IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Maiden, of Waterloo, near Ashton-under-Lyne,
in the County of Lancaster, Smith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SAFETY LAMPS."
Sealed the 24th October 1862, and dated the 30th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Maiden at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th April 1862.
I, JAMES MAIDEN, of Waterloo, near Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County
of Lancaster, Smith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY LAMPS," to be as follows:-
I make the ordinary Davy lamp self-locking and self-extinguishing by
causing a thimble at the bottom part of the lamp to turn on an eccentric so
that when the gauze top or cover is placed on the bottom part, by turning it
round one way it will come in contact with a catch and be locked, and by
merely opening the lamp the light is extinguished.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Maiden in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MAIDEN, of Waterloo, near Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County of Lancaster,
Smith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Maiden, Her special licence, that 1, the said James Maiden, my
executors, administrators, and assigus, or such others as I, the said James
Maiden, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SAFETY LAMPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Maiden, 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 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 James Maiden, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
This Invention consists, first of an improved mode of making the ordinary
Davy lamps self-locking. To the bottom of the frame which holds the wire
gauze cover, I fix a spring or catch, and form in the oil vessel
hole or
slot so that when the frame is screwed to the oil vessel the spring or catch
will drop into the hole or slot, and firmly hold the frame and vessel together.
In order to allow the frame and cover to be removed from the oil vessel, I
employ a key passed through a hole at the side of the oil vessel and working
on a pin across the hole or slot, so that when the projecting part of the key is
turned upwards it shall unlock the spring or catch from the hole or slot and
thereby enable the frame and vessel to be unscrewed.

page_text: Secondly, in an improved mode of making the ordinary Davy lamp self-
extinguishing. I place over the wick holder a thimble working in a screwed:
hole eccentric with the oil vessel, which thimble has on its outside a spring or
catch, and a hole at the top for the wick to pass through. At the bottom of
the gauze cover there is an internal ring having a number of notches or
recesses, in which the spring or catch on the thimble works like a ratchet.
When the oil vessel is being unscrewed from the frame and cover, one of the
notches on the ring seizes the spring or catch and causes the thimble to
revolve, and as an eccentric motion is given to the hole through which
the wick passes the top of the wick is pressed against and the light effectually
extinguished.
These improvements will be clearly understood by referring to the figures
and letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a
vertical section of an ordinary Davy safety lamp, having my improvements
attached; and Fig. 2, an elevation; and Figs. 3 and 4, plans of parts of the
same.
a represents the oil vessel; b, the wick holder; c, the wire for adjusting the
wick; d, the gauze cover; and e the frame to which it is fixed. In the oil
vessel a there, is a hole or slot f, having across it the pin g, Figs. 2 and 4,
and at the side the keyhole h, Fig. 2. At the bottom of the frame e there is
thereby locks the
a spring or catch i, which enters the hole or slot f, and
frame and oil vessel together in a self-acting manner. When the cover is to
be removed a key is passed through the keyhole h and placed on the pin g,
and then its projecting part is turned up so as to raise the spring or catch i
from the hole or slot f, and unlock the cover from the oil vessel; or I lock
the frame and cover to the oil vessel by means of a bolt which enters a hole
on the under side of the frame. The said bolt is guided in a hole in the oil
vessel, and is beld up by a spring, and has at the bottom a right or left handed
thread, to which is fitted a key having a corresponding thread, so that when
the key is screwed upon the bolt and turned right or left according to the
thread the bolt shall be withdrawn and thereby unlock the frame and cover.
In the oil vessel there is an eccentric hole k having a ledge for supporting the
plate m which carries the wick holder b; the said bole k is screwed and
receives the thimble n, having a hole at the top through which the wick is
passed, and at the side the spring or catch o, Fig. 3. At the botttom of the
gauze cover there is a ring p with notches or recesses q, which catch hold of
the spring o when the frame is being unscrewed, and turn the thimble to
another position, as shewn by the dotted lines, Fig. 3, in which position the top
of the thimble presses against the top of the wick and extinguishes the light.

page_text: Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim the modes or methods of making the ordinary Davy lamp self-
locking and self-extinguishing, as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Maiden, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named James
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Maiden, in
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JAMES MAIDEN.
(L.S.)