An Improved Lamp or Lantern.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 28th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 10th Mar., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Lamp or Lantern.
I JOAQUIM ANTONIO DE MACEDO of Osmondthorpe Hall in the City of
Leeds in the County of York Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :-
:-
The object of this invention is to so construct a lamp or lantern that a match
having been placed within it in a certain position beforehand, the lamp or lantern
may be instantly lighted by pressing a button or moving a lever at the outside
without opening the lamp thus rendering it unnecessary for the rider of a bicycle
or tricycle or the driver of a carriage or other vehicle to stop or to get off in order
to light his lamp or lamps and so saving time, delay and annoyance, especially in
windy weather.
To effect this I fix a couple of springs A A (see accompanying drawing) to the
top of the lamp reservoir R their moveable extremities resting against the sliding
piece B b b which can slide backwards and forwards on the top of the reservoir
and is kept in its place at one end by the spindle of the regulator for raising or
lowering the wick, and at the other end by the extremities of the springs A A.
At one end of the sliding piece is a catch E which on the sliding piece being
pushed forwards catches the arm F of the lever F. G working in the short
barrel I as its fulcrum. The lever F G is kept down by a small spiral spring J
and the barrel I is sufficiently long to keep the arm G of the lever clear of the
outside of the lamp when the reservoir is put inside the lamp case. An upright
fork C is fixed to the reservoir R for the purpose of holding one end of the match.
On the top of the sliding piece B is a hinged flap D on which one end of the
spring H can be placed, the said spring H being fastened at the other end to the
sliding piece. The top of the sliding piece is rough either by stamping or having
fixed on it sandpaper, emery paper or the like.
To operate the above invention the sliding piece B is pushed forwards (from left
to right Fig I.) until the catch E engages and is held by the arm F of the lever.
The Hap D is then opened and a wax vesta or other lucifer match is placed with
its head resting on the top of the sliding piece and the other end pressed into the
upright fork (as shewn by the dotted lines in Fig I.). The flap is shut down on
to the head of the match and the loose end of the spring H is placed on the flap.
The reservoir with its attachments is then placed-inside-the-lamp-case-with-the-
arm of the lever G projecting outside. On raising the lever G the catch E is
disengaged, the springs A A at once cause the piece B to slide quickly from right
to left, and as the flap D presses the head of the match against the rough surface
of the top of B by means of the spring H and as the other end of the match is
held fast by the fork C, the friction produced by the head sliding between the flap
and the rough surface is sufficient to ignite the match and subsequently the wick
of the lamp on which it rests.
Dated the Fifth day of April 1893.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Lamp or Lantern.
I JOAQUIM ANTONIO DE MACEDO of Osmondthorpe Hall in the City of
Leeds in the County of York Gentleman do hereby declare 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 :-
The object of this invention is to so construct a lamp or lantern that a match
having been placed within it in a certain position beforehand, the lamp or lantern
may be instantly lighted by pressing a button or moving a lever at the outside
without opening the lamp thus rendering it unnecessary for the rider of a bicycle
or tricycle or the driver of a carriage or other vehicle to stop or to get off in order
to light his lamp or lamps and so saving time delay and annoyance especially in
windy weather.
To effect this I fix a couple of springs A A (see drawings left with Provisional
Specification) to the top of the lamp font R their moveable extremities resting
against the sliding piece B b b which can slide backwards and forwards on the top
of the font and is kept in its place at one end by the spindle of the regulator for
raising and lowering the wick, and at the other end by the extremities of the
springs A. A.
At one end of the sliding piece is a catch E, which on the sliding
piece being pushed forward, catches the arm F of the lever F. G. working in the
short barrel I. as its fulcrum. The lever F. G. is kept down by a small spiral
spring J. and the barrel I is sufficiently long to keep the arm G of the lever clear
of the outside of the lamp when the font is put inside the lamp case.
An upright
fork C is fixed to the font R, for the purpose of holding one end of the match. On
the top of the sliding piece B. is a hinged flap D. on which one end of the spring H.
can be placed, the said spring H being fastened at the other end to the sliding
piece. The top of the sliding piece is rough either by stamping or having placed
on it sand paper, perforated thin steel or the like.
To operate the above invention, the sliding piece B. is pushed forward (from left
to right Fig. 1) until the catch E engages and is held by the arm F. of the lever.
The flap D is then opened and a wax vesta or other lucifer match is placed with
its head resting on the top of the sliding piece and the other end pressed into the
upright fork C. (as shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1) the flap is shut down, onto
the head of the match and the loose end of the spring H is placed on the flap. The
font with its attachments is then placed inside the lamp case with the arm of the
lever G projecting outside.
On raising the lever G. the catch E is disengaged the springs AA at once
cause the piece B to slide quickly from right to left and as the flap D presses the
head of the match against the rough surface of the top of B by means of the
spring H and as the other end of the match is held fast by the fork C,
the friction produced by the head sliding between the flap and the rough surface
is sufficient to ignite the match and subsequently the wick of the lamp on which
it rests.
The foregoing description refers to a lamp in which the direction of the friction
applied to the head of the match in order to ignite it is parallel to the match itself,
but instead of being parallel to the match it may be at right angles to it or at any
other angle to suit convenience, and the rough surface may be either a rectilineal
plane or a curved plane and the springs or spring may be made to act in a straight
line or in a circular direction.
In the foregoing Specification whereever I mention any component part or parts
of the mechanism I mean to include its or their equivalent or equivalents and
whereever any material is specified I mean that material or any other suitable
material.

page_text: 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
The construction of a bicycle lamp or other lamp or lantern in such a manner
that a match having been placed parallel to and touching the top of the wick, the
said match may be ignited by the application of friction to its head in any direction
by means of a spring or springs of any suitable shape actuating a rough surface
either rectilineal or curved and whose action is controllable from without the lamp,
so that it may be lighted by the cyclist without his having to dismount.
Dated this Twenty-seventh day of December 1893.
JOAQUIM ANTONIO DE MACEDO,
Applicant.