IMPROVE- MENTS IN FUSEE BOXES, AND IN MECHANISM CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Marsden Hector, of Blandford Saint Mary,
in the County of Dorset, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FUSEE BOXES, AND IN MECHANISM CONNECTED THEREWITH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Marsden Hector
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st July 1868.
I, JOHN MARSDEN HECTOR, of Blandford Saint Mary, in the County
of Dorset, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FUSEE BOXES, AND IN MECHANISM CONNECTED THEREWITH,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in improvements in fusee cases or boxes, and
in the protrusion by means of certain mechanical arrangements within
the the box of a fusee each time the box is opened in such a manner as
to be easily extracted therefrom by the user. A box is constructed with
a sliding side, which when opened allows the inner mechanism to be
adjusted, and the box to be filled with fusees; it also has a sliding end
which when pushed aside allows the fusee to protrude from the box by
ncans of such mechanism hereafter described. At one end of the box

page_text: is pivotted a hollow drum provided with a coil spring, and to this drum
is attached a cord, which passes round a pulley fixed at the opposite
end of the box, and is then attached to a cross bar which can slide up
and down the box in slots or guides provided for the purpose. When
the box is to be filled the sliding side is removed and the cross bar is
drawn to the end of the box and there held by a catch or other suitable
contrivance; the fusees are then laid in the box with the heads and splints
alternately pointing to each side, the end of the splint being inserted
into the slots until a layer of fusees is placed from the cross piece above
mentioned to the sliding end of the box; the sliding side is then closed,
at the same time releasing the catch. The spring in the drum which is
now coiled acts on the drum and put a tension on the cord, tending to
draw the cross bar to the end of the box, pushing the fusees before it.
When the user desires to take a fusee from the box he slides aside the
end of the box and a fusee is protruded by the action of the mechanism
just described, the other fusees being prevented from protruding by
having one end of the splint placed in the slot and the head being kept
in by the end of the sliding end which does not slide completely off the
box; to obtain another fusee the end must be pushed in the opposite
direction, and so on alternately. When the box is emptied it can be
refilled as above described. The box can sometimes be made of other
than oblong forms, and may be constructed to deliver the fusee in a state
of ignition. The sliding end is provided with small projections at each
end which are pushed out alternately so as to indicate the direction in
which the end should be pushed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Marsden Hector in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MARSDEN HECTOR, of Blandford Saint Mary, in the County of Dorset,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said John Marsden Hector, Her special
licence, that I, the said John Marsden Hector, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Marsden Hector,
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 Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FUSEE BOXES, AND IN MECHANISM CONNECTED THEREWITH,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Marsden
Hector, 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 John Marsden Hector, 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
by the following statement:-
The object of my Invention is to provide that by means of mechanism
within or appertaining to the fusee box a fusee may be caused to
protrude each time the box is opened in such a manner as to be easily
extracted therefrom by the user. To this end I construct a box with a
sliding or opening side, which when opened allows the inner mechanism
to be adjusted and the box to be supplied with fusees; it also has a
sliding or opening end which when pushed aside allows the fusee to
protrude from the box in obedience to the action of the mechanism. At
one end of the box is pivotted a hollow drum provided with a coil spring,
and to this drum is attached a cord which passes round a pulley at the
opposite end of the box, and is then attached to a cross bar which can
slide up and down the box in slots or guides provided for the purpose.
When the box is to be filled the sliding or opening side is removed
and the cross bar is drawn to the end of the box and there held by a
catch or other suitable contrivance; the fusees are then laid in the box
with the heads and splints alternately pointing to each side, the ends of
the splints being inserted into the slots until a layer of fusees is placed
from the cross piece above mentioned to the sliding or opening end of

page_text: the box; then the sliding or opening side is closed, the catch being at
the same time released. The spring in the drum which is now coiled
acts on the drum and puts a tension on the cord, tending to draw the
cross bar to the end of the box and pushing the fusees before it. When
the user desires to take a fusee from the box he slides aside or opens the
end of the box and a fusee is protruded by the action of the mechanism
just described, the other fusees being prevented from protruding by
having one end of the splint placed in the slot and the heads being kept
in by the end of the sliding end which does not slide completely off the
box; to obtain another fusee the end must be pushed in the opposite
direction, and so on alternately. When the box is emptied it can be
refilled as above described. The box can sometimes be made of other
than oblong forms, and might be constructed to deliver the fusee in a
state of ignition. Indeed the details of construction may in many
respects be varied provided the box and its mechanism are so arranged
as to allow the fusees to be placed the head of one of them to the stem
of the next, which box upon being opened in the manner described
permits the mechanism to protrude the fusee. The sliding end is pro-
vided with small projections at each end which are pushed out alternately
so as to indicate the direction in which the end should be pushed to get
a fusee.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, I will now proceed to describe in what manner the same
is to be performed or put in practice, which I shall by referring to the
accompanying illustrative Drawings, it being understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details and forms shown in the said Drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
These Drawings are made to a large scale in order to show distinctly
the small details. Fig. 1, plan of fusee box constructed according to my
Invention; Fig. 2, edge view of same; Fig. 3, end elevation of same;
Fig. 4, elevation at end of same showing sliding end; Fig. 5, plan of
same showing sliding side removed; Fig. 6, plan section of same; Fig. 7,
longitudinal section of same; Fig. 8, transverse section of same through
drum; Fig. 9, transverse section of same; Fig. 10, transverse section of
sliding side; Fig. 11, view of under side of same; Fig. 12, longitudinal
edge view of sliding end; Fig. 13, view of inside of same; Fig. 14, view
of guide rod for cross bar and pulley round which the cord passes;

page_text: Fig. 15, longitudinal view of cross bar; Fig. 16, plan of same; Fig. 17,
end view of same; Fig. 18, view of under side of drum and coil spring;
Fig. 19, side view of drum; Fig. 20, view showing box half full of
fusees, also showing sliding end open and fusee projecting; Fig. 21, end
view showing sliding end pushed aside. Like letters refer to like parts
in all the Figures as far as such parts are shown in the Figure.
a, a, the box; b, b, sliding side; c, sliding end; d, drum; e, coil
spring; f, f, cord; g, pulley round which cord passes; h, cross bar; i, i,
slots or grooves inside of box; j, j', recesses for holding cross bar back
when box is being filled; k, projection on sliding side for releasing cross
bar; 1, P, stops for preventing the sliding end being pushed completely
off box in either direction; m, slot on one side of box allowing the stop
to pass and the end to be pushed in one direction; m³, slot allowing the
stop to pass and the end to be pushed in the other direction; the
stops coming against the solid side alternately prevent the sliding end
being pushed off; n, n', bar pivoted on the inner side of sliding end, and
having cranked extremities n, n', which project alternately through holes
in sliding end to show in which direction the end is to be pushed; o, pro-
jection on cross bar to keep the fusees evenly in box; p, p, guide rod for
cross bar; q, q, rib on sliding side for preventing the fusees from being
shaken out of place; ", ¹, slots for allowing bar n, n', to pass when
sliding end is pushed aside; 8, knob on end to facilitate pushing back-
wards and forwards. When the box is to be filled the sliding side (b, b,)
is removed and the cross bar (h) is drawn to the end of the box and
there held fast by being pressed into the recesses (j,j); the cross bar (h)
slides along a guide rod (p, p,) its end sliding in the slots or
grooves (i, i,); the fusees are then laid in the box with the heads
and splints alternately pointing to each side of the box, the ends of
the splints being inserted in the slots or grooves (i, i,), the splints of the
first fusee being placed against the projection (o) on cross bar (h), as
shown in Fig. 20, the other fusees being laid as shown in that Figure.
The sliding side (b, b,) should now be replaced, the projection (k) on
sliding side (b, b,) releasing the cross bar (h) from the recesses (j, j³,).
The coil spring (e) in the drum (d) which is now coiled acts on the
drum (d), and puts a tension on the cord (f, f) tending to draw the
cross bar (h) to the end of the box, and on the sliding end (c) being
pushed aside a fusee is projected from the box, as shown in Fig. 20; the
other fusees are prevented from being protruded by having one end of

page_text: the splint of the next fusee pressed against the end of the slot or groove,
and the head being held by the end of the sliding end (c), or by the
splint of the projecting fusee, which does not slide completely off the
box, being prevented from doing so by the stop (j) coming against
the side of the box, and by the stop (¹) when the sliding end (c) is
pushed in the opposite direction. When the sliding end (c) is closed
one of the cranked ends (n, n',) of bar (n, n',) is pushed out to indicate
in which direction the sliding end (c) is to be pushed, that is, it
indicates the position of the fusee which has to be delivered, one of
the cranked ends (n, n¹,) of bar (n, n',) being pushed out by the
head of the fusee, and the sliding end (c) should be pushed away
from that side of the box on which the cranked end of bar projects.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed or put
in practice, I hereby declare that I claim the "Improvements in Fusee
Boxes and in Mechanism connected therewith," herein-before described,
it being understood that I do not claim the constituent details described
with reference to the accompanying Drawings when taken per se and
apart from the nature and object of my Invention as set forth in the
outset of these Presents by the words preceding the words Description
of the Drawings, such Drawings being illustrative merely.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Marsden Hector, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
JOHN M. HECTOR. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEX. P. WRIGHT,
Secretary to the Inventors' Patent Right Association, Limited,
21, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, S.W.