Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Oct., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 19th July, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 24th Aug, 1888
I, HENRY NICOLL, of 45 Warwick Street, Golden Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Outfitter, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improved mechanism for automatically extinguishing lamps
burning liquid hydrocarbons in the event of such lamps being overturned or unduly
tilted.
For this purpose I employ a lever one end of which is attached to the usual sliding
case forming the extinguisher of the lamp. I place round the axle of the lever, or in
any convenient position, a suitable spring which always tends to raise the extinguisher;
the other or tail end of the lever is adapted to catch into so as to be retained by one.
arm of a tripping lever pivotted to the gallery bracket, or other suitable part of the
lamp burner; a spherical or other suitably-shaped weight is attached by a chain or
cord to the other arm of the tripping lever, the said weight being supported upon a
bracket in such a manner that if the lamp be tilted out of the vertical the weight
will fall.
By this construction if the lamp be overturned or tilted the weight in falling will
trip the two armed lever and release the lever attached to the extinguisher; and the
spring will raise the extinguisher and extinguish the lamp.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lamps for Burning Liquid Hydro-carbons.
I, HENRY NICOLL, of 45, Warwick Street, Golden Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Outfitter, do hereby declaro 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 :--
This invention relates to improved mechanism for automatically extinguishing lamps
burning liquid hydrocarbons in the event of such lamps being overturned or unduly
tilted.
For this purpose I employ a lever or rod one end of which is adapted to operate or
is attached to the usual sliding case forming the extinguisher of the lamp. I place in
any convenient position, a suitable spring which always tends to raise the extinguisher;
the other or tail end of the lever or rod, is adapted to catch into, so as to be retained
by, one arm of a tripping lever pivotted to a suitable part of the lamp burner; a
spherical or other suitably-shaped weight is attached by a chain or cord to the other
arm of the tripping lever, the said weight being supported upon a bracket in such a
manner that if the lamp be tilted out of the vertical the weight will fall.
In order to enable my invention to be fully understood, I will proceed to describe
how it can be carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawing, in
which
Figure is a vertical section of a duplex lamp burner provided with my
improvements.
Figure 2 is a vertical section partly in elevation, the section being taken at a right
angle to figure 1.
Figure 3 is a plan of figure 1 but with the dome and gallery of the burner
removed.
Figure 4 is an elevation of a round wick lamp burner provided with my
improvements.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar or corresponding parts.
Referring to figures 1, 2, and 3 a, a, indicate the lever on one of the ends a of
which rests the connection 6 between the usual sliding cases c, c forming the
extinguishers of the lamp; the lever a, a' is pivotted at d to the vertical pieces e, e
fixed to the burner.
fis the spring which always tends through the lever a, a¹ to raise the extinguishers;
this spring is suitably coiled round the pivot d of the lever; one of its ends bears on
the burner and its other end on the underside of the end a of the lever which in this
manner is adapted to raise the extinguishers c, c.
9, g¹ indicate the two-armed tripping lever into one arm g of which the tail end a¹
of the lever a, a¹ is adapted to catch, so as to be retained thereby. The tripping lever
is pivotted to a bracket h on the burner.
is the weight attached by a chain ; to the arm g₁ of the tripping lever. The
weight is supported on the bracket by resting in a hole or depression therein in such
a manner that, if the lamp be tilted out of the vertical, it will fall and trip the two-
armed lever g, g¹.

page_text: k is an upright piece having a projection against which arms m, m fixed to the
loose flaps n, n of the extinguishers strike when the latter are raised, thereby ensuring
their closing over the wicks and extinguishing the light.
By this construction, in order to allow the lamp to be lit, the weight i must be in
the safety position on the bracket and the end a¹ of the lever a, a in engagement
with the arm g of the tripping lever g, gl, as shown by the full lines in the drawing,
when the extinguishers, e will be in their lowered position and the wicks can be set
alight. In the event of the lamp being overturned or tilted, the weight i in falling
will as herein before stated trip the two-armed lever g, g. By this means the lever
will be released and its front end a will consequently be forced upwards by the spring
and will raise the extinguishers and thereby put out the light, the hook-shaped end of
the lever catching over the connecting piece of the extinguishers and preventing
them from rising too high. The parts will then be in the position shown by the
dotted lines.
a'
When adapting my improvements to a round wick burner, as shown in figure 4, I
pivot the tripping lever g, g' to the wick tube A of the burner and instead of employing
a lever for raising the extinguisher as for the flat wick burner, I fix a rod a to the
sliding cylinder forming the extinguisher of the lamp. This rod has on its lower
end a pin o over which the hooked end g of the tripping lever is passed so as to keep
the extinguisher & down in which position the wick is uncovered. The spring fis
placed around the wick tube A and always tends to raise the extinguisher c and when
the latter in rising meets the cap or disc p, the lamp is extinguished. The action of
the weight i and tripping lever g, g' is the same as that hereinbefore described when
referring to figures 1, 2, and 3, and therefore no further description is required of this
arrangement.
With the object of cutting off communication between the burners and any
inflammable gas that might be in the container, I attach at the bottom of the burner
tube where it enters the container, a small metal case lined with a cloth made of
asbestos, cotton, or other material. The other end of the metal case is serrated or
split at short intervals forming small springs which press the cloth lining into close
contact with the wick whatever may be its size; the pressure is not sufficient to
impede the capillary action by which the oil is caused to rise and the cloth lining
assists this action.
By this construction when the lamp is filled, the cloth lining will become saturated
with oil and form a kind of packing which cuts, off all communication between any gas
that may be in the container and the burners and it will also hinder the escape of oil
through the burner tubes in case the lamp should be upset.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In mechanism for automatically extinguishing lamps burning liquid hydro-
carbons, the use of a tripping lever such as g, g' for retaining and releasing the lever,
rod, or its equivalent connected with or operating the extinguisher or extinguishers,
substantially in the manner herein before described.
2. The improved burners for lamps burning liquid hydro-carbons hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 10th day of July 1988
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.