Improvements in connection with the Electric Lighting of Ships and other Places.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 4th July, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 4th Apr., 1891-Accepted, 11th July, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in connection with the Electric Lighting of Ships
and other Places.
THOS. WILLIAM WATSON ARTHUR HENRY WATSON 4 Pall Mall London
Electrical Engineers do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Improvements in connection with the use of incandescent electric lights in ships
and other places where an absolutely continuous light is necessary and provides an
automatic means of lighting one incandescent lamp by the breakage or failure of
another the invention consists substantially in arranging 2 or more incandescent
lamps in proximity together with one or more electro magnets in such a manner
that the failure of one of the lamps, will immediately & automatically light
another in its stead such automatic action being brought about by a series of
contacts in connection with the electro magnets so arranged that the failure of the
incandescent lamp causes the energy of the electro magnet to cease & release a
switch which shunts the current into the branch circuit of another electro magnet
& incandescent lamp which then lights. Should this in its turn fail the action will
be repeated as often as necessary.
1911...
T... 1000
THOS. WM. WATSON.
ARTHUR H. WATSON.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in connection with the Electric Lighting of Ships
and other Places.
THOMAS WILLIAM WATSON ARTHUR HENRY WATSON both of 4 Pall Mall
London Electrical Engineers 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 :-
The object of this invention is to effect improvement in the manner of using
électric light in places where a continuous light is required but where the incan-
descent lamps are liable to breakage or injury from their exposed situation or other
cause, such as on board ships exposed to the violence of storms, on railways, for
signal purposes on & about machinery in motion &c. &c. The manner of effecting
the said improvement consists substantially in arranging the incandescent lamps so
that one lamp when alight controls another in such a way that the second or stand
by lamp will not light until first or operating lamp is injured or broken. In the
same way a second will control a third, a third a fourth & so on so far as the
reserves or stand byes may be deemed necessary. To effect this we construct two
electro magnets see A & B Fig. 1 & place them side by side. At one end is an
armature C. C. C controlled by both magnets and at the opposite end two
armatures D & E. controlled respectively by the magnets A. & B. These arma-
tures C. D & E are supported on axes placed in such a position as to allow them to
move from their respective contacts at F. F. G G. & K K to their respective
magnets, preferably these armatures are supported by brackets having a spindle
which passes through them & through a corresponding hole drilled in one end of
the armature & which forms the axis on which it moves but the armatures may be
supported by a common hinge, a flexible spring or other means. The said brackets
or hinge &c. would ordinarily be attached to the base on which the electro magnets

page_text: are fixed but could be attached to some other fixing when necessary. The move-
ment of the armatures to the magnets is caused by the attraction of the electro-
magnets when excited & the movement from them back to the contacts by pressure
of a spring or other means. On a current of electricity pass.ng from the
terminal N to K & through C to K' thence to O & round the magnet A to P
thence to N¹. The magnet A. becomes excited & attracts the armatures C & D &
causes C to make contact with H & H2, the current from the terminal N then
passes by way of H & H¹ through C to H2 H3 thence to Q & round magnet B to R
thence to terminal L & then to an incandescent lamp hereafter called the first lamp
back to terminal N₁ causing it to light C C on making contact at H1 H2 breaks
contact at KK and causes A to cease to be excited but B becoming excited
maintains C. C. in position & attracts the armature E moving it away from its
contacts F. F. A ceasing to be excited also lets D go free which would then move
away from A and make contact at G. G. but this is prevented by the arm J. This
arm J forms part of or is fixed to the armature E so as to move with it & extends
across in such a manner as to pass behind armature D & touch it but not be fixed
to it. It thus follows that when E is moved away from its contact F F to B by
attraction it will bring D forward with it and away from its contacts G. G. and
retain it there so long as E remain in that position but when E is released from
magnet B it will move away from it and go back to contact at F. F. and in so
doing will carry with it the arm J to such a position as will leave D free to move
from A to G G or G G to A. On the first on controlling incandescent lamp being
broken the current is interrupted magnet B ceases to be excited and allows the
armature E to fall or move away from B. E in falling makes contact at F. F.
which are connected with the terminal N & the magnet A & through the terminal M
to the second or stand bye lamp on to the terminal N' thus causing this second lamp
to light at the same time the magnet A. is again excited & draws up the armature D
& holds it in that position till the second lamp is broken on this happening D will
fall away from A. & make contact with the terminals G G which are connected to a
third lamp, and so on to any number that may be desired.
If so desired the third and following lamps may be supplied with electricity from
a duplicate lighting plant or other source.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion & in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1. Automatically lighting one incandescent lamp by the breaking or injuring of
another incandescent lamp.
2. The arrangement of an electro magnet or series of electro magnets for the
purpose of shunting the current of electricity from one lamp circuit to another lamp
circuit by means of the movement of the armatures of the said electro magnets
substantially as & for the purpose described.
3. The holding away from its terminals the armature of an electro magnet con-
nected with an electric circuit but not in use by means of a connecting arm or link
attached to the armature of another electro magnet in use substantially as & for the
purposes described.
4. The combination of electro magnets armatures incandescent lamps and circuits
for the purpose of automatically lighting one incandescent lamp instead of another
incandescent lamp substantially as & for the purpose described.
Dated this 4th day of April 1891.
THOS. WILLIAM WATSON.
ARTHUR HENRY WATSON.