An Improved Socket and Adapter for Incandescent Electric Lamps and other Electrical Purposes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Oct., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 4th June, 1890-Accepted, 12th July, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Socket and Adapter for Incandescent Electric Lamps
and other Electrical Purposes.
We, GEORGE DONOVAN and WALTER DONOVAN, both of 4 Arliss Road, Queen's
Road, Battersea, Electrical Instrument Makers, do hereby declare the nature of our
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to the class of wall sockets, or contact making appliances,
generally used for holding and making connection with any electrical appliance and
especially applicable for connecting incandescent electric lamps, and has for its object
the construction of a socket for connecting lamps and which can also be used to
adapt the connection of the ordinary incandescent electric lamp for use when a
movable lamp is desired to be connected to the ordinary electric lamp bracket by
means of a wall plug and our adapter.
Our invention consists in the construction of an adapter or socket of a form similar
to the cap of the ordinary incandescent lamp, which we carry out by forming a
cylindrical body having a projecting shoulder of smaller diameter of box wood,
porcelain, or any other suitable insulating material. Upon the said projecting
shoulder a small piece of tube of brass or other material is fitted of such a size as to
fit into the ordinary lamp holder, pins being arranged on the outside of the said tube
in order to engage as a bayonet joint in the lamp holder in the usual manner.
Upon the opposite side of the cylindrical body to that on which the brass tube is
fitted a circular recess or groove is provided either of V or other suitable shape, and
from such recess two tubes of brass or other suitable conducting material are led
through the body of the socket or adapter and extend to the same distance as the
brass socket tube. Upon the ends of these contact making tubes suitable contact
plates of copper or other equivalent material are arranged. The space within the
brass socket tube around the said contact making tubes is filled with plaster of Paris
or other suitable material, so thoroughly insulating the conductors from one another
and from the surrounding fittings.
The object of the grooves on the face of the adapter is to facilitate the making of
the contact by placing the projecting arms or prongs of the wall plug in the groove
and turning the connection until the arms or prongs engage in the connecting tubes.
We may connect the socket contact tubes with the contact plates on the face of the
adapter by wire or any other equivalent means. We may also use our invention for
the purpose of adapting any wall socket to any lamp holder and it may also be used
instead of a wall socket.
If the lamp is taken out of a fixed or other fitting and the adapter is put into the
lamp holder in place of the lamp, the wall plug can be put into the adapter and will
answer the same purpose as an ordinary wall socket.
בו
100
FELL & WILDING,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London E.C., Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Socket and Adapter for Incandescent Electric Lamps
and other Electrical Purposes.
We GEORGE DONOVAN, and WALTER DONOVAN, both of 4 Arliss Road, Queen's
Road, Battersea, Electrical Instrument Makers do hereby declare the nature of our
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to the class of wall sockets, or contact making appliances
generally used for holding and making connection with any electric appliance, and is
017

page_text: especially applicable for connecting incandescent electric lamps, and has for its object
the construction of an adapter, or contact making device of such a form as to readily
obtain a shunt circuit or circuits from the main supply circuit for the purpose of
connection of any ordinary incandescent, or other electric lamp, or for the connection
of a volt meter or other equivalent purpose.
Our invention consists in the construction of an adapter or socket one end of which
shall be capable of engagement with either one or other of the well-known wall
sockets, or lamp holders such as the Edison-Swan, or other devices of a .similar
character, the other end being formed so that connection may be readily made
with a wall plug of any description or direct to wires forming the circuit we wish to
complete.
In order that our invention may be the better understood we now proceed to
describe the same in relation to the drawings hereunto annexed reference being had
to the letters and figures marked thereon. Like letters refer to like parts .in the
various figures.
Figure 1. shews in sectional elevation our adapter connected to a lamp holder
having the ordinary bayonet point attachment.
Figure 2. is a plan of the adapter shewing the groove and contact making tubes.
Figure 3. is a plan of the adapter with the protecting cap removed shewing the
shunt circuit connected direct without the use of a wall plug.
Figure 4. shews in sectional elovation our adapter and our form of wall plug
connected to another form of wall socket.
Figure 5. is a plan of the wall socket as shewn in Figure 4.
Figure 6. shews in sectional elevation our adapter connected to an ordinary safety
fuse or screw lamp socket.
Figure 7. is a plan of the socket.
Figure 8. is a sectional view of our adapter arranged to connect the Edison wall
plug with a bayonet joint lamp bracket.
Figure 9. is a plan of the same with the cap removed.
As an illustration of one way of carrying out our invention Figure 1. shows our
adapter arranged for connection with an ordinary incandescent lamp holder having
a bayonet joint attachment.
We form the body A. of box wood, porcelain, vulcanite, or other suitable insulating
material having a suitable shoulder B upon which is fixed a small piece of tube of
brass or other material of such a size and having the necessary projections C. as to
engage into any lamp holder, or wall socket as a bayonet joint.
Upon the opposite side of the cylindrical body to that on which the brass tube is
fitted we provide means for connection with any form of wall plug and by way of
illustration we describe the following forms :-A circular recess
or groove
Dis
preferably arranged either of a V or other suitable shape & from sucli recess two
tubes of brass E. or other suitable conducting material are led, through the body
of the adapter and extend to the same distance as the external brass socket Q.
Upon the ends of these contact making tubes suitable plates F of copper, or other
equivalent material are arranged.
The space within the brass socket tube around the contact making tubes E is filled
with plaster of Paris, or other suitable material thereby thoroughly insulating the
conductors from one another, and from the surrounding fittings.
The wall plug usually used with this form of adapter is generally made of a body of
insulating material such as wood, vulcanite, or porcelain having projecting prongs G.
from one face of the said body. These prongs are so situated and of such a size
that they will engage within the contact making tubes E. on the adapter.
Suitable screw connections are provided upon each of the prongs G. having
binding screw connections for making connection with conducting wires.
A suitable cap is usually screwed on in order to effectually protect the said
binding screws a hole being provided in the end through which the conducting
wires pass. The object of the groove D on the face of the adapter is to facilitate
the making of the contact by placing the projecting arms, or prongs of the wall

page_text: plug in the groove, and turning the latter until the said arms, or prongs simul-
taneously engage in the connecting tubes. Where it is necessary to connect the
shunt circuit or circuits without the use of a wall plug as shown in Fig. 1 we
tap the connecting tubes and insert binding screws as shown in Fig. 3 so as to
connect the wires direct.
In Figure 4, we show our adapter having one end arranged for connection with
wall sockets of the type generally known as the Edison & Crompton's in this case
the contact tubes are cach connected to a spring tongue, or flap having the end
suitably bent so as to readily engage between the contact shoulders upon the wall
socket.
In Figure 6 we show our adapter arranged to make connection with the socket
portion of an electric safety fuse or screw lamp socket the fuse plug or lamp having
been withdrawn.
In Figures 8 and 9 we show our invention carried out so as to make an electrical
connection between an ordinary Edison wall plug and a lamp bracket having a socket
for bayonet joint attachment.
As before described the body of the adapter is made of ebonite, wood or other
insulating material, and has arranged on one side of it a shank upon which a brass
tube with connecting projections for the bayonet joints is fixed, upon the opposite side
two contact pieces having cheeks forming a square are screwed, and electrical con-
nection from these contact pieces is made by means of any suitable conductors to
brass segmental plates, the intervening space around the conductors at the back of
the brass segmental plates being filled up with plaster of Paris or other equivalent
material.
The body of the adapter, is provided with a hollow recess to receive the flexible
cheeks of the wall plug.
A suitable cap is screwed upon the adapter in order to protect the contact pieces
and to give the adapter a finished appearance. This cap has of course a hole in its
end through which the wall plug passes.
We do not confine ourselves to the four illustrations given, but can carry out our
invention with any form of wall socket, wall plug, or lamp holder, that may be made.
As an illustration of the particular use of our invention should it be necessary to
apply a volt meter in order to gauge the tension of the current a lamp, safety fuse, or
wall plag can be taken out of its fitting, and our adapter inserted, the said adapter
being of course connected to the meter by the usual flexible conductors.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed wo declare that what we
claim is
1st. An adapter or contact making device for obtaining a shunt circuit or circuits
of electric current from a main circuit substantially as set forth.
2nd. An adapter having one end capable of making connection with any lamp
holder, wall socket or similar device, the other end being arranged for connection
to any wall plug or electrical device, in order to connect the respective poles through
the adapter to produce electric continuity.
3rd. In an adapter having one end arranged to make electrical connection with a
wall plug having two projecting prongs, a circular groove upon the face of the said
adapter from which the recesses (within which the said prongs engage) start to
facilitate the engagement of the plugs within the recesses of the adapter substantially
as described.
4th. The construction of an adapter in the various forms substantially as illustrated
and described in relation to the Figures herewith annexed.
Dated this 4th day of June 1890
FELL & WILDING,
1, Queen Victoria Street, Agents for the Applicants.