IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LAMPS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Siemens, of Queen Anne's Gate,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ELECTRIC LAMPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William *Siemens
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th November 1880.
CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LAMPS."
I
My Invention relates to means of feeding the carbons of electric lamps as they
For this purpose
are consumed, and of automatically adjusting their distance.
arrange a serrated roller so as to press against the side of each carbon, and I
connect the two rollers by gearing or by a crossed band to a driving wheel so that
they shall move in opposite directions simultaneously, either advancing the carbons
The driving
towards each other or causing them to recede from one another.
wheel has its periphery covered with felt, soft leather, or other yielding material,
and bearing lightly against it are two rods or bars having fine teeth or pegs
projecting from them like the pins of a cotton card, these pins or teeth being
inclined those on the one rod in the one direction and those on the other rod in
the opposite direction. The two rods are suspended in a balanced or nearly
balanced manner, the one having a stop to prevent it from moving beyond a certain
distance in the one direction, and the other having its movement similarly limited
in the opposite direction. Each of the stops is preferably inclined or arranged so
that the rod, while it bears against the stop is kept a little away from the surface
of the wheel, and the rods may be guided on eccentric rollers capable of partial
rotation between stops, so that each rod when moving in the one direction can bear
against the wheel, but when moving in the opposite direction it is kept off the
wheel. The teeth or pins instead of being on the rods may be on the wheel, a set
inclined like ratchets in the one direction, and a set inclined in the opposite
direction, the rods being in that case faced with soft material; or instead of teeth
rough material may be used for facing both the wheel and the rods, so that when
either rod bears against the wheel it will communicate its motion to it. Between
projections on the two rods or on the arms suspending them I arrange a tappet

page_text: which is connected to the balanced core of a solenoid, having its coil in the lamp
circuit or in a by pass circuit branching from the lamp circuit.
This core being
caused to move in the one direction or the other by variations in the current
passing through the coil gives movement to the one or the other of the two toothed
rods. When the one rod is moved in the one direction bearing against the driving
wheel it causes it to turn partly round in the one direction and thereby to impart
movement in one direction to the carbons, while the other toothed rod permits the
wheel to turn. When the coro moves in the opposite direction the latter rod is
brought into action, causing the carbons to move in the reverse direction. Thus
according to the amount of electricity that passes through the coil the carbons are
caused to recede from or approach towards one another. When the carbons are
arranged horizontally they rest on the serrated rollers by which they are moved,
and to ensure their movement they may be pressed thereon by upper rollers loaded
by weights or springs. When the carbons are vertical their weight is counter-
balanced, and they are in like manner passed between pressing rollers and the
serrated rollers which cause their movement. In order to maintain the voltaic arc
in one position it is of advantage to arrange the serrated rollers or their connecting
gear so that the one carbon shall be moved a little more slowly than the other, a
stop being provided against which the more slowly moved carbon butts near its
point, this stop preventing it from advancing beyond a certain distance until that
portion of the material near the point against which the stop bears becomes
consumed and allows of a farther advance.
Instead of moving both carbons from one wheel from which motion is commu-
nicated by a band or gearing, there may be a wheel for each worked as described
from one solenoid core, and the acting rods may be so arranged as to give
advancing movement to both carbons but receding movement to one of them only.
Instead of employing rods for moving the wheel an endless band kept moving in
one direction by clockwork, weights, or other convenient motor may be arranged
to pass on both sides of the wheel but clear of it, the action of the solenoid core
being to bring the band against the wheel on its one side or on its other side, so
causing it to turn partly round in the one or the other direction. As the carbons
are consumed fresh lengths may be added to them, the end of one being inserted as a
tenon into a hollow in the end of the other with a little tar or saccharine matter to
cement them together, and, where necessary, a cross pin of wire passed through
them at their junction. In order to ensure good conduction of electricity to and
from the carbons, I provide inclined metallic brushes bearing lightly against them,
so that there is little friction, but electricity can nevertheless pass freely.
order to provide for exclusion of a lamp from a circuit when either of its carbons
is consumed, I arrange a shunt contact to be made when either carbon passes the
rollers between which it is made to travel, the lamp being thus excluded and the
general circuit made good until a fresh carbon is supplied.
In

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles William Siemens in the Great Soal Patent Office on the 10th
May 1881.
CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LAMPS."
My Invention relates to means of feeding the carbons of electric lamps as they
are consumed, and of automatically adjusting their distance. For this purpose I
construct an electric lamp having horizontal carbons, as I will describe, referring to
the accompanying Drawings. Fig. 1 is a side view partly in section, and Fig. 2 is
an end view of the lamp; Fig. 3 shews the mode of joining on fresh carbons so as to
render the supply continuous. A and B are the two carbons, which lie in troughs
or open tubes A, B¹, having their front parts resting on grooved rollers a, b, which
may be serrated and pressed down by rollers a', b¹, the weight of which may be
aided by springs. On the axes of the grooved rollers a, b, are broad wheels C, D,
which are finely serrated on their peripheries or may have their peripheries clothed
with felt, soft leather, or other impressible material. E is a solenoid coil of high
resistance which forms part of a by-pass circuit connecting the conducting posts F
and G for the main circuit of the lamp; H is the core of the solenoid, which is
made as a thin iron tube for the sake of lightness, and is balanced or nearly so by
a spring h adjustable by a screw cap h¹. This cap is preferably made in the form
of a cup, as shewn, so that it can be more or less loaded by shot or other small
heavy bodies. In the double stem I projecting down from the core H there are
slots in which works a pin i jointing together two bars K, L, which extend
obliquely downwards, and rest by their lower ends in saddle pieces k, l, in which
position their inner faces are just clear of the peripheries of the wheels C, D.
These faces are at their lower parts serrated with ratchet teeth, as shewn. Another
bar M, of like kind, resting at m is jointed to an arm of a lever N, the other arm
of which projects as a tappet under the core H. Above the points of the carbons
is fixed a reflector O, which may be of marble or other refractory material clamped
in a band o. The operation of the lamp is as follows:-As the distance between
the points of the carbons A and B increases by their consumption the resistance to
the direct circuit of the lamp increases, and consequently a larger amount of elec-
tricity passes through the by-pass circuit of the solenoid coil E. The core H is thus
attracted upwards, and by its ascent it draws up the two bars K and L. These as
they retire from their rests at k and Z come to bear with their ratchet teeth against
the wheels C and D, and as they still ascend they cause these wheels to turn partly
round in the direction of the arrows, thus turning the grooved rollers a and b and
causing the carbons to approach one another. Should the carbons be too near so
that the resistance in the direct circuit of the lamp is small, then the solenoid E
having little power the core H descends, and when it has descended some distance
it moves the tappet lever N, raising the bar M, which, acting on the wheel D, causes
it to turn partly round in a direction opposite to the arrow, and so to retract the
carbon B. The other carbon A might be retracted in like manner, but it is
preferred to give it only an advancing movement, somewhat greater than that
of B (which may be effected by making the wheel C a little smaller in diameter
than D, or by making the roller a a little larger in diameter than b), and to provide
for it a stop stud P, which permits it to advance only as that portion of the carbon
near its point against which the stop bears becomes consumed. It is obvious that
one of the carbons, such as A, may be advanced by a weight or spring against the
stop P, the feeding and adjusting mechanism applying only to the other carbon.
In case of the core H rising beyond a certain limit it is of advantage to make it or
its stem act upon contacts when it attains that limit, so as to exclude the solenoid

page_text: coil from the by-pass circuit until the core shall have again descended. It is of
advantage to provide contacts Q, R, for the ends of the levers on which the
rollers a¹ and ¹ are mounted, these contacts being connected by wires q, ", to the
two insulated frames of the lamp. Thus, when either carbon is absent, the roller a'
or b¹ drops, and contact is made at Qor at R, effecting a short circuiting of the
general current. As the carbons A and B become consumed fresh carbons can be
joined on to their ends, as indicated at Fig. 3; the fresh carbon having a coned end
(which may be served, with a little syrup, tar, or other material in which carbon is
a large ingredient) is inserted into a conical hollow in the end of the old carbon,
and a small wire pin is passed through holes provided in the carbons so as to hold
them together! The lamp may be enclosed, as shewn, within glasses the lower
portion of which may be covered with light wiro netting to prevent fragments of
glass from falling in case of accident! intoxitol yuiven qui a reno
Although I have described a lamp with 'horizontal carbons, it is to be understood
that a similar arrangement might be applied to carbons, vertical or inclined;
provided with suitable counterbalances.
Mountingsbevi
Having thus described the nature of my Invention; and in what manner the
same is to be performed; I claim, gold ohutute boten
13
ed
7.
FirstAdvancing the carbons of an electric lamp as they are consumed, and
automatically regulating their distance by feed rollers worked by ratchet rods;
which are moved by the core of a solenoid coil situated in a by-pass circuit, so 'as
to be excited more or less, according as the resistance of thel voltaic arc of the lamp
is increased or diminished, substantially as herein described in odstot bia
Second. The construction of electric lamp herein described with reference to the
accompanying Drawings id't
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والا موالاة
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Siemens h have hercunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
tho nd eight
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red and
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