IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNAL AND OTHER LAMPS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sampson Starnes, Lamp Maker, of Cock Hill,
Ratcliff, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNAL AND
OTHER LAMPS":
Sealed the 27th September 1860, and dated the 2nd April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sampson Starnes,
i
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd April 1860.
I, JOHN SAMPSON STARNES, Lamp Maker, of Cock Hill, Ratcliff, London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS, IN
SIGNAL' AND OTHER LAMPS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to lenses and glasses for signal and other lamps,
and are for the purpose of obtaining as great an increase of light as possible.
This has generally been accomplished by thick lenses, or prisms,; and the
present Invention is a substitute for the same, and is a combination of a lens,
and a series of prisms, which prisms are formed or indented upon the interior
or exterior of the lens or glasses, forming a prismatic corrugated surface
thereon. This may easily be accomplished, by casting the lens or glasses in a
mould or dié, which may afterwards be ground or cut as desired. These
1.11
improvements are also applicable to colored lenses or glasses.
SPECIFICATION' in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, fléa
by the said John Sampson Starnes, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st October, 1860.
то
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.7
ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SAMPSON STARNES, Lamp Maker, of Cock Hill, Ratcliff, London, send greeting.
[Price 8d.]

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Sampson Starnes, Her special licence that the said John Sampson
Starnes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Sampson Starnes, 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 Kingdomof Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SIGNAL AND OTHER LAMPS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Sampson Starnes, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Sampson Starnes, 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 :-
These improvements relate to lenses and glasses for signal and other lamps,
and are for the purpose of obtaining as great an increase and diffusion of light
as possible. This has generally been accomplished by thick lenses, or prisms,
and the present Invention is a substitute for the same, and is a combination of
a lens and a series of prisms, which prisms are formed or indented upon the
interior or exterior of the lenses or glasses, forming a prismatic corrugated
surface thereon. This may easily accomplished by casting the lens or glass
in a mould, die, or other similar contrivance, and then grinding or polishing
it as may be required. This Invention is also applicable to colored lenses.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, that it may be more fully
understood I will proceed to describe the Drawing annexed, and forming part
of this Specification, in which the same letters of reference indicate like
parts.

page_text: cylindrical lens, formed according to my Invention; Fig. 4, a sectional eleva-
tion of a railway carriage roof lamp, and Fig. 5, a perspective view of the
lens for a railway carriage roof lamp, formed according to my Invention.
In the ship lamp shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, A is the interior surface of a
prismatic corrugated lens, and A', A¹, are sectional parts of the lens. This
lens may be formed in one or more pieces, according to convenience and size,
and fitted in the lamp in the ordinary, or any suitable manner. In the
sectional plan, Fig. 2, the profile of the prismatic corrugations are shewn
marked B, B, which may be made either pointed at the extremity as therein
shewn, round or any other suitable shape of corrugations, but I prefer that
shewn in the Drawing, as answering the purpose better, when it is required to
diffuse the light as much as possible.
For railway carriage roof lamps, I prefer to make the lens or glass
in the shape shewn in Fig. 4, and indicated by the letter A, which will
be better understood by referring to the perspective view shewn in Fig. 5.
The prisms or corrugations gradually diminish in height and size as theyreach
the centre from which they radiate, namely, the under surface of the lens or
glass; and for the convenience of moulding, casting, and other preparations,
the corrugations may be formed on the exterior of the lens or glass.
The lenses or glasses for signal and other lamps may be made of various
colors, according to the purposes for which they may be required, and I do
not bind myself to any particular shape of the prismatic corrugations or in-
dentations, or of the lenses, or glasses, as they can be varied according to
requirement.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sampson Starnes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
(L.S.) JOHN SAMPSON STARNES.
} JOSEPH WILLCOcк, Patent Agent, & Engineer,
89, Chancery Lane, London.