Improvements in Apparatus for Lighting Miners' Safety or other Enclosed Lamps by Electric Currents.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Lighting Miners' Safety or other
Enclosed Lamps by Electric Currents.
JOHN WARRINGTON, Crag Wood, Rawdon, near Leeds, Colliery Proprietor,
EDWARD BROWN, Goosehill, Normanton, Yorks, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
Hitherto the methods of lighting "miners" safety or other enclosed lamps by
an electric current have required one or more wires to pass through the oil vessel
forming the bottom of the lamp and insulated therefrom-thus requiring cou-
siderable alteration in the construction of the said bottom or oif vessel and
making the insulation of the wire or wires difficult and uncertain.
Our invention is designed to overcome these objections, by means of a
metallic conductor inserted through a hole formed in the glass surrounding the
wick of the lamp the outer end of the said conductor being shaped so as to
form a contact, and the inner end projecting inwards towards the wick but not
touching it; the circuit for the electric current being formed by the metallic
tube into which the wick is inserted-and the bottom of the lamp. The electric
current from the metallic conductor when of sufficient intensity to form an are
with the tube surrounding the wick-causes a spark which ignites the wick.
The method we prefer for obtaining the necessary current is by a lighting
stand and an induction coil, to the latter of which the current is provided by a
primary battery or other suitable source of electricity. One high tension con-
ductor from the induction coil is permanently connected to the stand on which
the lamp bottom is placed for lighting, and the other high tension conductor is per-
manently connected to a sliding conductor which bears against the contact formed
at the end of the lighting wire which passes through the lamp glass. One low
tension conductor from the induction coil is permanently coupled to a metallic
spring switch against which the before mentioned sliding conductor is forced
when the lamp is placed on the stand for lighting, and the movement of this
spring is continued until the said spring is made to bear against an adjustable
screw contact, to which the battery supplying the low tension circuit is coupled,
a conductor from the battery to the low tension portion of the induction coil
completes the low tension circuit.
The action is as follows-the lamp to be lighted is placed on the portion of
the stand to which one high tension conductor is attached and made to slide
until the contact button on the lighting wire--passing through the lamp glass-
presses against the sliding contact to which the other high tension conductor is
attached and the continued movement of the sliding contact switches the bat-
tery in circuit with the primary or low tension portion of the induction coil,
and the resulting spark due to the are formed inside the lamp lights the wick.

page_text: after which the lamp is withdrawn and the primary circuit broken until required
for further use.
Dated this Twenty-ninth day of May 1899.
JOHN WARRINGTON.
EDWARD BROWN.
Improvements in Apparatus for Lighting Miners' Safety or other
Enclosed Lamps by Electric Currents.
JOHN WARRINGTON, Colliery Owner, Crag Wood, Rawdon, near Leeds,
EDWARD BROWN, Mechanical Engineer, Goosehill, Normanton, Yorks, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The invention consists of a metallic conductor A, D, fixed in the glass B, sur-
rounding the wick tube C of the lamp, said metallic conductor A, D, projects
inwards towards the wick tube Cand slightly above but not touching it, the
outer end of said conductor A, D, being shaped so as to form a contact at D.
The lighting stand is formed of wood or other non-conducting material, having
a metallic plate E, to which one high tension terminal F, of the induction coil
is connected by the wire G, the other high tension terminal H, is connected by
the wire J, to a sliding conductor I, the said conductor I, presses against a piece
of insulating material K, attached to the spring L, and to the said spring L is
attached a wire M which is connected to the terminal N, of the primary circuit
of the induction coil O. The second terminal P', of the primary circuit is con-
nected to the storage battery-or other source of electricity by the wire Q.
On the top of the lighting stand is fixed a plate R carrying an adjusting
screw S, the said plate R is connected to the storage battery-or other source
of electricity by the wire T.
The action is as follows,
The lamps to be lighted which have previously been cleaned, trimmed and
locked, are placed on the lighting stand, the bottom resting on the metallic
plate E, and the contact 1, touching the sliding conductor 1, a slight push of
the lamp closes the primary circuit between S and L, and the induced current
through G and J, forms an are between the point of the metallic conductor A, D,
and the wick tube C and so lights the wick of the lamp, on withdrawing the
lamp the primary circuit is automatically broken between S and L.
By these means an ordinary safety or enclosed lamp of any type may be
lighted electrically without requiring an insulated conductor to be passed through
the lamp bottom, and the invention can be applied to existing safety lamps
without requiring any structural alterations in the lamp beyond the insertion of
the conductor A, D, in the glass surrounding the flame.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1
1. An improved method of lighting miners, or other enclosed lamps, by means
of a metallic conductor inserted through a hole formed in the glass surrounding

page_text: 2. An improved method of lighting miners, or other enclosed lamps, by means
of a metallic conductor inserted through a hole formed in the glass surrounding
the wick of the lamp, in combination with a lighting stand and induction coil,
substantially as shown and described.
Dated this Fifteenth day of January 1900.
JOHN WARRINGTON.
EDWARD BROWN.