New or Improved Adjustable Standard or Support for Lamps and other Articles.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 17th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 12th Avr., 1859
Complete Specification Accepted, 1st June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Adjustable Standard or Support for Lamps and
other Articles.
I
I, RICHARD WILLIAM LAWS of Chandos Metal Works, Chandos Street, Strand, in
the County of Middlesex, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to obtain a standard or support which is capable of
being readily adjusted in length and fixed in any desired position within certain
limits.
For this purpose I form the standard of two tubes, one sliding telescopically within
the other, and upon the inner face of the outer tube at each side, thereof I form
or fix a toothed rack.
Mounted upon an axis of motion carried by a bracket on the bottom of the inner
tube, I arrange two pawles in such manner that the lower ends thereof are capable of
engaging the racks upon the outer tube, and the upper ends thereof are capable of
being compressed and thus withdrawing the lower ends from engagement with the
racks at the times desired.
The pawles are sprung outwards or weighted at their upper ends in order to cause
them normally to engage with the racks and their upper ends are connected to a wire,
rod or cord which passes up the inner tube to a position near the top where it is
connected to a slide, a crank pin, an eccentric or other suitable device, by means of
which the rod, wire or cord may be raised, the upper ends of the pawls compressed,
and the lower ends thereof withdrawn from the racks at the times desired.
Or in lieu of carrying the connecting rod or wire to or near the top of the inner
tube I might employ a short length of such rod and provide an eccentric or other device
mounted upon the inner tube and passing through a slot in the outer tube in order to
give the desired movement to the pawles.

page_text: In lieu of employing two racks and two pawles as herein before described, I may
employ only one pawl and rack in order to obtain the desired result.
By these means I obtain a standard or support which is capable of being readily
extended or compressed and fixed in any desired position within certain limits.
Dated this 17th day of July, 1998
R. W. LAWS.
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings,
Agents.
I, RICHARD WILLIAM LAWS of Chandos Metal Works, Chandos Street, Strand, in
the County of Middlesex, Manager, 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 my invention is to obtain a standard or support which is capable of
being readily adjusted in length and fixed in any desired position within certain
limits.
For this purpose I form the standard of two tubes, one sliding telescopically within
the other, and upon the inner face of the outer tube, at one or each side thereof, I form
or fix a toothed rack.
Mounted upon an axis of motion, carried by a bracket on the bottom of the inner
tube, I arrange one or two pawls, in such manner that the lower end or ends thereof
is or are capable of engaging the rack or racks upon the outer tube, and the upper
end or ends thereof is or are capable of being acted upon to withdraw the lower end or
ends from engagement with the rack or racks at the times desired.
The pawl or pawls is or are sprung outwards, or weighted at the upper end or
ends, in order to cause it or them normally to engage with the rack or racks, and its
or their upper end or ends is or connected to a wire, rod or cord, which passes up the
inner tube to a position near the top, where it is connected to a slide, a crank pin, an
eccentric, or other suitable device, by means of which the rod, wire or cord may be
raised, the upper end or ends of the pawl or pawls acted upon, and the lower end or
ends thereof withdrawn from the rack or racks at the times desired.

page_text: Or in lieu of carrying the connecting rod, wire or cord to or near the top of the
inner tube, I might employ a short length of such rod and provide an eccentric or
other device mounted upon the inner tube and passing through a slot in the outer
tube, in order to give the desired movement to the pawl or pawls.
By these means I obtain a standard or support which is capable of being
readily extended or compressed and fixed in any desired position within certain limits.
And in order that my said invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings, more fully
to describe the same.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of an adjustable standard or support constructed
according to my invention. Figure 2 is a vertical section of some of the parts drawn
at right angles to figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are two vertical full size sections of parts drawn at right angles
to each other, and Figure 5 is a horizontal section drawn on the line 1. 1. of
figure 3, and Figure 6 is an elevation and Figure 7 is a sectional plan drawn on
line 2. 2. of figure 6, showing a slight modification.
a is an outer tube, which is supported by a stand or base a¹, and is fitted on the
inside thereof with a toothed rack a², whilst the upper end thereof is fitted with a
cap as, through which a tube b passes.
The tube b carries at its upper end, a head or receptacle 61, to carry a lamp or other
article, the lower end of this tube b is fitted with a head piece 62, which fits the
interior of the tube a, and each side of the rack a², and in a space in which is pivotted
at c², a pawl c, which is capable of engaging in the teeth of the rack a².
This pawl c is formed at its upper end, with an arm c', which is connected by pin
joint with the lower end of a rod d, the upper end of which, as shown at figures 1
and 2, is connected to a finger slide e, by which the said rod d may be lifted when
it is desired to liberate the pawl c from the teeth of the rack a². The lower end
of the rod d is divided so as to form a spring d', which acts to press the pawl c
towards the rack a². Thus by raising the slide e, the pawl c is withdrawn from
the rack a², the tube b and head or support 6' can be raised or lowered at will,
then by releasing the slide e, the pawl c will again fall into the teeth of the rack a²
and hold the rod 6 and head or support 6' firmly.
In the modification represented at figures 6 and 7, the tube b has fixed thereon a
circular bearer 63, and a circular slide is mounted on such tube, which slide, by a
cross pin el passing through slots in opposite sides of the tube b, is connected to the
upper end of the rod d. By this arrangement the tube or rod 6 and the head or
support can be readily raised or lowered by simply placing the hand around the
tube b between the bearer 63 and the slide e* and then tightly gripping the tube b,
which will have the effect of raising the slide e* and consequently the rod d, which
action will withdraw the pawl c from the rack a², and thereby enable the tube 6 to be
raised and lowered as may be desired. The head piece 62 of the tube 6, by fitting the
rack a², prevents the rotation of the tube b in relation to the tube a, and thereby keeps
the pawl c always in line with the rack a³.
I would here remark that in practice I have found a single rack and pawl to be amply
sufficient to ensure the proper working of the adjustable standard or support, but if
desired two racks and two pawls may be employed, in which case the rod d would
require to be connected to both of the pawls, and the method of mounting the latter,
and the construction of the head piece 62, would require to be somewhat modified, as
will be readily understood.
The pawle may also be otherwise acted upon to cause it to engage with the teeth
of the rack a², and other means may be adopted for raising the rod d and thereby
removing the pawl c from the rack a².

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 :-
1. An adjustable standard or support for lamps and other articles, consisting of two
telescopic tubes, the outer of which is provided with a toothed rack or racks, and the
lower end of the other with a pawl or pawls to engage with such rack or racks,
.the said pawl or pawls being connected to the lower end of a rod, wire or cord,
which at its upper end is connected to a slide or other means for enabling the
same to be raised, substantially as herein shown and described and for the purpose
stated.
2. In an adjustable standard or support for lamps and other articles, the peculiar.,
arrangements and combinations of parts, substantially as herein shown and described.
1
Dated this 12th day of April 1889.
RICHARD WILLIAM LAWS.
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents.