IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRING SIGNAL AND OTHER LIGHTS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
ROBSON, of Park Road, Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, Operative
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of November, in the seventh year of
His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Robson, His especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I,- the said Thomas Robson, my exors, adiňors, and assigns,,
or such others as I, the said Thomas Robson, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRING SIGNAL AND
OTHER LIGHTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Thomas Robson, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
ADDear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Robson, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to that description of signal and other lights which
are ignited by chemical means, and they being for the most part used on
board ship are required to be carried from place to place, and are liable to be
accidentally discharged in consequence of the chemical materials by which the
light is obtained, being, according to the present construction, so prominently
placed that the act of moving or shaking, even when packed, has been sufficient
to bring the chemical matters in contact, and thus produced light which has
discharged not only the individual instrument, but also those surrounding or
packed with the same, which is owing to the circumstance of the placing or
applying of the chemical materials, that they may be discharged by striking
the surface thereof against a hard substance, or by using the hard surface to
strike against the surface of the instrument.
Figure 1 represents a signal or other such light, contained in the case or
tube a, which is affixed to the stick or handle b, the materials for producing
the light being placed in the case or tube a. Chemical materials for firing
the same were, according to the former mode of construction, applied to the
upper surface as at c, by which the same was so prominent as readily to be
discharged by a blow. Now, the object of my Invention is to obtain safety
to such signal and other lights which are fired by the aid of chemical means
by placing the chemical matters in recesses out of the way of external action,
together with other means for separating the chemical matters one from
another, and with suitable instruments for discharging or firing the signal and
other lights, as hereafter described.
Figures 2 and 3 represent signal or other lights, having my improvements
applied thereto, they being partly in section, in order to show the placing of
the chemical materials. d, d, are holes or recesses into which the chemical
materials are placed, which, when brought in contact with each other,
produce light to the train or quick match e, which goes to the surface of the
materials for producing light, as is shown in the Drawing. f is a slit or
opening, into which is placed a plate of tin or other suitable material, which
divides the holes or recesses d, d, into two parts, and the chemical materials
being placed therein, are separated one from the other, and cannot be brought
together till the plate in the slit f is withdrawn. 9 is a screw, which is the

page_text: means I prefer for discharging or firing the signal or other light, though
other means may be resorted to. The chemical materials I prefer are two
parts of oxymuriate of potash and one part of sulphuret of antimoney, with
which I impregnate fibres of cotton or other material, and a small glass globule
of sulphuric acid. I have stated these materials because I believe them to be
the best, but there are many chemical matters, as is well known to chemists,
which will have a similar effect of producing light when brought in contact
with each other; but, as my Invention dees not relate to the materials
employed, I have named those now in common use for the purpose of signal
and such lights, not confining myself to the use of the same in carrying out
my Invention. h represents a glass globule or vessel, containing sulphuric
acid, there being a small portion of cotton, or other means of preventing the
glass globule being broken by movement against the side of the hole or recess.
i is the fibres of cotton, saturated as above stated, they being divided one from
the other as above described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would remark that the cases
or tubes a may be filled with any description of materials for producing various
coloured light, as is well understood; and I would further remark, that
variations may be made in the shapes of the apparatus, and the arrangement
of the parts may be varied without departing from my Invention, but I believe
the mode above described to be the best.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Robson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
THOMAS (L.S.) ROBSON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of May,
in the year of our Lord 1887, the aforesaid Thomas Robson came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.