Improvements in Mechanism for Extinguishing Lamps and Lanterns.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 30th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanism for Extinguishing Lamps and Lanterns.
I JAMES TANGYE of Aviary Cottage near Redruth in the County of Cornwall
Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in mechanism
for extinguishing lamps and lanterns by the use of which a lamp or lantern can
be readily and rapidly extinguished without the removal of the lamp chimney, or
blowing down it.
The said mechanism also acts automatically on the upsetting or inclination of the
lamp and thus prevents or diminishes the risk of the ignition of the oil spilled by
the upsetting of the lamp.
I will describe the principal part of my invention in connection with a lamp for
burning paraffin oil or other light oil, of the kind commonly known as the "Lampe
Belge" the said lamp having a tubular or Argand wick.
The lamp consists of a body with burner and the usual appliances, the body or
reservoir of the lamp resting in an annular support carried by a hollow pillar
having a foot. The body of the lamp can on the inclination of the lamp as a whole
rise by a tilting motion in the said annular support and assume a greater inclination
than the pillar carrying it and by the said tilting motion the automatic extinguishing
of the lamp is effected as hereinafter explained.
In the axis of the hollow pillar of the lamp is a vertical rod sliding freely in
supports. This rod is pressed upwards by a coiled or other spring. A button or
peg fixed on the said rod and protruding through a slot in the pillar provides the
means of depressing the rod for extinguishing the lamp. The top of the rod which
is slightly expanded and slightly concave or flat extends into the axial tube of the
lamp. In the said axial tube is a second sliding rod in line with that in the pillar,
the bottom of the second sliding rod resting on the top of the lower sliding rod.
The top of the second sliding rod carries a disc constituting when in its normal or
highest position the deflector of the lamp. The said disc when in its lowest position
rests on the top of the wick and in descending from its highest to its lowest position
extinguishes the lamp if lighted. The second sliding rod may have a coiled or
other spring pressing it downwards and keeping it to its bearing on the lower
sliding rod.
The action of the parts is as follows:-When the parts are in their normal
positions and the lamp burning the disc at the top of the second sliding rod acts
as a deflector and promotes the proper burning of the lamp. When it is desired
to extinguish the lamp the button or peg protruding from the slot in the pillar is
depressed and the disc or deflector supported by it descends on the wick and
extinguishes the lamp. The underside of the disc or deflector is so shaped that
it fits the top of the wick and so preserves its shape as to make trimming of the
wick practically unnecessary. If by accident the lamp is wholly or partially upset
the tilting of the body of the lamp hereinbefore referred to occurs; the upper
sliding rod is thereby raised from off the top of the lower rod and the whole
deflector descending on the wick the lamp is extinguished. The weight of the
deflector and rod is sufficient to secure their descent when they are at liberty to
move but their descending motion may be assisted by the employment of a light
spring as hereinbefore described.
'
In order to maintain the pressure of the extinguisher on the flame after putting

page_text: out the lamp the slot in the pillar may open into a cross slot in which the button
or peg may be turned and the extinguisher temporarily fixed in its lowest position.
My improvements further consist in an extinguisher for lanterns and lamps where
the sliding rods described cannot be conveniently applied. In such cases I employ
an extinguisher jointed or hinged to one side of the burner which extinguisher
when raised into a vertical plane or thrown over through a semi-circle permits of
the free burning of the lamp but when depressed into a horizontal plane presses on
the wick and extinguishes the flame. A sliding rod external to the wick case and
sliding in guides on the said wick case carries two tappets near its upper end
between which tappets the rear end of the jointed extinguisher is situated. By
raising or lowering the said sliding rod the extinguisher may be raised or lowered.
According to another of my improvements I employ a spherical or other shaped
weight having a foot of such diameter that when the said weight is inclined at an
angle of say forty five degrees its centre of gravity overhangs the foot and the
weight falls. A light chain connects the weight to the extinguishing mechanism.
and on the fall of the weight the lamp is extinguished.. A seat for the weight may
be made on the foot or other convenient part of the lamp and the weight may be
connected to the extinguishing mechanism in various ways.
Dated this 11th day of January 1893.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanism for Extinguishing Lamps and Lanterns.
I JAMES TANGYE, of Aviary Cottage near Redruth in the County of Cornwall,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in mechanism
for extinguishing lamps and lanterns; by the use of which a lamp or lantern can
be readily and rapidly extinguished without the removal of the lamp chimney or
blowing down it.
The said mechanism also acts automatically on the upsetting or inclination of the
lamp and thus prevents or diminishes the risk of the ignition of the oil spilled by
the upsetting of the lamp.
I will describe the principal part of my invention in connection with a lamp for
burning paraffin or other light oil, of the kind commonly known as the "Lampe
Belge the said lamp having a tubular or Argand wick.
The lamp consists of a body with a burner and the usual appliances, the body or
reservoir of the lamp resting in an annular support carried by a hollow pillar
having a foot. The body of the lamp can on the inclination of the lamp as a whole
rise by a tilting motion in the said annular support and assume a greater inclination
than the pillar carrying it and by the said tilting motion the automatic extinguishing
of the lamp is effected as hereinafter explained.
In the axis of the hollow pillar of the lamp is a vertical rod sliding freely in
supports. This rod is pressed upwards by a coiled or other spring. A button or
peg fixed on the said rod and protruding through a slot in the pillar provides the
means of depressing the rod for extinguishing the lamp. The top of the rod which
is slightly expanded and slightly concave or flat extends into the axial tube of the
lamp. In the said axial tube is a second sliding rod in line with that in the pillar,
the bottom of the second sliding rod resting on the top of the lower sliding rod.
The top of the second sliding rod carries a disc constituting when in its normal or
highest position the deflector of the lamp. The said disc when in its lowest
position rests on the top of the wick and in descending from its highest to its lowest
position extinguishes the, lamp if lighted. The second sliding rod may have a

page_text: coiled or other spring pressing it downwards and keeping it to its bearing on the
lower sliding rod.
The action of the parts is as follows: When the parts are in their normal
positions and the lamp burning, the disc at the top of the second sliding rod acts as
a deflector and promotes the proper burning of the lamp. When it is desired to
extinguish the lamp by hand the button or peg protruding from the slot in the
pillar is depressed and the disc or deflector supported by it descends on the wick
and extinguishes the lamp. The underside of the disc or deflector is so shaped that
it fits the top of the wick and so preserves its shape as to make trimming of the
wick practically unnecessary. If by accident the lamp is wholly or partially upset
the tilting of the body of the lamp herein before referred to occurs; the upper
sliding rod is thereby raised from off the top of the lower rod and the whole
deflector descending on the wick the lamp is extinguished. The weight of the
deflector and rud is sufficient to secure their descent when they are at liberty to
move but their descending motion may be assisted by the employment of a light
spring as hereinbefore described.
In order to maintain the pressure of the extinguisher on the flame after putting
out the lamp, the slot in the pillar may open into a cross slot in which the button or
peg may be turned and the extinguisher temporarily fixed in its lowest position.
My improvements further consist in an extinguisher for lanterns and lamps where
the sliding rods described cannot be conveniently applied. In such cases I employ
an extinguisher jointed or hinged to one side of the burner which extinguisher
when raised into a vertical plane or thrown over through a semi-circle permits of
the free burning of the lamp but when depressed into a horizontal plane presses on
the wick and extinguishes the flame. A sliding rod external to the wick case
and sliding in guides on the said wick case carries two tappets near its upper
end between which tappets the rear end of the jointed extinguisher is situated.
By raising or lowering the said sliding rod the extinguisher may be raised or
lowered.
According to another of my improvements I employ a spherical or other shaped
weight having a foot of such diameter that when the said weight is inclined at an
angle of say forty five degrees its centre of gravity overhangs the foot and the
weight falls. A light chain connects the weight to the extinguishing mechanism
and on the fall of the weight the lamp is extinguished. A seat for the weight may
be made on the foot or other convenient part of the lamp and the weight may be
connected to the extinguishing mechanism in various ways.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent vertical sections of a lamp having a tubular or Argand
wick to which extinguishing mechanism constructed and arranged according to my
invention is applied; Figures 3 and 4 represent in elevation, partly in section, and
plan respectively the upper portion of the supporting pillar of the lamp and
Figure 5 represents a horizontal section of the same taken on the line x, x
Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the
drawings.
a is the hollow pillar of the lamp in the axis of which is the vertical sliding rod b,
the said rod being pressed upwards by the coiled spring c and retained in the
position represented in Figures 1 and 2 by the peg or handle & protruding through
the slote in the pillar a of the lamp. The top of the sliding rod 6 is expanded and
made preferably concave and extends into the axial tube f of the lamp. In the said
axial tube f is a second vertical rod g in line with the lower rod 6 in the pillar a,
the bottom of the said rod g resting and being supported on the top of the
sliding rod b. The top of the second rod y carries the deflector h of the burner,
the said deflector also constituting the extinguisher of the lamp as hereinafter
described.

page_text: The action of the parts is as follows:-
When it is desired to extinguish the lamp by hand, the sliding rod b is depressed
by its handled into the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1; the rod g
supported by the rod 6 consequently descends and the deflector h (now acting as an
extinguisher) at the top of the rod 9 when in its lowest position fits on the top of
the wick, as indicated in dotted lines in the said Figure 1, and extinguishes the
lamp. On the release of the handled the parts resume their normal positions by
the action of the coiled spring c. The deflector or extinguisher h may be retained
in its lowered position on the wick by turning aside the handle into the
dotted position indicated in Figure 5 whereby the said handle d is engaged in the
notch or shoulder in the slot e (see Figure 3) and the extinguisher / thus held
down.
By giving the underside of the extinguisher the sectional figure represented it
fits on the wick when in its lowest position and preserves the top of the wick level,
thereby rendering trimming of the wick practically unnecessary.
The automatic extinguishing of the lamp takes place on the tilting or upsetting
of the lamp in consequence of the body of the lamp taking a greater angle than its
supporting pillar u as represented in Figure 2, the reservoir or oil container i of the
lamp turning on the edge of the supporting ring a² of the said pillar a.
The body
of the lamp is thereby raised with respect to the pillar a and rod b, and the rod g
and deflector or extinguisher & descend into their extinguishing positions as
represented in the said Figure 2.
In extinguishing lamps having a flat wick or wicks I employ the arrangements
of parts represented in Figures 6, 64, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings; Figures 6, 64
and 6ª representing a ship's lamp or lantern and Figures 7, 8 and 9 a table lamp.
In the lamp represented in vertical section in Figure 6 I employ the extinguisher
flap jointed or hinged at to the side of the flat wick burner. The extinguisher
k
flap k is operated by the loose or unconnected tappet rod m which slides in the
guides n, p on the body of the burner.
When the lamp is burning the parts occupy the full line positions represented.
In order to extinguish the lamp the portion of the tappet rod m external to the
burner is pressed upwards by hand when its tappet m³ turns the flap onto the
wick, the parts taking the positions indicated in dotted lines. When it is wished
to uncover the wick for lighting the lamp the tappet rod m is pulled downwards by
the finger when its tappet m³ acting on the rear or tail end of the extinguisher
flap k turns the said flap through a semi circle, thereby uncovering the wick.
Figure 6 represents the extinguisher flap k and tappet m³ in their normal positions
and Figure 6 represents the same after the extinguisher flap has been turned over
the wick. Figures 7 and 8 represent an arrangement of extinguishing, mechanism
constructed according to my invention applied to a table lamp having a sliding
extinguisher and flat wick or wicks, the said sliding extinguisher being operated by
a lever. In this arrangement I provide the base g of the lamp with a separate rod
or upright and with a metal sphere or weight r the said sphere or weight being
connected by a chain s (or other flexible connection) to the extinguisher lever t
connected with the sliding extinguisher u. In the normal position of the parts the
foot of the sphere or weight r is seated in the shallow recess q³ in the top of the
rod or upright q', but when the lamp is tilted or turned into such a position that
the centre of gravity of the sphere or weight r falls outside its foot, as indicated
in dotted lines in Figure 8, the said sphere or weight falls from its support as
represented in the said Figure 8 and effects the extinguishing of the lamp through
the action of the extinguisher levert upon the sliding extinguisher u.
In order to extinguish the lamp by hand it is only necessary to pull down the
chains or act directly on the extinguisher lever t.
Instead of connecting the sphere or weight by means of a chains to the
extinguisher lever t, the arrangement of parts represented in Figure 9 may be
employed where the sphere or weight is connected to the extinguisher levert by

page_text: a metallic rod or prop y depending from the said lever t, the said sphere or weight
being connected by a short chain or flexible connection to the said prop.
When the parts are in their normal positions the prop y and weight rattached
to it rest on the oil reservoir w (or other convenient projecting portion) of the
lamp as represented in the said Figure 9. But when by accident the lamp is upset
or tilted through an angle sufficient to throw the centre of gravity of the sphere or
weight routside its base, the said sphere rolls from off the oil reservoir w and dislodges.
the prop or supporting rod y and effects the extinguishing of the lamp. By with-
drawing the supporting prop from the oil reservoir, the lamp may be extinguished
by hand.
Instead of the chain or depending rod or prop y being connected to the
extinguisher levert directly, they may be connected with a catch lever which
engages with the extinguisher lever in its depressed or non-acting position. On
the tilting of the lamp the catch lever is disengaged from 'the extinguisher lever
and the latter is operated by a spring.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention.
and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim.
as my invention of "Improvements in mechanism for extinguishing lamps and
lanterns":
First. Making the deflector of lamps having Argand or circular wicks capable of
a rising and falling motion, whereby the said deflector may be employed when in
its lowest position to extinguish the lamp substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Secondly. The combination or arrangement of the parts of a lamp herein before
described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings,.
having an Argand or circular wick, whereby the deflector of the said lamp may be
depressed by hand for extinguishing the lamp or automatically brought into.
operation for extinguishing the lamp on the upsetting or tilting of the said lamp.
substantially as described and illustrated.
Thirdly. The combination in a ship's lamp or lantern or other similar lamp or
lantern of a jointed or hinged extinguisher flap and the arrangement of parts for
operating the same substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in.
Figures 6, 6 and 6B of the accompanying drawings.
Fourthly. Automatically operating the extinguishing mechanism of table or
standard lamps on the tilting or upsetting of the lamp by means of a sphere or
weight supported, when the lamp is in its normal position, on a separate upright.
or rod on the base of the lamp or on the oil reservoir or other projecting portion of
the lamp, the said operating sphere or weight being connected to the extinguishing
mechanism by means of a flexible connection or a flexible connection and
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 7, 8 and 9 of the
accompanying drawings.
Dated the Twenty-eighth day of September 1893.
prop