IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS LAMPS
Year: 1885

page_text: I DAVID WILLIAM SUGG of Vincent Works, Vincent Street, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS LAMPS," to be as follows:-
This invention relates to that class of lamp in which the burner is inverted and
the flame is enclosed in a glass globe, which it is necessary to remove to light the
burner, such form of lamps being described in the specification of Letters Patent
granted to me and dated 8th May 1883 N° 2335 and in the specification of my
application for Letters Patent dated 21 February 1884 N° 3707.
In the drawings attached to said specifications, the glass is shown as being held
up by wire supports, and in order to light the burner it is necessary, unless a special
lighting jet is employed, to which many persons object on the ground of expense, to
remove the glass. This entails trouble and inconvenience, as in most cases the
lamps are placed at some height from the ground, and it is the object of my present
invention to overcome this inconvenience, which I effect by so constructing the
lamp that the glass may be pushed on one side with the lighting torch, and
retained in that, or the open position, as long as necessary to light the burner, and
can then be closed in the same manner, and retained in the closed position.
In carrying out my invention, I secure the glass to a ring by means of wire, as
described in the specifications above mentioned, or in any other suitable manner,
and this ring I binge to the frame of the lamp. At the hinge, the frame is
provided with a tail or stop piece, which will regulate the distance the frame
is to open.
The frame is held in either the open or closed position by means of a weight,
which is attached in any convenient manner to the frame, preferably at or near
the hinge, and is so arranged that as the frame turns on the hinge, it may be
brought on one or other side of a vertical line drawn through the hinge, whereby
the frame will be held open or closed as the case may be.
This weight being on one side of the lamp, it would tend to throw the lamp out
of the perpendicular, and I therefore provide a counter weight on the other side,
which will serve to maintain the equilibrium.
The weights will be enclosed in a suitable case of an ornamental character.

page_text: To light the lamp it will be only necessary to push on the glass globe on the side
opposite to the hinge with the torch, so as to cause the frame to turn on the hinge,
and bring the weight onto the opposite side of the vertical line, when the glass will
be maintained in the open position with the burner exposed for lighting. When
the burner is lighted, a gentle tap on the other side of the glass with the torch will
cause it to return to its normal position, in which it will be retained by the weight,
thus the lamp can be with facility lighted from the floor, and the inconvenience of
having to obtain a pair of steps, or to get upon a chair or a table to reach the glass,
in order to remove it for lighting, will be avoided.

page_text: I DAVID WILLIAM SUGG of Vincent Works, Vincent Street, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer 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:
This invention relates to that class of lamp in which the burner is inverted and
the flame is enclosed in a glass globe, which it is necessary to remove to light the
burner, such form of lamps being described in the patent specification of Letters
Patent granted to me and dated 8th May 1883, N° 2335, and in the specification of
my application for Letters Patent dated 21st February 1884 N° 3707.
In the drawings attached to said specifications, the glass is shewn as being held
up by wire supports, and in order to light the burner, it is necessary, unless a special
lighting jet is employed, to which many persons object on the ground of expense, to
remove the glass. This entails trouble and inconvenience, as in most cases the
lamps are placed at some height from the ground, and it is the object of my present
invention to overcome this inconvenience, which I effect by so constructing the
lamp that the glass may be pushed on one side with the lighting torch, and
retained in that, or the open position, as long as necessary to light the burner, and
can then be closed in the same manner, and retained in the closed position.
To light the lamp, it will be only necessary to push on the glass globe, on the
side opposite to the hinge, with the torch, so as to cause the frame to turn on the
hinge, and, as in the first and third arrangement, bring the weight on to the opposite
side of the vertical line, when the glass will be maintained in the open position,
with the burner exposed for lighting. When the burner is lighted, a gentle push
on the other side of the glass with the torch, will cause it to return to its normal
position, in which it will be retained by the weight. Thus the lamp can be with
facility lighted from the floor, and the inconvenience of having to obtain a pair of
steps, or to get upon a chair or a table, to reach the glass, in order to remove it for
lighting, will be avoided.
In carrying out my invention I employ an annular frame, to which I secure the
glass, preferably by means of a wire, as described in the specification of Patent
before referred to, and this globe frame I hinge to the frame of the lamp.
To the globe frame, at or near the hinge, I attach a weight, which is so arranged,
that it will retain the globe frame in either the open or closed position, as long as
may be required.
In the accompanying Drawings, I have shown several arrangements of apparatus
for effecting the object of my invention.
A is the frame of the lamp, and B the annular frame of the glass globe. C is the
glass globe, which is secured in the frame B by the wire a. The frame B is hinged,
at b, to the frame A, and is provided with a projection, tail piece, or stop c, which
will regulate the distance the frame is to open.-D is a counterweight, which, in
Fig. 1, is shown as screwed into the projection c. This counterweight will exactly
counterpoise the frame B, so that, in whatever position the frame may be placed, it
will remain in that position.-The weight may also be so placed as to rock into a

page_text: position on the opposite side of a vertical line drawn through the hinge when the
globe frame is opened.
In Figs. 2 and 3, which illustrate a lamp in side elevation and in plan view
respectively, a modification in the form and position of the weight is shown. The
weight D, which in this case surrounds externally the frame A of the lamp, is
pivotted to a lug & secured to the frame A.-The weight is provided with a tail or
projection e, which rests against the projection c of the globe frame B.-As the
globe, C with its frame B, is tipped on one side into the position shown in dotted
lines, the projection c presses against the tail piece e, and raises the weight D into
the dotted position; and as the weight exactly counterpoises the frame and globe,
it will remain in that position until the globe is closed. In the two examples
above described, the tipping of the globe is effected with the lighting torch.
Figs. 4 and 5 show respectively a horizontal section and a side elevation of a
lamp, with a further modification in the opening and closing device.
In this modification, the weight D is secured to the projection c as in Fig. 1, but
it does not exactly counterpoise the globe and frame, and an extra weight D¹ is
provided, which more than counterbalances the frame and globe, and which is
attached to the main weight D by a cord, chain, or rod f.-The opening of the
globe will be effected by raising the auxiliary weight D' with the hand, or other-
wise, so that the greater weight of the globe and frame will overcome that of the
weight D.
The weight D is so arranged that when the globe is open, the greater portion of
its weight will be thrown on the inside of a vertical line drawn through the hinge,
and this, added to the weight of the globe and frame, will overcome the auxiliary
weight D¹, and will serve to maintain the globe in the open position as long as
required, the closed position being regained by pulling on the auxiliary weight D¹.
As lamps of this class will usually be swinging lamps, it will be evident that to
place a weight on one side thereof, will tend to throw them out of the vertical, and
to prevent this, I secure to the other side of the lamp an equivalent weight, which
will maintain the equilibrium.
In most cases the weights will be hidden from view, by being enclosed in a glass
vase, or other ornamental casing, secured to the lamp.
I would here remark that I do not intend to confine myself to the exact details
herein described, as these may be varied to a considerable extent, without departing
from my invention, the arrangements shown being only examples.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :
1st In an inverted gas burner, securing the glass globe in an annular frame,
hinged, or pivotted, to the main frame, and provided with, or fitted to a counter-
weight, which will permit of the globe being with facility opened for the purpose
of lighting the burner, and closed when the burner is lighted, and will retain the
globe in the open or closed position, as required, substantially as herein shown and
described.
2nd The arrangements of glass globe frame provided with counterweights,
substantially as herein described and shown, with reference to the drawings.