Improvements in the Manufacture of Lamps for Ships' Side and Masthead Lights, Lighthouses, and Signal Stations, Railways, and other like or Analogous Purposes, and in the Material for Increasing the Power of Coloured Lights of this Character.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Oct., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 7th June, 1890-Accepted, 12th July, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Lamps for Ships' Side and
Masthead Lights, Lighthouses, and Signal Stations, Railways,
and other like or Analogous Purposes, and in the Material for
Increasing the Power of Coloured Lights of this Character.
We, ALFRED JOHN LOFTUS, F.R.G.S., of Bangkok in the Kingdom of Siam, and
ARTHUR GORTON ANGIER, of 19 Gracechurch Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, to be as follows:-
This invention relates to signal lamps and the like of the character for which we
have received Letters Patent dated 3rd March 1888 No. 3293 and our present
invention has for its object to improve lamps or lights of the above character
(wherein the transparent liquid is liable to become highly heated) in certain details of
and in the method of-construction and manufacture-and further has for its object to
provide a special and highly advantageous liquid for producing and increasing the
colored light.
The said liquid is glycerine (of good quality) colored by mixing therewith any
suitable quantity of any suitable dye or coloring matter such as an aniline or acid dye
(the latter being very advantageous), of the color desired to be imparted to the light.
This colored liquid is placed between two glasses or transparent media and there
retained and magnify the colored rays of light produced through same such light
being greatly intensified as compared with the amount of colored light produced by
colored glass lenses in the ordinary way from the same white light.
In some cases (such as ships' side-lights) where the glasses and consequently the
liquid held between them is liable to become heated and consequently expanded we
manufacture these lamps as follows.
The double glasses are formed all in one piece with the bottom and sides (by moulding
same with a core or in any other suitable manner) the top only being separate and
this is cemented or otherwise firmly secured so as to make an air tight joint or the
double glasses may be formed separate and all the parts cemented together or
otherwise suitably secured air tight to one another.
A filling hole advantageously conical is formed in any convenient part of the
double glass and the hollow space therein is filled with plain or colored liquid; the
liquid is then brought to boiling point or thereabouts in any convenient manner and
then the hole is plugged and hermetically sealed up so that upon cooling a vacuum
will be formed thus allowing room for expansion again at any time while obviating
the possibility of chemical action being set up in the liquid as would be the case if
left exposed to the air.
Dated this Zath Lay O Weroner Than
Dated this Zoth day of Ueroner LAANI
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Lamps for Ships' Side and
Masthead Lights, Lighthouses, and Signal Stations, Railways,
and other like or Analogous Purposes, and in the Material for
Increasing the Power of Coloured Lights of this Character.
We, ALFRED JOHN LOFTUS, F.R.G.S., of Bangkok, in the Kingdom of Siam, and
ARTHUR GORTON ANGIER, of 79 Gracechurch Street in the City of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LAMPS FOR SHIPS SIDE AND MASTHEAD LIGHTS, LIGHT-
HOUSES AND
OTHER LIKE
SIGNAL STATIONS, RAILWAYS, AND
OB ANALOGOUS

page_text: PURPOSES, AND IN THE MATERIAL FOR INCREASING THE POWER OF COLOURED
LIGHTS OF THIS CHARACTER "
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This Invention relates to signal lamps and the like, of the character for which we
have received Letters Patent dated 3rd March 1888, No. 3293, and our present
invention has for its object to improve lamps or lights of the above character (wherein
the transparent liquid is liable to become highly heated) in certain details of and in
the method of construction and manufacture, and further has for its object to
provide a special and highly advantageous liquid for producing and increasing the
coloured light.
Since lodging our provisional specification we have experimented on the best
method of preparing the coloured liquid and we obtain the best results by operating
as follows:
Wo take pure glycerine (that is to say the purest commercial glycerine) and
dissolve therein the colouring matters named hereunder, that is to say:
תי

page_text: forming part of this our specification, in which Fig. 1 represents an elevation;
Fig. 2, a vertical section, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section of such a lens or cell
intended more particularly for railway signal lamps and the like, Fig. 4 and 4ª are
plans, partly sectional, of such a curved lens intended for ships' side-lights and the
like, the 2 figures representing slight variations in the form of the rabbet by which it
is attached to the lantern, Fig. 5 and 5ª, are elevations of the same also partly in
section.
Some difficulty occurs in obtaining the glass forming the 2 principal faces of the
lens of sufficiently even thickness throughout, and the degree of perfection or
otherwise in this respect depends very much on the skill of the operator, we have
however had lenses of this kind manufactured for us by Alfred Arculus of
Birmingham which are fairly satisfactory and answer the purpose well. Such lenses
having no joints are obviously free from any difficulty as to leakage, except by the
nozzle, and this we prefer to close with a glass stopper ground in and cemented, or
with a brass cap and leather washer.
In filling such lenses we prefer to have the glycerine hot, and pour it in at, or
almost at, the boiling temperature, the lenses having been previously gradually heated
to nearly the same temperature. When filled so that the contents will reach almost
to the stopper, the latter is inserted at once, while the whole is still hot and sealed
in. As the liquid cools it shrinks and leaves a vacuous space under the stopper
sufficient to allow for any expansion which may occur from the heat generated from
the lamp when it is in use.
In these figures A, is the chamber containing the glycerine; B, is the glass bottle-
lens; C, in Figs. 1 and 2, is an enlargement in the neck forming a small chamber to
provide space for the expansion of the liquid, such chamber is not shown in the lens
represented in Figs. 4, 4, 5 and 5, but a small vacuous space produced, by the
contraction of the glycerine as it cools, in the upper part of the lens itself, provides
room for expansion and does not occupy sufficient space to interfere with the passage
of the light. D and D' are alternative forms for a rabbet which serves to assist in
attaching the lens to the lantern.
Another method of constructing glycerine-containing lenses is represented in
Figs. 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9 and 10, in which separate sheets of glass are employed to
form the front and back of the cell. Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9, represent a lens made of
rolled polished plate glass bent to the required shape. Figs. 6 and 7ª, represent a
lens in which the front plate is cast, and has a prism-like flange which serves both to
collect some rays of light that would otherwise be scattered, and to give greater
strength to such front plate. Fig. 6, represents an elevation of such a lens seen
sidewise in its fittings. Fig. 7, is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 8, is a
horizontal section of the lens, and Fig. 9, is a top view of the same in its frame but
removed from the lantern. Fig. 10, is a full size transverse vertical section of the
lens, showing the manner in which the 2 plates of glass are united so as to hold the
glycerine without leakage.
In these figures A, is the glycerine-containing cavity or cell; E is the front sheet
of glass, that shown in Figs. 6 and 7" being cast in a mould and having prism-
like flanges e, e, and that shown in the remaining figures being plain rolled polished
plate glass bent to the required shape. E', is the inner sheet of plane glass
preferably of polished plate. F, is an india rubber band or packing extending
entirely round the edge of the lens, and having a tongue f, projecting between the
glasses, and keeping them the proper distance apart, and having sufficient elasticity
to provide for the expansion of the parts when the lamp becomes heated. This
india rubber is faced with a coating of shellac varnish g. These parts are bound
together firmly and are cemented and bedded preferably in asbestos putty into the
frame H, which is put on by the lens maker, and the whole is afterwards fitted by the
lantern maker into another frame H', which forms part of, but is removable from,
the lantern; a padding of india rubber h, may advantageously be inserted between
the 2 frames (thus further providing for expansion and concussion) and a coating
of cement, for which purpose I find asbestos putty answer well. A hole in the

page_text: frames, and through the rubber, is provided on the top of the lens for the intro-
duction of the glycerine, and a screw stopper with leather washer for the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
1. The construction and use of lamps with cells or hollow lenses, containing
coloured glycerine, for ships lights, signal lights and the like, substantially in the
manner described and set forth, and shewn in the drawings.
2. Constructing lamps with bottle-lenses (or cells) containing coloured glycerine
or the like substantially in the manner represented in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 4ª, 5 and 5ª,
and for the purposes set forth.
3. Constructing bottle-lenses (or cells) for lamps, to contain glycerine or the like,
with an expansion chamber C substantially as described and shown in Figs. 1 and 2
of the drawings.
4. A lamp having a hollow glass lens formed in one piece and filled with coloured
glycerine introduced when hot and hermetically sealed before cooling substantially as
described.
°
5. Constructing glycerine-containing lenses or cells of 2 pieces of glass united by
means of a fillet of india-rubber F,, coated with shellac varnish or the like, and
held together by, and cemented into, the frame H, and further secured by a second
frame H¹, cemented on and having india rubber padding h, for the purpose and
substantially as described and shown in Figs. 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
6. The preparation and use of coloured glycerine composed of the ingredients in
or about the proportions stated in which the colouring matter is dissolved in the
glycerine by means of heat substantially in the manner and for the purpose
described.
7. The construction and uso of glycerine-containing lenses for and in the lamps of
light-houses, harbour lights, and railways and the like as and for the purposes
hereinbefore described.
Dated the Fifth day of June 1900
ALFRED J. LOFTUS.
A. G. ANGIER.