IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND SIGNAL AND OTHER LAMPS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Wilson Clark, of Tower Royal, in the
City of London, and William Robert Sykes, of Clapham, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND
SIGNAL AND OTHER LAMPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Wilson Clark
and William Robert Sykes at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th February 1870.
We, SAMUEL WILSON CLARK, of Tower Royal, in the City of London,
and WILLIAM ROBERT SYKES, of Clapham, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HAND SIGNAL AND OTHER LAMPS," to be as follows :—
The first part of our Invention relates to those lamps in which the
colored shades or glasses are so held or hung that they fall of their own
weight when they are released from the mechanism by which they are
held up, and our Invention consists of improved mechanism for raising,
retaining, and releasing them.

page_text: In carrying our Invention into effect the colored shades (say, red and
green) are held in frames, each of which has a lug or projection, by
which the shade is hung from a horizontal bar in the lamp; the two
shades are so disposed that when they are both raised they overlap each
other. To the lamp we connect a rod or wire, the upper part of which
is bent over the top of the lamp, so as to be within reach of the fingers
of the hand which holds the lamp by the ordinary top handle. The
middle portion of this rod is vertical, and is free to turn on its axis
within a sleeve or tube on the lamp casing or on the lamp handle, while
the lower end of the rod is bent up into a hook-like form; so as to pass
under and hold up the two colored shades. When both colored shades
are thus held up the-lamp-gives-a-white-light, but by turning the rod by
means of the finger portion to one side or the other, one or the other of
the colored shades is freed and falls of its own weight between the light
and the bull's-eye so as to give a colored signal. On returning the rod
to its normal or central position it lifts the colored shade.
By our arrangement it is impossible for both the colored shades
to be in action at once, and as no springs are employed. there is little
liability of any derangement. In some cases we adapt a link motion to
the colored shades, the links being raised or lowered by a bent rod or
wire similar to that already described. In some cases also we reverse
the position and action of our mechanism, that is to say, we fit the
shades below the light and raise them by means of the bent rod to give
the signals, and they fall by their own weight and allow the white light
to be seen when the bent rod is in its normal position.
The second part of our Invention relates to those lamps in which the
colored shades turn on a central pivot in the lamp, and our improve-
ment consists of a simplified arrangement of the parts. The colored
shades are carried by radial arms carried out from a plate, which has a
horizontal slotted arm to receive a bent rod or wire; this rod is within
reach of the fingers at the top of the lamp, is carried down a sleeve on
the lamp casing to the bottom of the lamp, then along the bottom to the
centre, and finally into the slotted arm. The rod being moved to one
side or the other by the fingers changes the signals as required, and at
each position the lower end of the rod may be allowed to drop into a
hole made for the purpose to act as a stop. A spring may be employed to
ensure that the rod drops into the holes.

page_text: Our Invention applies more particularly to what are termed hand
signal lamps, but it also applies to other signal lamps and to dark
lanterns.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Wilson Clark and William Robert Sykes
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
WILSON CLARK, of Tower Royal, in the City of London, and WILLIAM
ROBERT SYKES, of Clapham, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto us, the said Samuel Wilson Clark and William
Robert Sykes, Her special licence, that we, the said Samuel Wilson
Clark and William Robert Sykes, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Wilson Clark and William
Robert Sykes, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND SIGNAL AND OTHER LAMPS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Samuel Wilson Clark..
and William Robert Sykes, our executors or administrators, by an.
instrument in writing under our, or one of our, 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 we, the said Samuel Wilson Clark and William
Robert Sykes, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-

page_text: The first part of our Invention relates to those lamps in which the
colored shades or glasses are so held or hung that they fall of their own
weight when they are released from the mechanism by which they are
held up; and our Invention consists of improved mechanism for raising,
retaining, and releasing them.
In carrying this part of our Invention into effect, the colored shades
(say, red and green) are held in frames, each of which has a lug or
projection, by which the shade is hung from a horizontal bar in the
lamp; the two shades are so disposed that when they are both raised
they overlap each other. To the lamp we connect a rod or wire, the
upper part of which is bent over the top of the lamp so as to be
within reach-of-the-fingers-of-the-hand-which-holds_the_lamp_by_the
ordinary top handle. The middle portion of this rod is vertical, and is
free to turn on its axis within a sleeve or tube on the lamp casing or on
the lamp handle, while the lower end of the rod is bent into a hook-like
form so as to pass under and hold up the two colored shades. When
both colored shades are thus held up the lamp gives a white light, but
by turning the rod by means of the finger portion to one side or the
other one or the other of the colored shades is freed and falls of its own
weight between the light and the bull's-eye so as to give a colored
signal. On returning the rod to its normal or central position it lifts
the colored shade.
T
By our arrangement it is impossible for both the colored shades to be
in action at once, and as no springs are employed there is little liability
of any derangement.
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings are vertical sections
taken at right angles to cach other of a hand signal lamp constructed
as herein-before described. a, a, are the two colored shades held in rings
or frames b, b. Each frame 6 has a lug or projection c, by which it is
hung or attached to a horizontal bar & carried across the lamp. In the
Figures the shade a is shown as up, and the shade a¹ as down; when
they are both up they overlap each other, and the lamp then shows a
clear or white light. e, e, is a rod or wire, the upper part of which is
bent over the top of the lamp so as to be within reach of the fingers of
the hand which holds the lamp by the handle f; this upper end of the
rode is fitted with a finger piece g. The middle portion of the rod is
vertical, and is free to turn on its axis within a sleeve h, while the lower
end of the rod is bent into a hook-like form so as to pass under the shade

page_text: frames b, b. These frames are shown as slotted to receive the end of the
rod, the object of the slots being to prevent a too sudden fall of the
shades, but the slots may be dispensed with. On moving the rod e from.
the position shown to the central position it raises the shade a¹ so that
a clear or white light is shown, and on moving the rod to the opposite
side it allows the other shade a to fall. and show a colored light. The
bar d is slotted at each side, as seen at .d', to receive the rod e, and it is
also shaped, as shown, in the centre so as not to intercept the light
between the flame and the bull's-eye. In some cases we adapt a link
motion to the colored shades, the links being raised or lowered by a bent
rod or wire similar to that already described.
Figures 3 and 4 represent a lamp with a link motion adapted to the
colored shades, as just stated. The shade frames b, b, have arms c, c,
which are free to turn on pins c³, c', attached to a plate d. i, i, are links.
connecting the arms c, c, to the ends of levers k, k, the opposite ends of
which are centred on the plate d at 1, 1. The lower end of the bent rod e,.
which is similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2, passes under the
levers k, k. When the rod e is in its central position both the
shades a, a, are held up, but on moving the rod to either side the link
on the opposite side is allowed to descend and the corresponding shade
falls. In some cases also we reverse the position and action of our
mechanism, that is to say, we fit the shades below the light and raise
them by means of the bent rod to give the signals, and they fall by
their own weight and allow the white light to be seen when the bent rod
is in its normal position.
The second part of our Invention, represented in vertical section in
Figure 5, and in plan in Figure 6, relates to those lamps in which the
colored shades turn round a central pivot in the lamp, and our improve-
ment consists of a simplified arrangement of the parts. The colored.
shades a, a, are carried by radial arms b, b, extending out from a plate c,
which is pivotted in the centre of the bottom of the lamp, and has a
horizontal slotted arm a to receive a bent rod or wire e; this rod, which
is somewhat similar to that shown in Figures 1 to 4, is within reach of
the fingers at the top of the lamp, is carried down a sleeve / on the lamp
casing to the bottom of the lamp, then along the bottom to the centre,
and finally into the slotted arm d. The rod e being moved to one side
or the other by the fingers causes the shades to move round on the
central pivot, and the signals are thus changed as required; and at each

page_text: position the lower end of the rod may be allowed to drop into a hole
made for the purpose to act as a stop; a spring may be employed to
ensure that the rod drops into the holes. In Figures 5 and 6 only such
parts of the lamp are shown as are necessary for the improvement to be
understood.
Our Invention applies more particularly to what are termed hand
signal lamps, but it also applies to other signal lamps and to dark
lanterns.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim, —
First. Arranging the mechanism for raising, retaining, and releasing
the colored shades-or-glasses-in-hand-signal-and-other_lamps in such
manner that the said shades or glasses are operated by means of a bent
rod or wire, substantially as herein-before described and represented in
Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The particular arrangement represented in Figures 1 and 2,
and herein-before described.
Third. The particular arrangement represented in Figures 3 and 4,
and herein-before described.
Fourth. The arrangement, substantially as herein-before described and
represented in Figures 5 and 6, for causing the colored shades to turn
round a pivot in the centre of the lamp.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Sykes, for myself
and on behalf of the said Samuel Wilson Clark, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of August One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
J. C. MEWBURN,
Patent Agent,
172, Fleet Street,
London.
WILL. ROBT. SYKES. (L.s.)