IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATING MECHANISM FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, of the Mansion House
Buildings, Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATING MECHANISM FOR ELECTRIC
LAMPS."
Sealed the 27th February 1880, and dated the 2nd September 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Rookes Evelyn Bell
Crompton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd September.
1879.
ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON, of the Mansion House Buildings, Queen
Victoria Street, in the City of London, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATING
MECHANISM FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS."
My Invention bas reference to electric lamps of the class known as regulator
lamps, and more particularly to mechanism whereby the rate of feed of the carbons
is regulated by the electric currents.
Heretofore the regulation has been usually effected by the movement of armatures
of electro magnets, or of the cores of solenoids mechanically operating detents,
fingers, stops, or parts attached to and moving with the armatures or cores.
Now according to my Invention I effect the controlling of the. regulating
mechanism by the action on a suitable bar or piece of metal, or material susceptible
of magnetic influence, moveable in relation to the armature or to the core (as the
case may be) of the magnetism induced in the armature when acted on by its own
electro magnet, or in the core of the solenoid when acted upon by its helix. I cause
the moveable bar or piece acted on as described to operate means whereby the
mechanism which feeds the carbons or causes them to approach one another may be
retarded or arrested, or vice versa; and this mechanisin may consist of a detent,
finger, or stop, engaging with a train of wheel work, a pawl engaging with a ratchet
wheel, a brake arranged to arrest a revolving wheel, or a valve closing a cataract,
or other means of retarding or arresting and advancing the carbon feeding mechanism
may be employed in conjunction with my method of controlling above described.

page_text: This bar or piece is by preference of lever form, turning on pin joint at one end
or part, whilst the opposite end or part carries the finger or detent which acts on
the escape wheel.
This piece is counterbalanced by spring or other suitable means.
To prevent the inconvenience which arises from the weight of the upper carbon
holder with its carbon pressing on the lower carbon and its holder, and so forcing
them down to the limits of the stroke of the lower carbon holder that when the
current is switched on it finds the armature forced down in close contact with the
electro magnet, and consequently can attract it no further, so as to form an arc, I
use the following arrangement:-To the armature I attach a hinged lever in such
a position that when the lower carbon holder carrying with it this hinged lever
is forced downwards, as aforesaid, one end of this lever comes into contact with the
escape wheel of the clockwork, thus acting as a detent, and allowing the current
when switched on to attract downwards the armature through the remainder of
its stroke, and thus form space for an arc between the carbons. The other end of
this hinged lever is so placed and formed that when the armature is attracted by
the passage. of the current around the electro magnet, this other end of this lever is
attracted, and by such action the detent end is thrown out of interference with the
escape wheel; the bar or piece above referred to then comes into play.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st March 1880.
ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON, of the Mansion House Buildings, Queen
Victoria Street, in the City of London, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATING
MECHANISM FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS."
My Invention has reference to electric lamps of the class known as regulator lamps,
and more particularly to mechanism whereby the rate of feed of the carbons is
regulated by the electric currents.
Heretofore the regulation has been usually effected by the movement of
armatures of electro magnets, or of the cores of solenoids mechanically operating
detents, fingers, stops, or parts attached to and moving with the armatures
or cores.
Now according to my Invention I effect the controlling of the regulating
mechanism by the action on a suitable bar or piece of metal, or material susceptible
of magnetic influence, moveable in relation to the armature, or to the core(as the
case may be) of the magnetism induced in the armature when acted upon by its
own electro-magnet, or in the core of the solenoid when acted on by its helix. I
cause the moveable bar, or piece acted on as described, to operate means whereby
the mechanism which feeds the carbons, or causes them to approach one another
may be retarded or arrested, or vice versa; and this mechanism may consist of a
detent, finger, or stop, engaging with a train of wheel work, a pawl engaging with
a ratchet wheel, a brake arranged to arrest a revolving wheel, or a valve closing
a cataract, or other means of retarding or arresting and advancing the carbon
feeding mechanism may be employed in conjunction with my method of controlling
above described.
This bar or piece is by preference of lever form, turning on pin joint at one end
or part, whilst the opposite end or part carries the finger or detent which acts on
the escape wheel.
This piece is counterbalanced by spring or other suitable means.
According to the second part of these improvements to prevent the inconvenience
which arises from the weight of the upper carbon holder' with its carbon pressing on
the lower carbon and its holder, and so forcing them down to the limits of the
stroke of the lower carbon holder that when the current is switched on it finds the
armature forced down in close contact with the electro-magnet, and consequently
can attract it no further, so as to form an arc, I use the following arrangement:-To
the armature I attach a hinged lever, in such a position that when the lower carbon
holder carrying with it this hinged lever is forced downwards, as aforesaid, one end
of this lever comes into contact with the escape wheel of the clockwork, thus acting
as a detent, and allowing the current when switched on to attract downwards the
armature through the remainder of its stroke, and thus form space for an
are between the carbons. The other end of this hinged lever is so placed and.
formed that when the armature is attracted by the passage of the current around
the electro-magnet, this other end of this lever is attracted, and by such action the
detent end is thrown out of interference with the escape wheel
The bar or piece above referred to then comes into play.
But that my Invention may be the better understood, I will by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings proceed to describe means pursued by me in carrying the

page_text: type, in which the motion of the carbons is regulated and controlled according to
the first part of my Invention; Figure 5 is an edge view of a portion of a similar
lamp, which is also fitted according to the second part of my Invention'; Figure 6
is a plan view of a portion of the same, and Figures 7 and 8 give detail views of
parts of the same. In each of these views the same letters are employed to
indicate corresponding parts, A, A1, are parts of the framing; B is the lower carbon,
and B₁ the lower carbon holder. This is of the shape shewn in the Drawings, and
is adjustable in the ordinary way. This carbon holder plays through two holes, in
the framework of the lamp at b, b, which permit it to move vertically through a
distance or stroke which is regulated by a collar b¹ affixed to the carbon-holder.
When the lamp is not working this collar is kept pressed against the upper part of
the framework of the lamp by the action of a spring upon a collar d, which is
fixed to the said carbon-holder; c is the upper carbon, and c¹ the upper carbon-
holder.
This upper carbon-holder consists of a long brass rod, the weight of which
supplies the motive force requisite to make the upper carbon advance towards the
lower carbon, but the descent of which is controlled by its liaving a rack cut in it,
the teeth of which are engaged with the teeth of the wheel e. This wheel is thé
last of a series of wheels and pinions e¹, e³, e³, es, arranged as in ordinary multi-
plying gear, the first of the series being the fly-wheel e', and such series is used in
order that several revolutions of the flywheel may be requisite to allow the upper
carbon-holder to descend through a very small space.
On the axis of the flywheel e¹ are fixed two vanes or fans ff, to
render its motion more regular; G, G, are the controlling electro-magnets
through the coils of which the current passes when the lamp is at work,
so that when the lamp commences to work these electro-magnets draw into
contact with their fixed cores the arinature g, and depress the lower carbon
holder B', which is fixed to the arinature g through the whole length of its
stroke, and retain it in this position so long as the current continues to pass in
sufficient amount to enable the electro magnets to hold the armature g with a
force sufficient to counteract the action of the spring D upon the lower carbon-
holder. On the upper surface of the armature g is, situated the soft iron piece..
This turns upon a horizontál pin or hinge h; which is fixed to the armature g.
To the piece is fixed. the curved slip of metal,, which is so shaped and
adjusted that when the armature g rests upon the cores of the electro-magnets, and
the piece is drawn into contact with the armature the slip, k', presses upon
the edge of the flywheel e and prevents its rotation, but not otherwise. The
piece is under ordinary circumstances held away from the armature g by the
spring which is regulated by the screw 1, and the strength of this spring is
adjusted to the current intended to be used, so that when the lamp is burning
under normal conditions the piece is held close to the armature g by the induced
magnetism of the latter until the distance between the carbon poles increases
beyond the limits of the length chosen as its proper or normal length. The
current then becomes weakened; and permits the spring to overcome the
attraction of the armature' g upon the piece h, and the slip , k, is thereby lifted
off the edge of the fly wheel e¹; and the feeding machinery is permitted to act until
the strength of the current is restored, and the piece again drawn down to the
armature g. Figures 3 and 4 are detail' views of various portions of the above
mechanism, and sufficiently explain themselves by the lettering thereou.
Thus it will be seen that greatly increased delicacy is obtained in the feed of the
lamp. From what has been stated herein persons acquainted with this class of
mechanism will readily understand how to apply this part of my Invention to
lamps of the regulator type in which solenoids and moveable cores are used in the
place of electro-magnets and armatures to control the feed of the lamp.
For the purpose of applying the second part of my Invention I superadd a
detent wheel m, shown in Figure 5, to the clockwork above described, fixing it upon
the same axle as the flywheel e¹. To the armature g I affix a bent plate or

page_text: piece n, o; n, of soft iron, moveable about a hinge or pin at o, o, which is fixed to
the armature. The shape of this piece is as shown in the Drawings, and renders
the motion of the piece n, o, n', quite independent of the piece h. The portion of
the piece n, o, n¹, towards n, n, is bent downwards, and its weight is made sufficient
to cause it to over-balance-the portion of the plate which is over the armature g,
and lift it away from the surface of the armature unless that portion of the plate is
held in contact with the armature by the induced magnetism of the latter, or a
counter balance or spring capable of adjustment may be employed for a like
purpose. To the piece n, o, n', is fastened a curved slip p, p, q, ending in a detent q,
so shaped and adjusted that when the armature is at its greatest distance from the
electro-magnets G, G, and the plate n¹, o, o, n', is lifted away from the surface of
the armature, the detent q is only just clear of the spokes of the detent wheel.m,
and engages with them so soon as the armature commences to descend.
In practice, when making use of this second part of my Invention, it is often
more convenient to make the detent wheel take the place of the fly wheel, and to
omit the latter altogether. The slip h, k, is then altered in shape, and adjusted so
that it engages in the teeth of the detent wheel when the armature is in contact
with the cores of the electro-magnets and the piece h, h', is drawn close up to the
armature, but not otherwise.
By means of the above arrangement the descent of the upper carbon holder is
arrested so soon as the carbons come into contact and the lower carbon com-
mences to be depressed, and the upper carbon is prevented from forcing the lower
carbon holder down through the whole length of its stroke.
From what has been stated herein persons acquainted with this class of
mechanism will readily understand how to apply this part of my Invention to
lamps of the regulator type in which solenoids and noveable cores are used in the
place of electro magnets and armatures.
The above is only one of many equivalent mechanical arrangements by which
my Invention can be applied to electric lamps of the regulator type, and is described
by me here only for the purpose of making the nature and application of my
Invention clear, and giving one of the arrangements by which I make it accomplish
the purpose for which it is designed.
-
Having thus described my Invention and means which I adopt in carrying the
same into effect I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise details shown and described, as the same may be varied without departing
from the peculiar character of my Invention.
But what I do claim is, first, the arranging or combining parts of the
regulating mechanism of electric lamps of the class known as regulator lamps,
whereby the feed of the lamp is regulated by the movements of a bar or
piece capable of being affected by magnetic influence which is connected with
the armature or core of the controlling electro-magnets or solenoids, but
is capable also of independent motion relative thereto, such independent
motion being attained by means substantially as hereinabove set forth, or
so that the varying condition of the current through the electro-magnets or
solenoids by causing the armature or core to become an induced magnet of varying
strength can control the independent motion of the said bar or piece, and thereby
the action of the feeding apparatus without the necessity of the armature or core
itself moving, for the purpose herein set forth and substantially as herein described.
And I further claim the use of a lever or piece capable of being influenced by
magnetic attraction attached to the armature or core of the controlling electro-
magnets or solenoids, but capable of independent motion relative thereto working a
detent arranged substantially as hereinbefore described, so that when the current
is passing the lever or piece is attracted to the armature or core, and the detent is
thrown out of reach of the feeding machinery, but when the current ceases the lever.
or piece is released, and the detent falls into such a position that it arrests the
feeding machinery so soon as the upper carbon comes into contact with the lower
carbon and commences to depress the lower carbon holder, and before such lower

page_text: carbon holder has been depressed through the full length of its stroke, for the pur-
poses herein set forth and substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty seventh day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
ALFRED. G. BROOKES,
37, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
London.
K, F. B. CROMPTON. (L.S.)