Improved Cleaner for. Lamp Bulbs.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 21st May, 1895--Accepted, 17th Aug., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Cleaner for. Lamp Bulbs.
I, CHARLES ARTHUR.ALLISON, Patent Agent, of 52 Chancery Lane, London,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this.invention (which
has been communicated to me from abroad by Allen George Newman Verinilya,
Counsellor-at-Law, of 407 Temple Court, in the City of New York, County an
State of New York, U.S.A.) and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in.and by the following statement :-
My invention comprehends a cleaner for.incandescent lamp.bulbs.and.the like,
consisting of a portable pole adapted to be carried.in the hand.; a head mounted
on the end of said portable. pole, a plurality of arms projecting from said .head,
cach bow shaped.in form to embrace and substantially conform to a bulb, one or
more of said arms being resilient to enable said cleaner to be pushed upon and
withdrawn from a bulb; and a cleaning face applied to one or more of said arms,
substantially as will be described.
'
In public halls and stores employing large numbers of incandescent : electric
lamps, usually hung at a considerable distance above the floor .level, it is difficult
and sometimes practically impossible to reach and dust and clean the outsides of the
same frequently, as they should be cleaned or dusted, in order that the incandescent
filament within shall furnish the maximum lighting power.
This invention. has for its object the production of a novel and useful cleaner for
reaching, and dusting or cleaning 'the bulbs referred to, from the floor without the
use of step ladders and the like.
Fig. 1, represents in side elevation a cleaner embodying my invention, one of the
cleaning faces only being shown, and the pole upon which the head. is mounted being
broken off; and
Fig. 2, a cross section taken on the line x-x, Fig. 1, only one of the cleaning
faces being shown in position.
Referring to the drawing, A, is a head, preferably in the form of a socket,
adapted to fit a pole.B, of suitable length.
This head A, is shown as provided with four resilient arms C, each formed of
an-shaped loop of resilient wire c, having the ends rigidly attached to the said
head A, see Fig. 1,.and wider at its middle along the dotted line x-x, than at the
ends, in order that the several loops or arms together may fully embrace and
practically cover. a globe, said loops or arms at their upper or free ends being
turned back slightly, as at c', to enable the cleaner. to: be applied to a bulb.
I
Upon one or all of these resilient arms C, I place. a mitten D, of felt or other
suitable coft pliable material adapted for cleaning purposes, which may be caught
together and held by a rubber baud d, at the base of the arm to prevent the said
nitten from being withdrawn.
When it is desired to dust or clean a lamp bulb, the operator, grasping the
pole B, pushes the flaring ends c¹ of the resilient arms directly against the rounded
end of the lamp bulb, which acts to spread the arms and permit the latter to pass
up and over the bulge of the bulb and close in at the neck of the latter, thereby
embracing and practically covering the entire bulb.
The pole is then rotated to cause the cleaning face or faces of the mittens to
wipe from the surface of the bulb all dust and dirt, after which the device is
withdrawn or pulled from the globe, the arms C in each case, by their resiliency,
yielding to permit the device to be applied and removed at will.

page_text: Referring to Fig. 2, the full lines represent the normal position of the mitten
then the device is not in use; but when the device is sprung over the lamp bulb,
be mitten assumes a curved shape, as shown in dotted lines, thereby hugging the
bulb, and presenting thereto a greater bearing or cleaning surface than would be
presented were the cleaning surface maintained always straight or in a plane, as in
full lines in Fig. 2, for in the latter instance, the said surface would bear upon the
bulb only in a vertical line at the center of the surface.
The great utility of my device lies, first, in the cleaning or dusting face with
which one or more of the arms are provided, and in the resiliency of one or more
of the arms which enables the device to be pushed directly against the end of the
bulb and to yield sufficiently to enable it to spring over and about the bulb and be
thereby retained in position while it is rotated, and yield sufficiently to enable it
to be withdrawn directly from the bulb in a direction opposite to that in which it
was pushed thereupon.
I have herein shown all four of the arms as of like construction, and resilient,
but it is evident the number of arms may be varied at will, and any one of the
arms may, if desired, be made rigid and unyielding, in which case, the remaining
arm or arms would be required to yield sufficiently to enable the device to be
pushed upon and about a bulb in the manner described.
While I prefer the construction of arms herein shown, viz. :-n-shaped wire
arms, yet my invention is not restricted in this respect, for any resilient arms, of
whatever construction, may be employed to advantage, and yet be within the scope
of this invention.
By providing a rubber mitten about an inch long to supply the place of one of
the felt mittens and adapted to fit one of the arms close to the head A, I can
readily use the cleaner for removing a bulb by turning it till it is freed from its
socket. A new bulb may likewise be put in the place of the one removed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:―
1. The herein described cleaner for incandescent lamp bulbs and the like, the
same consisting of a head; a plurality of resilient -shaped arms attached at one
of their ends to said head, and shaped substantially as described to fit the said
bulb, and to enable the said arms to be pushed thereupon and to be withdrawn
therefrom; and a cleaning face applied to one or more of said arms, substantially
as described.
2. In a cleaner for lamp bulbs and the like, a head provided with a plurality of
endwise projecting arms, each comprising two members, one or more of said arms
being resilient, whereby the said cleaner may be pushed upon and withdrawn
directly from the bulb, and a cleaning face applied to one or more of said arms
and stretched from one to the other of its members, whereby said face is capable
of adapting itself to varying curvatures or exteriors of lamp bulbs, substantially
as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 21st day of May 1895
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.