IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF COMBUSTIBLE COMPOSITIONS TO SIGNALLING AND ILLUMINATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF COMBUSTIBLE COMPOSITIONS TO
SIGNALLING AND ILLUMINATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN. -A communication from abroad by Emile Aimé Alexandre
دو
P
_PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John -Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd February 1875.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF COMBUSTIBLE COMPOSITIONS
TO SIGNALLING AND ILLUMINATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," a communication to nie from abroad by Emile Aimé Alexandre
Lamarre, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Chemist, to be as
follows

page_text: granted to me on behalf of the said Emile Aimé Alexandre Lamarre,
January 16, 1874, No. 214) to buoys or other similar floating bodies
for the purpose of signalling and giving light, and it consists of a peculiar
construction and arrangement of apparatus for containing the combustible
composition to be applied to a buoy or other floating body, and of means
employed in combination therewith, whereby. such combustible com-
position is securely retained in the apparatus until the signal or light is
required to be emitted, and is ignited at the desired time from any
required distance, when it will continue to burn and emit light for a
given period, varying with the description and quantity of the compo-
sition and materials employed.
In carrying out this Invention it is proposed to fit to or in the buoy a
tube composed of zinc or other suitable material, and enclosing a second
tube of similar material but of less thickness, filled, for example, with
one of the compositions described in the Specifications of my Patent 1
aforesaid for producing a light or signal of a given color.
The inner tube is closed at its upper end by a cover somewhat similar
to the base of a metallic cartridge, in the centre of which there is pro-
vided a cap for igniting the charge, a layer of powder being interposed
between the combustible composition and the cover.
4
The outer tube is made of a conical or pointed form at its lower end,
and is provided at that part with a screw thread on its exterior for the
purpose of attaching it to the buoy, through the body of which it passes.
In the lower part of the outer tube there is placed a helical spring for
exercising a pressure upon the inner tube, which tube is retained in its
place by a pin or bolt of copper or other suitable material fitted so as to
be capable of sliding in an aperture formed in the upper part of the outer
tube or an attachment thereto. Around the outer tube at its
upper end
there is fitted by a bayonet joint a. short tube, to which is attached a
frame having a projecting point at its upper extremity, with which, when
the pin or bolt is withdrawn, the cap fitted on the inner tube, which is
driven upwards by the spring comes in contact, whereby the powder, and
thence the combustible composition, is ignited; and the cover being
expelled, such composition continues to burn, together with the zinc
inner tube, which is constantly fed upwards under the action of the a
spring.
'
The pin or bolt may be operated from a ship or from the shore by
means of a cord which is attached at one end to such pin or bolt, and

page_text: If desired the outer tube, the cover of the inner tube, and the frame
; may be coated with marine glue, in order to protect them from
oxidation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the. Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, John
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I,
the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, or 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 THE.
APPLICATION OF COMBUSTIBLE COMPOSITIONS FOR SIGNALLING AND ILLUMINATING
PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to
me from abroad by Emile Aimé Alexandre Lamarre, of Paris, in the
Republic of France, Chemist, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
The said Invention relates to the application of combustible compo-
sitions of the description for which Letters Patent were granted to me
on behalf of the said Emile Aimé Alexandre Lemarre, January 16th, 1874,
No. 214, to buoys and other bodies for the purpose of signalling and
giving light.
In the Specification of the Patent aforesaid mention was made of the
application of torches manufactured with the improved compositions for
the navy and mercantile marine, such torches being capable of emitting
brilliant signals visible at great distances, and at the same time of
indefinite duration.
The present Invention consists in the employment of simple apparatus
which enables the lights and signals composed as indicated in the Speci-
fication of the before-mentioned Patent to be applied to life-buoys used
on board ships of war, on the transatlantic and other steam vessels, and
on trading ships, as also to the bridge on which the captains of vessels
stand, either for the purpose of indicating their course by repeating lights
on the port or starboard side, or to attract attention in any circumstances
whatever.
The apparatus, which without any preparation may be placed upon
and in the buoy or upon the hand or guard rail of the captain's bridge,
and in like places, is composed in principle of an external tube of zinc
or other suitable metal, which encloses a second tube of similar metal
- but thinner, and filled with one of the compositions described in the
before-mentioned Specification for producing a light or signal of a given
colour.
The upper part of the internal tube carries a percussion cap, which is
intended to be struck by a fixed hammer or striker, and the lighting of
this light or signal can be effected from a distance in the manner herein-
after described.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose

page_text: shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a vertical section
of the apparatus applied to a buoy, and Figure 2 is a corresponding
elevation of the same.
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 illustrate the application of the Invention on
board ship.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, A is a zinc tube containing any one of
the compositions described in the said former Specification according to
the color required or the purpose to which the light or signal is to be
applied. This tube is closed at the upper part by a cover B, consisting
simply of a metal stopper, which is provided in the centre with a per-
cussion cap C, and is separated from the composition x by a thin layer of
gunpowder D. The tube A thus charged is placed in another tube E,
also of zinc, but thicker, and terminating in a conical screwed extre-
mity E' for attaching it to the body of the buoy Y, a portion only of
which is shown in the Drawing, the opposite end of the tube E being
provided with a flange.or collar E", against which bears the upper part
of the buoy Y. The tube A, on being introduced into the tube E, com.
presses a spiral spring R, and is held in position by a pin or bolt F passed
through a small tube or socket e formed on the external tube E.
The pin or bolt F is attached to a line or cord K, shewn in red lines in.
Figure 1, which passes through the eyelet G, carried by a metal wire G
attached by rivetting, soldering, or otherwise to the flange or collar E" of
the external tube E. The line or cord K then passes to the centre of the
buoy, which in the present example is assumed to be spherical, and it is
continued and connected to the ship together with the cable by which
the buoy is attached.
A ring H is fitted by a bayonet joint or fastening over the upper part
of the tube E, and upon it are fixed the extremities of a metal wire I,
the central upper part of which is provided with a projection or hammer i,
which corresponds with or is situate directly over the centre of the tube A
containing the composition x.
The apparatus is operated in the following manner:-The buoy on
being thrown into the sea retains its position so that the tube E-is always

page_text: at the upper part. In order to display the signal it is simply required to
pull the line or cord K, which has the effect of drawing out the pin F
from the tube or socket e. The tube A is then elevated with considerable
force under the action of the spring R, and the cap C is thus caused to
strike against the point of the hammer i whereby the powder D is
ignited, the stopper B is expelled by the force of the explosion at the
moment of the recoil, which takes place instantaneously, and the com.
position is fired by the ignited powder and continues to burn, whilst the
zinc spring tube A is constantly forced or fed up by means of the
spring R.
The signal for a tube of the dimensions shewn in Figures 1 and 2 of
the Drawings will continue for a period of about 10 minutes, which time
will in most cases be sufficient. By increasing, however, the length of
the tube, which may then extend beyond the buoy at each extremity, a
luminous fire of a longer duration may be obtained.
•
The external tube E, as well as the spring R and the ring H which
carries the wire I with the projection i, may be re-utilized a certain
number of times for displaying fresh signals by the renewal of the
internal tube A.
This inexpensive apparatus, which is capable of being applied with a
facility, thus enables the compositions for lights and signals described in
the said former Specification to be adapted to life-buoys and other inert
bodies.
For their better preservation the external tube E,. the stopper or cover B
carrying the cap C, and the wire I, may be covered with a coating of 2
marine glue, which will protect them against oxidation.
Figure 3 shews the manner in which the apparatus herein-before
described may be mounted in a fixed position on board of a ship so as to
repeat a signal with the object of indicating the course the captain of
the said ship intends to follow when he meets another vessel.
3
The external tube E which contains the internal tube A and the com-
position x with which it is filled, is mounted on a foot or socket K and
supported by a bracket and collar L fixed at any convenient part of the
bridge on which the captain or officer of the watch is stationed. The
composition which produces the signal may be red or green, and a 3
screen M, which is painted either red or green on its interior, is fitted

page_text: behind the light in such a manner as to be removable at will, and servo
simply as a reflector.
Figure 4 is an elevation and Figure 5 is a vertical section showing
one of the apparatus mounted on the hand rail of the bridge of a
ship.
These apparatus may be arranged at each end of the said hand rail, as
shewn in the elevation, Figure 6, and the corresponding plan, Figure 7,
both of which Figures are drawn to a reduced scale.
Each of the two groups of three apparatus, 1, 2, and 3, and 4, 5, and 6,
Figures 6 and 7, which correspond to the regulation lights or signals,
green, white, and red, of ships are covered by a cap N composed of zinc
or other suitable material, and having a vertical slot or opening n to give
passage to the projecting socket e. This cap may be used as a handle, it
being connected by the chain k to the pin F, which maintains in position,
the metal stopper B carrying the percussion cap C to be exploded by the
hammer i, as herein-before described.
When it is desired to make a signal with one of the colours above
mentioned the same may be effected by raising the cover N and then
pulling the chain / which unites the latter to the pin F, when the tube A
will be released and the composition a ignited in the manner herein-
before described.
Each of the tubes E is inserted in a cylindrical hole or socket formed
on the hand rail P, and is retained in position by means of a half ring Q
hinged to the rail at q, and which is brought over the projecting ends of
the plate p serving as a point of support to the spring R, Figures 4, 5,
.6, and 7.
In the applications represented in Figures 4 to 7 the body of the
external tube E is composed of malleable cast iron, and has formed in
one piece therewith the socket e which holds the pin F.,
In order to remove the tube E after the charge has been expended it
is simply required to turn the half ring Q on its centre q, as shewn by
red lines in Figure 7, when the tube may be readily replaced by another
charged with the composition for the corresponding colour.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
.

page_text: or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the berein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the com-
bination of the apparatus which admits of the adaptation of the lights
and signals of the description before mentioned to life-buoys and other
bodies, and also of the ignition from a distance of 'the charges producing
such lights and signals, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
'
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and scal, this Twenty-ninth day
of July, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)