Improvements in Candle-lamps.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Oct., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 12th July, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 17th Aug., 1888
Improvements in Candle-lamps.
I, DOUGLAS HERMAN of West Park, St. Helens in the County of Lancaster,
Chemical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
to
This invention relates to that form of candle lamp in which the candle is held up
the mouth of a tube by a spring, and is thus kept at a uniform height, thus avoiding
the necessity of lowering the shade (when one is employed) as the candle burns down.
The invention is designed to prevent guttering (or the grease from falling) and at the .
same time be ornamental in appearance. To accomplish this I replace the ordinary
metallic candle tube of candle lamps by a glass tube, preferably silvered or gilded
inside. The glass may be plain, white, or coloured, opal or ground and decorated by
any suitable means. The glass tube may be secured in a socket by various means, but
the method I prefer, when employing the holder in conjunction with an ordinary
candlestick, is that of a bayonet joint, the lug or lugs being formed on the glass
itself. To prevent the candle being forced out by the spring, the upper edge of the
tube may be bent inwards, or a metallic cap may be secured to the upper edge by
various devices, and means may be provided for keeping the said cap cool. Arrange-
In the case of silvered,
ments may also be made in the cap for holding a shade.
gilded, or internally painted tubes, in order to prevent the spiral spring from
injuring the silver, I enclose the spring in an inner metallic tube, or protect the silver
or gilt in addition to the usual backing of varnish by a thin metallic tube, which may
be a split one, and sprung into position. The socket carrying the glass tube may be
For this
fitted into a candlestick, chandelier or sconce by any ordinary means.
purpose, however, I prefer to use a broad flat spring curled round into a long flat loop,
and secured at one of the turns to the bottom of the socket. Or in place of this I may
use an automatic wedging device, which wedges itself tight by being pushed down,

page_text: and which is unwedged by being pulled upward. Or in cheap cases a cylinder of
shorter diameter can be fixed to the bottom of the socket.
Candle tubes or holders made according to my invention present when silvered, the
brilliant lustre of a mirror, and do not tarnish like ordinary metallic holders.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Candle Lamps.
I, DOUGLAS HERMAN of West Park, St. Helens, in the County of Lancaster,
Chemical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to that form of candle lamp in which the candle is held up
to the mouth of a tube by a spring, and is thus kept at a uniform height, thereby
avoiding the necessity of lowering the shade (when one is employed) as he candle
burns down.
One principal object of this invention is to enable one to use cheap candles composed
of soft and inferior coloured materials, which would not be suitable for ordinary
domestic use without my appliance, but which, burned in my candle lamps, are almost
as good as the very best hard candles.
The invention is designed to prevent guttering (that is, the falling of the melted
grease, wax, etcetera), and to produce at the same time, a candle lamp, which shall be
ornamental in appearance.
This is accomplished as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,
in which,
Figure 1 is an elevation of the improved candle lamp with an ordinary shade
attached.

page_text: Figure 2 is a vertical section of same, without shade.
Figure 3 is a modification of socket attachment.
Figure 4 is a detail plan of socket B.
Figure 5 is a sectional elevation showing another modification.
The ordinary metallic candle tube or holder of candle lamps is replaced by a glass
tube A, preferably silvered, gilded, coloured, or painted inside.
I have made a large number of experiments with a view to finding the best paint
for coating the interiors of the glass tubes, and with the object, more especially, of
preventing the spring from easily scratching off the paint, some paints being very
easily scratched off by the spring and others failing to lie evenly on the glass, or
easily blistering. I have at last found a paint, which sticks very hard and closely to
the glass, lies perfectly even on it without blistering or forming imperfections, and
which resists well the action of heat and of the molten wax etcetera, of which the
candles are composed.
It is as follows:
One kilogramme of the ordinary white lead paste, formed of white lead and linseed oil,
is ground up well and thoroughly mixed with 250 cubic centimetres of a solution of ono
part bleached shellac to two parts alcohol. When these have been thoroughly mixed
together, they are further mixed with 500 cubic centimetres of a weakor solution of
shellac, composed of one of shellac to five of alcohol. A little more methylated'
spirits may be required if this be found too thick to paint on. Any desired tint
may be imparted to this white paint by the addition of a suitable quantity of colouring
matter.
In applying this paint, it is preferably slightly warmed, one end closed with a cork,
some paint poured into the tube, and caused to flow all over the interior. The cork is
then removed and the tube fixed in a vertical position to drain and dry in a warm
place. The glass itself may be either white or coloured or decorated in any suitable
manner. The glass tube may be secured in a socket B by various means, but the
method preferred, when employing the holder or tube in conjunction with an ordinary
candlestick, is that of a bayonet joint, the lug or lugs a, being formed on the glass tube
itself.
This may be readily done by simply turning the edge of the tube outwards at one
or more points. The lugs a are retained by an annular flange b on the socket B.
This flange is cut away at one or more points 6' to admit of the insertion of the lug or
lugs a. After the insertion of the latter, the tube A is turned round, so as to bring
them below the flange b, a stop 6' being provided to prevent the tube being turned
too far.
A spring C is placed below the candle D within the tube A. The kind of spring I
prefer to use, is formed of the best steel wire of 23 Birmingham wire, gauge, that is of
wire of 0.6 of a millimetre in diameter. This spring should be capable of being com-
pressed so that the coils touch each other under a pressure of 250 grammes. The
lower end of the spring abuts against the bottom of the socket B, and presses the
candle upwards as the latter is consumed. The upper end of the spring is provided
with a metallic cap or cup C, upon or in which the candle rests. Or instead of a cap,
the end of the spring may be simply wound round a plug of wood, cork, or other
material.
To prevent the candle D being forced out by the spring, the upper edge of the tube A
-may be bent inwards at some little distance from the top, as at a¹, Figure X, forming
a shoulder against which the candle is pressed, and a free space above to retain the
molten wax or other material of which the candle is composed, and prevent it from
running over the tube. The special form of this lip is very important. If the lip
approach the flame too near, it heats or even cracks. The hot glass melts the tallow
or wax, and the latter overflows the lip forming unsightly and wasteful guttering,
while the wick frequently comes in contact with the glass and then burns with only a
feeble flame. If on the other hand, the lip be too wide, there is not sufficient impedi-
ment to prevent the candle from rising out of the tube. Another arrangement is

page_text: shown in Figure 5, and consists of a metallic cap a², which may be secured to the
upper edge by various devices such as cement or plaster a³, and means may also be
provided for keeping the said cap cool. Arrangements may also be made in the cap
for holding a shade as shown in Figure 5. Or an ordinary candle shade may be
attached to the tube A by a spring clip as shown in Figure 1.
In the cases of internally silvered, gilded, or painted tubes, in order to prevent the
spiral spring from injuring the silver, etcetera, the spring is enclosed in an inner thin
inetallic tube E, which is preferably attached to the socket B, or in addition to the
usual backing of varnish (employed with silvered tubes), the silver, gilt, or paint
may be protected by a thin metallic tube, which may be split and sprung into
position.
The socket B carrying the glass tube may be fitted into a candlestick, chandelier, or
sconce F by any ordinary means. For this purpose, however, it is preferable to use a
broad flat spring G curled round into a long flat loop as shown in Figure 3, and
secured at g to the bottom of the socket B. Or in place of this, I may use an
automatic wedging device of an ordinary construction, which wedges itself tight in
the socket of the candlestick, etcetera, by being pushed down therein, and which is
unwedged by being pulled upward. Or in cheap lamps a cylinder, such as a* (Figures 1
and 2) of a shorter diameter can be fixed to the bottom of the socket, B, and it can be
secured in the candlestick etcetera, by a piece of paper or the like, wrapped around it.
In this latter form of socket attachment, the spring C is preferably passed through the
socket B and rests against the bottom of the cylinder a. This arrangement gives
more room within the tube A, and the latter can consequently be shortened
considerably.
.
The semi-melted composition at the top of the candle is forced outward and down-
ward to a short distance, and then becomes hardened by the cool glass and forms a
collar (as shown at d2 Figure 2), and thus prevents any melted wax from running
into the interior.
Candle tubes or holders made according to my invention, present when silvered,
the brilliant lustre of a mirror, and do not tarnish like ordinary metallic holders.
The advantages of this invention may be briefly summed up as follows:-
1st. Cheap candles may be used with as good effect as the most expensive ones.
2nd. No candle ends, the candle being entirely consumed.
3rd. A small light candle may be used and give the effect of a thick heavy one.
4th. No guttering.
5th. No moving of shades and no danger of burning them.
6th. Light always one height, depending of course, on the length of the glass tube,
which can be made to suit any size of candle.
7th. Decorative appearance. When a shade is used with lighted candle, the white
and coloured tubes have the delicate semi-transparency of the best wax candles, and
the silvered tubes reflect, as in a mirror, surrounding objects, the ornaments on the
shade, etcetera. When not in use the tubes themselves are decorative and always
clean, requiring simply wiping to remove dust, and no polishing as with metallic
holders.
8th. Perfect adaptation to any candlestick, sconce, or candelabrum.
9th. Low cost.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Candle lamp tubes formed of transparent or translucent glass painted, silvered,
or plated on the interior surface, substantially as and for the purposes described.
2. The bayonet joint arrangement for attaching the candle lamp tube to the base,
by means of one or more projections or lugs formed in the glass itself, and fitting into
grooves or slots in the base, substantially as described

page_text: 3. The special form of lip for glass candle lamp tubes, substantially as and for the
purposes described, whereby the lip is kept cool and yet confines the candle in the
tube and prevents guttering.
4. In combination with transparent or nearly transparent candle tubes, the paint
composition, substantially as described, for internal application thereon, for the
purposes described.
5. The method of protecting the internal paint by means of a split compressed
metallic or other tube, sprung into place.
Dated this 11th day of July 1888.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.