AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR INSTRUMENTS FOR PRODUCING IGNITION
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
SCHLOSS, late of Finsbury Square, in the County of Middlesex, but now of
Paris, in the Kingdom of France, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of January, in the ninth year of Her reign,
(1846;) did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Schloss, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry Schloss, my
exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Henry Schloss,
my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and also in the
Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of
"AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR INSTRUMENTS FOR PRODUCING IGNITION;" in which.
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Henry Schloss,
should 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 Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Schloss, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and set
forth in and by the present Specification thereof,, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say
My Invention has for its object to provide travellers, miners, woodmen,
smokers, and others, with a convenient portable apparatus by which they may
be enabled to produce the instantaneous ignition of any substances readily
inflammable by friction in all weathers and under all circumstances.
t
Figure 1 is a plan of the instrument or apparatus which I employ for this
purpose, with the top, cover, or lid thereof removed; Figure 2 is a view of
the external case before the various parts are fitted in; Figure 3 is a separate
view of the top, cover, or lid; and Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, like separate
views of other parts of the instrument or apparatus. A, Figure 1, is a chase
(shewn separately in Figure 5) which fits into grooves on one side of the box.
B is a spiral spring with square cap (shewn separately in Figure 4), which is
pressed down into the chase A till a small pin 6, which projects from one of
the cheeks of the cap, is caught by a catch a on one side of the chase near to
the bottom. D (shewn separately in Figure 6) is a rectangular piece which
is screwed into the same side of the box as the chase A, and almost imme-
diately above it, as shewn in Figure 1. Figure 9 is a slide with a thumb
piece g, which is passed through the side of the box and between the top of
the chase A and rectangular piece D, having at its inner extremity a small
stop n to prevent its being entirely drawn out of the case.
E (shewn sepa-
rately in Figure 8) is a second rectangular piece similar to D, which is
screwed to the opposite side of the box, but a little lower down, and has attached
to the top of it a spring F of the peculiar form shewn. H is a spring slip,
which is inserted between the chase A and the side of the box to which it is
attached, being made fast at top by a screw c, and having a knob d projecting
from its under end through the side of the box, by means of which knob it
may be pressed downwards as required. The slip H has also a catch
projecting from it, which takes into a recess in the lid I on which the cover or
lid slides. K. is a store place for the matches which are to be employed in
producing the ignition. I prefer using the substance called amadon (some-
times German tinder), prepared from the dried plant of the boletus igniarius,
steeped in a strong solution of saltpetre, and cut into thin pieces of the size of

page_text: the chase A; but any other substance quickly inflammable by friction will also
answer the purpose. The mode of operation is as follows:-The space left
between the cap of the spring B, when it is in its compressed state, and the
slide G, is filled with matches taken from the store place K. The spring B is
then liberated by pressing inwards the pin b, and so relieving it from the
catch a. The lid is then drawn back for the purpose of admitting air to the
apparatus to support the combustion of the match, after which the slide G is
drawn out to its full length, whereupon the match at the top is instantly
pushed forward by the spiral spring B into the place previously occupied by G.
The slide G, being then pressed smartly back against the edge of the match
which has taken its place, forces the match through between the spring F and
piece D into the vacant space L, under such a degree of frictional pressure as
inevitably causes it to ignite. The same course is repeated till the whole
supply of matches in the box is exhausted.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is the
instrument or combination of instruments constituting the apparatus_before
described for producing ignition by friction, and however the shape and details
of the same may be varied, so long as the peculiar features of the said
instrument or apparatus are adhered to.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Schloss, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
5 Taken and acknowledged by Henry
Schloss (party hereto), at Paris, in
the Kingdom of France, this Eighth
day of July, One thousand eight
HENRY (L.S.) SCHLOSS.