IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTHOUSES, AND IN LAMPS FOR LIGHTHOUSES AND OTHER PLACES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Sautter, of Paris, Engineer, for the Invention
of." IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTHOUSES, AND IN LAMPS FOR LIGHTHOUSES AND
OTHER PLACES."
Scaled the 25th August 1854, and dated the 22nd May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Sautter at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,' on the 22nd May
1854:
I, LOUIS SAUTTER, of Paris, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of.
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTHOUSES, AND IN LAMPS FOR LIGHT-
HOUSES AND OTHER PLACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of improvements in mounting or supporting and"
giving motion to the upper parts of lighthouses, and also in the arrangement
or combination of parts of lamps for lighting such lighthouses and other places.
Heretofore the upper revolving parts of lighthouses have been supported by
and have moved on a series of vertical wheels, moving on a horizontal circular
track, and the lamps for the same have been so arranged as to have the
weights which raise the oil or fluid to the burners within hollow columns which
support the upper parts of lighthouses.
Now, my improvements consist in supporting or carrying the upper or
revolving parts of a lighthouse on a central vertical pivot or axis, working in a
suitable step or bearing, which can be kept full of oil or lubricating matter, and,

page_text: by a cylindrical apron working in a circular groove containing water or fluid,
dust and grit is kept from getting to the pivot or axis. The upper or revolving
parts of the lighthouse are kept upright and correct on the central axis or pivot
by means of a tube or hollow frame, which, being fixed to the revolving parts
of the lighthouse, descends outside of a central column, which may be solid or
hollow; and to prevent friction, the lower parts of the descending tube or hollow
frame bears against the central column by horizontal wheels or rollers.
Motion may be communicated to the upper or revolving parts of a lighthouse
thus constructed either at the outside or inside of the descending tube or
hollow frame. The lamps used for such forms of lighthouses, and also for
lighting other places, are cach arranged with a vessel for oil or fluid, with a
weighted piston, which, descending, drives the fluid to the burner, as has here-
tofore been done; but these lamps are arranged in such manner that the oil
or fluid in the vessel shall stand at a constant level, and thus require a con-
stant or like pressure to force the liquid to the burners. For this purpose,
there is in each lamp an upper compartment or vessel which is in communi-
cation with the other compartment where the supply for the burner is kept,
which upper compartment is arranged to supply fluid to the lower one as the
fluid in the lower compartment is pumped or forced to the burner; and such
supply from the upper to the lower compartment only takes place as air passes
from the lower vessel to the upper vessel, and air is prevented passing out
of the lower to the upper compartment so long as the proper level of fluid is
maintained in the lower compartment. There is provision made for supplying
the upper and the under compartments with fluid, and cocks for drawing the
same off.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Sautter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
SACTTEE, of Paris, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the soventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Louis Sautter, Iler special licence that I, the said Louis Sautter, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Louis Sautter,

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTHOUSES, AND IN LAMPS
FOR LIGHTHOUSES AND OTHER PLACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Louis Sautter, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Louis Sautter, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists of improvements in mounting or supporting and
giving motion to the upper parts of lighthouses, and also in the arrangement
or combination of parts of lamps for lighting such lighthouses and other places..
Heretofore the upper revolving parts of lighthouses have been supported by
and have moved on a series of vertical wheels, moving on a horizontal circular
track, and the lamps for the same have been so arranged as to have the
weights which raise the oil or fluid to the burners within hollow columns, which
support the upper parts of lighthouses. Now my improvements consist in
supporting or carrying the upper or revolving parts of a lighthouse on a
central vertical pivot or axis, working in a suitable step or bearing, which can.
be kept full of oil or lubricating matter, and by a cylindrical apron working in
a circular groove containing water or fluid, dust and grit is kept from getting.
to the pivot or axis. The upper or revolving parts of the lighthouse are kept
upright and correct on the central axis or pivot by means of a tube or hollow
frame, which being fixed to the revolving parts of the lighthouse descends out-
side of a central column, which may be solid or hollow; and to prevent friction
the lower parts of the descending tube or hollow frame bears against the
central column by horizontal wheels or rollers. Motion may be communicated
to the upper or revolving parts of a lighthouse thus constructed, either at the
outside or inside of the descending tube or hollow frame. The lamps used for
such forms of lighthouses, and also for lighting other places, are each arranged
with a vessel for oil or fluid, with a weighted piston, which, descending, drives
the fluid to the burner, as has heretofore been done; but these lamps arc
arranged in such manner that the oil or fluid in the vessels shall stand at a

page_text: in a novel manner, so as to produce this result without twice refracting the
light, as is done by the optical arrangement usually employed for this purpose.
A, A, are the panels for producing the fixed light, and B is the lens to produce
the flash; c is the cast-iron table; d is a toothed circle in which gears a pinion,
to which motion is given by a train of wheels; e is a cone bolted to the table c;
f is a copper or brass ring fitting the standard 9; h and i are the steel pivot
and bed on which the apparatus turns, and which are similar to; though of a
smaller size thun, those shown in Figure 1, Sheet I.; & is an exterior case to
the fixed column g.
Figure 2 (Sheet I.) shews a sectional view of a lamp for a lighthouse or
other place. a is the cylinder or vessel in which the oil for supplying the
burner is contained; and b is a piston, which is kept tight against the tube d
by the leather c.
Figure 3 shews a plan in section of this piston. The piston b is so adjusted
that when it is at the top of its course its weight is just sufficient to cause the
oil to flow over at the burner.. e is a box screwed on to the tube d, in which is
the conical valve my acted upon by a screw, by means of which the flow of oil
to the burner is regulated; f, f, are passages by which the oil ascends to the
burner g, which is similar to those ordinarily used in overflow lamps; h is an
upper oil vessel, the object of which is to supply oil to the vessel a; i is a tube,
through which the oil passes from the vessel h to the vessel a; j is an air tube,
which passes from the vessel a to the outer air; k is a three-branch tube; one
of the branches, in which is the stop-cock l, communicates with the vessel h;
another, in which is the stop-cock n, communicates with the box e and the
tube d; and on the third branch is placed a funnel, by which oil is supplied to
the lamp; p is a screw-cap, which closes an aperture through which a rod passes
which works the valve q.
The apparatus is filled with oil in the following manner:-The cock and
the valve m are closed, and the cock n is opened; oil is poured into the funnel
and passes by the tube d under the piston, which it raises to the top of the
vessel a, the cock o being open during this time to let out the oil which is
above the piston; then the cocks n and o are closed, the cap p is removed, the
valve 9 is closed, and the cock is opened, and the vessel h is filled with oil;
then the stop-cock 7 is again closed, the cap p is screwed on, and the act of
replacing the cap p opens the valve-q. When the lamp is lighted, the valve m
is opened to the required degree, and the oil is by the descent of the piston
'forced up the tube d to the burner; but as soon as the surface of the oil left
over the piston begins to descend, the end of the tube i becomes uncovered; air
enters by the tube j into the vessel a, and passes by the tube i into the vessel h,

page_text: where it displaces a quantity of oil, which descends into the vessel a; thus, the
level of the oil in this vessel, and therefore the quantity of oil supplied to the
burner, is maintained constant, in consequence of a constant and like ascending
power.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to
the exact details described; but what I claim is, the arrangement of the
optical parts of lighthouses, so that they rotate on a central pivot or axis,
as herein described; also, the placing the apparatus for giving motion to
the optical parts of lighthouses within the supporting column; and also, the
arranging lamps in which the oil is raised to and caused to flow over at the
burner by the descent of a weighted piston in such a manner that the oil is
maintained at a constant level in the supply vessel, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Sautter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.'
Witness,
Make
LOUIS SAUTTER. (L.S.)