Year: 1888

page_text: We CHARLES WILLIAM STEVENS and GEORGE ELLISTON of No. 66 Manby Road,
Leyton Road, Stratford, in the County of Essex, Railway Stokers, 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 :-
Our invention relates to improvements in automatic safety lamps and has for its
object to provide a lamp that will be extinguished the moment it is overturned or
upset, without there being any risk of the oil running out of the lamp.
And in order that our invention may be more fully understood, we have shewn the
same in the accompanying sheet of drawings in which Fig. I is a sectional elevation of
our improved safety lamp.
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the feeding mechanism, Fig. 2 being a side
elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the burner and Fig. 4 a plan of the
same.
Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a sectional elevation of a modified form of our
invention, and a side elevation of a detail thereof.
In a lamp reservoir R of tin or other suitable metal having a foot or basis of oval
form Fig. 1, 1 suspend the feeding mechanism shewn in Figs. 2 and 2 in such a
manner that the dished plate or top thereof is soldered to the collar c of the said
lamp reservoir R. This feeding mechanism consists of a rectangular and flattened
wick tube or receptacle whose upper extremity has the form of a funnel f. This
receptacle leads by a cross tubular piece a to the lower part of the cylindrical
casing d terminating in a funnel e covered over with a hood h.
The lower part of the cylindrical casing d is provided with perforations g through
which the oil introduced in the lamp reservoir through the opening o (Fig. 1) is fed
to the wick W passing into the rectangular receptacle
as shown. A dise centrally
provided with a clack valve which is normally held open by one end of a spiral spring
fixed thereto and arranged in the upper part of the casing d allows the oil entering
through the said perforations g g to pass into the wick tube or receptacle r. the said
valve disc or seat being supported on a small flange or filet of the casing d and placed
below the perforations yy. The above mentioned spiral spring is held contracted by
the weight of a ball m of lead or other suitable substance. To the dished plate pis
soldered the dished base of the burner B carrying at the top an extinguishing

page_text: device (Figs. 3 & 4) composed of two bent strips of metal arranged on each side of
the burner and whose bent ends pivot upon a pin at each end of the burner as clearly
shewn so that these two strips or flaps may move freely up and down and may when
by some reason the lamp is tilted or upset, join their upper edges over the opening of
the burner and thus extinguish the flame. By the side of the burner is arranged a
forked rod k moveable up and down through straps, and whose lower extremity
carries a worm which gears with the screw threaded end of another rod t (Fig. 4)
passing through the burner; the other end of the rod t carries a milled edge
disc a'.
This arrangement permits of the flaps being raised by hand, whenever it is required
to extinguish the lamp.
The Hange a of the lamp reservoir Ris prolonged inwardly so as to fit tightly
around the receptacle and to prevent the same being filled to a greater height than
that of such flange.
projecting
The wick passing through the burner is raised or lowered by means of four cog
wheels, two of which are mounted upon a pin (Fig. 4) fixed at both ends to the
inner sides of the burner, while the other two are mounted on the spindle
outside and carrying a milled edge disc by means of which it is actuated.
The gallery is fixed to the burner by means of a bayonet joint.
which
By the side of the gallery and upon the spindle is mounted a wedge
enters the slot of the bayonet joint of the gallery and hence keeps the same
rigid.
On the outer extremity of this wedge el is a tubular piece upon which rests a thumb
piece fixed to the inner end of a spiral spring whose other extremity rests against the
milled edge disc or knob. This thumb piece enables the wedge to be easily
withdrawn when the gallery has to be removed.
As the wick in the reservoir R has only access to a sufficient quantity of oil to feed
it by capillarity and is not immersed in it, and as further when the lamp is tilted or
upset, the ball m will drop away from the spiral spring which expanding will close the
clack valve and prevent the oil from passing from the reservoir into the wick receptacle
while any oil remaining in the latter will run between the dished plate and the
dished base l.
At the same time, the extinguishing device D enters into play, the two flaps s closing
and putting the flame out, while no oil can possibly run out of the lamp.
Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a modified form of my invention.
In this case I fix within a loose arrangement of wires we at the bottom of the
reservoir R of an ordinary lamp a funnel shaped casing C provided with slots s at its
lower extremity enabling the said wires & with them the rod n connected thereto in
any suitable manner to slide for a short distance up and down in these slots, when the
lamp is upset or righted again as hereinafter more fully set forth.
Above the top of the casing is arranged a vertical cylinder D through which passes
a rod whose upper extremity carries a prismatical piece P. The lower extremity of
this rod passes through the casing C and terminates with a ball of lead or other
suitable heavy substance. A spiral spring S surrounds this rod, one of its ends
bearing against the piece P while the other rests upon the top of the casing C. When
the lamp is burning, the ball contracts the spring and keeps the rod and piece P in
the position shewn.
But so soon as the lamp is overturned the ball falls upon the top of the casing C,
and the spring being relieved, expands and pushes the piece P through the lower
opening of the burner as shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 5, thus pressing the wick tight
and putting the flame out.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1. An improved automatic safety lamp arranged, combined and operating sub-
stantially as and for the purpose described.

page_text: 2. In automatic safety lamps, the improved form of burner B shewn in Figs. 3
and and mode of fitting gallery thereon, in combination with the extinguishing
device D and the means of raising the same, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
3. In automatic safety lamps, the improved feeding mechanism and means for
automatically closing the entrance of the oil into the wick tube or receptacle, when
the lamp is overturned, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purpose set
forth.
4. In automatic safety lamps, the modified form of extinguishing device shewn in
Figs. 5 and 6 arranged, combined, and operating substantially as and for the purpose
described.