IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-LIGHTERS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ruthven, of Deptford, in the County
of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-LIGHTERS,
"
Scaled the 10th August 1875, and dated the 18th February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ruthven
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th February 1875.
I, WILLIAM RUTHVEN, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE-LIGHTERS," to be as follows :-
The object of this Invention is to produce a fire-lighter which while
cheap and convenient in the make shall be durable in construction, that
is so as to hold together in shape or configuration till it is almost
entirely consumed.
According to my Invention I combine three or four pieces of wood
by halving or notching them together so as to form respectively an
equilateral triangle or a square with projecting ends. In the triangular

page_text: or square space left in the middle I place one or more diagonal or other
cross bars. I prefer the equilateral triangle or the square form, but
11
or square space left in the middle I place one or more diagonal or other
cross bars. I prefer the equilateral triangle or the square form, but
other triangular or rectangular forms may be employed.
The fire-lighter made as described is dipped into rosin or other
suitable liquid in the usual way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Ruthven in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RUTHVEN, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Ruthven, Her
special licence that I, the said William Ruthven, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Ruthven, 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-LIGHTERS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Ruthven, my executors.
or administrators, 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 William Ruthven, 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

page_text: by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to
say:-
My said Invention, which relates to improved constructions of fire-
lighters, consists in arranging the pieces of wood composing the lighter
in a square, rectangular, triangular, or other polygonal figure with free
projecting ends, the said pieces being notched, halved, or mortised into
one another, so that as the lighter is burning it does not fall to pieces
but retains its configuration until almost completely consumed for the
purpose of supporting the superposed coal or other fuel and preventing
it from falling in and thus extinguishing the lighter before it has
ignited the contents of the grate, furnace, or fire-place.
The lighters may be painted over with or dipped in rosin, turpentine,
or other combustible material or liquid in the usual way.
And in order that my said Invention may be thoroughly understood,
I have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings containing three modifi-
cations of construction, the views being drawn in perspective.
As shewn by these Drawings the fire-lighter illustrated at Figure 1
consists of four rectangular pieces of wood A halved into one another,
so as to form a square figure with projecting ends, the enclosed square
or space being occupied by bars B placed diagonally and halved into
each other similarly to the pieces A. Although the top and bottom
edges of the several pieces in this Figure and in Figure 2 are shewn
flush with each other it is to be understood that they may be arranged
to project over each other so as to deepen the enclosed wells or spaces
and create a greater draught of air and consequently still better com-
bustion.
In order to do away with paper and other lighting agents I fix

page_text: Figure 3 consists of a rectangular bar E into which slighter pieces F
are let in or mortised, the said pieces F having been previously halved
into one another. In the present illustration it will be seen that the
upper edges of the pieces F project above the upper edge of the oblong
bar E, thus deepening the sides of the lighter, causing a greater upward
draught of air, and thereby promoting more ready combustion. This,
and all forms of my improved lighter are or may be provided with the
herein-before referred to tuft of shavings or other material for the
purposes of ignition without the adventitious aid of paper or other
lighting agent.
Having now described my said Invention and the manner of using
the same, I would observe in conclusion, that without restricting myself
to the exact details of arrangement and construction shewn on the
Drawings, nor to the forms of fire-lighters more particularly specified,
what I do claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement and construction of fire-
lighter in which the several parts composing the same are bound together
by being notched, halved, or mortised into one another, forming
triangular, square, or other polygonal figures with free projecting ends,
substantially as herein-before described and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ruthven, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five.