IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING LIGHT THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Gye, of Wandsworth Road, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING LIGHT
A
Sealed the 10th October 1861, and dated the 15th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Gye at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th April 1861.
I, FREDERICK GYE, of Wandsworth Road, in the County of Surrey, do
5 hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING
LIGHT AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in obtaining light and in
the apparatus employed therein, and the same relates to that class of light
known as the lime light. For these purposes in place of employing a cylinder
of lime as usual heretofore, a disc or flat plate of lime is employed, and
the ignited jet of combined gases is caused to act on the surface of the disc
or flat plate whilst the same is rotating on its axis, and the axis itself is
caused to move so as constantly to present a new surface of lime to the jet of
gases at each revolution. The axis on which the disc or flat plate of lime is

page_text: mounted is horizontal, and it is driven by a pinion on a vertical axis which
receives motion from suitable clockwork, and in order to facilitate the re-
moval of one disc and the replacing it by another or fresh disc of lime
when required, the axis on which the disc of lime is carried is mounted in
a frame which can be readily removed from the clockwork to allow of another
similar frame being applied thereto, the vertical driving axis, to admit of this
being made in two parts, the end of one part having a socket formed in it,
and the end of the other part being formed with a square fitting into the same.
The moveable frame carries a hollow bar capable of sliding up and down
or vertically; the upper end of this bar supports the bearing in which the
horizontal axis of the lime disc is mounted. On the interior of the sliding
bar there is a screw thread which works with a screw formed on an upright
axis which receives motion from the clockwork, and thus causes the sliding
bar to descend or rise according to the direction in which the screw or the
upright axis is turned.
The lime holder consists of two parts, one being the dise by which it is
fixed by screws or otherwise to the end of the horizontal axis, and the other
a hollow cone corresponding in size with the disc or circular plate of lime,
which is made inclined or bevilled at the circumference. By this arrange-
ment the speed at which the surface of the lime is moved past the jet of
gases will not be quite uniform, but the speed may, if desired, be made
uniform by employing two cones and an endless band.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Gye in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
GYE, of Wandsworth Road, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth 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 Frederick Gye, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick Gye,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederick Gye, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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
OBTAINING LIGHT AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Gye, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing 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 Frederick Gye, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in obtaining light and in
the apparatus employed therein, and the same relates to that class of light
known as the lime light. For these purposes in place of employing a
cylinder or ball of lime as usual heretofore, a disc or flat plate of lime is
employed and the ignited jet of combined gases is caused to act on the surface
of the disc or flat plate whilst the same is rotating on its axis, and the axis itself
is caused to move so as constantly to present a new surface of lime to the
jet of gases at each revolution. The axis on which the disc or flat plate of
lime is mounted is horizontal, and it is driven by a pinion on a vertical
axis which receives motion from suitable clockwork, and in order to facilitate
the removal of one disc and the replacing it by another or fresh disc of lime
when required, the axis on which the disc of lime is carried is mounted on a
frame which can be readily removed from the clockwork to allow of another
similar frame being applied thereto; the vertical driving axis is to admit of
this being made in two parts the end of one part having a socket formed on
it, and the end of the other part being formed with a square fitting into the
The moveable frame carries a hollow bar capable of sliding up and
down or vertically; the upper end of this bar supports the bearing in which
the horizontal axis of the lime disc is mounted. On the interior of the
sliding bar there is a screw thread which works with a screw formed on an
upright axis which receives motion from the clockwork, and thus causes the
sliding bar to descend or rise according to the direction in which the screw on
the upright axis is turned.
same.
The line holder consists of two parts, one being the disc by which it is

page_text: fixed by screw or otherwise to the end of the horizontal axis, and the other
a hollow cone corresponding in size with the disc or circular plate of lime
which is made inclined or bevilled at the circumference. By this arrangement
the speed at which the surface of the lime is moved past the jet of gases
will not be quite uniform, but the speed may, if desired, be made uniform
by employing two cones and an endless band.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS..
Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the mechanism; Figure 2 is a vertical
section of the apparatus for carrying the lime; and Figure 3 shews an
elevation of apparatus when it is desired that the lime should pass the gas jets
at an uniform surface speed.
a is the disc or surface of lime, which is caused to revolve with its axis b,
and at the same time the axis b is caused to move so that every portion of the
disc of lime may in the course of a series of revolutions of the axis b be brought
opposite the jet pipe c. The disc of lime is received into a holder, which it is
preferred should be constructed of two parts d and e. The part d is a disc,
which is fixed to the end of the axis by a screw or by other convenient
means. The other part e is a hollow cone, corresponding internally with the
exterior of the edge of the disc of lime a, so that when the parts & and e are
fixed together, as shewn in the Drawing, the disc a of lime will be held
securely between them, and when motion is given to the axis b, every portion
of the face or outer surface of the disc of lime, so far as it is uncovered by the
holder, will, after a series of revolutions have been presented to the jet c, and
by reason of thus using a flat disc or plate of lime in place of the forms here-
tofore employed, a more certain and uniform supply or presentation of lime
will be ensured to the jet than bas heretofore resulted from the means before
resorted to. By preference suitable clockwork is employed to give a con-
stinuous and slow rotatory motion to the axis b, and at the same time a move-
ment of the axis across the jet pipe c. This clockwork or other power may be
applied in any convenient manner, so long as the desired constant motion of
the axis be obtained.
In the apparatus shewn in the Drawing, the axis b receives motion in the
following manner :-f is an axis, which receives motion from the clockwork,
and in order that the apparatus which carries the lime may be readily detached
from the clockwork or first mover, and another similar apparatus with a fresh

page_text: dise of lime applied in place thereof, this axis f is made in two parts, the
lower end of the upper half having a socket f¹ to receive the square or other
suitably formed end of the part of the axis which receives motion from the
clockwork. The mechanism or clockwork employed is not shown, but is con-
tained in the box or chamber g; on the upper end of the axis f is formed a
screw, which acts in a female screw formed in the sliding bar m, which carries
the bearing of the axis & at its upper end. On the axis f is a toothed wheel i,
which takes into the intermediate toothed wheel j, which takes into and drives
the wheel k, fixed on the upright axis 7, on which is fixed a long pinion
which gives motion to the face wheel on the axis b. By this arrangement the
sliding bar m will be caused to rise or fall according to the direction in which
the axis is turned, and in addition to the rotation of the axis b, its relative
position in regard to the surface of the revolving disc of lime will be
constantly but slowly changed.
In the Drawing the disc of lime is shown to be in one piece, but the same
may be made in several pieces, and it may be found convenient and desirable
to make the disc in several pieces when the disc is of large diameter. In the
arrangement of driving shown, it will be evident that the surface speed of the
dise in passing the jet pipe will vary, but when dises of the size shown are used
it is not found desirable to bave recourse to mechanism suited to obtain a more
uniform surface speed in respect to the part immediately opposite the jet pipe,
but a more uniform speed opposite the jet pipe may, when desired, be obtained
by the employmeut of two cones, as is shown in Figure 3. In this arrange-
ment the clockwork or first mover gives motion to the axis f, which, by a
bevilled toothed wheel n, gives motion to the bevilled toothed wheel fixed on
the axis of the cone o, which, by an endless band p gives motion to the cone q,
and according to the position of this band in regard to the two cones, so will
be the varying speed at which motion is communicated from the axis of the
cone q to the upright axis r, on which the long pinion h is fixed. By these
means a more uniform surface speed of the parts of the disc a as they pass the
jet pipe may be obtained. The apparatus for carrying and giving motion to
the dise a is mounted on the plate x, which is received on to the platform y of
the stationary apparatus, and such plate x is correctly gauged into position by
two studs which pass through holes formed through the plate ; hence, when
the whole surface of a disc of lime has been passed opposite the jet pipe, and
requires to be substituted by a fresh surface or disc a, the plate x, with the
parts carried thereby, is removed, and a similar plate, with similar appa-
ratus containing a fresh disc of lime is put into position in the shortest
possible time.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the parts separately; but I claim the application of discs or plates of lime
carried by suitable mechanism past jet pipes in place of the cylinder or ball of
lime heretofore used, and also the combined mechanism herein described for
giving motion to discs or plates of lime, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Gye, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.