IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Jones, of Camden Town, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS."
aled the 11th January 1862, and dated the 16th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Jones at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
July 1861.
I, RICHARD JONES, of Camden Town, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SAFETY LAMPS," to be as follows (that is to say):
My Invention has reference to improvements in safety lamps, so as to enable
the same to be employed with greater safety than hitherto by preventing the
possibility of the workmen obtaining a light therefrom, or exposing the flame
to the inflammable gases in mines or otherwise, and consists in fitting or pro-
viding safety lamps internally with a metallic cap or extinguisher, jointed or
hinged in close proximity to the wick or flame, the lower or hinged portion
thereof being tapped for the reception of the locking screw, which passes
through the same in such manner that upon turning the said screw in the
direction necessary for locking the lamp the cap or extinguisher is thrown back
from the wick or flame, whilst upon turning the same in the opposite direction
for unlocking the lamp the cap or extinguisher is caused by the friction of the
screw passing through the joint or hinge to be brought forward and descend

page_text: upon the wick or flame, and remain in that position whilst the screw is being
withdrawn from the said hinge for the purpose of effectually extinguishing
the light.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Jones in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
JONES, of Camden Town, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Jones, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Jones, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Richard Jones, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Richard Jones, 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 Richard Jones, 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 follow-
ing statement, and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say):-
My Invention has reference to improvements in safety lamps, by which
increased security is obtained, and the workmen prevented from obtaining a
light or exposing the naked flame to the surrounding gases, or other inflam-
mable or explosive matter in mines or otherwise, and consists in fitting or
providing safety lamps internally with a metallic cap or extinguisher jointed
or hinged in close proximity to the wick or flame, the lower or hinged portion

page_text: thereof being tapped for the reception of a screw, which passes through the
same in such manner that upon turning the said screw in the direction neces-
sary for locking the lamp the cap or extinguisher is thrown back from the
wick or flame, whilst upon turning the same in the opposite direction for
unlocking the lamp the cap or extinguisher is caused by the friction of the
screw passing through the joint or hinge to be brought forward and descend
upon the wick or flame, and remain in that position whilst the screw is being
withdrawn from the said hinge for the purpose of effectually extinguishing
the light.
- And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a safety lamp, fitted or provided with
my improvements; Fig. 2, a side view; Fig. 3, a top .or plan view; Fig. 4, an
underneath view; Fig. 5, a transverse vertical section, taken through the dotted
line in Fig. 3; Fig. 6, a sectional elevation through the dotted line in Fig. 5;
Fig. 7, an external view, showing the lamp detached; Fig. 8, a top or plan view
of the lamp, separately shown; Fig. 9, a side view thereof, showing the wick
or flame extinguished; Fig. 10, a horizontal section, taken through the dotted
line in Fig. 9; Figs. 11 and 12, side views of the locking screw and key; and
Figs. 13 and 14, front views of the same. In each Figure the same letters of
reference denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, the base of the lamp, forming the oil vessel; B, B, wick holder;
C, C, plate, to which the same is secured; D, D, ring or collar, for holding
the said plate in its position; E, E, pricker, for raising or lowering the wick,
as required; F, F, pricker, for removing the crust from the snuff or wick;
G, G, slot openings, for facilitating the removal of the plate c, c, when required;
Hand H', studs, for actuating the said prickers through the tubes or pas-
sages I and I; J, J, recess or concavity, for containing the said studs;
K, K, wick; L, L, oil; M, M, safety head or top, showing the gauze M', and
secured to the lamp through the medium of the screw and counterthread N, N;
O, O, metallic cap or extinguisher; P, P, socket, tapped throughout for the
reception of the locking screw Q, Q; R, R, bearing, in which the same works;
S, S, tapped hole or nipple, through which the locking screw passes for the
purpose of taking into the said bearing; T, T, square end or shank of the
locking screw; U, U, key for turning the same, for the purpose of locking or
unlocking the lamp; V, V, ring, for suspending the lamp.
In conclusion to the foregoing description it may be here necessary to note
.

page_text: that my said improvements are applicable to all descriptions of safety lamps,
whether for mining or otherwise, and that the arrangement or disposition of
the several parts may be altered or modified in accordance with the purposes
to which the lamp is to be applied.
Having now described the nature of this my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into effect, I would
have it clearly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein-before described, as the same may be varied without departing from the
general principle of these my said improvements, nor do I claim the exclusive
use of the several parts herein-before mentioned, except when the same are em-
ployed in and for the purposes of my said Invention, which I hereby declare
to consist in the construction and arrangement of safety lamps, in which the
operation of unlocking the same will cause the light to be extinguished in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Jones, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
ROBERT MARSHALL,
Sol*, Gray's Inn.
RICHARD JONES. (L.S.)