AN IMPROVED MODE OF SUSPENDING GAS LIGHTS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
SUSPENDING GAS LIGHTS."-A communication from abroad by Jean
Claude Charles Gallibour, of 33, Boulevard Saint Martin,. Paris,
Mechanician.
Sealed the 13th November 1860, and dated the 22nd May 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1860.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF SUSPENDING GAS LIGHTS,"-A communication to me from abroad
by Jean Claude Charles Gallibour, of 33, Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris,.
Mechanician, to be as follows:--
The object of this Invention is to hang, form, or fit gaseliers or other suspended
gas burners or gas lights in such manner that they may right themselves in
case of their being hung or thrown out of the vertical.
For this purpose

page_text: instead of having, as is usual, a rigidly connected supply pipe, it is proposed
according to this Invention to have or form the pipe by which the lights are
supplied in two or more parts with a space between them, the parts being
connected by a chain or chains, or by tie rods, links, or such like self-adjusting
agents of attachment or suspension; or I connect the pipe of the gaselier or
suspended burner or lights by chain, chains, links, or such like agents to the
fixed supply pipe, but so as to leave a space between the pipes, the space or
interval between the parts or pipes as aforesaid being covered or enclosed by a
tubular piece of gutta percha, india-rubber, leather, or other suitable elastic
material forming a connection and continuing the passage between the pipes,
the arrangement being such that while a passage is thus provided for the gas
to reach the burners, yet should that part of the apparatus in which are the
burners or lights be thrown out of the vertical, by being inaccurately hung
or accidentally struck, shaken, or disturbed, it will at once right itself and
recover or assume its proper position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Michael Henry, Her special licence that I, the said Michael
Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Michael Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 IM-
PROVED MODE OF SUSPENDING GAS LIGHTS," (a communication to me from abroad
by Jean Claude Charles Gallibour, of 33, Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris, Me-
chanician, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Michael Henry,

page_text: my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed 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 Michael Henry, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, as communicated to me, reference being had to the ac-
companying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:-
The disadvantage of the known mode of suspending gas lights by a rigid
and unyielding pipe or connection is this, that if the apparatus be inad-
vertently hung out of the perpendicular, it will retain an inclined and improper
position and as it would tend by its own weight to return to the vertical, the
accuracy of the fitting would be impaired and perhaps eventually destroyed,
and also if it should receive an accidental shake or blow the whole arrange-
ment would be disturbed and the required tightness of fitting injured.
Now the object of the present Invention is to suspend gas lights in such
manner that they may right themselves in the event of their being hung or
thrown out of the vertical, and to carry this object into effect (instead of
having a rigidly connected supply pipe) the means employed, according to this
Invention, consist in the following mode, that is to say, according to this
Invention the gas supply pipe is contrived, arranged, or constructed in two or
more parts having an intervening space between them and connected by a
chain or chains, or by jointed, hinged, or articulated rods or links, or such like
self-adjusting agents of attachment or suspension, or what is the same thing
the pipe of the gaselier or suspended burner or lights is connected by a chain,
chains, articulated rods, or equivalent agents to a fixed pipe but with a space
or interval left between the pipes, and the space or interval left as aforesaid
between the parts of or the pipes constituting the gas supply passage is
covered or enclosed by a tubular piece of gutta percha, vulcanized india-rubber,
leather, or other similar or equivalent material forming a connection, and
continuing the passage between the parts or pipes, the arrangement being such
that a passage is provided for the gas to reach the burners; but yet if the lower
part of the apparatus, or that on which are the burners or lights were to be
thrown out of the vertical by being inaccurately hung or accidentally struck,

page_text: shaken, or disturbed, it will at once right itself, and recover or assume its
'proper position.
And in order that the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing it may be fully understood, I proceed with reference to the
accompanying Drawings to describe certain modifications for carrying the
same into effect.
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Figure 2 a vertical section, of a modi-
fication in which the connecting chain is within the pipes, and Figure 3 is a
front elevation of one modification, and Figure 4, a vertical section of another
modification, in which the connecting chains are outside the pipes. A in all
the Figures is a pipe constituting the upper part of the gas pipe or supply
passage. It is fixed in the ceiling or other convenient position. B in all the
Figures is the lower pipe or lower part of the gas pipe or supply passage that
is the part of the apparatus which carries the lamp or gaselier, or on which are
the lights or burners; these pipes A and B have a space or interval between
them as shewn. D in Figure 2 is the connecting or suspending chain fastened
to and within A and B, and attaching them together. C, Figures 3 and 4, are
similar connecting and suspending chains, but they are fastened outside A and
B. E, all the Figures is a tube of gutta percha, vulcanized caoutchouc, leather,
or similar material fitted to A and B so as to enclose the space left between them
forming a gas-tight and flexible connection and affording a continuous passage
for the gas to reach the lights. Now it is evident that the chains C or D, and
the flexible tube E will allow of the part B, undergoing oscillation or
deviation from the vertical without disturbing the part A, and this arrangement
thus obviates the liability to injury arising from wholly rigid modes of sus-
pension.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that the foregoing three modi-
cations shewn in the Drawings are represented merely by way of example,
and that I do not restrict myself to the precise construction or mode of attach-
ment of the chains or to any of the mere details herein shewn and described as
the same admit of variation provided that the general character of the Invention
as herein set forth be retained, also that I do not claim the herein described
mechanical parts considered separately.
And I declare that what I do claim as constituting the aforesaid Invention
is the mode of suspending gas lights herein-before described according to
which the gas supply pipe is arranged or constructed in two or more parts or
tubular portions having a space or interval between them and connected by a

page_text: chain or chains, articulated rods, or equivalent attaching or suspending agents,
and also by a tubular piece of vulcanized caoutchouc, gutta percha, leather,
or similar equivalent material which encloses the said space or interval and
affords a continuous passage for the gas to reach the burners or lights, sub-
stantially as described.
And I especially claim the particular modes of performing the Invention
exemplified in the arrangements shown in the accompanying Drawings and
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
S. E. A. NEWSOME, Patent Office,
84, Fleet Street, London.
M. HENRY. (L.S.)