Improvements in Lamps for use as Signals at Sea and on Railways and the like.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 9th June, 1890-Accepted, 30th Aug., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lamps for use as Signals at Sea and on Railways
and the like.
I, ALFRED JOHN LOFTUS, F.R.G.S. of Bangkok, in the Kingdom of Siam, do
hereby declare the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS FOR USE
AS SIGNALS AT SEA AND ON RAILWAYS AND THE LIKE" and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My invention relates to construction of lamps for ships side lights, mast head lights,
railway signal lamps and the like, more particularly such as are, or are intended to be
fitted with the improved glycerine-containing lenses described in the Specification the
invention for which provisional protection has been granted to me and Arthur Gorton
Angier dated October 25th 1889 No. 16,874, and has for its object the more perfect
protection of the flame from wind and water when either or both of these may be
driven against the outside of the lantern, the more perfect ventilation of the lamp, and
arrangements for keeping the various parts of the lamp cool, or from becoming unduly
heated, and collateral or consequent and other minor improvements whereby the
efficiency and safety (more particularly as regards constancy) of the lamp are
increased.
In order to make my invention fully understood I will first describe a lamp intended
as a ship's side light constructed according to my invention and will afterwards describe
a railway signal-lamp embodying the same features with such modifications as the
differences of the case require and shall for the purposes of such description refer to
the accompanying sheets of drawings forming part of this my Specification and to the
letters and figures marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a horizontal section taken on the dotted line w. a. shewn in fig. 2 of a
lamp intended as a ship side light. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line y. z.
in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same. Figs. 4 and 4 shew the application to
the lamp of a lens with a prism-like flange described in my said former Patent. Fig. 5
is a plan of the lens in its frame removed from the lamp. Figs. 6 and 6ª are sectional
drawings on a larger scale of part of the lens and frames. Figs. 7 and 7° are plans
partly sectional, and Figs. 5 and 8" elevations, partly in section, of another forin of
lens described and claimed in my said previous Patent, and applicable to the lamp now
being described.
A indicates the oil-holder which is cylindrical in form and fits through a hole in the
floor B of the lamp, on which it rests and is supported by a projecting rim a.
The
lower part of the oil-holder is therefore below the floor of the lamp and is exposed to
the cooling influence of the external air. The burner is preferably of the kind known
Argand those known as Cosmos" answer well. C is the reflector which is
mounted on a support Crising from the upper surface of the oil-holder. The reflector
is cut away at top and bottom to make room for the chimney and thus allow of the
flame being brought sufficiently near the surface of the reflector.
as
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The whole of these parts admit of being rotated in the lantern so that the face of
the reflector may be turned towards the door 1) of the lamp whereby the wick is
rendered easily accessible for the purpose of being trimmed or the like- and 2 are
stems projecting from the side of the oil-holder and engaging with retaining springs 1
and 63 when the lamp is in position for use, the stem is turned upwards and over so
as to form a loop which serves as a handle by which these parts may conveniently be
turned.
E, E, E, are tubes the lower ends of which open to the external air beneath the
lamp and which discharge cool air into the upper portion of it.
The lens frame F is attached to the body of the lantern by screws so as to admit of

page_text: the lens being easily replaced in case of accident to it and is shown removed from the
lamp in Fig. 5. is a screw stopper serving to close the opening through which
the lens is filled with glycerine. A groove may be provided in the lens frame as shewn
in Figs. 1, 2, and 4 into which may be introduced a curved sheet of colored glass j
in case of damage and loss of glycerine; j is a bolt for retaining such sheet of colored
glass in its place.
The various lenses, or cells, shown in the drawings are such as are described in my
said former Patent No. 16,874 that shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 6ª being made of
polished rolled plate glass, that in Figs. 4 and 4 being made with a front plate
cast with a prism-like flange and that shown in Fig. 7, 7, 8 and 8ª being bottle
lenses, or cells. In the drawings (Fig. 1) the lens or cell is shown having a curve
generated from a point a little behind the flame of the lamp, but better results may
be obtained by making the lens of a curve which is part of a circle having its
centre in the centre of the wick of the lamp, and I prefer to so construct my
lamps. Fig. 9 shows the contour of the reflector which I prefer to use and
which is the same as described in the Specification to my Patent No. 20023 of
December 12th 1889.
- The sides, door, and bottom, of the lantern are made double with an air space
between, perforations shown in the drawings being provided, by which currents of
air are, when the lamp is burning, admitted and conducted in the directions shown
by arrows; there are perforations through the inner skin of the door near the top
of it which are not shown in the drawings, and immediately behind the lens a row
of perforations (also not shown) extending the whole length of the lens; and in
the space under the lens a screen (not shewn in the drawings) is provided to
deflect and break the current of air, which might otherwise, if it were allowed to
pass straight in, impinge too directly on the burner. The upper part of the lantern
is made with a series of annular louvers or wind guards under and between which
and through openings provided for the purpose the heated air finds ready egress
as shown by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3. The innermost guard C is so placed
as to enclose the upper end of the glass chimney of the lamp, and is carried by
brackets and has its upper extremity covered and protected by a dome shaped
top which is attached to it by brackets c. Above this is another guard d
through and out of the top of which the hot air passes, some of it thence passing
down and through a series of holes in the casing e escapes under the edge of the
cap 3. Another portion of the hot air passes upwards through another guard g,
and then down through a series of holes in the casing e and escapes under the
edge of the cap h. The top of the lantern is furnished with a handle i of some
non-conducting material such as wood or leather.
Figs. 10 to 16 represent a railway signal lamp constructed according to this
invention, Fig. 10 is an elevation. Fig. 11 a longitudinal vertical section taken on
the dotted line y. in Fig. 12. Fig. 12 a horizontal section taken on the dotted
line . a in Fig. 11. Fig. 13, an elevation of the lamp taken out of the lantern.
Fig. 14 an elevation and Fig. 15 a plan of fittings for holding the bottle lens, and
Fig. 16 a bottle lens. The lamp for this purpose I prefer should be one with a flat
wick but it will be obvious that Argand burners may be used in such railway lamps
and that ship's lamps may be fitted with burners having flat wicks without in any way
departing from my invention.
The oil-holder A is cylindrical with a projecting rim a which rests on the floor of
the lantern and allows the bottom of the oil holder to project below the floor of the
lamp into the cool external air and the oil-holder may be secured in position and
prevented from being shaken out of its place by a bayonet-joint or retaining springs
such are shown in Fig. 1 and marked b, 63. The burner is encased in a metal
chimney I surmounted-by-a-cover- Eand-supported-in its place by-a-wire-band-k
which is capable of being slid up and down on the stem k¹ fixed on the upper part of
the oil-holder, by means of this sliding motion the band k may be raised when it is
desired to remove the chimney.
The metal chimney F is provided with two windows one on each side which are

page_text: covered by pieces of glass G held in place by their bevelled edges so that they may be
slipped out for cleaning. The spindle carrying the milled head by which the wick
is propelled is supported by means of a collar enclosing both the spindle and a fixed
arm m attached to the top of the oil-holder, and which collar may be slipped back into
the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 13 so as to allow the separation of
spindle and the arm in order to admit of the burner being removed from the oil-
holder. B is the floor of the lantern, perforated for ventilation. HH are bottle
lenses, or cells, one of which is shown separately in Fig. 16 and in its fittings in
Figs. 14 and 15. This bottle lens has preferably, its sides parallel and plane and is
intended to colour the light only, not to refract it, although it may be made convex if
desired. I, I, are the ordinary white glass bulls-eye lenses for rendering the emitted
rays parallel or nearly so. J, J, are the boxes or cells for the reception of the lenses.
n, n are india-rubber or leather pads or cushions preventing direct contact between the
edges of the hottle lens and its box. The box is closed at top by a sliding lid divided
into two pieces o, o. K is a handle for carrying the lamp, and L is the ordinary loop
for attaching the lamp to a signal post or the like. M is a cap covering the opening
at the top of the lamp and N is a cylindrical shield surrounding the outlet and
protecting it from the wind.
It will be obvious that such lamps may be made to show a light on one side only
and that instead of a lens on the opposite side it may be fitted with a reflector if
desired.
For some purposes I make the lamp without the usual glass bulls-eye and with the
glycerine lens placed more forward to take its place in which case I prefer to place an
annular rim reflector in front of the glycerino lens.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I desire it to be understood that I do
not claim as part of the present invention either the glycerine-containing lenses or
any of the parts comprise in my earlier inventions for which applications for Patents
have been made numbered respectively No. 16874 of 1889 and No. 20023 of 1889
although the same or some of them are represented in the drawings hereto, but I
declaro that what I claim is :
1. Lamps for ship's side lights, mast-head lights, railway and other signals and for
analogous purposes with arrangements for ventilating, the lamp and keeping it cool
substantially as herein before described and shown in the drawings.
2. Constructing such lamps with the bottom of the oil-holder projecting through
and below the floor of the lantern so as to be exposed to the cool external air
substantially as described and shown.
3. In marine signal lamps the arrangement enabling the lamp to be rotated so as to
admit of its being trimmed without the lamp being removed from the lantern
substantially as described and shown in the drawings.
4. The use in such lamps of air tubes E for the purpose of introducing cool air into
the upper part of the lamp substantially as described and shown.
5. Constructing lamps for ships' side lights mast head lights railway and other
signals and for analogous purposes with the arrangements for excluding wind and
water while admitting fresh air freely, consisting of the parts c, cl, c³, cª, d, e, ƒ³, g
and substantially as described and shown in the drawings.
6. The construction of lamps for use as ships side lights and mast head lights with
a lens mounted in a detachable frame so as to be easily removable and replaceable by
a duplicate in case of accident.
7. The construction of railway signal lamps substantially as described.
5. Constructing and fitting lamps for railway signals and analogous purposes with
glycerine-containing lenses which are independent of and additional to the ordinary
bulls-eye lenses substantially as described.
9. The arrangement as described in such lamps, of the holders or boxes for the
glycerine-containing lenses substantially as described.

page_text: 10. The metal chimney F with the glazed openings G the support and the
arrangement shown at 7, and m for fixing these parts all substantially as described
and shown.
11. Mounting the lenses of lamps such as described with a cushion of india rubber
or other cushion between the glass and the metal in order to lessen the liability of the
lens to breakage from external shocks or from expansion, substantially as described
and shown in the drawings.
Dated the Ninth day of June 1890.
ALFRED J. LOFTUS.