A NEW OR IMPROVED CANDLESTICK
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Simons; of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention. of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
CANDLESTICK."
Sealed the 16th January 1855, and dated the 7th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Simons at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th November 1854.
I, EDWARD SIMONS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED CANDLESTICK" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a candlestick in which the candle is forced by a
spring to bear against a nozzle, so as to maintain the flame at the same height
as in the ordinary candle lamp. Two slots are made longitudinally in the
candlestick, and pins connected with the plate or disc on which the candle
rests project through the said slots to the outside of the candlestick, and rise
as the candle burns. At the top of the candlestick an extinguisher is jointed
thereto, and made to close by a spring; but the said extinguisher may be held
back by a catch fixed on the candlestick. A vertical rod or wire, connected
with one of the sliding pins before mentioned, rises as the candle burns, and,

page_text: coming against the said catch, liberates the extinguisher, and causes the candle
to be extinguished. The acting length of the said wire can be adjusted at
pleasure, so as to cause the candle to be extinguished after having burned any
given length of time. A graduated scale on the outside of the candlestick
shows the rate-at-which the candle burns, and facilitates the adjustment of the
length of the wire. At the top of the candlestick, and in the side opposite to
that at which the extinguisher is placed, a bell is fixed, which said. bell or its
clapper is held by a spring catch in such a position that when the said spring
catch is acted upon by a wire connected with the sliding pins already described,
and thereby disconnected with the bell, the said bell commences ringing. The
bell may be made to ring at any hour, as described, with reference to the
putting out of the candle. The action of the bell or the extinguisher may be
suspended at pleasure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Simons in the Great Seal Patent. Office on the
5th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
SIMONS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters:
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Simons, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Simons, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Simons, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
CANDLESTICK," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward.
Simons, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Simons, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of a candlestick in which the candle is forced by a
spring to bear against a nozzle, so as to maintain the flame at the same height
during the burning of the candle, as in the ordinary candle lamp. To the said
candlestick I attach mechanism, herein-after particularly described, whereby
the candle may be extinguished, or a bell rung at any desired time after the
candle has been ignited."
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in side elevation,
one method of carrying my Invention into effect. a is the candlestick, on the
top of which the nozzle b is fixed by a bayonet joint; the candle in the said
candlestick being pressed up against the inside of the nozzle 6 by a helical
spring is a slot in the candlestick a, through which the piece d is con
nected with the spring which' forces up the candle, as will be understood by
reference' to Figures 5 and 8, which'represent in vertical section "modifications
my Invention. The bar of metal e passes through a hole in the piece d,
and may be secured at any height by the thumb screw f^g is a cap or
extinguisher, turning upon a joint h, and connected with the nozzle 6 by one
flap of the hinge or joint h, entering the staple i on the nozzle; k is a spring
áttached to the staple i; which said spring is compressed when the extin
guisher g is raised into the position represented in Figure 2, and fastened by
the hook, entering the eye'm. By the burning of the candle the 'piece d
rises, carrying with it the bar e, when the top of the bar e comes in contact
with the end of the hook ; and raising the said hook from the
eye mdis
engages the extinguisher "g; the said extinguisher is forced by the spring" into
the position represented in Figure 1, and the candle is extinguished.
:
A graduated scale is made upon the top of the candlestick, as represented
at n, each division of the scale representing the length of candle which will
burn in an hour, or other unit of time. In order to use my Invention so as
to extinguish the candle at any desired hour, it is necessary to proceed as
follows: After the candle has been put in its place and ignited, the top of
the rod e is adjusted, by means of the thumb screw f, until it stands opposite
the figure which represents the number of hours which it is wished.shäll
elapse before the candle is extinguished; for example, if the candle be lighted
at ten o'clock, and it is wished that it shall be extinguished at twelve o'clock,
then, since two hours must elapse, the head of the rod e must be set opposite
the second division on the scale n. If it is wished that the candle shall

page_text: be extinguished at four o'clock, then, since six hours must elapse, the top of
the rod e must be set opposite the sixth division on the scale n, and so on,
for any other time to which it is wished the candle shall be extinguished.
If it is wished to ring a bell instead of extinguishing the light-after-the-
candle-has-been-burning for a given number of hours, then, instead of the
extinguisher g being fastened in the staple i, a bell o, see Figure 3, is fastened
to the staple i, by the end of its spring p fitting in the said staple.i;
a hook on the bell o engages in the eye m, the rod e is adjusted, as already
described, and when its. top comes in contact with the hook q, the bell o is
liberated and rings violently. The bell may be suspended by means of a
coiled spring, as represented in Figure 4, and the hook by which the bell is
held may engage in a hole in the flat tube r, (see Figures 5 and 6.) I prefer
the method of fastening the bell represented in Figures 4, 5, and 6, for the
head of the rode can continue to rise after the bell has been disengaged; but
in the construction, Figure 3; the head of the rod e is arrested after the bell
has been disengaged by the eye m; and when my Invention is used as a night
alarum, if the screw f is not loosened soon after the bell has been disengaged,
the candle is no longer pushed up, but burns down in the candlestick; this will
happen when the person using the alarum does not get up and loosen the
screw after the bell has been disengaged. When my Invention is made
according to Figures 4, 5, and 6, the candle will continue to burn properly for
an hour or two without attention after the disengaging of the bell. In
Figures 4, 5, and 6, I have represented my Invention applied to a candle-
stick in which the spring is held down by a bayonet fastening s while the
candle is being introduced, instead of the said spring being pushed down
by the candle; Figure 4 being a side elevation, Figure 5 a vertical section,
and Figure 6 a front elevation of the same. Figures 7 and 8 represent, the
former in side elevation, the latter in vertical section, another method
of carrying my Invention into effect; the said method represented in
Figures 7 and 8 resembling that represented in Figures 1 and 2, excepting
that the candlestick represented in Figures 7 and 8 is provided with a
bayonet fastening for holding down the candle spring, represented at s in
Figures 4, 5, and 6. Figures 9 and 10 represent in front and side elevation
a modification of my Invention, resembling the modification represented in
Figures 1 and 2, excepting that in place of the plate e I substitute a rod of
metal t.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied

page_text: without departing from the nature of my said Invention; for example, although
I prefer to use a bell in the manner herein described and represented in the
accompanying Drawing, yet the rising of the spring which presses up the
candle may be made to disengage mechanism similar to that used in the clock
alarum, whereby a long continued action on the bell may be maintained, or
any other contrivance capable of producing noise may be brought into
operation by the rising of the candle spring, by means of mechanical arrange-
ments, more or less resembling those herein described and représented in the
accompanying Drawing; but I claim as my Invention, a new or improved
candlestick, in which the rising of the spring on which the candle rests in
the said candlestick is made, after the lapse of any desired time from the
lighting of the candle, to extinguish the said candle, or to ring a bell, or
put into operation any other instrument capable of producing sufficient
noise for the purpose of an alarum, as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Simons, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
0 Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
EDWARD SIMONS. (L.S.)