IMPROVE- MENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Waring, of Neath Abbey, in the
County of Glamorgan, Mining Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS."
Sealed the 6th December 1859, and dated the 16th June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Waring
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1859.
1
1, CHARLES HENRY WARING, of Neath Abbey, in the County of Glamorgan,
Mining Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to constructing safety lamps in such manner that
the lamp cannot be opened without first extinguishing the light. For this
purpose I apply a stud or screw or other bolt, which locks the lamp, and
which is itself caught or locked by a spring or catch, and cannot be unfastened
until it is first released from the spring or catch. I place within the lamp an
extinguisher attached to a rod or wire, which is capable of sliding or moving
so as to raise or lower the extinguisher. When the extinguisher is brought
down so as to cover the wick and extinguish the light, the extinguisher, or a
projection on the wire or some part connected with it, presses against the

page_text: spring, and the bolt or other fastening can then be unscrewed or released, and
the lamp can be opened. Or I so construct the lamp that when the gauze or
cylinder or cover is screwed or fixed on, it is caught by a catch or spring,
which can only be released by bringing down the extinguisher on the light.
Or I cause the bolt or other fastening, or the gauze or case or cover, to be
caught by a spring or catch connected by a lever or otherwise with the ex-
tinguisher, so that the act of unfastening, or of unscrewing, or commencing to
remove the gauze or case or cover, inay compel the extinguisher to come
down upon the wick. These improvements are particularly adapted for safety
lamps to be used in coal mines; but are also applicable to lamps for use in
powder mills and magazines, and other places.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Henry Waring in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HENRY WARING, of Neath Abbey, in the County of Glamorgan, Mining
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Henry Waring, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Henry
Waring, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Charles Henry Waring, 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 law-
fully 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 SAFETY LAMPS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said. Charles Henry Waring, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Henry Waring, 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 :-
The Invention relates to constructing safety lamps in such manner that
the lamp cannot be opened without first extinguishing the light. For this
purpose I apply a stud or screw, or other bolt, which locks the lamp, and
which is itself caught or locked by a spring or catch, and cannot be unfastened
until it is first released from the spring or catch. I place within the lamp
an extinguisher attached to a rod or wire, which is capable of sliding or
moving so as to raise or lower the extinguisher. When the extinguisher is
brought down so as to cover the wick and extinguish the light, the extinguisher,
or a projection on the wire or some part connected with it, presses against the
spring, and the bolt or other fastening can then be unscrewed or released, and
the lamp can be opened. Or I so construct the lamp that when the gauze
or cylinder or cover is screwed or fixed on, it is caught by a catch or spring,
which can only be released by bringing down the extinguisher on the light.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a vertical section of a miner's
safety lamp, constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of
the top of the oil chamber; Figure 3 is a separate view of a catch at the
bottom of the oil chamber herein-after described; Figure 4 is a side view; and
Figure 5 is a
plan of the extinguisher C. The same letters refer to similar
parts in each Figure. X is the oil chamber; W is the wick holder, secured
by the screw collar V in the ordinary manner; Z is the pricker or wire for
trimming the lamp, which passes through a tube fixed in the oil chamber in
the ordinary manner; O is the cylinder or cover of wire gauze fixed by a collar
or ring P, in the screw cap Y, which screws on the oil chamber X. The lamp
is so far similar to an ordinary miner's safety lamp. A is a flat semicircular
spring, which lies in a groove in the top of the oil chamber. In the under
side of the cap Y is fixed a short pin or stud B, which passes over the spring
A, when the cap is screwed on, but which catches against the end of the
spring, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, when it is attempted to unscrew the
cap Y. The lamp is thus locked, and can only be unlocked by depressing
the spring A, so as to allow of the cap Y being unscrewed. C is the extinguisher,
which may be of cast or stamped brass, or other suitable metal, and which is
attached to a wire D, which passes through a tube in the oil chamber, and
is bent at the lower end, and secured by a catch F, when the extinguisher is
raised. The extinguisher has a small projection at E, which descends upon

page_text: the end a of the spring, when the extinguisher is brought down over the
wick. The size and proportions of the extinguisher are such, that it cannot
descend on one side either between the wick holder W and the collar V, or
between the collar V and the wire gauze O, or cap Y. It can only descend
in the centre of the lamp, so as to completely cover and extinguish the wick,
being stopped in any other position by the rim of the collar V. When the
extinguisher is thus brought down in its proper position, as shown by dotted
lines in Figure 1, the projection E presses down the end a of the spring A,
and thus releases the pin B, as the bottom of the extinguisher reaches the
plate or flange which supports the wick holder W; the cap Y can then, be
unscrewed. It will thus be seen that the light must be extinguished before
the cover can be removed. If the cap Y is made to fit on to the oil
chamber X by a bayonet joint instead of a screw, it will be locked in a similar
manner by the pin B and spring A. If the gauze cylinder O should become
loose in the cap Y, it might shift down a little, and on screwing it on to the lamp,
the projecting edge of the gauze might force down the spring A, and prevent
it from locking the lamp. This is obviated by placing the spring in a recess
beyond the reach of the gauze, and raising the part c, as shown in Figure 1.
Thus, if the gauze projects a little below its proper position, the defect is
discovered by its coming in contact with the part c, and preventing the Y
from being screwed down to its proper position.
cap
The extinguisher when out of use is raised into the upper part of the lamp,
and its rod is placed between the light and one of the external rods which are
used to connect the top and bottom of the lamp. Thus, very little or no more
of the useful light is obstructed than in an ordinary miner's safety lamp.
Figure 6 is a vertical section, and Figure 7 is a plan, of portions of a safety
lamp, showing another method of carrying out my Invention. The spring A
carries a bolt B, so arranged as to pass through an opening in the side of the
bottom part of the lamp, and to catch into the portion of the cap or top Y,
which is screwed or otherwise fastened on to the oil chamber, so that the top
may be screwed on, but cannot be unscrewed until the extinguisher is brought
down over the wick, as herein-before described in reference to Figures 1 and 2;
but in the present arrangement the extinguisher C is furnished with a wedge
or inclined plane, which presses upon a bent part of the spring A at a, and
forces it out from the side of the lamp, as the extinguisher descends on the
wick, and withdraws the bolt from the catch in the top Y or gauze portion of
the lamp, and allows it to be removed.
Figure 8 is a vertical section, and Figure 9 is a plan of portions of a safety

page_text: lamp, showing another method of carrying out my Invention. Figure 10'
shows two separate views of a screw bolt employed for securing the cap Y to
the oil chamber, and herein-after described. Figures 11 and 12 are two
separate views of the spring A. The spring A is furnished with two snugs or
projections marked m, n, in Figures 9 and 11. o, p, in Figures 8 and 12,
shews the slope of one side of the snugs, which form an inclined plane, up
which the conical part S of the screw shown in Figure 10 slides when it is'
being screwed in for the purpose of locking the lamp. As soon as it has
penetrated so far as to bring the part S beyond the snugs m and n, the flat
part or neck of the screw R is caught by the rising of the spring between
m and n, and thus the screw cannot be turned farther in either direction. To
unlock it, the extinguisher is brought down as previously described, and
presses upon the spring, so as to release the part R of the screw from the
jaws or snugs m, n, and allow of its being unscrewed and so unlocking the
lamp. Thus, the lamp, as in the methods herein-before described; cannot be
unlocked without extinguishing the light. A stud, as shown at B in Figures
1 and 2, may be added to this arrangement, so as to afford still greater
security. It will then be necessary to draw down the extinguisher to release
the screw bolt, and after that is unscrewed it will be necessary to draw down
or keep down the extinguisher while the cap Y is unscrewed. The pin or
lock, Figure 10, may be either a screw, as shown, or a plain pin of any other
form, and may have the part R round or square instead of as shown; the
form shown in Figure 10 is, however, recommended as being strong, and
preventing the screw being turned farther than is necessary, and so straining
the spring.
Figure 13 is a vertical section, and Figure 14 is a plan, showing a modifi-
cation of the preceding arrangements. The spring A is here placed within
the oil chamber instead of on the outside and on the top of it. These Figures
also show a plan which may be adopted instead of some of the previously
described methods of causing the spring to be depressed. In this plan, an
elongation of the spring is carried in immediately against the wick holder W,
and bent up, as shown at a, so that the edge of the extinguisher itself in
descending over the wick shall press upon it.
These methods of locking are applicable to lamps of different constructions
and to different modes of connecting the gauze top or upper part of the lamp
with the oil chamber or lower part of the lamp, such as by a screw or by a
bayonet joint. They are also applicable to lamps or lanterns used in naval
and military magazines, and in stables and barns, and in all places, establish-

page_text: ments, or workshops, where explosive or inflammable materials or substances
are manufactured or stored. When such substances are such as are easily
ignited or give out explosive and inflammable gases, a gauze miners' safety
lamp should be used. In other cases these methods may be applied to lamps
or lanterns made of glass, horn, or other substances, as found most convenient
for use in such places. In some cases it is not required to remove the whole
of the cover or upper part of the lamp or lantern, but it is sufficient to remove
a part of it, or to open a door for obtaining access to the interior. In such
cases the moveable part or door is fastened by a spring catch or similar
fastening, which can only be opened when the extinguisher has descended on
the wick.
Figure 15 is a vertical section, and Figure 16 is a horizontal section or
plan, of a lantern having a door Y hinged on one side y. This door carries
two small spring latches B without any handles or knobs for drawing them
back; the ends of these latches are bevilled, so that when the door Y is shut
the latches come in contact with a bar A, and slide in, and are pushed out
again by their springs as they pass this bar. If this bar were a fixture, there
would be no means of unlocking the door. The bar A, however, is capable of
sliding vertically, and has two notches b, b; it is pressed upwards by a spring I.
If this bar be pushed down until the notches b, b, are opposite the two
latches B, the door can then be opened. This is effected by means of the
extinguisher C, which is attached to a wire D passing through the bottom of
the lantern, and is guided by three wires J, whose ends nearly touch the
corners of the lantern. Or, the wire D may be of triangular or rectangular
form, and may pass through a hole of corresponding form, so as to insure the
central position of the extinguisher. On the wire D is a projection which
comes in contact with the bent end of the bar A when the extinguisher has
nearly reached its lowest position. When the extinguisher has reached its
lowest point, the notches b, b, are opposite the latches B, and the light will
then have been extinguished, and the door can be opened. When the
extinguisher is in its highest position, the lower end of the wire D is secured
or supported by a button or other suitable fastening at F. In all cases, the
extinguisher consists (like an ordinary extinguisher) of a hollow cover or cap,
which is brought down over the wick, and thus effectually extinguishes the
light.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact details herein-before described, as the same may be varied;

page_text: but what I claim is, constructing safety lamps with an extinguisher and a
spring, catch, bolt, or other fastening, for securing the cover or moveable part
or door, and so combined that the said spring or other fastening can only be
released by bringing down the extinguisher, so as to cover the wick and
extinguish the light, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry Waring, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
CHARLES HENRY WARING. (L.S.)