Improvements in Fire Lighters.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 17th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 17th Mar., 1894
Improvements in Fire Lighters.
We, ALFRED JAMES REED JEFFERY, Coal Merchant, of 15 Bamfylde
Terrace, and WILLIAM FRANK GEDYE, Engineer, of Granville Mansions, both
in Torquay, in the County of Devon, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
This invention relates to fire lighters which may be made of any suitable
material preferably rough bits of wood or the like stuck together in such a
manner as to leave a hollow interior with open spaces through which air may
enter and flame and products of combustion may escape. Conveniently, the fire
lighter may take the form of a cylinder, square, triangle or the like with closed
ends and open bodies, and each one may be made of a single flat piece say of
wood at each end connected by bars or the like, leaving the necessary open
spaces.
The bars may be secured to the end pieces by any suitable means pre-
ferably by some form of cement for which purpose we have found pitch, to which
is added a small percentage of tallow, to be peculiarly suited, the tallow preventing
the pitch from becoming, when set, so brittle as it otherwise would, and thus
enabling it to securely hold the parts together.
The hollow interior of the fire lighter may be partly or entirely filled with any
suitable inflammable material say for cheapness, convenience and general utility,
shavings and when the structure is completed it may be dipped entirely if desired,
but preferably only as to its two ends in melted rosin or other suitable material.
We prefer to make the end pieces with the grain running transversely through
them so that the grain of both the end pieces and the bars runs in the same direction
and when the fire lighter is dipped end grain is presented and readily absorbs the
rosin or equivalent.
Dated this Thirty-first day of May 1893.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicants,
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fire Lighters.
We, ALFRED JAMES REED JEFFERY, Coal Merchant, of 15 Bamfylde
Terrace, and WILLIAM FRANK GEDYE, Engineer, of Granville Mansions, both in
Torquay, in the County of Devon, 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 relates to fire-lighters which may be made of any suitable
material, preferably rough bits of wood or the like, stuck together in such a manner
as to leave a hollow interior with open spaces, through which air may enter and
flame and products of combustion may escape. Conveniently the fire-lighter may
take the form of a cylinder, square, triangle or the like, with closed ends and open
bodies, and each one may be made of a single flat piece, say of wood, at each end
connected by bars or the like, leaving the necessary open spaces.

page_text: The bars may be secured to the end pieces by any suitable means, preferably
by some form of cement, for which purpose we have found pitch, to which is added
a small percentage of tallow, to be peculiarly suited, the tallow preventing the
pitch from becoming when set, so brittle as it otherwise would, and thus enabling
it to securely hold the parts together.
The hollow interior of the fire-lighter may be partly or entirely filled with any
suitable inflammable material, say for cheapness, convenience and general utility,
shavings, and when the structure is completed, it may be dipped, entirely if
desired, but preferably only as to its two ends, in melted resin or other suitable
material.
In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings we have represented in per-
spective view, three different forms of fire-lighter, constructed accord.ng to our
invention and in Fig 14 a modification of the construction shown in Fig. 1.
The fire-lighter shown in Figure 1 is constructed of two practically square end
pieces A A¹ connected together by bars B B', the latter in this example being
recessed in the edges of the end pieces A and A'. The end pieces A A¹ may be
formed conveniently by stainping, the recesses for accommodating the ends of the
bars B B', whether rectangular as shown in Figure 1 or undercut or dovetail as
hereinafter described and shown in Fig. 14, being stamped in them at the same
operation. The hollow interior of the fire-lighter, as shown, is filled with shavings
as indicated at C, or any other suitable material.
The construction of fire-lighter shown in Fig. 1 is advantageous in so far as it
prevents, by the manner of fitting the various pieces together, the said pieces from
becoming accidentally separated or from falling apart after the fire-lighter has
been ignited, as soon as they otherwise might do. The construction of the lighter
shown in Fig. 14 provides against this even more strongly by the bars B and B¹
being of dove-tail section and fitting into the correspondingly dovetailed recesses
in the end pieces A A. Both the foregoing forms of attachment of the pieces
may render it unnecessary for any further means (other than the resin hereinafter
mentioned) of securing them together, but if desired, the joints may be formed by,
or the parts to be joined together may be dipped into, the before mentioned
mixture of tallow and pitch. As indicated in the drawings, the ends are then
dipped into resin, a coating D of which ultimately sets upon these ends.
It is considered of special advantage forming the end peices A A¹ with the
grain running across or transversely, to their larger surfaces that is to say, in
the same direction as the grain of the bars B B which is from one end piece
towards the other, or parallel with the longer axis of the lighter as indicated
in the drawings as when the fire-lighter is dipped into the resin, the said end
pieces will readily absorb the resin; moreover by forming these pieces with the
grain running transversely they may be readily stamped out in any desired form.
The fire-lighter shown in Fig. 2 consists of two end pieces A A' as before
described, and four bars B connecting them together, these bars being attached
to the outer surfaces or edges of the end pieces A A¹ (and not let into them as
in the before described example) by means of the before mentioned tallow and
pitch mixture. In other respects this fire-lighter is substantially the same as
that shown in Fig. 1.
The fire-lighter shown in Fig. 3 is of substantially triangular form, the end
pieces A A¹ being stamped or otherwise cut in that form, and the bars B B' connect-
ing these end pieces being let into or, as shown, secured upon or against the edges
of the end pieces in substantially the same manner as described with reference
to Figures 1 and 2.
It will be understood that the before described fire-lighter may be constructed
of other forms than those shown in the accompanying drawings, and that if
desired the bars B' shown in Figures 1 and 3 may be of the same width as those
marked B in the same figures, and there may be any desired number of bars B
or B¹ employed.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is;-
1. A fire-lighter having a hollow interior enclosed space for the reception of
shavings or other inflammable material with openings giving access thereto.
2. A fire-lighter consisting of two end pieces connected together by longitudinal
bars with a hollow interior and spaces between the bars giving access thereto.
3. A fire-lighter consisting of two end pieces connected together by longitudinal
bars the interior of which is filled with combustible material.
4. A fire-lighter consisting of two end pieces the grain of which runs transversely
to their larger surfaces and longitudinal connecting pieces the grain of which runs
in the same direction as that of the end pieces and a filling of combustible
material.
6. In a fire-lighter the combination of two end pieces longitudinal pieces
connecting them together a filling of combustible material and a coating of
resin.
7. In a fire-lighter the combination with longitudinal bars of end pieces having
the grain across that is parallel with the grain of the side pieces.
Dated this 16th day of February 1894.
ALFRED JAMES JEFFERY.
WILLIAM FRANK GEDYE.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicants.
ALFRED JAMES JEFFERY.
WILLIAM FRANK GEDYE.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicants.