Improvements in or connected with Candle Clocks.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 1st Sept., 1893-Accepted, 14th Oct., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Candle Clocks.
I, WALTER JONATHAN CHESTERTON, of Leicester Square, Lichfield Street,
Walsall, Staffordshire, Gas Lighting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention consists of the hereindescribed improvements in or connected with
candle clocks.
In carrying out this invention I employ a candle which is made so as to burn
through equal spaces in equal times. This candle is carried on a base by means of
a socket in which the candle may either be secured, or made adjustable so as to be
fixed at any desired height above the base. Standing up from the base in front of
the candle there is an opal glass or other semitransparent screen, and between this
screen and the candle there is a thin bar or pointer so placed that the candle when
lighted will throw a shadow of the bar or pointer upon the back of the screen which
will shew through the screen to the front thereof. The bar or pointer is by
preference arranged horizontally so that the shadow will appear as a line or an
arrow across or partly across the screen and the bar or pointer is or may be carried-
by a metal cap which rests upon the upper part of the candle and in which is a hole
for the wick or flame. Upon the screen or upon a moveable transparent slide or
strip close to the screen are numbers one above the other representing certain hours
of the day and night say from 8 p.m. at the top to 8 a.m. at the bottom and these
numbers occupy the positions corresponding with the positions of the shadow at the
particular hours which they represent. When the candle is lighted, as it burns
away the cap and pointer and shadow gradually descend the screen and thus
indicate the time. I prefer to make the bar or pointer fixed to the cap (or it may
be adjustable thereon) and in order to enable the said candle clock to be set so that
at whatever time it is lighted it will give the correct time irrespective of the length
of the candle, I make the said figures which represent the hours on the screen
adjustable up or down the screen so as to bring the right figure opposite the shadow
of the pointer to correspond with the exact time when the candle is lighted. This
can very conveniently be done by the figures representing the hours being printed
upon a strip of tracing linen or other flexible transparent substance which is coiled
upon a roller at the top of the screen and upon another roller at the bottom of the
screen, so that by turning these rollers the figures are moved up or down as required;
or the figures may be printed on an endless band which passes round a roller at the
top and another roller at the bottom of the screen; or they may be printed upon a
glass or other transparent slide which can be moved up or down the screen and fixed
where required; or each hour may be printed upon a separate transparent_tablet
and be beld in a groove on the screen, one above the other and be arranged to be
moved up and down so that to adjust the figures certain of the tablets have to be
removed from the bottom of the screen in rotation and replaced at the top until the
proper time has been obtained.
Or instead of the candle being arranged to cast a shadow on to the screen, the
candle may cast a beam of light thereon through a hole in a shutter which is placed
between the candle and the screen and may be carried by the cap and move down
with it and which throws the screen into shadow except where the hour numerals
are so that this beam of light gradually descends the screen as the candle burns
away and indicates the time similarly to the shadow.
In order to make the said candle clock automatically ring an electric or other
alarum bell or switch on an electric lamp or lamps or turn on a gas light or gas
lights at any desired time, that is when the candle has burned down to a certain

page_text: length I provide a small two armed lever which is carried by a slide and can be
fixed at any desired height. One arm of this lever is by a spring pressed against
the side of the screen and the other arm presses slightly against the side of the
candle. The lever can be moved up or down and set so that one arm of the lever
will be level with the hour on the screen at which the electric or other alarum bell
is required to be rung, or the electric lamp or lamps switched on or the gas light or
gas lights be turned on, and the other arın will be slightly pressed against the
candle at that point to which the candle will have burned at the particular time
indicated by the other arm of the lever. When the candle burns down to this
point the arm then not being supported by the candle is by the spring moved side-
ways and this motion switches on the electric bell or lamp or lamps or sets off the
alarum or releases a weight which in falling turns on the gas.
Dated this 30th day of November 1892.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Candle Clocks.
I, WALTER JONATHAN CHESTERTON, of Leicester Square, Lichfield Street,
Walsall, Staffordshire, Gas Lighting Engineer, 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:-
+
This invention consists of the hereindescribed improvements in or connected with
candle clocks.
In a candle clock constructed according to this invention I employ a candle
which is made so as to burn through equal spaces in equal times and on the top of
this candle there rests a metal cap in which is a hole for the wick or flame and in
front of the candle there is an opal glass or other semi-transparent screen on which
are marked figures one above the other representing certain hours of the day and
night. Fixed to the said cap is a thin bar or pointer the shadow of which is thrown
upon the screen so that as the candle burns away and the cap with the bar or
pointer gradually descend, the shadow of the bar or pointer by its position on the
screen indicates the time according to the height of the candle. The height of
the candle or the screen can be adjusted so as to set the bar or pointer to suit the
particular time at which the candle is lighted. My invention also comprises means
by which when the candle has burned down to a certain length the cap on the
candle acts upon a lever and switches on an electric lamp or rings an electric bell.
I will describe my invention by referring to the accompanying drawings on
which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 is a plan, Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation
and Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a candle clock constructed according to this
invention; Fig. 5 is a back elevation of the same and Fig. 6 is a sectional side
elevation of the same the latter figure shewing the candle burned down somewhat.
Fig. 7 is a sectional side elevation Fig. 8 is a plan and Fig. 9 is a front elevation
of a modification of my invention;
Fig. 10 is a sectional side elevation, Fig. 11 is a plan and Fig. 12 is a front
elevation of a further modification of the same and
Fig. 13 is a separate view of one of the numbered tablets of the modification shewn
by Figs. 10, 11 and 12.
Fig. 14 is a sectional elevation and Fig. 15 is a plan on an enlarged scale of the
metal cap which fits upon the candle.
Fig. 16 is a back elevation and Fig. 17 is a plan of the form of my invention
shewn by Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 with the appliances added to it which I use

page_text: when it is desired that the candle clock shall ring an electric bell or switch on an
electric lamp at a pre-arranged time when the candle has burned down to a certain
length as hereinafter described.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
figures of the drawings.
Referring firstly more particularly to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14 and 15, A is the
candle which is made parallel from end to end so as to burn through equal spaces in
equal times and is made with a very fine wick so that in one hour the candle will
burn through one of the divisions on the semi-transparent screen B hereinafter
described. This candle A is carried on a base C (which as shewn may be like the
base of a candle stick) by means of the socket c' in which the candle may either be
secured so as to be not adjustable for height or the candle may be made adjustable
in the socket so as to be fixed at any desired height above the base. Standing up
from the base C in front of the candle there is a semi-transparent screen B on
which as shewn in Fig. 4 are printed or otherwise marked numbers one above the
others representing certain hours of the day and night say from 4 p.m. at the top
to 8 a.m. at the bottom these numbers being arranged at equal distances apart
corresponding with the distances through which the candle will burn in one hour.
This semi-transparent screen is by preference formed as in the example of my
invention shewn by Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of a strip of tracing linen or other
flexible transparent substance on which the figures are printed this strip being
coiled upon a roller at the top and another roller 62 at the bottom these rollers
being carried by ears 3 from the opaque part d of the screen which is fixed to the
base C and thus supports the semi-transparent screen B as shewn, a vertical slot d'
being made in the opaque part d through which the semi-transparent screen B can
be seen from the front. The semi-transparent screen B passes from the roller ¹ see
Figs. 3 and 6 over the top of the opaque part d down below the roller b³ and.
through a hole in the opaque part d and then on to and around the roller b² so
that by turning these rollers the screen will be wound from one roller and on
to the other and the figures moving up or down as may be required in setting the
screen to the particular time when the candle is lighted. E is the metal cap shewn
on an enlarged scale in Figs. 14 and 15 which rests upon the upper part of the
candle A and in which is a hole e' for the wick or flame and fis the horizontal bar
between the candle flame and the screen the shadow of which is thrown upon the
screen to indicate the time. This bar fis by preference made in the form of a ring
as shewn so that it will always be right relatively to the semi-transparent screen
however it may be turned upon the candle. The ring shaped bar fis carried from
the cap E by arms marked 1. In order to maintain the ring shaped bar falways
in a horizontal position the cap E is extended some distance down the candle to e
in the form of a ring loosely fitted thereon this ring es being by preference of a
size to pass over the socket c¹ so as to permit of the candle being almost burned
down to the socket. It will be evident that instead of the round bar fa pointer
might be fixed to the socket E to throw a shadow on to the semi-transparent
screen B.
When the candle is lighted the shadow of that part of the barf which is between the
candle flame and the semi-transparent screen B is thrown upon the screen B and
appears as a line across the same as shewn at g in Fig. 4. The rollers 61 62 are now
turned to adjust the screen until the shadow g shews the correct time which in this
As the
case as shewn in Fig. 4 we will suppose to be a quarter past eight o'clock.
candle burns away the cap E and bar for the pointer and shadow gradually descend
the screen and thus indicate the time. It will be seen that by making the figures
which represent the hours on the screen adjustable up or down as above described
so as to bring the right figure opposite the shadow of the pointer to correspond
with the exact time when the candle is lighted the candle clock can be set so that
at whatever time it is lighted it will as it burns away give the correct time
irrespective of the length of the candle.
In the modification of my invention illustrated by Figs. 7, 8 and 9 the screen B

page_text: instead of being flexible and wound round rollers as in the example shewn by
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 is made rigid of opal glass or horn or other rigid semi-
transparent substance and it is arranged to slide up or down in vertical guides/
fixed to the front of the opaque part d of the screen. Various means may be
adopted for adjusting this rigid screen and fixing it in any desired position such for
instance as the india rubber band i which is threaded on to the screen and rests
upon the top of the guide h.
In the example of my invention illustrated by Figs. 10 11 and 12 I make the semi-
transparent tablets; which fit in vertical guides h on the screen done above the other
so that they can be moved up or down and in order to adjust these figures to corre-
spond with the time at which the candle is lighted one or more of the tablets have
to be removed from the bottom of the screen in rotation (which can be done through
a slot k in the bottom of one of the guides) and replaced at the top of the guides h
the other tablets moving down until the proper time has been obtained. It will be
seen that in this arrangement the removing of a tablet does not adjust the figures
to a greater nicety than the space of one hour; the intermediate adjustments are
obtained by moving the candle up or down in its sockets.
In order to make the said candle clock automatically ring an electric bell or switch
on an electric lamp or electric lamps at any desired time that is when the candle A
has burned down to a certain length I provide see Figs. 16 and 17 a small two
armed lever L which can slide up and down the vertical rod M and be fixed at any
desired height thereon by the clamping screw 1. One arm of this lever is adjacent
to the screen B and the other arm 13 presses slightly against the side of the
candle A. The lever L can be moved up or down the rod M and set so that the
arm will be level with the hour on the screen at which the electric bell is required
to be rung or the electric lamp or electric lamps switched on. The ring e of the
cap E carries say the positive wire N and the arm 13 of the lever L carries the
negative wire o thesires being so arranged that the act of completing the electric
circuit through these wire ring an electric bell or switch on the electric lamp
or lamps. It will be seen that on the candle has burned down to the point
where the shadow of the barf corresponds with the time on the screen indicated
by the arm of the lever the metal ring e² of the socket will touch the arm 13 and
complete the electric circuit and thus ring the electric bell or switch on the electric
lamp or lamps at the pre-arranged time at which the arm L is set.
In conclusion I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise
details herein described and illustrated by my drawings as it will be evident that
the same may be somewhat modified without departing from the nature of my
invention but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a candle clock in which the candle will burn through equal spaces in equal
times, the employment of a cap resting on the top of the candle and carrying a bar
or pointer in combination with a semi-transparent screen illuminated by the candle
the said screen bearing numbers arranged in a vertical column to indicate hours,
the cap and bar or pointer and the screen being so arranged that the shadow of the
bar or pointer will by the candle be thrown upon the screen so that as the candle
burns away the shadow of the bar or pointer will descend the screen and indicate
the time all substantially as herein before set forth.
2. In a candle clock of the kind denoted under Claim 1, and in combination with
the candle cap and bar or pointer thereof the employment of a semi-transparent
screen made made in the form of a flexible strip carried by rollers by which the
screen can be set to suit the height of the candle when lighted substantially as
herein before set forth and shewn by Figs. 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In a candle clock of the kind denoted under Claim 1, and in combination with
the candle cap and bar or pointer thereof the employment of a numbered semi-trans-

page_text: parent screen made in the form of a vertical slide adapted for vertical adjustment
so as to enable the screen to be set to suit the height of the candle when lighted
substantially as hereinbefore set forth and shewn by Figs. 7, 8 and 9 of the
accompanying drawings.
4. In a candle clock of the kind denoted under Claim 1 and in combination with
the candle cap and bar or pointer thereof the employment of a semi-transparent
screen made in the form of separate tablets each bearing one of the hour numbers
and carried in vertical guides and so arranged that any tablet at the bottom of the
series can be removed and replaced at the top so as to set the numbers to suit the
height of the candle when lighted substantially as herein before set forth and shewn
by Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the accompanying drawings.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved candle clock
herein before described and illustrated by Figs. 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.
6. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved candle clock
herein before described and illustrated by Figs. 7, 8 and 9 of the accompanying
drawings.
7. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved candle
clock, hereinbefore described and illustrated by Figs. 10, 11 and 12 of the
accompanying drawings.
and in combination with
the candle cap and bar or pointer thereof the arrangement of mechanism hereinbefore
described and illustrated by Figs. 16 and 17 of the accompanying drawings for
causing an electric bell to ring or an electric lamp or lamps to be switched on
when the candle has burned down to a certain height substantially as hereinbefore
set forth.
8. In a candle clock of the kind denoted under Claim
Dated this 30th day of August 1893.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.