AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF THE INSTANTANEOUS LIGHT MACHINE
Year: 1811

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
JAMES MAYER, of Pentonville, in the Parish of Saint James, Clerkenwell, in
the County of Middlesex, Mathematical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of July,
in the fifty-first year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Matthew
James Mayer, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Matthew James Mayer, my
exors, adñiors, and assigns, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF THE INSTANTANEOUS LIGHT
MACHINE;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that
if I, the said Matthew James Mayer, shall not particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited
Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advan-
tages whatsoever hereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become
void, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Matthew James Mayers, do hereby declared that the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the fol-
lowing description thereof (that is to say :-
In the Drawings hereunto annexed, Figure 1 represents a front view of my
said machine; Fig. 2 exhibits a vertical section or view of the inside of the
said machine; and in Fig. 3 the same internal parts are seen from above.
Fig. 4 shews the plan of the electrophore, being part of my machine; and
Figs. 5 and 6 represent the apparatus which prevents the water entering the
gas tube (these two last are drawn in their real size to show it more distinctly),
and form part of the same machine. Fig. 7 exhibits a stop or screw head, by
which the atmospheric air from the lower chamber of the cylinder or body of my
machine may escape; and Fig. 8 shews a tube, also belonging to the same, by
which the water may be drawn off. In all the said Drawings or Figures the
dimensions are laid down from the same scale, which is half the real size, and
which may nevertheless be varied if thought fit, and the same parts are every-
where denoted by the same letters of the alphabet.
I construct a cylinder A, B, C, D, open at the top, or a vessel of any shape
or size capable of being divided, as herein-after mentioned, made of copper or
any fit metal or material (I prefer a cylinder, being most easy to manufacture);
I divide it by a metal plate E into two chambers in the same proportion as
is shown in Fig. 2, so that the upper chamber contains a little more than the
lower one. The two chambers are connected with each other by a pipe F,
open on both ends, fixed in the plate E, and descends nearly to the bottom of
the lower chamber, leaving the space of the tenth of an inch between them.
This plate E is not quite flat, but convex of the upper side and concave on
the lower, about one-eighth of an inch by six inches diameter; in the center
of it is fixed a short tube a, perforates the plate, and projects on the lower
side of it of an inch, and is quite open; I fix to the inside of this tube, of
an inch from the lower end, a round thin plate of metal b, in the shape of a
reversed truncated cone, perforated in the middle by ½ of its diameter; above
this plate I fix another smaller hollow plate e, of the diameter of the tube a,
the hollow side undermost, to an arm or wire d fixed to the tube a, which
suspends it in an insulated state about of an inch above the surface of the
conical plate of the upper end of the tube a. I then fix the gas tube G,
which I bend in the shape of a cyphon, and pass it chrough the plate E down
to the socket of the gas cock H, which is fixed underneath to the bottom of
the cylinder at K; I cut off a part from the lower end of the cylinder, shewn

page_text: by the line q, r, s, Fig. 2, to afford room for the gas cock, and shape the
bottom accordingly, closing and soldering every part well; the end of the
tube G must be soldered separately to the socket of the gas cock, that there
may be no communication between it and the lower chamber. I construct
a tube or box I, being part of my improved machine, furnished with a hollow
metal stopper L and a pipe M bent like a syphon, fixed to an connected with
the upper end of the tube or box I. I fix it inside the upper chamber of the
cylinder, as at N, passing its pipe through the plate E nearly down to the
bottom, as at e; a glass bottle P inserted in this box serves for the production
of the hydrogen gas. Fig. 7 represents a metal stop or finger screw, whose
F is fixed to the upper side of the plate E, as at a, Fig. 3, capable of being
removed to afford a passage for the atmospheric air, as herein-after described.
The gas cock, as a well-known contrivance, needs no particular description,
except that I have placed it underneath the cylinder, immediately above the
electrophore, as seen in Fig. 2; a little arm g is fixed to its stopper h, which
lifts the conductor plate by means of a small metal hook t. The stream of
gas issues under an angle of about 13° in my machine, but it may be in any
other convenient direction. To the bottom of the cylinder A, B, C, D, I fix
another tube Q, Fig. 8, with a nut N, and leather collar to draw off the water
when required (it place may be obtained by observing the dotted circle Q,
in Fig. 3); it passes through the back to the bottom of the woodden box
S, T, U, V, to the top of which I lastly fix the cylinder by screws, or other
well-known method. The lower plate of the electrophore must be well fixed
in its place to prevent its moving, as much of the action of the electrophore
depends on the conductor or upper plate w lying flat on the surface of it. I
manufacture this conductor plate of a metal what may easily be bent to the
surface, and which will retain the given shape; it consists of a mixture of one
part of pure tin, and three parts of lead, though these proportions may be varied
as circumstances may require. I cast a resinous body (of the same matter
what is generally used for electrophores, and sufficiently known) into the
circle w, w, on the top of this plate, for the purpose of insulating the same.
1 construct a frame 1, 2, 3, Fig. 2 and 4, of iron, or any fit metal or material,
provided with a plate 4; it turns upon pivots as at 1 and 2, and is lifted up by
the hook t of the gas cock H, attached at Y; 1 then fix the plate 4 to the
resinous body, by heating it and placing it upon the same, by. which means it
will firmly cement together.
From the foregoing description, the mechanical parts being understood,
I shall now shortly describe the mode of using my machine. I take off
the finger screw a, and pour water into the upper chamber of the cylinder

page_text: to pass through the pipe F, until the lower chamber is filled, and then
replace the screw. I take off the metal stopper L, take out the glass bottle,
and fill it with diluted muriatic acid up to the mark x on the bottle. I
replace it and put about of an ounce of zink into it (either in small bits or
thin stripes), after which I immediately close the metal stopper; the electro-
phore being exited, I turn the key y, by which a stream of gas is produced, and
nearly at the same time an electric spark conveyed to the knob z, ignites the
gas or converts it into a flame.
A few more observations will more exactly explain the peculiar action
of the machine, and illustrate the precise nature of my improvement. The
short tube, with the two plates inside, placed in the center of the plate E,
prevents the water from the lower chamber entering the gas tube by any
common motion to which the machine may be exposed on board of ships,
or in carriages, if not kept stationary, under any inclination less than
45 degrees, or if the motion be extremely slow, or even stationary under
any less than 15°, the water is thrown back again immediately by the edge of
the tube itself, and by the two plates within (a single plate will answer, or
more plates may be used for particular purposes; the direction most easy for
water entering it will be about the line i, 1, Fig. 5; but it will be repelled in
the direction i, w, to o, and be thereby prevented from ascending the cyphon.
I also fix an inclined ring 5, 6, Fig. 2, and in Fig, 3, marked with dotted
lines, to the inside at the upper end of the cylinder, to prevent the water in the
upper chamber from being thrown out at the top between the joint around, as
at 7, Fig. 2; by placing the gas cock underneath the cylinder, I am enabled
to discharge a spark from the conductor plate directly to the knob z, above the
small orifice through which the gas passes, without any intermediate body,
excepting a little knob p fixed to the plate, by which the distance may be
regulated through which the spark is to pass. By this construction, which I
claim as part of my improvement, viz., the placing of the gas cock, so near
the electrophore, which, however, might be done in any other direction or
position) a smaller spark will ignite the gas than would be required in the old
machines; I can therefore use my electrophore for a longer time, and the
machine will act with much more certainty, as the principal defect is removed,
which attached to the bodies between the conductor plate and the stream of
gas in the old machines. I also furnish the ends of the knobs between which
the spark or the stream of gas passes with platina, or they may be gilt to
prevent oxidation. My machine will keep perfectly air-tight, as I use but two
leathers, and both under water, the one in the finger screw x, at the air hole f,
and the other in the nut of the pipe Q, for drawing off the water.
I use a

page_text: lamp with spirits of wine, as it is the most quick and agreeable, as well as
cheap method for lighting another candle by it; it may be applied to the
machine in various ways; I inclose it by machines for common use in the
wooden box, as at w.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew James Mayer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eleven.
MATTHEW JAMES MAYER. (L.8.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1812, the aforesaid Matthew James Mayer came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twelve.