IMPROVEMENTS IN CANDLESTICKS AND CANDLE-HOLDERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Benjamin Greenwood, of No. 5, Durham
Place East, Hackney Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CANDLESTICKS AND CANDLE-HOLDERS.”
Sealed the 3rd October 1861, and dated the 5th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Benjamin Green-
wood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th April 1861.
I, ROBERT BENJAMIN GREENWOOD, of No. 5, Durham Place East, Hackney
Road, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CANDLESTICKS AND CANDLE-HOLDERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention is applicable to all kinds of candlesticks, candelabra, chande-
liers, or other candle-holders, and is intended to facilitate the placing of
candles therein, or the removal of the same therefrom, and dispense with
springs, paper, or other packing, and at the same time to act as a "save-all,"
and allow of the candle being consumed to the end without the least waste.
The stem of the candlestick or candle-holder is entirely fixed or stationary,
and the socket alone is capable of being raised or lowered, and it is so arranged
that when the socket is at its lowest position, the upper part of the stem shall
project slightly above the cup of the socket. The upper part of the fixed

page_text: stem is provided with a cup or button fitting the inside of the socket, which
cup is furnished with a spike or projecting pins, on which the candle is fixed.
The socket is then raised so as to support the candle. This socket may be
made to slide in or on the stem in a telescopic manner, or it may be raised by
a screw, a spiral slot, or a rack and pinion, but it must be so arranged that
it can be readily raised and lowered without lifting the candlestick or soiling
the fingers.
When the candle has burned down nearly to the end, the socket must be
lowered until the cup or button carrying the candle projects above the cup of
the socket, and thus the latter does not get heated and melt the candle, and
therefore the whole may be consumed without any waste.
It is also proposed to connect the various parts of the candlestick or candle-
holder together by means of screwed washers or nuts having two small holes,
and to construct the upper part of the extinguisher of a crescent form, or with
two small pins, by means of which the various parts can be unscrewed for
cleaning or repairing if required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Benjamin Greenwood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BENJAMIN GREENWOOD, of No. 5, Durham Place East, Hackney Road, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Benjamin Greenwood, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Benjamin Greenwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Robert Benjamin Greenwood, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 CANDLESTICKS AND CANDLE-HOLDERS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Benjamin
Greenwood, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing

page_text: 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 Robert Benjamin Greenwood, 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:
This Invention is applicable to all kinds of candlesticks, candelabra, chan-
deliers, or other candle-holders, and is intended to facilitate the placing of
candles therein, or the removal of the same therefrom, and dispense with
springs, paper, or other packing, and at the same time to act as a save-all,"
and allow of the candle being consumed to the end without the least waste.
The stem of the candlestick or candle-holder is entirely fixed or stationary,
and the socket alone is capable of being raised or lowered, and it is so
arranged that when the socket is at its lowest position the upper part of the
stem shall project, slightly above the cup of the socket. The upper part of
the fixed stem is provided with a cup or button fitting the inside of the
socket, which cup is furnished with a spike or projecting pins, on which the
candle is fixed. The socket is then raised so as to support the candle. This
socket may be made to slide in or on the stem in a telescopic manner, or it
may be raised by a screw, a spiral slot, or a rack and pinion, but it must be
so arranged that it can be readily raised and lowered without lifting the candle-
stick or soiling the fingers.
When the candle has burned down nearly to the end, the socket must be
lowered until the cup or button carrying the candle projects above the cup of
the socket, and thus the latter does not get heated and melt the candle, and
therefore the whole may be consumed without any waste.
It is also proposed to connect the various parts of the candlestick or candle-
holder together by means of screwed washers or nuts having two small holes,
and to construct the upper part of the extinguisher of a crescent form, or
with two small pins, by means of which the various parts can be unscrewed for
cleaning or repairing if required.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improvements
in Candlesticks and Candle-holders," I will now proceed to describe the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect. And in order that the same may be distinctly understood, I have

page_text: annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrating the application of my
Invention to an ordinary chamber candlestick, and have marked the same
with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof, that is to say:-
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a chamber candlestick constructed
according to my Invention, the socket being shown as raised, in order to
support a whole candle; Figure 2 is a vertical section through about the
centre of the same; and Figure 3 is an external view, showing the socket
lowered so as to act as a save-all, and consume the candle to the end
without waste, and without heating the socket.
: a, a, is the base of the candlestick; and 6, 6, is the ordinary hollow cylindrical
stem of the same; c, c, is a rod or spindle, placed vertically in the centre of
the hollow stem; and fixed (by screwing or otherwise) firmly to the base or
bottom part a, a, of the candlestick. This spindle c,. c, has a spiral slot or
groove d; d, cut or formed in it.
c, e, is the socket, which is capable of sliding
inside the cylindrical stem b, b. The lower part of this socket slides on the
spindle c, c, and is provided with a pin f, working in the spiral groove-d, d;
and also with a friction spring 9, which serves to hold the socket in any
position, and to prevent its running down by its own weight. The upper part
of the socket is kept steady (and at the same time grease-tight) by means of a
washer h, h, fitting the inside of the socket, and fixed on the top of the
spindle c, c, by means of the button i, i, which is screwed thereon.
It will be evident that upon turning the socket e, e, round in either direction
(which can be done without soiling the fingers in the least, by means of the
milled rim k, k,) the socket will be either raised or lowered by means of the
pin f, working in the spiral groove d, d, on the fixed spindle c, c.
When the
socket is raised, as in Figure 1, it will support a whole candle without any
packing of any kind, and as soon as the candle has burned down nearly to the
socket, the latter should be screwed, when the end of the candle will remain
supported by the button i, i, clear above the socket, and will burn till the last
without waste and without heating the socket, the washer h, h, preventing any
melted grease from running into the interior of the candlestick. Should the
interior of the candlestick at any time require cleaning or repair, the socket
may be removed entirely by unscrewing the button i, i, by means of its milled
edge, or as above named, the various parts may be put together by screwed
washers or nuts having two holes, and a forked piece or crescent may be
formed on or attached to the extinguisher (as shown at Figure 2) which will
serve to unscrew the same.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for

page_text: *Improvements in Candlesticks and Candle-holders," together with the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect,
I would remark, in conclusion, that although I have merely shown one method
of applying my Invention for the sake of illustration, I do not intend to confine
myself to the precise details shown in the Drawing, and above described;
but I claim as my Invention the constructing of candlesticks, candelabra,
chandeliers, or other candle-holders with sockets, capable of sliding in or upon
a fixed stem, such sockets and stems being so arranged that when the socket is
at its lowest position, the upper part of the fixed stem shall project above
the socket, so as to consume the candle to the last without heating the
socket.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Benjamin Greenwood, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
5
ROBERT B. GREENWOOD. (L.S.)
Witness,
BRISTOW HUNT,
Sol'. & Patent Agent,
1, Serle St., Lincoln's Inn.