IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE PRODUCTION OF LIGHT
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Prosser, of 24, Dorset Place, Dorset Square,
in the County of Middlesex, and Henry John Standly, of 9, Pall Mall
East, in the City of Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Esquires,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE
PRODUCTION OF LIGHT."
Sealed the 19th April 1861, and dated the. 25th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Prosser and
Henry John Standly at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,.
with their Petition, on the 25th October 1860.
We, WILLIAM PROSSER, of 24, Dorset Place, Dorset Square, in the County
of Middlesex, and HENRY JOHN STANDLY, of 9, Pall Mall East, in the City
of Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Esquires, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS, EMPLOYED IN
THE PRODUCTION OF LIGHT," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to apparatus employed in the production of light
when oxygen and hydrogen gases or their compounds are employed to produce
light by their ignition on a surface of lime or other suitable material, and our
improvements consist in the use of two or more pieces of lime or other
material abutting against each other being pressed in opposite directions
towards the jet or jets of flame which impinge upon them; or if more than
two pieces of lime or other material be used, they should be caused to converge
to a centre, each piece being pressed forward by a spring, weight,, or other
convenient means, so as to keep the pieces of lime or other material in contact
with each other at. or about where the jet or jets of flame impinge upon them,

page_text: and these pieces of lime or other material we place in tubes, cases, or holders'
and advance them by the action of springs, weights, or other convenient means,
so as to cause the pieces of lime or other material to move as they are con-
sumed or otherwise dissipated by the action of the jet or jets of flame, and
thus preserve them in contact at or about where the jet or jets of flame strike.
This we effect in various ways to suit the object in view, sometimes arranging
the pieces of lime or other material vertically, sometimes, horizontally, and at
other times angularly with respect to the jet or jets of flame, employing as
many pieces as the circumstances may require, but in every case permitting
the pieces of lime or other material to advance towards the flame as they are
destroyed, by which arrangement a great economy is effected in the con-
sumption of the lime or other material, and consequently diminishing the
labour and attention requisite in using such apparatus as heretofore employed,
at the same time providing for the necessary change of surface of the lime or
other material, and greatly simplifying the apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Prosser and Henry John Standly in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
PROSSER, of 24, Dorset Place, Dorset Square, in the County of Middlesex,
and HENRY JOHN STANDLY, of 9, Pall Mall East, in the City of Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, Esquires, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Prosser and Henry John Standly, Her special licence
that we, the said William Prosser and Henry John Standly, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Prosser
and Henry John Standly, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE PRODUCTION OF LIGHT," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Prosser and Henry

page_text: John Standly, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
I NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Prosser and Henry Jolin.
Standly, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to, be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-.
Our Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus employed in
the production of light, and is applicable when oxygen and hydrogen gases or
their compounds are employed to produce light by their ignition on a surface
of lime or other suitable material, and our improvements consist in the use
of two or more' pieces of lime or other material abutting against each other
being pressed in opposite directions towards the jet or jets of flame which
impinge upon them, the one being used as an abutment for the other. When
more than two pieces of lime or other material be used they should be caused
to converge or otherwise move towards a common centre, each piece being.
pressed forward by a spring or weight, or other convenient means, so as to
keep the pieces of lime or other material in contact with each other at or
about the place where the jet or jets of flame impinge upon them; and these
pieces of lime or other material we place in tubes, cases, or holders, and
advance them by the action of springs or weights, or other convenient means,
so as to cause the pieces of lime or other material to move towards each other
as they are consumed or otherwise dissipated or destroyed by the action of the
jet or jets of flame, and thus preserve them in contact at or about the place
where the jet or jets of flame strike: This we effect in various ways to suit
the object in view, sometimes' arranging the pieces of lime or other material
vertically, sometimes horizontally, and at other times angularly with respect
to the jet or jets of flame, employing as many pieces of lime or other material
as the circumstances may require, but in every case providing that the pieces
of lime or other material shall advance towards the flame as they are
consumed or destroyed, by which arrangement a great economy is effected in
the consumption of the lime or other material, and the labour and attention
requisite in using such apparatus as heretofore employed is consequently
diminished, at the same time that the necessary change of surface of the lime
or other material is provided for, and the apparatus greatly simplified.
And in order more fully to render explicit the mode of performing: our

page_text: modifications of those parts which constitute our improvements, in which the
same letters of reference apply to similar parts in each of the Figures.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
.
Figures 1, 2, shew arrangements for using two pieces of lime (that material
being preferred) either in the same line, or angularly with respect to each
other. The pieces of lime are pressed towards each other by springs which
prevent them from being dislodged from the holders. Figures 3, 4, 5, shew
arrangements in which the lime is similarly moved forward by springs, the
pieces of lime being of various forms of section.
Figures 6, 7, 8 shew an arrangement by which several pieces of lime may
be disposed round a jet either in a flat plane or angularly to each other, and
converging towards the jet.
Figure 9 shews a modification of the foregoing, in which the resistance to
the undue advance of the piece or pieces of lime is effected by the pressure
of a spring acting against the surface of the lime instead of against the end of
an opposing piece of lime, the object sought to be attained in all cases being
to prevent the lime being moved otherwise than as it is consumed.
Figure 10 is a transverse section of a piece or pieces of lime with several
jets disposed round it, so as to illuminate the entire space surrounding the
lamp.
In applying these lamps to various purposes, the vertical or horizontal
arrangement will be adopted as may be best suited to the object, as, for
instance, when a lamp is required to illuminate the space in front of it, the
vertical arrangement is. the most convenient, and when the space beneath the
lamp is required to be illuminated, the horizontal arrangement is preferable,
as in that case a single jet will then suffice for distributing the light in every
direction as would be required when suspended from the ceiling of a room, or
when applied to a post or bracket in the street. Figure 9, with a single jet,
is a very convenient form of lamp for illuminating the space in front of it, and
when three or more jets are used, as Figure 10, it is applicable when required
to illuminate a large space around it.
In all the applications referred to A is the lime or other suitable material
upon which the jet of flame is made to impinge either at right angles or
inclined to the lime, as may be most convenient or suitable for the purpose
intended, this will depend in some measure upon the particular application of
the lamp. When the lime is used horizontally the jet will be more con-
veniently, applied at right angles to the lime, and when used vertically it will

page_text: be found more convenient to apply the jet inclined to the lime (as in Figures
1 and 2) in both of which cases the jet offers the least obstruction to the
diffusion of the light; B are tubes or holders of metal or other suitable
material made to suit the sectional form of the lime, the ends of the holders
are furnished with caps for the convenience of inserting the pieces of lime
(and their springs) when the lamp requires replenishing; the holders are con-
nected together by a bar oi frame C; D are springs, which press upon the
pieces of lime and cause their movement as they are consumed. In Figures 1;
2, 3, 6, the movement of the lower piece or pieces of lime is prevented by
the pressure of the upper piece or pieces of lime until that portion which is
opposite to the jet is consumed, and in Figure 9 a spring d is substituted for
the upper piece of lime and its spring, as in Figures 1, 2, 3, 6, the point of
the spring d is terminated by a piece of iridium or other material, which is
capable of withstanding the heat to which the lime is subjected without
melting; E is a jet having a nipple F at its extremity from which the com-
bined gases issue and impinge against the piece or pieces of lime. The jet is
connected by an union cap G to a chamber H into which the gases are intro
duced and there mixed before issuing from the jet; I, I, are regulating cocks
(one for each gas) through which the gases pass to the chamber H; a single
cock having two apertures or passages through it (one for each gas) may be
employed for this purpose with advantage; K, K, are pipes leading from the
gas holders to the cocks I, I. It will be obvious that the advance of the lime
can only take place when the abutting points are in a state of fusion, and in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 6, where the pieces of lime are caused to abut against each
other, and where the jet of flame is caused to act upon the point of junction of
the pieces of lime, the fusion will take place at that point, and thus the lime
being in a soft or plastic state will be pressed together by the springs D.
In Figure 9 the same effect takes place, the lime being fused by the jet or
flame is rendered plastic at the place where the point of the spring d presses
upon it and becomes embedded in it. The lime is thus permitted gradually
to advance to or before the jet of flame.
It will also be obvious that unless a progressive movement be given to the
lime, the light will gradually lose its brilliancy as the space between the point
of the jet and the surface of the lime becomes increased. Any rate of velocity
may be given to the lime that may be requisite for effecting a uniform degree
of brilliancy by simply regulating the pressure of the springs upon it. The
gases, which are usually oxygen and hydrogen, are admitted to the jet through
two cocks or valves, as usual, (one for each gas) or through a single cock:
having two apertures in it (one for each gas) as before described. By the single

page_text: cock the light is as easily manipulated and regulated as an ordinary gas light.
A chamber H is provided between the regulating cocks, and the jet in which
from twelve to twenty wire gauze washers are placed through which the gases
pass and become thoroughly mixed, and through which the regurgitation of the
flame is effectually prevented.
In all the foregoing arrangements the consumption of lime is exceedingly
small, more especially those represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 6. Any desired
character, ornamental or otherwise, may be given to the several arrangements
of lamps herein described, with all which it will generally be found desirable
to use a glass shade by which the diffusion and uniformity of the light is much
promoted; Figures 3, 4, 5, differ from Figures 1, 2, only in the employment
of two pieces of lime in each holder instead of one, they may be of similar
form as in Figure 4, or dissimilar as in Figure 5, the object of this latter being
to provide a large surface for the flame to act upon and be reflected from while
the portion with which the flame first comes in contact is perfectly consumed,
which it would not be if of larger dimensions when small jets of flame are
used.
Having now fully described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same we would have it understood that we do not
confine ourselves to the precise details herein described, so long as the essential
features of the Invention are retained, as the precise form of the parts must
mainly depend upon their particular application; what we claim is, the
arrangement as herein described of the pieces of lime or other material, and
the mode of regulating their movement as they are consumed and rendered
unfit for the purpose of producing a uniform and brilliant light by the ignition
of oxygen and hydrogen gases or their compounds thereon.
In witness whereof, the said William Prosser and Henry John Standly
have hereunto set their hands and seals, this Twenty-fourth day of
April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
W. PROSSER.
(L.B.)
H. J. STANDLY. (LS.)
Witness to the signatures of W.
Prosser and H. J. Standly.
AMHT. H. RENTON,
49, Cambridge St. Pimlico.