IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LIGHTING OF MINES, SEWERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBTERRANEOUS PLACES IN WHICH INFLAMMABLE AND EXPLOSIVE GASES MAY FORM AND COLLECT, AND IN THE LAMPS OR LANTERNS AND OTHER APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Richardson Fanshawe at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th January 1867.
I, HENRY RICHARDSON FANSHAWE, of Mill House, Tottenham Hale,
Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of my
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LIGHTING OF MINES, SEWERS, AND
OTHER SIMILAR SUBTERRANEOUS PLACES IN WHICH INFLAMMABLE AND EXPLOSIVE
GASES MAY FORM AND COLLECT, AND IN THE LAMPS OR LANTERNS AND OTHER
APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in a mode, or means, or system of lighting or
illuminating mines, sewers, or other places in which inflammable or explosive
gases may accumulate by means of a new construction of lamps or lanterns,
each such lamp or lantern receiving its supply of air necessary to support the
flame from the external atmosphere above such subterranean place, and dis-
charging the vitiated, exhausted, or burned air into the atmosphere external to
the said place, and receiving its supply of gas also from above; all this is
effected by means of a triple series of tubing or piping, one set or series of
which supplies the gas necessary for the illuminating of the lanterns; the
second set the air necessary for the combustion of the flame, and the third set
or series conveys the vitiated air away to the air above and external to the mine
or other place where my Invention is employed, that is to say, that to the air
of the mine, chamber, or place wherein it is employed each such lamp or

page_text: lantern is hermetically sealed, receiving its supplies and discharging its vitiated
or exhausted air entirely independent of the air in the said mine, chamber, or
place by means of the arrangement of tubing or piping, as described. The
gas is forced to the burners by pressure in the ordinary way in which gas is
supplied to dwellings and towns, while the air necessary for the support of
combustion in the lamps or lanterns is obtained by atmospheric pressure
or by exhausting the air in the third set of tubes or pipes which causes a
supply of the external air to rush down the second series of tubes or pipes to
feed the flame, while at the same time it removes from the lamps or lanterns
the vitiated or exhausted air; each such set of main tubes or pipes is therefore
connected by branch tubes or pipes with the lamps or lanterns, there being
an inlet tube for the gas, an inlet tube for the fresh air, and an outlet tube for
the vitiated, exhausted, or burnt air.
The lamp or lantern I propose in most cases to employ consists of a metal
or other frame of square, round, oval, or any suitable shape, the openings in
the frame being glazed with stout clear glass cemented therein so as to be
perfectly air-tight with red and white lead cement or any other cement which
will make an air-tight joint. The roof of this lamp or lantern I arch or dome
so as to form a space in which will collect the air exhausted or vitiated by the
flame; from the upper part of lamp the said air will be drawn into the third
or exhaust series of pipes or tubes. I may vary the form of the lantern, but
in all cases it must be hermetically sealed as to the place or space within
which it is employed, and must, moreover, be provided with inlets for the gas,
and fresh air and an outlet for the vitiated air, the inlets and outlets commu-
nicating respectively with the particular series of main tubes or pipes, as
herein-before described, to which they appertain.
The lamp or lantern is provided with a gas burner, and without the lamp
the branch is provided with a cock, or one cock may be so placed as to
regulate or cut off the supply from a number of lamps. Each lantern or
lamp is in addition provided with a metal or other swing frame carrying or sup-
porting two copper wires armed at their ends with or connected by platinum
or other metal wire or substance as usually employed by electricians for the
purpose herein-after described, in such manner that that part where the points
come in contact or the connection is made comes immediately above the
burner. The two other ends of the wires pass through and outside the lamp
or lantern, and by bringing these external ends into contact with the wires
leading from the north and south poles of a portable or other battery the
platinum or other metal or substance will become incandescent, and the gas
being turned on will be thereby ignited; the swinging frame is then turned

page_text: little crank handle or
arbor or spindle pro-
on one side out of the way of the flame by means of a
wheel on the arbor or spindle of swing frame, the said
jecting externally through the lamp or lantern for the purpose of receiving
the said crank handle or wheel. At the places where the wires and spindle
of swing frame pass through the lautern or lamp I place insulators.
When my Invention is applied for lighting mines, I propose to lay down
the triple set of main pipes or tubes under the floors or along the side of the
galleries, as may be found most convenient, and to stand the lamps or lanterns
upon columns or frames of metal or wood so as not to interfere in any way with
the roof of the galleries; I also protect the lanterns from injury (if necessary)
by a cage or grating. When used in sewers or similar places the lamps or
lanterns may be carried in brackets from the sides or suspended from the
roof.
For exhausting the air consumed by the flames within the lanterns and
ensuring a supply of fresh air thereto, I, if necessary, employ single or double-
acting bellows or an exhaust fan or fans. When used for mines the exhaust
apparatus can be geared with and worked by the engine employed on the works.