Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Oct., 1895-Accepted, 25th Apr., 1896

page_text: perforations 6 for the accommodation of sleeves 7, 7, or porcelain or other suitable
insulating material, through which a conducting bar C passes. To prevent the
sleeves 7 from turning they are provided with ribs 7 to enter recesses 7° in the
walls of the perforations 6.
The bar C projects somewhat beyond the outer ends of the insulating sleeve and
is provided at both ends with metallic collars 7°, whereby to prevent its longitudinal
movement in said sleeves. The insulating sleeves 7 are made at their cuds with
collars or flanges 8, 9, between which metallic collars 10 are located, each of said
collars 10 being made in two parts, provided with perforated lugs 11, for the
reception of screws 12 or other fastening devices. The under part of each collar 10
is made with a contact arm 13 which projects laterally beyond the end of the
conducting bar C, and on each arm 13 a socketed boss or binding post 14 is cast
for the reception of the electric conductors connected with the terminals of the
lamp, the conductors being secured in said bosses or binding posts by means of
screws or otherwise.
Insulators 15 of porcelain or other suitable material are secured to the arms a of
the base A, and preferably electrically separated therefrom by means of strips 16
of mica or other insulating material. Between each pair of insulators 15 a metallic
plate or bar 17 is disposed, its ends being made to enter the grooves of the
insulators and bifurcated to partially embrace the same.
Each plate or bar 17 is made with an enlargement 18 having holes 19, 20, the
holes 19 being for the reception of the leading-in wires which are secured therein
by means of screws 21 or in any other suitable manner. The purpose of the
holes 20 will be hereinafter explained.
To each plate or bar 17 a contact spring 22 is secured. The upper ends of the
springs 22, at points in proximity to where they are secured to the plates or bars 17,
are bent to form loops 23, whereby to impart ample elasticity to them.
The contact springs 22 are made of some length and are adapted when the
lever B is in its lowest position to make contact with the ends of the conducting
bar C and thus short circuit the lamp and effectually shut the latter off from all
electrical connection. The lower ends of the contact springs are bent outwardly to
form curved lips 24 so that when the lever B is moved upwardly, the contact
arms 13 will engage said lips and force the springs 22 out of contact with the
conducting bar C and thus switch the lamp into circuit. The lever B is made with
an arm or shank 25 which projects beyond the edge of the base plate and through
a yoke 26 depending from the base plate, by means of which yoke the downward
movement of the lever is limited. The arm or shank 25 is made in its under face
with a groove whereby to form a lip 27, adapted, when the lever is raised to switch
the lamp into circuit, to engage a shoulder 28 on the yoke 26 and thus retain the
lever in position to maintain the arms 13 in contact with the springs 22. In order
to provide ready means for operating the lever to cut the lamp into and out of
circuit and avoid danger incident to the use of laterally movable switch levers,
which are, in most cases, operated by means of a long pole, I secure to the free
end of the arm or shank 25 of the lever B, a cup-shaped or dished block 29, of
wood or other suitable material, into which the end of a pole can be placed. If
it be desired to raise the lever so as to cut the lamp out of circuit, the operator
will place the end of a pole in the dished block 29 and push upwardly and slightly
laterally so as to cause the engagement of the lip 27 with the shoulder 28.
the lever is to be lowered, the operator will push upwardly against the dished
block so as to raise the lip 27 off of the shoulder 28; whereupon the lever will be
moved laterally by means of one of the contact springs 22. The removal of the
pole will now permit the lever to drop and the lamp will be then switched out of
circuit. In order to permit the lateral movement of the lever necessary to cause
the engagement of the lip 27 and shoulder 28, the hole in one of the arms 5 of the
lever through which the hinge pin passes, is made slightly elongated, and said hinge
pin passes loosely through the hole in the other arm 5.
When
The contact arms 13 are preferably rounded at their ends so as to make proper

page_text: contact with the curved lips on the contact springs without undue friction and said
contact springs are so disposed relative to the arms 13 and the conducting bar that
when the lever B is moved in one direction or the other they will make electrical
contact with one part before breaking contact with the other part and thus avoid
sparking between said contact springs, arms and bar.
From the construction and arrangement of parts above described it will be seen
that when the lever B is moved upwardly and the contact arms 13 force the contact
springs 22 out of contact with the conducting bar C, so as to switch the lamp into
circuit, the air gap between the springs 22 and the ends of the conducting bar C,
will be quite short. Now should there be any defect in the mechanism of the lamp
so that the carbons will not properly feed and in consequence thereof the lamp shall
becoine "open circuited," the only path left for the current will be through said
gaps and ares will therefore be found between the contact springs and the en:ls of
the conducting bar. The heat from these arcs will act to fuse or soften portions
of the springs, but portions only. Said springs being made quite long and being
provided near their upper ends with loops, the said upper portions of the springs
will maintain their elasticity and the lower fused or softened portions will, by means
of such elasticity of the upper portions of the springs, be forced into contact with
the conducting bar C and the short circuiting of the lamp will become complete
and the arcs above mentioned destroyed. In order to prevent the continuance of
the arcs between the contact springs and conducting bar for such a length of time
as to unduly shorten the contact springs so as to render the latter of insufficient
length to reach the conducting bar, and to insure the prompt engagement of the
contact springs with the conducting bar as soon as the former shall have become
sufficiently pliable to bend, 1 prefer to employ a supplemental spring 31 behind
tach contact spring. 22 and to so bend the springs 31 that they will tend to force
the contact springs against the conducting bar. Under ordinary circumstances
these supplemental springs may not be found necessary, but they act as safe-guards
in case of defects in the construction of the device and when the contact springs
are not of proper length.
Should the lamp become open-circuited and the contact springs be rendered
defective and useless as above explained, neither the lamp nor the switch devices
can be again operated until they shall have been repaired, and during this operation
the hanger board and lamp must be cut out of circuit. For this purpose the
holes 20 in the enlargements 18 are provided for the reception of the ends of a
wire loop. Thus it will be seen that the mechanism of the lamp can be repaired
and the contact springs 22 replaced by new ones without the necessity of removing
either the lamp or the hanger board.
Some arc lamps are not suspended by means of the chimney but are provided
with hooks 32 on the frame of the lamp and rods connected with these hooks, as
shown in Figure 6. When my improved hanger board is to be used to support
such lamps, the sockets in the bosses or binding posts 14 may be screwthreaded for
the reception of the screw threaded upper ends of said rods, which latter are
electrical conductors.
Numerous slight changes might be made in the details of construction of my
invention without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting its scope and hence
I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details of construction herein shown
and described, but,
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the sume is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a stationary
part and contact springs secured thereto, and adapted to be connected with the
line, of a movable part, contact arms carried by the movable part and adapted to
be electrically connected with the lamp and to engage said contact springs to
include the lamp in circuit and a conducting bar carried by the movable part and

page_text: adapted to be engaged by said contact springs to short circuit the lamp,
substantially as set forth.
2nd. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a fixed part and
a movable part, of contact springs on the fixed part, a short-circuiting conducting
bar carried by the movable part and adapted to be engaged by said contact
springs, and contact arms carried by the movable part and adapted to be electri-
cally connected with the lamp, said contact arms being constructed and adapted, to
engage the contact springs and force them out of contact with the short-circuiting
conducting bar and include the lamp in circuit, substantially as set forth.
3rd. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a fixed part and
a movable part, of a conducting bar carried by the movable part, contact arms
carried by the movable part and projecting beyond the ends of the conducting bar,
and contact springs on the stationary part adapted to engage the contact arms and
the ends of the conducting bar successively as the movable part is moved,
substantially as set forth.
4th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a stationary
part and a movable part, of depending contact springs on the stationary part
adapted to be connected with the line, a conducting bar carried by the movable
part between said contact springs, contact arms on the movable part projecting
beyond the ends of the conducting bar and adapted to force the contact springs
away from the ends of the conducting bar so as to form air gaps between said
springs and bar, and means for electrically connecting said contact arms with the
lamp, said contact springs being so constructed that should the lamp be open
circuited so that arcs will be formed in said air gaps between the contact springs
and conducting bar, the contact springs will fuse or soften at one point and retain
sufficient resilience at another point to force themselves into contact with the
conducting bar and short circuit the lamp, substantially as set forth.
5th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a fixed part and
a movable part, contact arms on the movable part, a conducting bar carried by the
movable part, plates secured to and insulated from the stationary part and contact
springs having loops near their upper ends, secured to said plates and adapted to
engage said contact arms and conducting bar, substantially as set forth.
6th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a fixed part and
a movable part, of a conducting bar carried by the movable part, contact arm3
carried by the movable part, and contact springs secured to the fixed part and
adapted to engage said contact arms and conducting bar successively and supple-
mental springs constructed and adapted to force the contact springs against the
conducting bar when portions of said contact springs become fused or softened on
account of an are between them and the conducting bar, substantially as set forth.
7th. In a hanger board for electric lamps the combination with a base plate and
a lever pivotally connected thereto, of switch devices mounted on said base plate
and lever, a yoke through which the end of the lever projects and for which it
constitutes a stop to limit its downward movement, and a shoulder on the yoke to
be engaged by the lever to retain the latter in its elevated position, substantially
as set forth.
8th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate and
a lever pivotally connected thereto so as to have slight lateral play, of switch
devices mounted on said base and lever, a yoke through which the lever projects,
a lip on the lever and a shoulder at the upper end of the yoke to receive said lip
and retain the lever elevated, substantially as set forth.
9th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate and
a lever pivotally connected thereto, of switch devices mounted ou said base and
lever, means for limiting the downward movement of the lever, means for retaining
the lever in its elevated position, and a cup-shaped or dished block secured to the
free end of said lever, substantially as set forth.
10th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate, a
lever pivotally connected thereto and insulators arranged in pairs at opposite sides

page_text: of said lever, of metallic plates connected between the insulators of each pair,
contact springs secured to and depending from said metallic plates, binding posts
integral with said metallic plates for the reception of the line wires, and contact
arms carried by the lever and adapted to engage said depending contact springs,
substantially as set forth.
11th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate
and a lever pivotally connected thereto, of insulators secured to the base plate and
having grooved walls, plates disposed between said insulators and having bifurcated
ends to enter said grooves, contact springs secured to said plates and depending
therefrom and contact devices carried by said lever and adapted to be engaged by
said contact springs, substantially as set forth.
12th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate
and a bifurcated lever pivotally connected to said base plate, switch devices
mounted on said base plate and lever and adapted to be connected respectively
with the line and the lamp, and a hooked arm secured to the base and depending
therefrom through said bifurcated lever, substantially as set forth.
13th. In a hanger board for clectric lamps, the combination with a base plate
and a lever pivotally connected thereto, of insulating sleeves mounted in said lever,
a conducting bar passing through said insulating sleeves and contact springs
secured to the base plate and adapted to engage the ends of said bar, substantially
as set forth.
14th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate
and a lever pivotally connected thereto, of transverse insulating sleeves carried by
said lever, collars on said sleeves, contact arms projecting from said collars and
adapted to be connected with the terminals of the lamp and contact springs on the
base plate adapted to engage said contact arms, substantially as set forth.
15th. In a banger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate
and a lever pivotally connected thereto, of transverse insulating sleeves carried by
said lever, metallic collars secured to said sleeves, contact arms projecting laterally
from said collars, binding posts depending from said contact arms for the reception
of the conductors to the lamp, and springs on the base plate adapted to engage said
contact arms, substantially as set forth.
16th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate
and a lever pivotally connected thereto, of transverse insulating sleeves carried by
said lever, a conducting bar passing through said sleeves, collars on the outer ends
of said insulating sleeves, metallic collars between the insulating collars, contact
arms projecting laterally from said metallic collars, and contact springs on the base
plate adapted to engage said contact arms and conducting bar successively,
substantially as set forth.
17th. In a hanger board for electric lamps, the combination with a base plate
and a lever pivotally connected thereto, of contact arms carried by and insulated
from the lever, means for electrically connecting said contact arms with the
terminals of the lamp, a transverse conducting bar carried by and insulated from
the lever, plates secured to and insulated from the base plate, springs secured to
said plates and adapted to engage the contact arms and the ends of the conducting
bar successively and two binding posts on each of said insulated plates, one binding
post on each plate being for the reception of leading-in wire, and the other binding
posts on said plates being for the reception of the ends of a loop wire around the
hanger board and lamp, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 1st day of October 1895.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18 Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Agents to Applicant.