CER- TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR APPARATUSES CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I WILLIAM
EDWARDS STAITE, of Lombard Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Third day of July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-
seven, in the eleventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edwards Staite, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Edwards Staite, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William
Edwards Staite, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all
Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR APPARATUSES
CONNECTED THEREWITH;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
that I, the said William Edwards Staite, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled
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,

page_text: as in and by the same, reference being thereunto nad, win more funy and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edwards Staite, hereby declare that my said, Invention consists :-
Fistly, of improvements in the apparatus or apparatuses used for lighting by
electricity, being improvements upon a part or parts of an Invention for
which I obtained former Letters Patent for England and the Colonies on the
Twelfth Day of November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, and I
declare that the object of this branch of my Invention is to impart more surely
such motions to one of the electrodes of the apparatus that the light may be
preserved from going out, be kept more uniform, and be renewed by the action
of the apparatus itself whenever it has been put out, provided always the
electric current is maintained.
An apparatus embodying the said improvements is represented in the annexed
Drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8, to which reference is hereunto had.
Figure 1 is an external elevation thereof; Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on
the line w, a; and Figure 3 a horizontal plan on the line y, z. M and N
are two cylinders of carbon prepared as is herein-after described, which are
used as the electrodes, that is to say, the current of electricity is passed from
one to the other as they stand end to end, their ends being separated by an
interval of from less than one twentieth to about half an inch, according to
the power of the electric current used. The upper electrode N is passed
vertically through a hole in the summit of the metallic support or tripod K,
and fixed by binding screws, as shewn in the top plan of the machine Fig. 8.
The lower ends of the legs of the tripod are passed through holes in the
circular main plate A of the apparatus, and secured in their positions by
collars and nuts, but are carefully prevented from coming into metallic.contact
with the plate A by means of washers a, a, of some dry, hard, non-conducting
wood. The legs terminate at bottom in set screws L, L, which connect them
with a conducting wire which passes round through the extremities of all the
legs, and is connected with one end of the coil of the regulator R. The
other end of the coil is led to a clamp B2 with a set screw fixed at one side of
the square wooden basement B on which the whole of the apparatus is built,
and which is mounted on four short supports b, b, b, b, at its corners to allow
room for some parts of the apparatus which project below the basement. The
main plate A is firmly attached to the basement B by four pillars c, c, c, c.
C and D are cones which spring from opposite sides of the apparatus, their
common axis passing at right angles through the.centre of the main plate A,
which is bored out for the purpose. The apices.of these cones are perforated

page_text: to admit the perpendicular central shaft O, which has a socket for receiving
and holding the lower electrode M at its upper end, and this socket is furnished
with set screws for securing the electrode in an upright position in its centre,
even though that electrode should happen to be of smaller size than the
socket. At the bottom the socket is made of a conical form in order to keep
the lower end of the electrode steady and concentric, so that it may be properly
adjusted by the set screws d, d. This shaft O has a smooth straight part below
its socket for a length equal to the distance between the apices of the fixed
cones C and D, which is equal to the amount of rise which the shaft admits
of to compensate for the wear (or shortening) of one of the electrodes while
the light is in action, this smooth part of the shaft moving freely through the
hole in the apex of the upper cone. Below this smooth part, the shaft is
continued for an equal length screwed, the threads of the screw giving about
one twelfth of an inch of rise for every turn. This screwed part works
through a nute which is set tight in the apex of the under cone D, and
passes down the centre of a hollow cylinder or tube P which is slotted
internally (as shewn at f, f, in Figures 2 & 3. A little cross piece of metal Q
is set tight on the bottom of the shaft O by being screwed fast into its end,
and this cross piece Q (which is herein-after more particularly described, fits
across the tube P, taking into the 'slots or grooves on each side, so that it can
slide up or down in them. When, therefore, the tube P is made to revolve it
carries the shaft O round with it by means of the sliding cross piece Q, and
makes it to rise or sink by its screw working in the fixed nut e, so that "the
shaft O carrying the electrode M in its socket has a rotary motion combined
with its vertical motion for the purpose of equalizing the wear of the electrodes
on all sides. The tube P turns on a pivot g which works in the bottom of a
circular box of metal (H), which is screwed into a hole of sufficient size in
the bottom of the brass plate G, which is fixed to the upper surface of the
wooden basement B. The touching surfaces at the pivot g are coated with
silver, as that metal preserves a surface peculiarly fitted for receiving the
current of electricity. The upper end of the tube P receives the outer part
of the fixed nute on which the tube turns, and is steadied as on an axis. On
the upper part of the tube P a worm wheel S, carrying forty teeth, is attached,
which is made to revolve by a horizontal double-threaded tangent screw T, the
pitch radius of which is one tenth of an inch. To one end of the screw is
attached a crown wheel U, carrying forty teeth, which is actuated by pinions.
V and W on an upright spindle X. The pinions are at a somewhat greater
distance apart than the diameter of the crown wheel' U, and'gear into it from
opposite sides, so that when the spindle X is raised a little the lower pinion V

page_text: (having eight teeth) is geared into the lower side of the the crown wheel, but
when the spindle is sunk the lower pinion is thrown out of gear, and the
upper pinion W gears into the upper side of the crown wheel, and the spindle
continuing to revolve in the same direction as before imparts a reverse rotation
to the crown wheel. When the spindle is kept at a medium degree of eleva-
tion neither of the pinions is in geer with the crown wheel, so that it remains
quiescent. This spindle X is kept in its position by working through a hole
in the middle plate F of the apparatus, which plate is attached firmly to three
of the pillars C. The upper end of the spindle works through a hole in the
centre of the bottom of a circular brass box I, which is fixed to the side of
the under cone D or to the under side of the main plate A. The box I con-
tains a centrifugal regulator Y, which consists of a bit of watch spring bent
into the form of the letter S (see Fig. 7), carrying two little weights h, h, at
its ends, and fixed horizontally across the top of the spindle by the middle
part of the spring which fits into a cleft in the top of the spindle, and is
secured by a small nut. When the spindle is made to revolve too fast the
weights at the end of the spring fly outwards by their centrifugal force, and
begin to touch and rub against the sides of the circular box I, which friction
checks the motion. This description of governor preserves the motion more
uniform than the ordinary sort of fly which acts by the resistance of the air.
Just below this centrifugal governor there is a cross piece i inserted through a
transverse hole in the spindle X, so that when the spindle is at its medium
degree of elevation, that is to say, when its two pinions V and W are neither
of them in gear with the crown wheel, the ends of the cross piece i meet a
stop k, which may project from any fixed part of the apparatus, such as the
cone D, and so stop the revolutions of the spindle, while as soon as the spindle
is raised or lowered the cross piece i no longer meets the stop k, but passes
over or under it, and allows the spindle to commence its revolutions just before
one of the pinions gears into the crown wheel. The spindle X is actuated
and kept with a constant tendency to revolve in one direction by a toothed
wheel Z keyed on to it just below the middle plate F, and this wheel is driven
by a train of wheelwork W2, supported between the middle and bottom plates
F and G similar to ordinary clockwork, and which is driven by a spring in a
barrel acting on a fuzee m, driven by a cord or chain, or the wheelwork
may have any other contrivance as its prime mover, as for instance, common
barrel with a cord and weight. The wheel Z is of such thickness that the
motion up and down which the spindle X admits of will not ungear it from the
next wheel in the driving train. The mode in which the spindle X and its
pinions are raised or lowered so as to drive, stop, or reverse the motion of the

page_text: pure soft
crown wheel U, and thereby of the electrode M, according to the exigencies
of the light, as, for instance, when the electrode becomes worn, or any altera-
tion takes place in the power of the battery) is as follows:-The bottom of
the spindle terminates just below the driving wheel Z, and rests on a plate
of ivory n, which is supported on a short upright stem of brass 0, which has
its lower end screwed into a hole in the top of a solid cylinder of
iron p.
This iron can move freely up and down in the central hole of a reel q,
round which a quantity of insulated copper wire is wound; one end of this
wire is led to the binding screw B, as before mentioned, which connects it
with the positive wire of the galvanic generators, and the other end to the
wire which passes through the binding screws L. The reel of the regulator
is fixed firmly to to the wooden basement B, and a cap r of soft iron fits over
it, but the iron of the cap does not extend quite to the centre of the hole in it,
through which the brass stem o passes), the central part of the top of the cap
being of brass soldered to the iron of one half of the diameter of the iron cap
itself (supposing the other parts to be in the proportion given in the Drawings).
The action of the electricity in the coil of the regulator R causes the iron
centre P to rise or fall according to the quantity of electricity passing, and in
so doing the spindle X which rests on it to rise or fall with it. There is a
little eye attached to the bottom of the iron centre, to which is suspended
a counterpoise F¹ (an assortment of such counterpoises being kept for use) of
such weight as to allow the iron centre to be just in equilibrium or just ready
to rise when the distance between the electrodes is such as, to allow the
electric current to flow freely enough to produce a steady and certain light.
There is also a little ledge s around the lower end of the iron centre, on which
rests a disc t of brass of about the size indicated in the Drawing Figure 2,
which (when the iron centre falls below the neutral point) becomes supported
around its outer edge by a circle of brass (u), and is left behind on it when
the iron centre continues to descend, thus relieving it of its weight, while, on
the other hand, if the iron centre is disposed to rise above the neutral point
it has to lift the whole weight of the brass disc (t). This arrangement
gives the iron centre a tendency to remain stationary at the neutral point,
which is that point at which the elevation of the spindle X enables the cross
arm i to come into contact with the stop and arrest the rotation, and so
prevent unnecessary working of the machinery until the electric current has
varied so much as to render desirable an adjustment of the distance between
the electrodes which the iron centre effects, as before described, by rising or
falling. The neutral position at which the iron centre p should rest is when
the top of the iron centre is as far below the top of the regulator reel as is

page_text: represented in Figure 2. The brass ring u which supports the equilibrium
weight, that is, the brass disc t, is secured at the proper height by being
attached to a sufficiently stiff' strip of brass of a certain length, and which is
fixed by its other end to the other side of the wooden basement B. The
brass ring u can be adjusted to the requisite height exactly after the apparatus
is made by a milled-headed screw passing through the wooden basement and
screwing down on the supporting brass strip (not far from u), so as to depress
it to the right position. The sliding cross piece Q, before adverted to, is con-
structed in the manner separately represented in the Drawings, Figure 4 and
Figure 5, the former being a side view of it, and the latter a horizontal section.
A spring 2 (of thin hard brass for instance) is attached to one side of the
cross part by a small screw (3), so that when the cross piece is placed in the
slots of the tube P the spring always remains in close though not forcible
contact against the sides of the slots so as to ensure a good conduction to the
electric current which has to traverse the shaft and enter from the cross piece
into the slotted tube. A view of the tangent screw T, detached from the
apparatus, is given in Figure 6. It is not quite horizontal, but inclined at an
angle of one in twenty (if the other dimensions are made according to the
Drawings), because the lower pinion V is smaller than the upper one and there-
fore it is necessary that the lower edge of the crown wheel U should be tilted
hearer to the axis of the spindle X. The lower pinion is made smaller in
order that it may the better wind down the main shaft O after it has screwed
itself up until the ends of the electrodes come into firm contact lest it should
stick in that position. The screw No. 1, which fastens the stand 3 of the
tangent screw to the middle plate F, passes through a hole 4, enlarged side-
ways in the stand, so that by only loosening the screw 1 the stand may turn
on the other screw 2 as a centre so as to allow of the tangent screw T being
adjusted to the right distance from the centre of the wheel S, in order that it
may work properly into its teeth or, when required, to throw the tangent
screw out of gear with it altogether. The thread of the screw of the main
shaft O should be of a square form, so that it shall work with as little friction
as may be when supporting the weight of the shaft and electrode. A cone of
white glass or porcelain (E³) is made to slip over the upper cone C of the
main plate, and is turned up at the edges (as shewn in in Figures 1 and 2) to
reflect the light better and to catch any dust and ash which may be thrown
off from the electrodes. A glass shade, which may be ground partially or not,
as desired, fits over the electrodes M and N and the stand K, and is screwed
down to the main plate A by the brass circle E, into which its lower edge is
cemented, whereby the electrodes are enclosed entirely from the outer air.

page_text: As soon as they have exhausted the oxygen which is within the glass shade
they are no longer so rapidly consumed. When the electrodes, however, are
composed of some inferior sorts of carbonaceous preparations, they give light
more steadily if a very small quantity if a very small quantity of atmospheric
air is continually allowed to enter, that is to say, just sufficient to burn away
the button of carbon which sometimes forms on the end of that electrode
which is not undergoing decomposition by the electric current. When there
are no holes in the glass shade to admit of a small quantity of atmospheric
air, two light valves may be inserted in the main plate A, one opening inwards
and the other outwards, which would provide for the varying pressure of the
air when the temperature is altered by the presence or absence of the light
within. The coil of insulated wire of the regulator R should be composed of
wire of such thickness as to conduct the electric current quite freely. For an
apparatus of the size represented in the Drawings it may be about three
sixteenths of an inch in diameter; but if electrodes of a larger size are
employed the wire should be proportionally encreased in thickness, and the
regulator R made as large as the dimensions of the apparatus will admit of,
in order that the reel should take a sufficient number of turns of the thick
wire, for with wires too thin considerable heat is evolved from them when
transmitting, the current. Two circular brass weights a, a, fit one over the
other, around the ivory top n, n, which carries the pivot of the spindle X ; their
use is to enable an easier and more precise adjustment of the weight on the
iron centre than can be effected by altering the large weight F¹ which is hung
at the bottom of the iron centre. When it is intended to use small currents.
of electricity the spindle X and all its appurtenances should be made very
light, and the iron centre may for the same object be made hollow with
advantage; its sides, however, should not be less than one twelfth of an inch in
thickness. The electric current may be obtained from a galvanic apparatus
any of the known sorts, or from any other convenient source, and it may be
used of various intensities and quantities. A good degree of intensity to use
is such as would be afforded by one hundred cells in a series of the usual sort
employed in galvanic apparatuses, and the quantity of the said current may vary
from that evolved by the consumption of less than one and a half grains of zinc
per minute in each cell to that evolved by the consumption of more than
fifteen grains of zinc per minute. The wire from the positive, that is, the
zink, pole of the galvanic apparatus, is clamped with the binding screw at B²,
which serves as the conductor through the regulator coil and then up to the
upper electrode N. The wire from the other or negative pole of the galvanic
apparatus is to be clamped with the other binding screw at B³, which is connected
of

page_text: by a slip of metal (copper) to the bottom plate G of the apparatus, so that
the current passing, as aforesaid, from the lower end of the upper electrode N
to the top end of the lower electrode M, then traverses the central shaft O,
passes through the cross piece Q at its lower end into the slotted tube P, and
thence through its pivot at bottom into the metallic box or cavity H, which
being in metallic connection with the bottom plate G, leads the current to that
plate, and thence by the slip of copper to the other clamp, and passes thence
in return circuit through the negative wire of the galvanic apparatus. The
current when first applied with the electrodes in contact flows freely, and that
causes the regulator (being properly weighted) to raise the spindle X, and
thus put the apparatus into gear for screwing the centre shaft O downwards
and gradually separating the electrodes, whereupon the light begins to appear
between them.
My said Invention comprised in the said Letters Patent firstly herein-before
mentioned and recited consists, nextly, of a mode or modes of manufacturing
carbonaceous compounds of which electrodes are intended to be made, such
mode or modes being an improvement or improvements upon a part or parts
of the said Invention contained in my said former Patent. The mode or
modes in which I carry this part of my Invention into effect is or are as
follows:-About equal quantities are taken of coal of a medium quality, and
of the prepared coke known as "Churck's Patent Coke," and both reduced to
a state of fine powder and intimately mixed together. The mixture is then
placed in close wrought-iron moulds, which may be made either to give the
mixture the form of a block to be afterwards cut into pieces of the required.
shape, or to give at once to the mixture the form of the intended electrode.
In all cases I prefer making the moulded mass of not more than three or four
inches in its least diameter, for when much larger it is liable to have fissures
and not to be of such uniform density. The mixture being placed. in these
moulds is subjected to heat and heavy pressure until it becomes consolidated
into a very dense and firm mass, and when the mass is in a heated state it
is plunged into sugar melted by heat (without the aid of any liquid), and
kept therein for a short period. It is then taken out and allowed to become
cold, when it is placed amongst pieces of charcoal in a close vessel, which is
gradually heated until it attains a full red heat, after which the temperature is
encreased to an intense white heat, at which it should be kept for many hours,
or even two or three days, according to the hardness and compactness desired;
or the mass may be a second time immersed in the melted sugar while hot, and
the remainder of the process be again repeated as before. By coating the mass
in this way with melted sugar, any pores that there may be in it (on its external

page_text: surface at least) are filled up with carbonaceous matter, and any subsequent
drying rendered unnecessary. The carbon which is found as a hard solid
concrete in old gas retorts makes very good electrodes, as is well known, but it
frequently contains iron and other impurities which causes electrodes made
from it to split and break when they become heated in producing the electric
light. Besides, the quantity of light when such electrodes are used is small
compared with that obtained from carbon of the improved description afore-
said. Electrodes made of gas retort carbon may, however, be much improved
by being gradually exposed to the strongest white heat of a furnace for some
days in close vessels with charcoal. The best dimensions to be given to such
electrodes, as before described, I have found to be as follows:-The lower
electrode should be as long as can be conveniently manufactured (eight inches
for instance) when used for ordinary purposes, and it should be of a cylin
drical form. The smaller the diameter is the better the light, but the larger
the electrode is (in cross section) the longer it will last with a given current
of electricity. The upper electrode need not be of any great length; it is well;
however, to have it about one third as long as the lower one, and of half the
diameter.
My said Invention comprised in the said Letters Patent firstly herein-before
mentioned and recited nextly consists of a mode or modes of applying or
employing currents of electricity to actuate apparatus for effecting the speedy
lighting up and extinction or obscuration of signal lamps in which oil;
camphine, or other like inflammable fluid is the illuminating substance
employed. Suppose, for example, there are three such lamps with different
colored glasses, say white, green, and red, which are required to be sometimes
lighted and at other times extinguished or obscured, as is usual on railways, and
not all at once but in a particular order of sequence, or each under particular
circumstances only, I effect this in the manner represented in the Drawings
Figures 9 and 10. A, B, C, Figure 9, are the three colored signal lamps
placed side by side, or they may be placed one above the other. A sectional
elevation of one of these lamps is given separately in Figure 10. A is a bar'
of metal having a drop bar Bb attached to it. These bars are for the purpose
of working three extinguishers, one to each lamp. Figure 10 shows one of
these extinguishers as applied to a lamp, the dotted lines in the same. Figure
indicate the position which it assumes when raised up. The drop bar Bb is
attached to a clockwork escapement, the detent of which is alternately retained
and liberated by the passage of an electric current, and by its mechanical
force raises up the bar Bb, and causes the light in whichever lamp it may be

page_text: to be put out.
The three extinguishers are made to move together to save
the necessity of each being provided with a separate extinguishing mechanism.
In the centre of the burner of each lamp is a small ring a of fine platinum
wire, which is so contrived as to touch the wick of the lamp, and the current
of electricity being made to pass through this platinum ring, it becomes
intensely heated and thereby ignites the wick of the lamp. I do not restrict
myself, however, to the employment of platinum wire, as carbon for this
purpose may be used, or any other difficultly fusible material, neither do I
limit myself to the employment of a ring of any particular form. The wick
may, for instance, be a flat wick, and in that case a straight piece of wire
would be suitable for the arrangement.
How the wires from the battery
are connected with the lamps and the escapement it is unnecessary to describe
as the mode of doing so must be obvious to all who are familiar with the
subjct of electricity. It may be sufficient to state that one wire for the return
current will be sufficient for the whole series of lamps and the mechanism
connected therewith.
And having now described the nature of the several parts of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same respectively are to be performed, I declare
that I claim as of my said Invention,-
Firstly, the mode or modes of constructing apparatuses for lighting by
electricity, so as to produce a combination of rotary motion with vertical
motion, in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the mode or modes of constructing such apparatuses as aforesaid
with mechanism for the purpose of regulating the vertical and rotary motions
aforesaid, in manner herein-before described.
Thirdly, the use or application of melted sugar, as herein-before described,
in the manufacturing of carbonaceous compounds intended to be used in
making such electrodes as aforesaid.
And,
Fourthly, the mode or modes of applying or employing currents of electricity
to actuate apparatuses for effecting the speedy lighting up or extinction or
obscuration of signal lamps, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edwards Staite, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
W. E. (L.S.)
(L.S.) STAITE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that the Instrument-aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of the reign
of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Third day of January, One thousand eight hundred and