AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF SIGNAL LANTERN
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Oliver, of Wapping, in the County of Middle-
sex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
SIGNAL LANTERN."
Sealed the 14th November 1854, and dated the 19th June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Oliver at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
June 1854.
I, JOSEPH OLIVER, of Wapping, in the County of Middlesex, Manufac-
turer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
CONSTRUCTION OF SIGNAL LANTERN" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to make one lantern serve the double
purpose of a signal lantern, when the ship is sailing and when it is riding at
anchor.
According to the recent Admiralty regulations, it is required that when a
ship is at anchor, the lantern at the mast-head shall show a light all round the
horizon, but when sailing it shall throw a light a-head only. To produce these
effects by the use of one lantern, I glaze the lantern all round, and fit on to
the frame of the glass door of the lantern a removable reflector, carried by a
panel, which will cover the door, and prevent the radiation of light in that

page_text: direction. When the ship is sailing, this reflector is to be applied to reflect
the light forward, but when the ship is riding at anchor it can be readily
removed, and the light will then be radiated all round the horizon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Oliver in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPHI
OLIVER, of Wapping, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, send
.greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Oliver, Her special license that I, the said Joseph Oliver,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Joseph Oliver, 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 "AN IMPROVED
CONSTRUCTION OF SIGNAL LANTERN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Joseph Oliver, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Joseph Oliver, 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 state-
ment, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "An Improved Construction of Signal Lantern" has for
its object to make one lantern serve the double purpose of a signal lantern
when the ship is sailing and when it is riding at anchor. When a ship is at
anchor, the lantern at the mast-head is by an Admiralty regulation required
to show a light all round the horizon; but when the ship is sailing, the lantern

page_text: is required to throw a light a-head, and present a darkened or obscured side
to the stern of the vessel. To produce these eflects by the use of one lantern,
I glaze the lantern all round, and fit it with a removeable reflector or panel,
which when applied will prevent the radiation of light at the back part of the
lantern. It is sometimes desirable (as, for example, when vessels are sailing
at night,) that the lantern should exhibit colored lights at the sides, to indicate
which is the port and which the starboard side; this may also be effected in
conjunction with the removeable panel or reflector. When the ship is sailing,
the reflector is to be applied to reflect the light forward, and the colored glasses
may also be adapted inside the lantern in suitable grooves made to receive
them; but when the ship is riding at anchor, the reflector and colored glasses
also, if required, can be readily removed, and the light will then be radiated
all round the horizon.
Fig. 1, in the accompanying Drawing, is a side elevation of one arrange-
ment of lantern constructed according to my Invention. The door of the
lantern is left open, to show the mode of obscuring the back part by means of
the reflector, when required. Fig. 2 represents the reflector, mounted on a
sliding panel, and detached from the lantern; Fig. 3 is a vertical section of
the same; and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section. The body of the lantern, shown
at a, a, a, carries four lenses b, b, b, b; one of these is mounted in the door c, c,
which is hinged to the body, as shown at Figs. 1 and 4. This door is
provided with grooves d, d, to receive the panel on wliich the reflector e, c, "is
mounted. Clips f, f, are intended to support colored glasses behind the side
lenses, when the lantern is required to show colored lights to indicate the port
and starboard sides of the ship. The lamp is of the usual form employed for
ships' lanterns, and to it is adapted the conical reflector g.
From the foregoing description it will be understood that when the ship is
at anchor it will only be necessary to lift the panel of the reflector out
of the grooves d, d, and the light from the lamp will be radiated in all
directions.
Fig. 5 shews in elevation a modification of the lantern represented at
Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the principle of construction, as far as my improvement
is concerned, being, however, precisely the same in both examples. Fig. 6 is
a vertical section of the lantern. It is glazed all round, or, rather, provided
with four lenses b, b, b, b; but instead of gaining access to the interior of the
lantern, by means of a door at back, as in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the top of the
lantern is hinged on to the body, so that it may be thrown back when required,
as shewn in the plan view, Fig. 7. The stern lens may be obscured, by adapting
the reflector e, e, to side grooves, in a similar manner to that shewn in Figs.

page_text: 1, 3, and 4; but I prefer to adapt the reflector to a rectangular frame h, h,
shewn detached in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. This frame is made to fit the interior
of the lantern, and to it is adapted, not only the concave reflector e, but the
starboard and port colored glasses i, i, and also the conical reflector 9. The
frame h, h, is held steady in its place by means of the lip j, which drops into
the groove or socket k. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of this frame h, h, detached
from the lantern; and Figs. 9 and 10 are side elevations thereof, shewing
the colored glasses.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, of "An Improved
Construction of Signal Lantern," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the application to signal lanterns of a removable
reflector or opaque panel, for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Oliver, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JOSEPH OLIVER. (L.S.)