Improvements in Electric Gas Lighting Apparatus.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Jan., 1996
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Sept., 1896-Accepted, 31st Oct., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Gas Lighting Apparatus.
I EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER of 33 Chancery Lane in the County of
London and 30 East Parade Leeds in the County of York, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication to me from Henry Clay Farquharson, Inventor,
residing at No. 309 Columbus Avenue, and Denise Frank Root, Manager,
residing at No. 330 West 51st Street, both in the City and State of New York,
United States of America) to be as follows:-
In railway cars gas lights are extensively employed in which there is a globe
below the lights, an annular reflector above the lights and a chimney rising from
such annular reflector, and this chimney is usually made of mica.
Difficulty has arisen in lighting gas burners of this general character, because
the globe usually has to be unlatched & swung down, the gas turned on, and then
a match or taper applied to the same, and where the train passes through tunnels
it is usual to light the gas, and this involves considerable labor on the part of the
trainmen or attendants and is frequently a disturbance to the passengers.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical appliance for
easily and reliably igniting the gas, so that the same may be turned on and lit
from one point, and the whole or a portion of the lights in a car can be ignited, or
the electrical appliance may be used separately with either lamp, thus facilitating
the lighting operation, and allowing for the gas to be turned off and extinguished,.
or turned on and ignited, whenever required when passing through tunnels or
otherwise; and while the present improvement is especially intended for railway
cars containing gas lamps of the character before mentioned, it may be applied to
gas lamps or burners of other construction and employed in other places.
A'spark point holder of refractory material is employed, that is a nonconductor
of electricity, so that such spark point holder is not injured by the heat to
which it is exposed, and it is adapted to pass through the chimney and
reliably hold the spark points in position for igniting the gas, and such spark
points are advantageously made of short pieces of platina or similar wire, and the
outer part or head of the holder is provided with screws for clamping the wire of
the spark points, and to which screws the electric conductors are connected, and
the circuit connections are made in such a manner that one or more of the burners
may be ignited.
In cases where it is desired to protect the spark points from the direct contact
of the heat, a thermostat is used within the chimney fixed at one end and acting
at the other end against a lever, that carries a shield at its moving end, so that
when the thermostat is expanded by the heat, the shield is moved up to cover the
spark points, and this shield is swung back as the thermostat cools, after the lights
have been extinguished.
In some cases the spark point holder is set upon a spring that projects the end
of the holder with the spark points through an opening in the chimney, and the
shield acting against the spark point holder, presses such spark points back out of
the way of the heat.
Dated this 21st day of January 1896.

page_text: A communication to me from HENRY CLAY FARQUHARSON, Inventor, residing
at No. 309 Columbus Avenue, and DENISE FRANK ROOT, Manager, residing
at No. 330 West 51st Street, both in the City and State of New York,
United States of America.
I, EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of No. 33 Chancery Lane, in the County
of London and No. 30 East Parade, Leeds, in the County of York, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, 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 and accompanying
drawings, that is to say :-
•
In railway cars, gas lights are extensively employed in which there is a globe
below the lights, an annular reflector above the lights and a chimney rising from
such annular reflector, and this chimney is usually made of mica.
Difficulty has arisen in lighting gas burners of this general character because
the globe usually has to be unlatched and swung down, the gas turned on and then
a match or taper applied to the same, and where the train passes through tunnels
it is usual to light the gas, and this involves considerable labor on the part of the
trainmen and is frequently a disturbance to the passengers.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical appliance for
easily and reliably igniting the gas so that the same may be turned on and lit from
one point and the whole or a portion of the lights in a car can be ignited, or the
electrical appliance may be used separately with either lamp, thus facilitating the
lighting operation and allowing for the gas to be turned off and extinguished or
turned on and ignited whenever required when passing through tunnels or
otherwise; and while the present improvement is especially intended for railway
cars containing gas lamps of the character before mentioned, it may be applied to
gas lamps or burners of other construction and employed in other places.
A spark point holder is employed of refractory material that is a nonconductor
of electricity, so that euch spark point holder is not injured by the heat to which
it is exposed, and it is adapted to pass through the chimney and reliably hold the
spark points in position for igniting the gas, and such spark points are advan-
tageously made of short pieces of platina or similar wire, and the outer part or
head of the holder is provided with screws for clamping the wire of the spark
points and to which screws the electric conductors are connected, and the circuit
connections are made in such a manner that one or more of the burners may be
ignited.
In cases where it is desired to protect the spark points from the direct contact
of the heat, a thermostat is made use of within the chimney fixed at one end and
acting at the other end against a lever that carries a shield at its moving end, so
that when the thermostat is expanded by the heat the shield is moved up to cover
the spark points, and this shield is swung back as the thermostat cools after the
lights have been extinguished.
In some cases the spark point holder is set upon a spring that projects the end
of the holder with the spark points through an opening in the chimney, and the
shield acting against the spark point holder presses such spark points back out of
the way of the heat.
In the drawing,
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation illustrating electric connections that may
he made use of

page_text: Fig. 2 is a vertical section representing a portion of a gas lamp with the spark
points applied to the same.
Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view showing two of the spark points upon a chimney
and in larger size.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section illustrating a modification.
Fig. 5 is a partial section in larger size, and Fig. 6 is a sectional plan of the
spark point holder and chimney.
The battery, or other source of electric energy, is illustrated at A, and the
circuit wires 3 and 4 leading from the same are arranged so that the current may
be directed through all of the lamps by a switch B, or there may be a switch Cat
each lamp. These electric connections may be of any desired character, and it is
advantageous to employ an induction coil D to ensure the proper sparks between
the points.
The gas burners Eare of any desired character, and the same are represented
as within the globe F and below the annular reflector G above which is the
chimney H. It will be understood that the present improvements are available
with different kinds of gas burners and chimneys.
In the lamp illustrated in the drawing, the chimney H is shown of mica, but the
same may be of metal or other suitable material.
Where mica is made use of, it is generally in two or three pieces lapped upon
the edges and riveted and having an upper metal band 5 and a lower metal band 6,
and it is found advantageous to apply the spark point holder I at a perforation
made through the two thicknesses of mica where they lap one on the other, as
illustrated in Fig. 3, but the perforation is to be made through the chimney
regardless of the material of which such chimney is composed, and at such place
as will be in line with the gases ascending from the burner or burners so as to
ignite the same by the spark.
The spark point holder is of refractory material, advantageously of talc or
similar material, especially such material as is sometimes used for the tips of gas
burners and usually called lava. This material is adapted to being turned up to
shape and screw threaded and bored, and such material is not injured by the heat
to which it is exposed and it is a nonconductor of electricity.
In making these spark point holders, holes are bored through the same which
preferably converge so as to bring the spark points 7 and 8 closely adjacent to
each other at the inner ends and wider apart at the outer ends, and the holder is
reduced in size and screw threaded on its exterior in the part which passes through
the opening in the chimney, so that there is a head 9 at the outer end of the holder,
and a nut 10 is screwed upon the inner portion of the spark point holder so as to
clamp and hold the same firmly to the chimney. Holes are bored into the head 9
for the reception of the screws 11 and 12, Fig. 3, which screws clamp the wire
forming the spark points, and they also receive around them nuts 13 for clamping
the conducting wires 14 15 leading to the main circuit wires 3 and 4 from the
battery.
It will now be understood that the spark point holder can be easily applied to
the chimney at the proper place, and the wires of the spark points are protected
from the action of the heat except at their inner ends and the screws 11 and 12
hold the spark points firmly in position and the wires 14 and 15 can be connected
or disconnected without loosening the screws or the spark points; hence there is
but little or no risk of the parts becoming misplaced or the electric connections
interrupted.
It is advantageous to employ spark points and their holders at opposite sides of
the chimney and to connect the circuit wires from one to the other, as illustrated in
Fig. 3, so that where there is a ring of flame, or several burners, the gas may be
ignited at two or more places simultaneously.
Where one or more of these holders are applied to a mica chimney, the parts are
strengthened by a ring O of metal surrounding the reduced portion of the spark
point holder where it passes through the chimney, and the metal of this ring is

page_text: extended as a strap or arm to either the top or bottom metal band 5 or 6
surrounding the upper or lower end of such mica chimney at which place the strap
of the ring is to be connected to such band, preferably by riveting the parts
together. In this manner the band is prevented from separating from the mica,
and at the same time the parts support each other so that there is less risk of the
mica being injured where the spark point holder is applied to the same, and where
the mica chimney is made of three parts with the edges lapped one on the other,
there may he three of these spark point holders if desired.
The strap from the ring O may extend both up and down and connect the top
and bottom bands, and the strap may be either inside or outside the chimney.
When the chimney is sufficiently strong the holder may be screwed directly into
such chimney.
If desired, a second nut may be used to form a lock upon the screw 11 or 12.
The lamps that are below the car ceiling usually are suspended by three or more
tubes with the gas in one of the tubes, and the circuit wires can be led through
two of the other tubes.
The spark points are easily kept in operative condition by passing a brush across
the same to remove any deposit of carbon.
The devices shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 correspond generally to those before
described, but in addition a thermostat is represented at M with one end connected
firmly to a cross piece 17 and acting at its other end 20 upon a lever N to swing
the moving end towards the spark point holder as the thermostat becomes heated,
or to swing the same away as the thermostat cools when the lamp has been
extinguished, and the end of this lever N forms a shield to the spark points.
In Fig. 4 the spark point holder is shown as upon a spring K that projects the
end of the spark point holder into the chimney, and this spring yields when the
shield at the end of the lever N is pressed against the same so as to force the spark
point holder outwardly and away from the heat.
The end of the lever N may be made as a flanged shield, as shown at N¹, Fig. 5,
to come under and protect the spark points when the thermostat is heated. The
spark points may be stationary when the shield N' is used.
In Fig. 4, the holder I is fitted with a contact 18 that closes the circuit to the
wire 14 at 19 when the parts are cool, so that the gas can be lighted, but when
the thermostat is heated up and the shield N¹ presses back the holder I, the
contact 18 separates from 19, so that the circuit cannot remain closed from
inattention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
First. The combination with the chimney in a gas burning lamp, of a spark
point holder formed of a refractory substance that is a nonconductor of electricity,
such holder being perforated and the spark points introduced in the perforations,
screws for holding the spark points and wires for the electric circuit clamped to
the screws, substantially as set forth.
Second. The spark point holder formed of refractory nonconducting material
and having a head and a screw threaded shank and perforated with converging
holes, in combination with the spark points inserted through the holes, screws for
clamping the spark point wires, and a nut on the reduced screw threaded portion
of the holder for clamping the holder to the chimney in a gas burning lamp,
substantially as set forth.
Third. The combination with a gas burning lamp having a mica chimney, of a
spark point holder of refractory nonconducting material passing through the mica
of the chimney, a nut for clamping such holder to the chimney, spark points
passing through perforations in the holder and clamping screws for securing such
spark points in position, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination with a gas burning lamp having a mica chimney, of a
6

page_text: spark point holder of refractory nonconducting material passing through the mica
of the chimney, a nut for clamping such holder to the chimney, spark points
passing through perforations in the holder and clamping screws for securing such
spark points in position, conducting wires bent around the screws and nuts for
clamping such wires to the screws, substantially as set forth.
Fifth. The combination with a gas burning lamp having a chimney, of a spark
point holder having a head and a reduced screw threaded portion, a metal eye-
through which the reduced portion of the holder passes, said eye having an arm
fastened at its end to the chimney, a nut for clamping the parts together, there
being perforations through the spark point holder for the wires of the spark points,.
clamping screws for holding such wires and circuit wire connections for the spark
points, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The combination with a gas burning lamp having a chimney, of two spark
point holders having heads outside the chimney and reduced portions passing
through the chimney and nuts for clamping the holders to the chimney, spark.
points formed of wires and passing through perforations in the holders, clamps for
holding such wires in position, and circuit connections leading to the opposite.
holders and a wire connecting one holder to the other, substantially as set forth.
Seventh. The combination with a gas burner and its chimney, of spark points
and conductors for directing a current of electricity in lighting the gas, and a
shield and a thermostat device for acting upon the shield to move the same and
protect the spark points when the gas is burning, substantially as set forth.
Eighth. The combination with a burner and spark points and electric connections.
for igniting the gas, of a thermostat for acting upon the spark points and for
automatically breaking the electric circuit, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 3rd day of September 1896.
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds, Agents for the Applicant.