IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LAMPS AND APPARATUSES of CONNECTED THEREWITH.”
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Mess". Jules Albert Berly, Civil and Electrical Engineer,
of No. 9, Relf Road, Peckham Rye, in the County of Surrey, and David Hulett,
Gas Engineer and Manufacturer, of 55, High Holborn, London, for an
Invention "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LAMPS AND APPARATUSES
of
CONNECTED THEREWITH.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Albert Berly and
David Hulett at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on
the
18th November 1880.
Mess". JULES ALBERT BERLY, Civil and Electrical Engineer, of No. 9, Relf Road,
Peckham Rye, in the County of Surrey, and DAVID HULETT, Gas Engineer and
Manufacturer, of 55, High Holborn, London. IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC
LAMPS AND APPARATUSES CONNECTED THEREWITH."
"
The said Invention relates to arrangements for suspending or supporting electric
lamps (and here we mean and understand by "electric lamps" any kind of electric
lighting apparatus containing one or more lamps, regulators, candles, or other light
giving or producing device by means of voltaic are, incandescence, or otherwise) in
such a manner as to enable the said electric lamps (which may be either alight or
not, according to the case) to be pulled down, detached, or dropped, in order to be
replenished with carbon pencils, points, or other material, or for the purpose of
being cleaned or otherwise attended to, and pushed back or readjusted into their
former or any required position, the said lamps being kept alight all the while, or
ready for being lighted again, according to the arrangement, and enabling one in
the first arrangement to at the same time regulate or control the height of the said
electric lamps so as to suit any purpose or convenience without interfering with
the light.
In electric lighting, the suspension of the lamps has hitherto been attended with
certain difficulties, amongst the most important of which is that arising from the
impossibility, when suspended, and especially by means of a rigid material, such as
a gas pipe, or a solid bar of metal or other material, of bringing the lamp down to
a convenient height, either for the purpose of cleaning it or its contents, or of

page_text: replenishing it with carbon points or other material, or otherwise attending to it,
the consequence of which defects being to oblige one to reach to the lamp's height
by means of a ladder, or otherwise climb to such height as may be necessary in
order to approach the said lamps.
By means of our present Invention we are enabled to construct an arrangement
which is entirely free from the above enumerated objectionable features, and which
is moreover very compact and and cconomical of construction.
In this Invention the conducting wires, insulated or otherwise, conveying the
current are made to terminate at the top of the arrangement provided for
suspending the electric lamps, the said conducting wires being connected or
otherwise attached to as many terminals as there are or happen to be of leading or
return wires, according to the system of electric lighting in use.
The said conducting wires are then prolonged by strips of conducting material
fixed either along the fixed or the moveable part of the sliding arrangement herein-
after described, and against which the wires attached to the poles of the lamp or
lamps, or to the terminal connections of the candles are made to press or
otherwise come into contact either directly or by means of intermediate springs
or other conducting substances (or the said arrangement may be reversed, the
conducting wire reaching the bottom of the sliding arrangement and pressing
either directly or indirectly against, or otherwise being caused to coine into contact
with strips of metal or other conducting substances connected with the poles of the
lamps or the terminal connections of the candles), so that when the lamp, which is
attached to a tube or a solid rod sliding either outside or inside another solid rod
or tube is made to slide down or up, there is no break of contact, the wires attached
to the poles of the lamps or the connecting terminals of the candles being
continually kept in electric communication with the conducting wires conveying
the current by means of the intermediate strips of metal, springs, or other
conducting substances, as aforesaid.
The arrangement for connecting the conducting wires conveying the current to
the wires attached to the poles of the lamps or to the connecting terminals of the
candles, may also consist of wires or rods of otherwise conducting material or
substance dipping into mercury contained in separate tubes or reservoirs
electrically connected with the poles of the lamps or the connecting terminals of
the candles.
In all cases where there exists a sufficient drop, the contacts may be made at
will permanent or only temporary; permanent, if they are provided for the whole
length of the drop; temporary, but of any desired length, if they are only provided
for a portion (of any desired length) of the said drop; in the latter case a break in
the circuit would occur when the contact between the sliding pieces or the various
parts of the sliding arrangement would cease, the said circuit being completed
again as soon as the said sliding pieces or parts of the sliding arrangement are
brought into contact again as heretofore described and explained.
The proper travelling of the said sliding arrangement is secured by providing tho
sliding parts with pins working longitudinally into corresponding grooves, or by
shaping the strips of metal or other conducting substances and contact springs in such
a manner that they act as guides to one another, or by otherwise providing the
sliding parts with suitable guides so that a straight course can be maintained.
The whole of these said arrangements, which are applicable to a lamp containing
a single light or any numble of candles, one of which only or more can be alighted
at a time, as well as to a chandelier containing any number of such lamps or
agglomeration of candles, is well balanced by means of counterweights which may
be made to run either outside, overhanging, at a distance from the suspension,
or concentrically with the said suspension, or otherwise as convenient.
When, owing to the altitude of the lamp or for any other reason, the sliding
contact arrangements heretofore described cannot be made to exist along the
whole drop of the said lamp, but for only a portion of that said drop or course, as
might, for example, be the case for a lamp suspended from an ordinary lamp-

page_text: post in the case of street lighting, or a lamp suspended high near the ceiling, or
when it is practicable to adopt the said permanent sliding contacts, but it is
thought not desirable or advisable to do so. The suspension would be provided
with the same contact arrangement as heretofore described, and the lamp or
lamps would be lowered or pulled up back in position by means of ropes, cables,
or chains, with or without counterweights attached thereto, the circuit being
interrupted or open when the lamp leaves its contact attachment, and reinstated
again or electrically closed when the lamps being pulled back reaches its former
working position.
A spring latch or other locking arrangement is in this case provided for holding
the lamp in position, and as a security against the possibility of the braking of the
ropes, cables, or chains, to which the lamps are suspended.
Or when the height of the ceiling or the general disposition of the premises to be
lighted allows of it, the following arrangement may be resorted to:-
The wires conveying the current are led from the wall against the ceiling, and
either encased in a tube or not, to the lamp, which may be suspended by means of
a tube or solid rod or otherwise, but independent altogether from the ceiling.
The weight of the lamp may be balanced by one or more counterweights, the
chains of which passing over pulleys strongly attached to the ceiling or to a frame
acting as a ceiling plate, or the lamp may be held in position by means of ropes
or chains secured at the other ends, and a winch arrangement or some counter-
poises may be provided for working the lamp up and down.
When the lamp so arranged is lowered by pulling it down against the direct
counterweights, or by paying the suspending rope or chain out, the wires running
against the ceiling, and which may be encased or not, will follow the lamp in its
descent, oscillating round the angle made by the wall with the ceiling, at which
place the wires or pipe encasing them are firmly fixed, but allowing for the
possibility of so oscillating; and the junction of the horizontal portion of the
wires near the ceiling with the vertical portion of the said wires running between
the ceiling and the lamp being a joint will allow the said lamp to be pulled down
to any position and pulled back again to its working or any desired position.
During these operations the conducting wires are never disturbed with the
exception of a slight bending at the two angles, one of which becomes reduced and
the other increased during the downwards movement of the lamp, and vice versa,
during its upwards movement.
The contact arrangements described at the beginning may also be dispensed
with by allowing the conducting wires to run on pulleys suitably arranged for the
purpose, the connections being done and undone in a convenient position along the
wall of the room to allow the wires of following the lamp in its downwards and
upwards motion, and the ropes or chains working the lamp being either acted
directly upon or by means of a winch or counterweights, either direct or running
against the wall, or any other suitable device or appliance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Jules Albert Berly and David Hulett in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th May 1881.
JULES ALBERT BERLY, Civil and Electrical Engineer, of No. 9, Relf Road,
Peckham Rye, in the County of Surrey, and DAVID HULETT, Gas Engineer and
Manufacturer, of 55, High Holborn, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC
LAMPS AND APPARATUSES CONNECTED THEREWITH."
The object of the Invention is to construct the apparatuses for suspending or
supporting electric lamps, so as to enable the said electric lamps (either when alight
or not) to be pulled down, detached, or dropped to be regulated, replenished, or
otherwise attended to, and pushed back or readjusted to their former or any
required position, the said lamps being either alight or ready for lighting or
otherwise.
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 shall refer
to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings, the same letters of
reference indicating corresponding parts in the various Figures of the same
Drawing.
Fig. 1 is an elevation or general view of a certain disposition of the Patent
apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the said apparatus.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through C, D, of the said apparatus.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the said apparatus, the cover being removed.
Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through E, F.
Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through C, H, and plan.
a is a flat bar of metal or other substance, and to which the electric lamps as
well as the sliding and moveable parts are attached.
a might be a round bar or a tube of any desired form.
Instead of being a flat bar,
b shows the attachement of the lamp by its coronet, pendants, or other suspending
or supporting arrangement to the piece a.
c is a piece of ebonite or other insulating material attached to the top of central
rod a by means of the key d, the piece c might be screwed on a or fixed to it in
any other manner.
d, key attaching the piece c to the rod at.
e, cover, in ebonite or other insulating material, pressing on the two conductor
springs g, which they maintain in position by means of the bolts and nuts f.
f, bolts and nuts securing the conductor springs g in position.
g, conductors connecting the circuit wires attached to terminals n to the electric
lamps by means of the strips of metal j, against which they are made to press,
and sliding up and down are always in electric communication with the said
strips, conveying therefore the currents from terminals n to the electric lamps
by means of the intermediate strips of metal ; and the conducting wires h, and
thus in whatever position of the moveable or sliding portion of the apparatus.
h, conducting wires attached to the bolts f, and conveying the currents from con-
tact pieces to the lamps.
j, strips of metal electrically connected with terminals n, and against which the
friction pieces, or springs, or electric collectors always press in the upwards or
downwards motion of the sliding or moveable part.
k, slips of wood or other non conducting material attached to outside tube m
in the manner shewn in n, Fig. 4, or in any other manner, and to which the stripsj
are attached, as shewn in m, Fig. 4.

page_text: m, outside tube encasing the whole arrangement and attached to the ceng
plate.
n, terminals fixed on ceiling plate, from which they are insulated and receiving
the circuit wires.
p, cover at end of tube, and in which a slot is managed to allow of the passing
of the rod a and conducting wires h, and at the same time acting as a guide to the
sliding portion of the apparatus.
q, india rubber buffer to prevent the lamp knocking against bottom p of sus-
pension arrangement in the upwards motion.
r, india rubber buffer to prevent knocking of the lamp against cover 2 in the
downwards motion.
t, iron washer, against which the key u knocks in the sliding portion's down-
wards motion.
u, key across rod a, and extending to the outer tube and acting as a guide to
the top of sliding or moveable portion of the apparatus.
v, bottom of rod a, and to which the chains are attached.
x, chains attached to bottom piece v, and receiving at their other ends the
counterbalancing weights, keeping the whole of the sliding portion with its attached
electric apparatus in constant equilibrium.
y, pulleys over which the chains are running.
It will readily be seen from the foregoing description that in whatever position
of the sliding portion of the apparatus the currents from the circuit wires attached
to the terminals n, Fig. 2, will be conveyed to the strips of metal j and collected
by the friction pieces g, from which through bolts f to which they are electrically
connected the said currents will be conveyed to the lamps by means of the con-
ducting wires which are attached to the heads of bolts f
The whole apparatus being enclosed it will be free from dust and not liable to
be damaged, therefore insuring a perfect regularity of working.
The strips can be made flat, or of any other cross sections or shapes, the
collecting pieces or springs being of a corresponding and convenient shape, and
there may be as many of them as may be required by the system of electric
lighting to which the said apparatus is applied, the said strips and their apper-
tainances not requiring to be of any particular sizes and the outer tube or casing m
being of any dimension whatever according to the requirements.
The strips g may also be made to only exist in the upper portion of the apparatus,
so that the electric communication would only exist or be reestablished when the
sliding part is or has been pushed back, so that the springs g come again in contact
with the strips j, and would be interrupted when it is pulled down and the friction
picces leave the strips j.
I
In this arrangement the process may if desired be reversed, and the strips belong
to the central part, the tube with its collecting picces sliding up and down.
Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of an other disposition or arrangement of the
said apparatus.
Fig. S is an outside view or elevation of the said apparatus.
Fig. 9 is a horizontal section through A, B, of the said apparatus.
Fig. 10 is a plan and horizontal section through C, D, of the said apparatus in
these Figures.
a are the terminals attached to the ceiling plates and insulated therefrom, and
to which the electric conductors are connected.
b, bushes of insulating material to insulate terminals a from ceiling plate.
c, washers of insulating material to insulate terminals a from ceiling plate.
d, conductors connecting terminals a to rods e, and insulated from cover g.
c, conducting rods fixed in an insulating block f and dipping into mercury
contained in tubes h.
f, block of insulating material fixed to cover g.
g, ceiling plate and cover.

page_text: h, tubes containing mercury and attached to the lower part of the sliding
apparatus.
i, bolts and nuts attaching the bottom part of sliding apparatus to tubes h.
, block of insulated material secured to top of tubes h.
m, guides secured to block and sliding in grooves cut in outer casing n, and
guiding the top of the sliding portion.
n, tube or outer casing enclosing the apparatus.
o, flanges belonging to top parts of tubes h.
p, india rubber buffers preventing the knocking of the top part of the sliding
apparatus against the bottom of the outer casing in the downwards motion.
q, india rubber buffers preventing the knocking of the bottom part of the sliding
apparatus against the bottom of the outer casing in the upwards motion.
7, india rubber cover fixed on top of block K with holes a little smaller than
diameter of rods e, and preventing the escaping of mercury out of tubes h.
8, bottom cover of apparatus.
t, washer of insulating material secured in casing n, and acting as a guide to the
bottom of sliding apparatus, also preventing tubes against touching any metallic
parts.
u, cover of insulating material resting on flanges v, and receiving the heads of
bolt i.
v, flanges belonging to bottom part of tubes h and isolated from bolts i.
x, block of insulating material in which are lodged the bottom of tubes h.
h, conductors of solid metal attached to bottom of tubes h, and in which the
lamp wires a are secured.
u, lamp wires.
3, picce supporting the whole of the sliding apparatus, and to which the chains
holding counterweights are attached.
It will be readily seen from the foregoing description, that in every position of
the sliding apparatus the rods e will always be dipping into the mercury contained
in the tubes h, and the currents from the circuit wires will be conveyed to the
lamp by means of the terminals a, the conductors d, the rods c, the tubes h through
the mercury contained therein, the conductors h, and the wires a.
Any number of such rods, tubes, and wires, may be used according to the
requirements of the system employed, and the arrangement may be such that the
electrical connection only exists when the sliding or moveable portion of the
apparatus is or has been pushed back into its working position at the top.
Now in this case, as in the case of the apparatus previously described, when the
height of the buildings, or of the rooms in which the apparatuses are fixed, and the
altitude in which the said apparatuses have to be fixed, are such that the lamp has
to be pulled down considerably more than the suspension rods are long, the outer
casing may be made of tubes telescoping into each other, and the suspending ropes,
cables, or chains, are then made to work in multiplying tackles instead of on a
single pulley.
The counterweights in every case may be made to be hanging outside or
concentrically to the suspending rod or tube, or to run against the walls by means
of intermediate pulleys.
When the lamps are not too far from the walls, it may also be arranged that the
wires conveying the current together with the lamps to which they are attached
can be pulled down, the weight of the lamps and appertainances being counter-
balanced by counterweights as before explained, and in this case the leading wire
may either be caused to travel on pulleys, in order to follow the lamps in their
descending motion, and for such purposes the wires may be encased in a rigid pipe
or otherwise, which would be against the ceiling when the lamp is in its working
position.
Or yet we may arrange so that the holding chains, ropes, cables, or wires are i
themselves the conductors.
In this case the terminals to which the circuit wires are attached are connected

page_text: with the suspension pulleys, and the current is conveyed from the said terminals to
the said chains, ropes, cables, or wires through the pin of the said pulleys, and to
the said pulleys themselves, the other end of the said chains, ropes, cables, or wires,
being attached to properly insulated terminals or conductors placed on the sliding
lamp, and electrically connected themselves with the terminals or poles of the
lamps.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, we would state that what we consider to be novel and original, and there-
fore claim as our Invention is,--
The arrangements described and illustrated, and by means of which one or any
number of electric lamps, regulators, candles, or other electric light giving or
producing device (by means of voltaic arc, incandescence, or otherwise) contained
into one lamp, conglomeration of lamps, or chandeliers, are suspended or supported so
that they may be pulled down, detached, or dropped from and at any height, either
being alight or not, for the purpose of regulating the height of the light, or of
replenishing, cleaning, or otherwise attending to the lamps, and pushed back or
readjusted into their former or any other position either being kept alight all the
while or not, according to the requirements of the cases.