IMPROVEMENTS IN MATCHES AND IN THE PRO- DUCTION OF LIGHT, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ARCHER, of Shaftsbury Crescent, Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the twelfth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Archer, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Henry Archer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Henry Archer, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MATCHES AND IN THE PRO-
DUCTION OF LIGHT, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREWITH;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Henry
Archer, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in
Her 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 appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Archer, do hereby declare: that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
7
My Invention of Improvements in Matches and, in the Production of Light,
and in the Apparatus to be used therewith, relates in the first place to a mode
or modes of making matches to bo used as tapers, and whereby when lighted
and required to be used for sealing letters or other similar purposes the
matches may without trouble be made to remain in a vertical position (until
they are consumed) without the necessity of either holding them between the
fingers or fixing them in a small hole, as has been heretofore done. In
the accompanying Drawings I have shewn two modes of carrying out the
object of this part of my Invention. I do not, however, intend to confine
myself exclusively to the precise methods herein shewn, as they may
doubtless be varied without departing from the nature and object of my
improvements.
Fig. 1 represents a small taper match intended to burn from two to ten
minutes according to its size, or a sufficient length of time to seal two, three,
or more letters, as may be required. It consists of a conical piece of wax, or
other suitable material, with a small wick running up the centre, and some-
what resembling an ordinary wax match, with some inflammable composition
at the upper end for the purpose of igniting the taper match by means of
friction or otherwise, as is well known; at the bottom of the cone is a piece of
metal, wood, paper, cloth, or other suitable material, for the purpose of pre-
venting the melted wax or composition from running about when the match is
nearly burned out. From the peculiar shape of these taper matches it will be
seen that they will readily stand on their base, and even if thrown down care-
lessly they will-have a tendency to assume a vertical position.
Fig. 2 represents.another form of taper match upon the same principle, the
only difference being that the taper is cylindrical instead of being conical, as
in the former instance."
Fig. 3 represents another mode of carry out the principle. In this
instance the match is of the ordinary form of wax matches, but its lower end
is inserted in-a-small-block-of-lead or other heavy material, which acts-as-a
base or holder to support the match in a vertical position while in use.
I prefer to use lead or some other heavy malleable and soft metal or material,
which may be easily and cheaply stamped or moulded into the required form, as
<

page_text: cheapness and also weight to keep the match in its proper vertical position,
are both points of importance.
The second part of my Invention relates to the preparation of hydrocarbons
or other similar inflammable liquids by the admixture therewith of other
liquids, so that when the said hydrocarbons are used for the production of
light they may not be so liable to smoke or throw off quantities of unconsumed
carbon as when used pure, as is usually the case at present when employed for
illuminating purposes. In order to effect the above object, I take one part by
measure of ordinary camphine, or coal-tar naptha, and add thereto two parts
by measure of wood naptha, or pyroxylic spirit. By combining these mate-
rials in the above or nearly the above proportion, an inflammable liquid will
be produced, which will burn with great brilliancy, and yet will not be so
liable to throw off dense masses of sinoke as the pure camphine. I do not,
however, intend to confine myself to the above proportions, as they must be
varied according to the purity or impurity of the hydrocarbon employed; for
instance, I have sometimes found it necessary to add as much as three parts of
pyroxylic spirit to one of coal-tar naptha, or camphine; and sometimes I find
that equal quantities of camphine and pyroxylic spirit will give a good result;
for general purposes, and under ordinary circumstancos, however, I prefer
the proportions above stated..
The third part of my Invention relates to improvements in night lights.
For night lights I propose to inclose in a thin metallic or other case, as shewn
at Figures 4 and 5, either the mixture of inflammable liquids above men-
tioned or vegetable or animal oil or other combustible material, leaving a
small aperture at top, which, when the case is filled with the combustable
liquid, must be covered over and stopped, as seen in the plan view Fig. 5,
by means of a small piece of paper or other impervious material which can
be easily perforated by a pin, and when the light is required for uso it will
only be necessary to open the hole in the top of the metallic or other case and
insert a wax wick, as shewn at Fig. 4 in the Drawing; and it will be found
that the wick when lighted will give a brilliant, economical, and steady
light for some hours, according to the quantity of oil or inflammable material
contained in the case. It is unimportant of what material to make this case;
but I find metal is preferable to any other material; and, as economy is a great
desideratum in articles of this description, I find the plan proposed and
patented by Mr. Rand for making collapsable metal tubes for containing paints
and other materials to answer the purpose equally well. I do not, however,
intend to confine myself to this mode of making the cases, as cases made of
thin tin or. brass, or even vessels made of wood or earthenware with a thin

page_text: metallic cover will answer the purpose equally well, and, as they may be made
ornamental, they may be refilled with the inflammable material employed and
used a second time. A very portable lamp may be made upon the same
principle as that just described and shewn in Figures 4 and 5 for night lights,
by making the cases a little stronger and larger, and increasing the size or
number of the wicks; for such a purpose, however, the oil case should be enclosed
in another case or socket with a suitable handle and other conveniences, as
will be understood by any intelligent manufacturer.
Fig. 6 represents another mode of making a night light, and consists in
employing a vessel made by preference of glass or some transparent material,
supplying it with the requisite quantity of oil and employing as a wick one of
the taper matches shewn at Fig. 3, which by being weighted at the base will
stand in a vertical position in the oil, as seen in Fig. 6, and will gradually
burn down as the oil is consumed, the flame always remaining at the proper
altitude above the surface of the oil.
The fourth part of my Invention relates to the construction of pressure
lamps. Lamps to burn oil have heretofore been constructed to work by
means of weights or springs, which, by acting on a piston that is made to press
upon the surface of the oil, causes the latter to flow up a long tube to the
burner. In my improved lamp the pressure acts in the opposite direction, as
will be seen by referring to Fig. 7, which represents a transverse vertical
section of a lamp constructed upon my improved plan. The oil or other
inflammable liquid to be consumed, is contained in a flexible bag or case a,
made of any suitable impervious material, such as bladder, silk rendered
impermeable by means of canoutchouc or other similar gummy matter that is
not liable to be acted upon by the oil, and this bag is furnished at its lower
end with a flat disc b of metal or other suitable material, which is made to
pass easily up or down a cylindrical outer metal case c, c¹; and to the upper
end of the flexible bag or oil case a second disc d is secured, and is furnished
with a wick holder e, which may be detached therefrom by unscrewing, in
order to insert a new wick when requisite, and also to supply the oil
case a, a, with oil.
A coiled spring his enclosed in the external metal
case c, and acts against the under side of the disc 6 of the oil case, and
therefore is always exerting its force to press the disc b upwards, and thereby
collapse the oil case between its upper and lower discs d and b. A gallery f
and glass shade or globe may be adapted to the lamp if required, as shewn
in the Figure. The effect of this arrangement will be, that the oil or other
inflammable matter to be consumed will always be kept up to the wick to a
point very near the point of ignition, and therefore a steady and brilliant light

page_text: will be produced as long as any oil remains in the case a. It should be
observed that the outer case is furnished with a cap piece 9, which screws on
to its upper end, or may be secured thereon by a bayonet fastening; and
against the under side of this cap piece the upper disc d is constantly pressed
by the action of the coiled spring h. Now, when it is required to fill and trim
the lamp the cap piece 9 should be removed and the oil case 'taken out, then
by unscrewing the wick holder e the oil may be easily. poured into the case,
and when filled the wick holder e is screwed on again and the case replaced in
the tube or external case c, c. In order to do this, however, it is necessary to
pull down or collapse the coiled spring h, and this is effected by means of a
cord i, which is attached at one end to the under side of the cup at the upper
end of the spring, and at the opposite end it is secured to a small barrel j, on
the axle or spindle of which s a small ratchet wheel k furnished' with a pall
or click ; when it is required to collapse the spring, the barrel j is turned
round several times by means of a small winch or handle applied to the spindle,
so as to coil the cord around the barrel, and the spring will be prevented from
acting by means of the ratchet wheel, which prevents the barrel from un-
coiling the cord; when, however, the flexible oil case is placed in the tube c
and the lamp is required to act, the spring h must be released by lifting up
the click by means of a small lever or handle on the opposite side, and
thereby allowing the cord to uncoil and permit the spring to act against
the under side of the oil case and keep the wick constantly supplied
with oil.
The last part of my Invention consists of a mode of ornamenting the
chimneys and shades or globes used for lamps or gas burners of various
constructions. This improvement consists in corrugating the chimnies and
globes either spirally or horizontally, as shewn in Figures 8 and 9. By thus
ornamenting the chimnies and shades, a very pretty effect is given to the
flame.
....
Having now described my various improvements, and the best means with
which I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in
conclusion, that although, in order that my Invention may be properly under-
stood, I have considered it necessary to describe some things that have been
before known and in use for similar purposes, yet I do not mean or intend to
claim any of such well known parts as of my Invention; but that which I con-
sider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to me
under the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, making taper matches in the manner shewn, whereby the said matches
when lighted and in use may be made to stand in a vertical position without

page_text: extraneous aid either from the fingers or by fixing the end of the match in a
hole in the lid or other part of the match box, as is usually the case:
Secondly, I claim preparing camphine and other hydrocarbons by mixing
therewith wood naptha or pyroxylic spirit, for the purpose of rendering the
same more useful for illuminating purposes.
Thirdly, I. claim making night lights in the manner herein shewn and
described. ..
Fourthly, I claim constructing pressure lamps for burning oil or other
inflammable liquids; in which the said inflammable liquids are contained-in a
flexible bag or case, from which the said liquid is supplied to a wick by means
of pressure exerted externally.
Lastly, I claim ornamenting the glass chimnics and globes for lamps
generally by corrugating them obliquely or horizontally as shewn in the
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Archer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.