FOLDING FIRE LIGHTERS
Year: 1884

page_text: STEPHEN LLOYD of No 7 Gunterstone Road West Kensington in the county of
Middlesex Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for FOLDING
FIRE LIGHTERS, to be as follows:-
That the invention is designed to provide a fire Lighter by which coal can be
ignited in a shorter space of time than by any other means now in use.
'
It comprises pieces of wood so placed & fastened together causing a thorough
draft which cannot be obtained by any other means.
It is manufactured by placing pieces of wood in various lengths and thicknesses
one piece on the top of the other so as to allow a complete draft of air to go
through.
It is then nailed together and bound together with string so that the different
shapes represent the Letters "I. V. A. Y. T X & N.
It is then dipped in Resin or some other inflamable matter so as to hasten
ignition & by being able to be folded up in a square parcel takes up but a small
space 500 of the larger size requiring the room of about 200 Bundles of the
ordinary Fire Wood.
Having thus described my invention I claim that it is the most unique &
economical fire lighter ever produced & the only one that has been invented that
was secured first with nails & then bound together by which means it cannot fall
to pieces until the wood is all consumed. It can also be sold at so low a price that
it will be acceptable to every household.

page_text: I STEPHEN LLOYD of N° 7 Gunterstone Road West Kensington in the County
of Middlesex Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for FOLDING
FIRE LIGHTERS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
.
The fire-lighter of my invention is a contrivance by which fires are more
expeditiously and economically kindled than by the use of ordinary chopped wood
and it is in my opinion and belief and from knowledge gained by experiments
and comparisons much more efficacious than any other fire-lighter that has been
introduced or patented The following is a description of my invention For
ordinary household fires-The lighter consists of two parts, each part being
composed of five, varied by six strips or pieces of wood; between each of the
strips being two small pieces of wood keeping the strips at a uniform distance
from one another of ono quarter of an inch-The whole of the five or six strips
with the dividing small pieces being firmly joined together by nails forming one
half of a complete lighter-Each half or part is connected to its corresponding
part or half by being tied together by string in such a manner that the two parts
being connected can be turned on one another or folded about or round and round
and thus be accomodated to the size and shape of the fire-place or the layer of
half burned coal or cinders which usually forms the foundation in making a fire.
MODE OF MANUFACTURE.
The lighters are made in the following manner.
In the size suitable for ordinary households and in the case in which five strips,
lengths or pieces of wood are used in each half of the folding fire-lighter-I take
one strip of wood 4 inches long inch thick and 1 inch wide and lay it upon a
bench and upon it 1 place two small pieces of wood inch long inch wide and
inch thick (being the dividing small pieces referred to in the second paragraph)
about of an inch from either end, thus leaving an interval or space between each
piece of about 11 inches-I then place on these two small pieces another strip of
wood 4 inches long 1 inch wide and inch thick-On this again-I place two
small pieces of wood-inch long iuch wide and inch thick at the corresponding
places and leaving the same intervals or spaces as just referred to in describing
the placing of the small pieces on the inch strip of wood On these small pieces
I place another strip of wood 4 by 1 by inches, like the last mentioned strip
and I then drive a round wire nail through the centre of the strip to the centre
of the other strips of and inch thick, clenching the nail tightly so that the
small pieces of wood are kept in their places by the pressure of the strips of wood
on them
One quarter of the folding fire-lighter is now formed.
This quarter I then turn over, the last strip of wood put on (through which the
nail is first driven) now resting on the bench and the inch 'strip uppermost-On
this inch strip I place in the manner and places before mentioned two of the

page_text: and through the centre connecting all the strips can be seen in the intervals or
spaces between the small pieces, the wire nails by which the whole is rivetted and
held together.
I vary the manufacture sometimes by substituting two strips of wood inch
thick with an interval and small pieces between for the inch centre piece.
This half of the folding fire-lighter I take with another half made in a similiar
manner and tie them together by the following method.
I place them (that is cach half) side by side in a line on their ends in a "Tying
Machine" which holds them together I then take a thin string of a certain length
sufficient to allow of its going round both parts of the lighter and leave enough
for tying, and holding one end in the right hand at the right hand end of the
lighter I pass the other end of the string with the left hand to the left on the side
of the lighter further from me and at about a uniform distance of 1 inch from the
top and pass it between the halves and towards me, then I conduct it to the left
and then round the lighter to the right to and through the division between the
halves again, to the front side or side towards me, then to the right still in the
front and meet the other end of the string which I still hold in my right-hand,
which end I now take between my thumb and fore-finger and turn a loop and
twist the end of the string from any left hand through it, causing a lock slip knot
On half of the tying is then complete-I then slack out the "Tying Machine
reverse the lighter, place it in the machine again, clamp it, and pass a string round
the two parts of the lighter as before and at a similiar distance of about one inch
from the edge and tie it as before.
"
The Lighter is now compactly tied and will turn about anyway according to
the size and shape of the fire-place &c and with the exception of the rosining,
or dipping with parafin or other substances or compositions is then a specimen of
Lloyds Folding Fire-Lighters.
The foregoing particulars relate to a size of fire-lighter suitable for ordinary
households but I make larger sizes but similiar in other respects for the larger fire-
places of public or other establishments and for the kindling of fires in furnaces of
Engine Boilers &c.
A modification of the fire-lighter as detailed is as follows-For ordinary house-
holds it consists of seven pieces (sometimes eight) or strips of wood of the same
Bizes and descriptions as detailed in the case of the folding fire-lighter separated
by only one series of small dividing pieces of xx inches and rivetted
together by a round wire nail at the end nearer the small pieces so that the strips

page_text: of wood are together at that end, the other ends of the strips being spread out as
in a fan.
This modification of the folding fire-lighter I make as follows..
I take six strips, lengths or pieces of wood (sometimes seven) 41 inches or 5
inches long 1 inch wide and inch thick and one strip of the same length and
width but of inch thickness-I divide these strips (the inch one being in the
centre) by small pieces of wood surperficies by inch thick which I place one
between each strip one inch from one end of the strips and I then clench all the
strips together by driving a thin round wire nail through all, about inch from
the end near where the small pieces are placed-The strips at this end are by the
operation of nailing drawn together and through the small pieces placed between
each near to the nail, the other ends of the strips expand or are spread outwards
and the whole takes the shape of a fan.
When I use 8 instead of 7 strips of wood I substitute 2 of the inch strips for
the inch centre one.
I make this modification of lighters, of different sizes, but in a similiar manner
for larger fireplaces & furnaces.
I also make further modifications of the lighter first described (particularly for
use in lighting fires in furnaces and large fire-places) which I call after the letters A
VTXN & Y-The A and V ones are made thus
I take 12 strips of wood 5 inches long 1 inch wide & inch thick, and lay them
evenly on one another & rivet one end together by driving a nail or nails through
the whole of the 12 strips at that end-They then resemble a solid piece of wood
-I then draw out the bottom of the strips (ie where not nailed) one to the right
& one to the left alternately, the top being kept together by the nails so that the
profile of the lighter when this is done resembles the letter A without the cross
line or the letter V if turned upside down.
The T shaped ones are made by taking 12 strips of wood, & placing 6 vertically
on a bench & between each placing horizontally across the top, one of the other
six strips and rivetting the whole together by driving a nail or nails through
the centre of the horizontal strips & the top of the vertical strips-Looking at
the lighter now in profilo it presents to view the letter T.
The XN & Y shaped ones are made somewhat similiarly-by alternate strips of
wood being so nailed or rivetted together that the side views resemble the letters-
The nails in the X ones being in the centre of all the strips & in the N & Y ones
at the junction of the strips.
These lighters can be shut or closed & thus be made to occupy much less room
than when open & ready for use and they have all a space between the strips of
inch wide for the better consumption of the lighter & I make them of different
sizes & thicknesses to suit different wants.
In all the lighters I make, the distinguishing feature is the rivetting of the
parts together by nails so that the lighter is held together until the whole ia
consumed.
When the lighters are made I dip them in a solution of rosin, parafin, or other
substances or compositions which renders them more inflammable.
To light a fire, one of the lighters is simply laid in the grate, set alight by a
small piece of paper, and coal packed on and around it, and a fire is speedily made
The intervals or spaces made by the equal distances at which the strips of wood
are placed assists the combustion and the spaces are such (being any greater or less,
they would not have the desired effect) that the air itself which comes in them,
that is between each strip of wood is burned The nails keep the lighter together
until the last shred is burned, no piece can fall apart to burn itself without aiding
in lighting the fire-The combustion is steady and concentrated and continues for
many minutes until the fire is thoroughly well alight-When burnt the nails being
so thin are destroyed so that as a rule they cannot be discovered when the fire is
raked out

page_text: The lighters take up very little room when compared with the space taken up
by ordinary kindling wood and the tying by the string and the rivetting by nails
render them easily packed for delivery or shipment.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed-I declare that what
I claim is
1 That my system or manner of tying the parts of the lighter so that they may
be folded on one another, twisted any way, or twisted or folded round and round
is altogether new, and has never been used in connection with fire-lighters or for
any other purpose or purposes..
2 The use of nails or rivets in fire-lighters is exclusively my own device.
3 The spaces in the lighter for the better consumption of the lighter are
peculiarly well adapted for the purpose and so far as I am aware the idea is
original.
"