A METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE LIGHT IN STREET AND OTHER LAMPS, WHEREBY
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Huggett, of Eastbourne, in the County of
Sussex, Engineer, for the Invention of "A METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR REGULATING THE LIGHT IN STREET AND OTHER LAMPS, WHEREBY THE
Sealed the 1st March 1861, and dated the 5th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Huggett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his, Petition, on the
5th September 1860.
I, JOHN HUGGETT, of Eastbourne, in the County of Sessex, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A METHOD OF AND
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE LIGHT IN STREET AND OTHER LAMPS, WHEREBY
THE RE-LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISHING OF THE SAME MAY BE DISPENSED WITH," to
be as follows:
My method of regulating the light in street and other lamps consists in
acting upon a tap through which gas is supplied to a burner or burners,
through arms, rods, or levers worked by a diaphragm or piston, which is made
to rise and fall in a suitable vessel by air or other fluid forced into and drawn
from such vessel. One arrangement of apparatus by which I carry my
method into effect is as follows:-I place inside the lamp and upon the supply

page_text: pipe between the bottom of the lamp and the burner a tap, and also a small
bent supply pipe furnished with a regulating cock carried from below and
entering the supply pipe above the tap just mentioned. The tap is worked by
a rod, one end of which is connected to the upper end of a plunger, the lower
end of which is connected to or rests upon a diaphragm in an air vessel placed
inside the lamp. The other end of the rod is connected to a bent arm, upon
which a shade free to rise and fall is made to rest. The main supply tap out-
side of the lamp is always open, and an air tube from a forcing and exhausting
pump is connected to the air vessel. Supposing no light to be required the
position of the parts will be as follows:-The diaphragm of the air pump and
its piston will be down, the tap inside the lamp closed, and the end of the rod
opposite that connected to the piston will be raised, and the shade will be raised
so as to screen the burner, a minimum quantity of gas will be supplied through
the small bent supply pipe, which having been once lighted will remain so as
long as there is any supply through the main supply pipe.
Now, to light up, air is forced into the air vessel, whereby the diaphragm
and piston are raised, the tap inside the lamp opened, and the shade lowered.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Huggett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HUGGETT, of Eastbourne, in the County of Sussex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand, eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Huggett, Her special, licence that I; the said John
Huggett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Huggett, 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 "A
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE LIGHT IN STREET AND. OTHER
LAMPS, WHEREBY THE RE-LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISHING OF THE SAME MAY BE

page_text: DISPENSED WITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Huggett, 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 John Huggett, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My method of regulating the light in street and other lamps consists in
acting upon a tap through which gas is supplied to a burner or burners,
through arms, rods, or levers worked by a diaphragm or piston, which is made
to rise and fall in a suitable vessel by air or other fluid forced into and drawn
from such vessel. One arrangement of apparatus by which I carry. my
method into effect is as follows:-I place inside the lamp and upon the supply
pipe between the bottom of the lamp and the burner a tap, and also a small bent
supply pipe furnished with a regulating cock carried from below and entering.
the supply pipe above the tap just mentioned. The tap is worked by a rod, one
end of which is connected to the upper end of a plunger, the lower end of
which is connected to or rests upon a diaphragm in an air vessel placed. inside
the lamp. The other end of the rod is connected to a bent arm, upon which
a shade free to rise and fall is made to rest. The main supply tap outside of
the lamp is always open, and an air tube from a forcing and exhausting pump
is connected to the air vessel. Supposing no light to be required the position
of the parts will be as follows:-The diaphragm of the air pump and. its
piston will be down, the tap inside the lamp closed, and the end of the rod
opposite that connected to the piston will be raised, and the shade will be
raised so as to screen the burner; a minimum quantity of gas will be supplied
through the small bent supply pipe, which having been once lighted will
remain so as long as there is any supply through the main supply pipe.
Now, to light up, air is forced into the air vessel, whereby the diaphragm
and piston are raised, the tap inside the lamp opened, and the shade lowered.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an elevation of an apparatus
constructed according to my Invention.
a is a tap on the supply pipe b; c is a bent supply pipe, fitted with a regu-

page_text: lating cock d; one end of this pipe is connected to the supply pipe b above,
and the other end below the tap a, as shown; e is a rod or lever connected to
the tap a, and at one end to a plunger f, the latter is connected to a dia-
phragm g fitted in an air vessel h; i is a pipe, by which air or other fluid is
admitted to the vessel h. The contrary end of the rod e to that at which the
plunger fis connected receives an arm k, bent as shown, to receive a shade
on its enlarged point k¹; m is a conical or partly conical case enclosing the
apparatus inside the lamp n, part only of which is shown; o is the regulating
tap on the service pipe. The dotted lines show the position of the working
parts when no light is required, in which case the tap a is closed, and a
minimum supply of gas is admitted to the burner p through the cock d and
bent tube c, as indicated by the arrows. To light up, air or other fluid is forced
through the pipe i into the vessel h, which raising the diaphragm g, and with
it the plunger f, communicates motion to the lever e, which opening the tap a
admits gas to the burner p through the pipe b, the lever e, at the same
time through the bent arm k lowering the shade Z.
Figure 2 is an elevation of an apparatus, constructed substantially in the
manner before described, but in which the details are somewhat modified.
The dotted lines in
a is the tap on the supply pipe b; e is the lever connected to the tap a, and
at one end of the plunger f; c is a rod, connecting the other end of the lever e
with another lever k pivotted at one end about the point e². The other end of
the lever is jointed to a rod k² connected to the shade l; d is a cock, through
which the minimum supply of gas passes to the burner p.
this case, as in the former, show the position of the working parts when the
minimum light is required, in which case a very small supply of gas passes
to the burner through the cock and passage, not shown. To light up, air or
other fluid is forced into the vessel h as before, which raising the diaphragm g
and plunger f, and with them one end of the lever e, opens the tap a and
admits gas to the burner; at the same time the other end of the lever e, and
with it the connecting rod c descends, carrying with them the lever k, rod k¹,
and shade into the position shown by the full lines. Each lamp being fitted
with an apparatus similar or equivalent to one of those before described, and
the pipe i connected to a common force pump by which air is severally sup-
plied to each apparatus, a number of lamps may be lighted or extinguished
as well as their supply regulated at one and the same time.
.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the precise arrangement of the apparatuses herein-before described, for the same

page_text: may be varied without departing from my Invention; but what I claim is
my method of and apparatus for regulating the light in street and other
lamps, whereby the re-lighting and extinguishing of the same may be dis-
pensed is, acting upon a tap through which gas is supplied to the burner or
burners, through arms, rods, or levers worked by a diaphragm or piston made
to rise or fall in a suitable vessel by air or other fluid forced into and drawn
from such vessel, substantially in the manner herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Huggett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-one.
JN°. HUGGETT. (L.S.)