CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS A Deve
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Middleton, junior, Ironfounder, and
Thomas Tertius Chellingworth, Civil Engineer, both of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
A Deve
D
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Middleton and
Thomas Tertius Chellingworth at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 16th September 1857.
We, WILLIAM MIDDLETON junior, Ironfounder, and THOMAS TERTIUS
CHELLINGWORTH, Civil Engineer, both of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTING THE SLIDING PARTS OF CHANDELIERS AND GAS
PENDANTS," to be as follows (that is to say):--
Our Invention consists in regulating or counterpoising chandeliers or gas
pendants, by the use of one or more box or spiral springs in connection with
a spring break, regulated with a set screw, partially clipping the periphery of
the box or boxes containing such spring or springs, and also around the
periphery of such box or boxes grooves are formed, around which a cord or
cords works, one end of each cord being attached to the box containing the

page_text: spring, and the other end to the water cup, that as the chandelier or slide is
fulled down the spring or springs are wound up, and prevented running
back, first, by the weight of the chandelier or slide that is suspended, and,
secondly, the amount of pressure given out by the spring break or breaks
clipping the box or boxes containing the springs. Sometimes, instead of
winding such spring or springs up by cords, we apply pins or teeth on the
periphery of the boxes containing the springs, that, as the chandelier is raised
or lowered, a rack or racks in connection with the lower slide is made to take
into the pins or teeth on the periphery of the spring box or boxes, by which
means we get the same result as when cords are used. In some cases, when
the chandeliers we wish to suspend are very heavy, we use, in connection with
a male and female screw, a regulating break or clip, that when lowering the
chandelier, which is done by turning it around, the break or clip shall regulate
it to such an extent as to prevent the chandelier running down or unscrewing
itself by its own weight And again, in cases where the chandeliers or
pendants are of a very light and cheap construction, we purpose using a
simple rack and pawl, that as the chandelier or slide is raised or lowered the
pawl shall catch into the rack, and retain it in the desired position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William. Middleton and Thomas Tertius Chellingworth in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
MIDDLETON junior, Ironfounder, and THOMAS TERTIUS CHELLINGWORTH, Civil
Engineer, both of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William Middleton, junior, and Thomas Tertius Chellingworth, Her
special license that we, the said William Middleton, junior, and Thomas Tertius
Chellingworth, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said William Middleton, junior, and Thomas Tertius Chellingworth, our
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
èxpressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the

page_text: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTING THE SLIDING
PARTS OF CHANDELIERS AND GAS PENDANTS," upon the condition (amongst others).
that we, the said William Middleton, junior, and Thomas Tertius Chellingworth,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, 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 William Middleton, junior, do hereby.
declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
Our Invention has for its object the entire superseding the necessity or use
of what is called balance weights for regulating the raising and lowering of
chandeliers, gas slides, and pendants. and this we effect by the use of an
equivalent or counterpoising resistance, produced by the use of a spring or
springs coiled up in a box or boxes, that as the chandelier slide or pendant.
is being pulled down the spring or springs is at the same time wound up, and
as the winding up of such spring or springs absorb an equivalent power to the
weight of the chandelier slide or pendant (to which such spring or springs
may be attached) it is evident that the chandelier or slide will remain in any
position in which it may be placed, and yet may be raised or lowered by the.
slightest amount of pressure. And in some instances we effect the same
object by making the inner and outer tubes, that pass down one in the other.
of such chandelier or pendants, of what is called twisted tube, and the inner:
one being fixed or secured at the top end to the ceiling (with its attendant:
parts) leaves the outer or lower one free to be raised or lowered by turning
it in the desired direction, the action being quick or slow according to the
angle of the twist or threads formed on the tubes; and in connection with the
water cup of such chandelier or pendants, we apply a strong spring or springs,.
the ends of which are made to exert their force on the surface of the inner
tube, so that by the act of lowering the pendant or chandelier its gravitating
tendency shall find an equivalent to counteract its voluntary running down.
We do not purpose confining ourselves to the use of the description of tube
herein named, as the inner one may be of iron, with one, two, or more threads.
cut or formed on it. The counter or female part (which may not be required to

page_text: be more than two or three inches long) we purpose to solder or otherwise
secure in the top end of the lower or outer tube, which may be plain, twisted,
or any other ornamental shape.
For the description of chandeliers, pendants, or slides that are fitted up
and constructed with an object to simplicity and economy, we form a rack on
the inner slide, and by securing a spring detent in any suitable way to the
water.cup, we are enabled to effect the same object, viz, the sustaining of
simple slides, pendants, and chandeliers without the use of weights, by allowing
the end of the detent to catch into the desired notch on the inner slide; and
in order to effect this, we so arrange the parts, that by turning the lower part
around, say, about the eighth part of the circumference of the inner tube,
more or less, the detent. will be thrown out of the range of notches, thus
allowing the lower part to be raised or lowered freely, and, when placed in
the position desired, it may be again turned around in the reverse direction,
when the catch or detent will drop into the desired notch, and retain it in
position.
But as our Invention will be best understood by referring to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, I will proceed to describe the same, observing that the
same parts as they occur in the different views and figures are marked with
the same letter of reference.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents the necessary parts of a chandelier required to illustrate
the first part of our Invention. A and B are two hollow boxes for holding
what are known as box or coil springs, the strength of which may be varied
according to the weight of the chandelier, slide, or pendants we may propose
making. These boxes have deep grooves on their peripheries, around which
the chains C and D are wound, not that we confine ourselves to the use of
chains, as any suitable cord or gut may be used.. E is the ordinary ball-
joint, above which a plate is attached for securing the chandelier to the ceiling
or place of use, in the ordinary way. On the inner tube F, F, the arms
marked G, H, are secured by screws as at a, b, or in any other convenient
and which arms are placed at right angles with the tube F; and there
being a corresponding plate or arms placed on the other side of the tube in
identically the same position as bere shown, it may be readily understood
that they not only form bearings for the axes of the boxes to revolve on, but
also receive the square ends of the pins (one only of which is seen in this
Figure) marked c, to which the centre or inner end of the spring (within)
way,

page_text: is attached, as it is by the centre pin being fixed and the boxes revolving that.
the springs are wound up or relaxed, according to the direction in which the
boxes revolve. I is the water cup, here represented for convenience denuded
of all ornamentation and plain; this water cup is soldered in the ordinary
way to the lower tube marked J, which tube with its attendant parts may be.
readily pulled down by virtue of its weight, the effect of which will be to
cause the boxes A and B to revolve in the direction of the arrows, in con-
sequence of the chains secured to them being also secured to the water cup,
the boxes so revolving will cause the springs to be wound up; as the inner.
ends are secured to the fixed centres, it is evident that the springs will be
wound around them, and the power thus absorbed may be exerted in raising
the chandelier whenever it may be so desired. We are aware that box
springs have been used before for this purpose, but they have been fitted with
fusees for regulating the action, but which, of course, made it essential that
gut or cord should be used for connecting the upper and lower parts, which
in many instances would be considered objectionable, added to which, this
mode was complicated and subject to derangement. In order to dispense
with the regulating properties of the fusee, as cited above, we use buffer or
friction rollers, shewn in dotted lines marked K, K, which rollers are capable
of being forced or held down on the peripheries of the spring boxes by means
of the thumbscrew L, on the lower side of which is placed a thin metal
washer, which bears on a ring of vulcanised india-rubber marked M, thus an
elastic or negative pressure is transmitted to the plate N, to which the friction
or buffer, rollers K, K, are attached; and in order that the plate N shall
always be in the same plane as the arms G, H, two pins are fixed, marked d, d,
which prevent these parts from moving from the position in which they are
placed.
. Figure 2 is identical with Figure 1, with the exception that the box. A is
shown in section for the purpose of showing the pins e and f, by which the
spring is held, but as such kinds of springs are well known and understood,
we have not thought it necessary to draw it. The arm G in this view is
represented broken off for convenience of exhibiting the chain C. placed
partially around the barrel of the box A, and secured by a screw, the inner
end of which forms a pin as before refered to for holding the outer end-
of the spring. The box B is covered with a filigree ornament, which ornament
is intended to extend from box to box, but is here broken off for convenience,
and is merely introduced to show that ornament may be tastefully introduced
when desired. On the outside of the bottom end of the inner tube and on

page_text: the inside at the top end of the outer one, collars are fixed to form stops, in
order that the lower part shall not be pulled down too far, so to derange.
the connection of the chains or cords with the boxes; but as. this may be
readily understood by a workman of ordinary capacity, we have not thought
it necessary to exhibit it.
Fig. 3 represents a side or edge view (say) of Figure 1, showing the:
box B in section, as taken through the dotted lines 9 and h; and in this
Figure it will be seen that we prefer increasing the surface of contact between
the peripheries of the spring boxes and the buffer or friction rollers, and this
may be done by either making the periphery of the box angular as at k, or
round as at m; this mode has also the effect of rendering the pins b, b, before
referred to of little use. As all the parts in this Figure are marked with the.
same letters of reference, they will be readily defined. The dotted lines,
marked n, o, and n, o, represent the position of the filigree ornament, which.
is held on the one side by a collar marked p, and on the other side by a
centre ornament shown in dotted lines, and which ornament is not exhibited.
at B, Figure 2. The use of the large square on the end of the pins on which
the springs are wound, and which square is marked q in Figures 1 and 2,
and q in Figure 3, is for winding up the spring to its desired tention before
placing the opposite square, marked c in Figure 1, and c' in Figure 3, through
the corresponding square hole of the arm for retaining it.
We do not purpose limiting ourselves to the number of box springs we may
use, nor to the fixing them to the inner or top tube, as by applying two or
more of them radially placed, and securing them to the water cup, we may
effect entirely the same result; nor do we purpose confining ourselves to the
use of cords or chains; for by making the periphery of the box containing the
spring like a cog wheel, and placing corresponding racks vertically through
the sliding part of the inner tube, we obtain identically the same effect, for it
must be evident that the chandelier, slide, or pendant could not be raised or
lowered without the boxes containing the springs revolving, thereby producing
on the springs the same effect as when arranged as herein-before described
and exhibited.
The mode of raising and lowering chandeliers by means of one screw
working in another is so simple that we have not thought it necessary to
make elaborate Drawings and details to illustrate it, as the whole may be
readily understood by referring to Fig. 4. O is the inner tube, on which a
three-threaded screw is represented; P is the female screw or counterpart
tapped, soldered, or otherwise fixed to the lower tube in the position shown,

page_text: the lower tube being represented in section marked.Q; R is the water cup,
and just above where this cup is soldered to the lower tube holes are formed
for allowing water to pass in, which may be allowed to descend through
grooves filed or, otherwise formed down the sides of the female screw before
referred to, marked P.. A quick-threaded screw, such as is here represented,
has a tendency, when a heavy weight is attached to its counterpart (which in
this case the lower part of the chandelier), to voluntary revolve and work
down the screw, to counteract which we apply an elastic pressure to the
periphery of the screw, in the manner exhibited in this Figure. S is a screw
working through the edge of the water cup, at the end of which a washer is
fixed, which presses upon a vulcanized india-rubber ring, marked ", which
again presses on the part markeds, which may be of any suitable material,
but we think hard wood will do well for this purpose. Thus, by applying two
or more of these screws, with their accompanying parts fixed in a radial
position, an adjustable and easy pressure can be obtained, which will not
only prevent the chandelier from voluntarily running down, but also steady
and regulate its general action.
Figure 5 represents a top view of a water cup, with a transverse section of
the inner tube of a chandelier slide or pendant, such chandelier slide or
pendant being intended to be regulated by means of a detent and rack.
T is the water cup, and U the inner tube to which the rack t, t, is attached.
The outer tube, to which the water cup T is attached, is marked V, V, and
is drawn with three grooves in it, which form stops for the rack to stop
against when turned around, so that the detent W may be entirely free of
the rack, to allow of the chandelier slide or pendant so fitted to be raised
up, as before described, until placed in the desired position, when it can be
turned around to the position (as here shown) to be held by the detent taking
into the rack. The detent may be made in various ways, but we have here
represented it a small bolt, kept into its work by a small helical spring.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention and the various
ways in which the same may be carried into effect, we wish it under-
stood that we do not confine ourselves to the proportions, size, or shape
of any of the parts here represented in which our improvements are involved,
as the whole may be considerably altered or modified, as fashion or the
alteration of designs may require; nor do we wish to confine ourselves to the
exact nature and character of details as herein exhibited, as they also, as
before observed, may be greatly diversified without departing from the general
nature of our Invention; but what we do claim as our Invention is, the

page_text: means of raising, lowering and sustaining chandeliers, slides, or pendants as
herein described and exhibited, or their equivalents.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Middleton, junior, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM MIDDLETON, JUN. (L.S.)
JAMES S. COCKINGS, Patent Agent,
26, Ann Street, Birmingham.