AN INSTRU- MENT TO BE USED IN LIGHTING AND HOLDING MATCHES. OR VESTA LIGHTS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Albert Gatty, of Accrington, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "AN INSTRU-
MENT TO BE USED IN LIGHTING AND HOLDING MATCHES. OR VESTA LIGHTS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Albert Gatty
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th June 1856.
I, FREDERICK ALBERT GATTY, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN INSTRUMENT TO BE USED IN LIGHTING AND HOLDING MATCHES, OR
VESTA LIGHTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the use of a small tube, made of metal or other
material, into which the match or vesta light is put, leaving the head with the
combustible material to project. When the match or vesta light is intended to
be lit, the tube is held in the hand and the head is rubbed upon a rough
surface, as heretofore; and when it is burning, the match or vesta light is
partly pushed out of the tube by a small ram or piston. In some cases a stand
or block is attached to the ram or piston to hold the match or vesta light when
the same is required for sealing letters or other purposes.
In other cases the match or vesta light may be put in a short tube, and the
ram or piston dispensed with. In this case the match or vesta light is pushed
up the tube, while burning, by hand, the tube serving, as in the other cases, to
protect the fingers from the combustible matter, and to prevent the match or
vesta light from breaking or bending while being ignited.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Albert Gatty in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I; FREDERICK
ALBERT GATTY, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Frederick Albert Gatty, Her special license that I, the said Frederick Albert
Gatty, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederick Albert Gatty, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
INSTRUMENT TO BE USED IN LIGHTING AND HOLDING MATCHES OR VESTA LIGHTS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Albert Gatty,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their bands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Albert Gatty, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
The nature of my said Invention, of an instrument to be used in lighting and
holding matches or vesta lights, consists in the use of a small tube, made
of metal or other material, into which the match or vesta light is put, and
provided with a small ram or piston for pushing out the match or vesta light
while burning.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon.

page_text: Fig. 1 is a section of my improved instrument, consisting of a tube a, made
by preference of sheet metal; and a small ram or piston 6, made of metal wire
or other material, and fitting freely in the tube a. In using this instrument, the
match or vesta light is placed in the tube a, the head or combustible matter
projecting through the tube, as shown in Fig. 1; the match or vesta light
is then lighted by rubbing the head on a rough surface in the usual manner,
the tube serving to protect the fingers, and to prevent the match or vesta light
from breaking or bending while being ignited. When the match or vesta
light is ignited, it is gradually pushed through the tube, by pressing the end of
the ram or piston with the finger or otherwise, into the position shown in Fig. 2,
which represents the match or vesta light partly consumed.
In some cases the stand or block c is attached to the ram or piston b,
as shewn in Figs. 3 and 4, to hold the match or vesta light when the light is
required for sealing letters or for other purposes. The ram or piston b is in
both cases made with a slight head, and the lower end of the tube a is com-
pressed or contracted to prevent the tube slipping off.
Ilaving thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention, I wish
to remark that in my Provisional Specification I stated that "in some cases
"the match or vesta light may be put in a short tube and the ram or piston
dispensed with; in this case the match or vesta light is pushed up the tube,
"while burning, by hand." Since filing the said Provisional Specification
I have found out that this part of my Invention is not new, I therefore make
no claim thereto; but what I do claim is, the instrument to be used in lighting
and holding matches or vesta lights, consisting of the combination of the tube
a and the ram or piston b, as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Albert Gatty, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
F. A. GATTY. (L.B.)