IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS AND MATCH AND OTHER BOXES."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Ward Monck, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gentleman, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS AND
MATCH AND OTHER BOXES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Ward Monck at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th March 1880.
FRANCIS WARD MONCK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS AND MATCH AND OTHER BOXES."
My Invention consists, first, of the following method of constructing lamps,
whereby they are made self righting, that is, when by accident or otherwise they
have been upset or thrown out of the perpendicular they will if free to move
resume their normal or vertical position.
I make the bottom of the lamp nearly of a hemi-spherical figure, and of such a
weight relative to the upper part of the lamp and its contents that when the lamp
is deflected from a vertical position it tends to return to that position. In order to
give a greater stability to the lamp in its normal position than it would otherwise
have, I flatten that part of the hemispherical base which rests upon the table or
support when the lamp is in a vertical position.
My Invention consists further in constructing and arranging the parts of lamps,
so that they may be made to burn any given time, as one, two, three, or other
number of hours and then go out.
For this purpose I support the wick in a fixed position in the axis of a glass
graduated tube surmounting the closed reservoir of the lamp, and by the depression
of a small piston working in a cylinder on the reservoir the oil may be forced to
the desired beight in the graduated tube. When the wick is ignited the oil in the
tube gradually burns away and its level sinks, and eventually falling below the
bottom of the wick the supply ceases and the lamp goes out. The divisions on the
graduated tube indicate to what height the oil must be raised by the depression of
the piston in order that the lamp may burn a longer or shorter time.
Or the piston and cylinder may be dispensed with, and the tube carrying the
wick may be capable of sliding in the top of the reservoir. By raising or
lowering-the-wick tube, more or less, the time during which the lamp will burn

page_text: away may be adjusted. When by the combustion the level of the oil falls below
the bottom of the wick the lamp goes out.
My Invention consists further in the following construction and arrangement of
the parts of the small portable candle and other lamps called railway reading
lamps The caudle is contained in a tube and is pressed up by a spring in the
usual way. Upon the tube a gallery or glass holder slides, carrying a chimney or
glass guard. The bottom of the candle tube is fixed to the sliding bottom of a
cylindrical match box, the candle tube carrying near its middle a disc which
constitutes the cover of the match box. When the lamp is in its collapsed condition
the gallery holder rests upon the match box lid, and the latter closes the match box,
the whole having the form of a cylinder of the same diameter or nearly the same
diameter throughout. In order to light the candle the lid of the match box is
raised, a match taken out, the lid depressed, and the match struck on the rough
sliding bottom of the match box. The candle having been lighted the gallery of
the glass chimney is raised, and the glass chimney is thereby raised and protects
the flame. A metal cover may be placed upon the glass chimney, the said cover
having one or more perforations through which alone the light will pass, the
unperforated parts constituting a reflecting surface, which augments the light
passing through the perforations. The opening and closing of the match box may
be effected by a spring snap fastening.
The several improvements described may be combined in one lamp, that is, the
self righting base and reservoir, the match box and sliding gallery and glass
chimney, and either of the arrangements described for effecting the extinguishing
of the lamp after the lapse of a certain time.
The match box hereinbefore described may be used apart from the lamp and for
purposes other than the holding of matches."

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Francis Ward Monck in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
September 1880.
FRANCIS WARD MONCK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS AND MATCH AND OTHER BOXES."
My Invention consists, first, of the following method of constructing lamps,
whereby they are made self righting, that is, when by accident or otherwise they
have been upset or thrown out of the perpendicular they will, if free to move,
resume their normal or vertical position.
I make the bottom of the lamp nearly of a hemi-sperical figure, and of such a
weight relative to the upper part of the lamp and its contents that when the lamp
is deflected from a vertical position it tends to return to that position. In order to
give a greater stability to the lamp in its normal position than it would otherwise
have I flatten that part of the hemi-spherical base which rests upon the table or
support when the lamp is in a vertical position.
My Invention consists further in constructing and arranging the parts of lamps
so that they may be made to burn any given time, as one, two, three, or other
number of hours and then go out.
For this purpose I support the wick in a fixed position in the axis of a glass
graduated tube surmounting the closed reservoir of the lamp, and by the depression
of a small piston working in a cylinder in the reservoir the oil may be forced to
the desired height in the graduated tube. When the wick is ignited the oil in the
tube gradually burns away and its level sinks, and eventually falling below the
bottom of the wick the supply ceases and the lamp goes out.
The divisions on the
graduated tube indicate to what height the oil must be raised by the depression of
the piston in order that the lamp may burn a longer or shorter time.
Or the piston and cylinder may be dispensed with, and the tube carrying the wick
may be capable of sliding in the top of the reservoir. By raising or lowering the
wick tube, more or less, the time during which the lamp will burn may be
adjusted. When by the combustion the level of the oil falls below the bottom of
the wick the lamp goes out.
My Invention consists further in the following construction and arrangement of
the parts of the small portable candle and other lamps called railway reading
lamps: The candle is contained in a tube and is pressed up by a spring in the
usual way. Upon the tube a gallery or glass holder slides carrying a chimney or
glass guard. The bottom of the candle tube is fixed to the sliding bottom of a
cylindrical match box, the candle tube carrying near its middle a disc which
constitutes the cover of the match box. When the lamp is in its collapsed condition
the gallery holder rests upon the match box lid and the latter closes the match box,
the whole having the form of a cylinder of the same diameter or nearly the same
diameter throughout.
In order to light the candle the lid of the match box is raised, a match taken out,
the lid depressed, and the match struck on the rough sliding bottom of the match box.
The candle having been lighted the gallery of the glass chimney is raised, and the
glass chimney is thereby raised and protects the flame. A metal cover may be
placed upon the glass chimney, the said cover having one or more perforations
through which alone the light will pass, the unperforated parts constituting a
a reflecting surface which augments the light passing through the perforations.
The several improvements described may be combined in one lamp, that is, the
self-righting base and reservoir, the match box and sliding gallery and glass

page_text: chimney, and either of the arrangements described for effecting the extinguishing
of the lamp after the lapse of a certain time.
The match box herein before described may be used apart from the lamp and
for purposes other than the holding of matches.
I will will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation and Figure 2 in vertical section the body or
lower part of a self righting lamp constructed according to my Invention. The
said body or lower part a has a nearly hemispherical figure, and its base is so
weighted at.b that when the lamp is deflected from a vertical position it tends to
return to that position. The underside of the base is flattened at c in order to
give greater stability to the lamp when it is in its normal or upright position. In
small lamps the hemispherical base or bottom a may be combined with a hemi-
spherical top part to form the oil reservoir of the lamp, and the wick holder or
burner may be screwed into the mouth of the said oil reservoir, as represented, but
in both small and large lamps the upper part of the body of the lamp may have
any desired figure given to it, the hemi-spherical and self righting bottom a, b,
being preserved.
Figure 3 represents in vertical section a time or night lamp, that is, a lamp made
to burn any given length of time, constructed according to my Invention. & is the
wick holder supported by the glass graduated tube e surmounting the closed oil
reservoir f of the lamp, the wick dipping into the oil supplied to the said graduated
tube e.
The glass tube e is graduated with five (or other) divisions so as to fit the
lamp to burn either one or more hours; that is, the divisions on the graduated
tube indicate to what height the oil must be raised in it in order that the lamp
may burn a given length of time.
g is a cylinder in the oil reservoir f, in which cylinder a piston h works. The
rod of the piston passes through a stuffing box in the upper part of the reservoir,
and is provided with a head for working it. The bottom of the cylinder g is in
communication with the bottom of the graduated tube e by the pipe k. In the top
of the pipe is a seat in which a ball valve, opening upwards, seats itself to
prevent the return of the oil which has been forced into the graduated tube e.
The oil reservoir f is filled with oil by removing the screw stopper m. When it is
wished to charge the lamp for burning, say, three hours, the piston h is raised in
its cylinder g by means of the head of the piston rod. As the piston rises oil
enters the cylinder g by the valve n at its bottom, and as the piston descends the
valve at the bottom of the cylinder closes. The oil in the cylinder is thereby
forced up the connecting pipe % (lifting the valve from its seat at 1) into the
graduated tube e until the said oil has reached the graduation III., as indicated in
the Drawing. On raising the piston h the valve 7 closes and prevents the return of
the oil into the cylinder. When the wick of the lamp is lighted the oil in the
tube e gradually burns away and its level sinks, and eventually falling below the
bottom of the wick the supply ceases and the lamp goes out after having burnt
three (or other number of) hours, according to the level to which the oil had been
raised in the tube e.
The valve and its seat at 7 may be dispensed with, and the connecting pipe k
from the cylinder may pass nearly to the top of the graduated tube e, which has a
closed bottom, so that the oil forced into the said tube e cannot return to the
reservoir. This modification is represented in Figure 4, where the prolongation of
the connecting pipe k from the cylinder is marked k².
Or the separate piston and piston rod represented in Figure 3 may be dispensed
with, and the graduated tube e be made capable of rising and falling so as to fill it
more or less with oil from the reservoir. This modification is represented in
Figure 5, where e is the graduated glass tube, to the bottom of which a metal pipe p
and having
is fixed, the said pipe p working in a stuffing box in the oil reservoir
at its bottom a piston q moving in the said oil reservoir When the graduated

page_text: tube e is depressed the piston q is made to descend in the oil reservoir r, and
oil from the said reservoir is forced into the graduated tube e to the desired
height.
Figures 6 and 7 represent in elevation a railway reading lamp constructed
according to my Invention, Figure 6 showing the parts of the lamp in their
collapsed state, and Figure 7 the same after the lamp has been lighted, and the
chimney or glass raised to protect the flame; Figure 8 represents the lamp after
the match box has been opened, the match box being represented in section; t is
the candle tube, the candle in which is pressed up to its nozzle by a coiled spring
as usual; or instead of a candle oil or spirit may be burned in the lamp. Upon
the candle tube t is a metal gallery u carrying the chimney or glass guard v.
To
the bottom of the candle tube t a sliding tubular match box x is fixed, the said
match box working in the outer case y open at top and bottom; at about the
middle of the candle tube u is a disc u², which constitutes the cover of the match
box. When the parts are in the collapsed position represented in Figure 6 the
lamp is ready for transit, the gallery holder u resting on the match box lid u², and
the said lid closing the top of the match box x. To light the lamp the match box x
is raised in the case y by pressing upon the bottom of the match box through the
open bottom of the case, as illustrated in Figure 8. The heads of the matches are
thereby exposed above the top of the case y, and a match may be taken out and
the lid again depressed, and the match struck on the rough bottom of the match
box x.
The candle (or oil lamp) having been lighted the gallery u carrying the
glass chimney is raised on the candle tube t into the position represented in
Figure 7, so as to protect the flame.
Figure 9 represents the match box used apart from the lamp, the said box being
represented open for removing a match from the box.
The match box proper and its case may be made rectangular instead of cylindrical,
and the case may have a closed bottom instead of being open, the match box being
lifted in the case for gaining access to the matches by passing the finger through
a side opening in the case, and acting upon the inner bottom of the match box.
This arrangement is represented in section in Figure 10, and elevation in
Figure 11, where x is the cylindrical or angular match box sliding in the case y,
the said case having a closed bottom y³, and y³ is the opening in the case y through
which the finger is passed for lifting the match box, as represented in the Drawing;
or the match box may be closed by the action of a spring or springs, as illustrated
Figures 12, 13, 14, and 144.
In the arrangement Figure 12 the coiled spring b is situated around a rod c fixed
to the cover u², and to the bottom of the match box x, the said spring b taking an
abutment at top against the middle of the cross bar or wire d fixed to the case y,
and at bottom against the bottom of the match box x; e, e, are slots made in the
match box to permit it to work upon the fixed cross bar or wire d. When the
lid u2 is raised to open the box the spring b is compressed, and when the pressure
is removed from the bottom the latter takes the position represented by the action
of the compressed spring b, and the match box is closed.
Or instead of a central coiled spring a coiled spring at opposite sides of the box
may be employed, as illustrated in Figure 13, were the coiled springs are marked
ff. In this arrangement the coiled springs f, f, are situated around the wires or
rods g, g, fixed by their bent ends to the outer case y. Slots are made in the sides
of the match box x, and holes in the bottom of the said match box x to work upon
the fixed rods or wires g, g. Instead of the lower bent ends of the wires g, g, heads
or enlargements may be made on the lower ends of the wires to limit the descent
of the match box in the case y. Or a coiled spring may be situated between the
outer case y and the sides of the match box x, as illustrated in Figure 14, where
the spring is marked h. When the lid u² is raised the spring his compressed
between the annular shoulder i on the rising match box and the annular shoulder
k on the stationary case y, as illustrated in the Drawing.

page_text: Figure 144 represents an arrangement in which the coiled spring / is situated
between the bottom of the match box x and the closed bottom of the case y, the
said spring being elongated when the lid u² is raised to open the box. The lifting
of the lid u from the case is effected by a stud m passing through and working in
a slot n in the side of the case, or by the finger passed through an opening in the
side of the case y.
Figure 15 represents a rectangular match or other box made according to my
Invention, in which the box is uncovered at the side instead of at the top by
depression of a spring sliding cover.
In the said Figure 15, p is the body of the box, and q is the sliding cover forming
one side of the box, and consisting of a plate the vertical edges of which slide in
grooves, one of which is marked 22 in opposite sides of the body of the box. The
ends of the sliding cover q are turned at right angles and carry a rod r, around
which is a coiled spring ². One end of this spring takes a bearing against the
bottom of the box and the other end against the angle piece at the top of the
sliding cover q When the sliding cover q is depressed, as represented in Figure 15,
the body p of the box is opened, as shown at p³, and a match may be removed
from the box, the depression of the cover compressing the coiled spring ². On
removing the pressure from the cover q the said cover is raised into its closed position
by the action of the spring r²; or instead of the lid ends being turned inwards
the wire may be bent outwards at its ends and the bent ends be fastened to the
lid q. Or the rod, around which the coiled spring works, may be fixed to the body
of the box, as represented in Figure 16, and a single shoulder or abutment be made
on the sliding cover for the spring to bear against. When this cover is depressed
its shoulder works upon the fixed rod or wire 8, as illustrated in the Drawing.
Or the arrangement represented in Figure 17 may be used. In this arrangement
the coiled spring t2 is fixed to the bottom p² of the body of the box and to the
angle piece at the bottom of the sliding cover q, so that when the cover is
depressed to open the box the coiled spring t is elongated, the return of the spring
to its normal shape closing the box.
Or a bow spring may be employed, as illustrated in Figure 18. In this arrange-
ment the sliding cover q has an abutment piece 93 which bears upon the bow
spring u, which spring rests on the bottom of the body p of the box. When the
cover q is depressed the bow spring u is flattened, the return of the spring to its
normal figure closing the box.
The several arrangements of the parts of match boxes represented in combination
with railway reading lamps may be used alone for holding matches and other
small articles, and the several boxes described and represented may be combined
with railway reading lamps.
The self righting arrangement of the lamps represented in Figures 1 and 2 may
be applied to my improved time or night lamps and to my improved railway
reading lainps. When applied to railway reading lamps the opening of the match
boxes is effected by a side arrangement of the cover, as described with respect to
the separate match or other boxes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
of "Improvements in Lamps and Match and other Boxes,"―
First. The improvement in constructing the bottoms of lamps so as to inake them
self righting, herein before described and illustrated with respect to Figures 1 and 2
of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, giving the bottom or lower part of
the body of the lamp a nearly hemi-spherical figure, and making it of such a
weight relative to the upper part of the lamp and its contents, that when the lamp
is deflected from a vertical position it tends to return to that position.
Secondly. The construction and combination of the parts of time lamps, or lamps
made to burn a given length of time, herein before described and illustrated in
Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, the combination

page_text: with a glass graduated tube, the divisions on which indicate to what level the oil
must be raised in order that the lamp may burn the required time, of appliances,
constructed substantially as described and illustrated, for forcing the oil from a
reservoir into the said graduated tube.
Thirdly. The improvements in the small portable candle and other lamps called
railway reading lamps, herein before described and illustrated in Figures 6, 7, 8,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 144 of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, the
combination with the said lamps of matchboxes, the parts of which are constructed
and arranged substantially as described and illustrated; also the adaptation to the
said lamps of match boxes having side spring, sliding lids, or covers.
Fourthly. The several arrangements or combinations of the parts of match and
other boxes, herein before described and illustrated in Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Ward Monck, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.
FRANCIS WARD MONCK. (L.S.)