IMPROVED MEANS OF SUSPENDING OR
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Wilfred Brewtnall of Warrington in the county
of Lancaster for an Invention of IMPROVED MEANS OF SUSPENDING OR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Wilfred Brewtnall
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th June 1882.
ARTHUR WILFRED BREWTNALL of Warrington in the County of Lancaster
"IMPROVED MEANS OF
ELECTRIC LIGHT FITTINGS"
SUSPENDING OR MOUNTING ELECTROLIERS AND OTHER
This Invention has for its object to enable the principle of the ball and socket
joint to be applied to the suspension of electroliers and to the mounting of other
swinging or movable fittings for the electric light by providing through the
medium of the said joint for the maintenance, unbroken, of the electrical circuit,
when the electrolier or other fitting is swung or rotated.
My Invention consists in constructing the ball, and likewise its socket, in
segments, zones or other parts of metal, separated from one another by segments,
zones or parts of insulating material, the metallic segments or portions of tho
socket corresponding to similar segments or portions of the ball and in contact
therewith over a sufficient extent of surface to permit of the free motion of the ball
in its socket without breaking the electrical connection between the corresponding
segments or parts.
From the different sets of metallic segments or parts, rods or tubes or other
conductors lead through the neck of the ball to the main stem or other part of the
frame of the electrolier or other fitting to which the ball is attached wherein
connection is made with the insulated wires leading to the lamps, or with the
metal stem, tube, arm, or frame itself in case it is used for the return circuit. The
metallic segments of the socket are similarly connected respectively with the
insulated wires or with the tubular conductors forming the electric circuit. In
order to provide a ready means of making electrical connection of the insulated
wire with the corresponding part or segment of the ball or socket as the case may
be at the joints of the tube in which the said wire is enclosed, the wire terminates
in a contact piece bedded in insulating material and projecting slightly from the
spigot end of the tube and a corresponding contact piece is provided in the socket
part of the tube joint with a spring to ensure perfect contact of the two by the
mere act of screwing the end of the tube into its socket.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
"
by the said Arthur Wilfred Brewtnall in the Great Scal Patent Office on the
20th December 1882.
ARTHUR WILFRED BREWTNALL of Warrington in the County of Lancaster
IMPROVED MEANS OF SUSPENDING OR MOUNTING ELECTROLIERS AND OTHER
ELECTRIC LIGHT FITTINGS
"
This Invention has for its object to enable the principle of the ball and socket
joint to be applied to the suspension of electroliers and to the mounting of other
swinging or movable fittings for the electric light by providing through the
medium of the said joint for the maintenance, unbroken, of the electrical circuit,
when the electrolier or other fitting is swung or rotated.
My Invention consists in constructing the ball, and likewise its socket, in
segments, zones or other parts of metal, separated from one another by segments,
zones or parts of insulating material, the metallic segments or portions of the
socket corresponding to similar segments or portions of the ball and in contact
therewith over a sufficient extent of surface to permit of the free motion of the ball
in its socket without breaking the electrical connection between the corresponding
segments or parts.
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which figure 1
is an elevation and figure 2 a central vertical section of one arrangement of ball
and socket for the suspension of an electrolier.
In this arrangement the ball and socket are constructed of a sufficient number
of zones or segments to afford a return circuit without using for this purpose the
external metal of any part.
Figures 3 and 4 are similar views of a ball and socket in which the external
metal is used for the return circuit.
Figures 5 and 6 respectively show the application of my ball and socket joint
to the first and intermediate joints of wall brackets. In these figures the arrange-
ment is similar to figure 4 but the arrangement shown in figure 2 might equally
well be employed if it is not desired to use the external metal for the return
circuit.
In all these figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A is the socket and B is the ball. In figure 2 the ball is composed of three
horizontal metallic segments a a¹ a separated from one another by two insulating
segments b. The segment a is attached to a central stem c which leads through
the neck of the ball and is connected by a nut e to the wire d leading to the lamp.
To the intermediate metallic zone or segment a¹ is soldered a metal tube e which
also leads through the neck of the ball and terminates in tangs to which are
connected the return wires f from the lamp. The segments b of insulating material
are also carried through the neck of the ball and surround the rod c and tube e
and insulate them from one another and from the third segment a². This third or
lowest segment takes the wear and rests in the corresponding gland g of the
This third segment a serves for the attachment of the main stem of
the electrolier in the ordinary way. This socket contains an annular metallic
lining which exactly coincides with the zone or segment a' of the ball and is
insulated from the outer portion of the socket as shown. To this lining the
return wire is connected at h¹. i is a central stud having its lower surface con-
caved to the radius of the ball so as to make good contact with the uppermost
segment of the ball. To this stud the positive wire from the generator is
attached and the stud is insulated by a disc of vulcanite and is pressed into
contact with the segment a of the ball by a disc of soft indiarubber & beneath the
socket A.

page_text: vulcanite and bearing upon a shoulder of the stud. This india rubber disc : also
bears at its edges upon the annular lining h and presses it likewise into contact
with the segment a².
Thus it will be seen that there is perfect freedom for complete rotation, and
also for oscillation to any desired extent, of the ball in the socket without liability
of breaking the electrical connection.
In Figure 4 there are only two metal segments a and a separated by a
segment of insulating material as shown. The segment a is attached to a central
stem c as before but the stem terminates in a nut c² screwed on it this nut being
a sufficient distance within the socket a³ of the part a² to enable the joint to be
made as next described. d is the leading wire fixed at its upper end into a stud d'
embedded in a plug d² of insulating material filled into a coned seat in the end of
the main stem Ċ of the electrolier from which the stud d' projects slightly so that
when stem C is screwed into its socket as electrical connection will be made
between c and d. The concave stud which presses on the segment a of the ball
is divided into two parts i, i connected by a metal spring which answers the
purpose of the india rubber disc in figure 2. The joint of the leading wire from
the positive pole of the generator is made by an insulated stud pressed against ¿¹
in the act of screwing the tube D (which encloses said wire,) to the socket A.
In this arrangement it will be seen by the arrows that tube C, segment a² of the
ball, gland g, socket A and tube D serve as the return conductor. The tube D
may be replaced when desired by a terminal. In this case the stud i and segment a
are insulated from the socket A by a lining b₁ of vulcanite or other insulating
material.
Figures 5 and 6 show the application of the same joint to the joints of wall
brackets. The essential parts of the joint being identical with those before described
need no further description, and the slight modification necessary in the bracket
itself to adapt it to receive these joints will be apparent from the drawing without
special explanation.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein before in part recited Letters Patent is :-
1 In a
--
"ball and socket" joint for the suspension of electroliers and for
mounting and jointing wall brackets and other swinging or movable fittings for
the electric light, constructing the "ball" and likewise the "socket" each of
metallic segments zones or other parts and of intermediate zones segments or
parts of insulating material, the metallic segments &e of the ball being in contact
with the corresponding segments &c of the socket, in all positions or movements
of the ball in the socket and the said metallic segments of the ball and socket
being respectively connected with the corresponding leads or conductors
substantially as shown and described.
2ud the construction, combination and arrangement of parts composing the
respective ball and socket joints for electrical purposes substantially as herein
described and represented in the respective figures of the drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof I the said Arthur Wilfred Brewtnall liave hereunto set
my hand and seal this twentieth day of December in the year of our Lord
ARTHUR W. BREWTNALL. (L.S.)