the lamp will ride on the top edge
of the belt by its coming in contact with the bow of the hook R at S. This
fastening I purpose making of steel of the proportions shown separate at
Fig. 7, and in a vertical central position of the hook R. I place a small oblong
pulley marked p to facilitate shifting around the belt of the user. And as it
is very important that when the lamp is attached to the belt it should possess
no freedom or loose action, but should be securely fixed as it were to the
body of the user, I form or apply projections at the connection of the wire
handle marked q, q, and which projection is represented at 7; but their effect
will be best seen in the plan of Figure 5, with the part P, as also the screen,
Figure 6, removed, by referring to Fig. 8, in which view the wire handles q, q,
are expanded and stopped in the position shown by the projections at 1, r',
being in contact with the side of the lamp; T, simply represents the cotton
holder in the oil chamber at the bottom of the lamp, and U, U, the circular
projection for holding the lens for diffusing the light of such lamps.
Fig. 9 represents, in a top and sectional view, the wick-holder I purpose
using in such lamps, and which is also applicable to all kinds of lamps where
cotton is used, and consists in using a hollow upper disc, marked t, so arranged
and made as to allow a space between its under surface and the lower disc,
marked u, and with this kind of wick-holder I purpose applying a wire loop, as
at v, for slightly holding the wick, so that it shall not be liable to rise or fall with
any violent motion imparted to the lamp. The use of the additional disc or
cover t is twofold, first, to prevent the oil or other fluid within being flirted
up through the airway by any violent motion of the lamp, as well as offering

page_text: additional facilities for keeping the airway free and the metal portions around
the wick cold. The loop marked in this Figure may be bent in various
ways, as exhibited at Figs. 10 and 11, either of which or other equivalent
means will effect the object desired.
Having thus given a general description of my improvements, and the
manner in which the same may be carried into effect, it must be evident that
much diversification in taste, form, size, and shape may be adopted without'
affecting the general object and spirit of my improvements; but what I claim,
and wish to protect by these my in part recited Letters Patent as being new,
and of my Invention is, the various improvements herein described and exhi-
bited generally, and designated as under the first, second, third, and fourth
heads.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Stroud, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
WILLIAM LOACH,
Clerk to James S. Cockings,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
JOHN THOS. STROUD. (L.S.)