IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS. USED IN MINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Harby Barber, of Belgrave,. in the County of
Leicester, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS.
USED IN MINES."
Sealed the 11th June 1861, and dated the 14th December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Harby Barber at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th.
December 1860.
I, HARBY BARBER, of Belgrave, in the County of Leicester, Manufacturer,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LAMPS USED IN MINES," to be as follows:-
My improvements are applicable to lamps used in. mines, wherein the object
is to prevent the flame being brought in contact with the external air, and for
which purpose the same is surrounded by a cylinder of wire gauze secured in
its place by a lock to prevent the lamp being withdrawn and used in an
exposed state; but lamps so constructed have hitherto failed to give the
security required, as the miners by forcing the said lock are enabled to remove
the wire gauze from the lamp and expose the flame.
The object of my Invention is to prevent the flame being, under any cir-
cumstances, exposed, for which purpose over and round the wick-holder I
place a tube or extinguisher, on which are two projecting arms; under the
said arms and round the nozzle of the lamp I place a ring having a counter-

page_text: sunk catch on each side. Inside the ordinary cylindrical gauze cover I place
another ring. On screwing the lamp into the gauze cover (after lighting the
wick), the said ring with catches passes through the said ring inside the gauze
cover; but on an attempt being made to unscrew and remove the lamp from
the cover, the said tube or extinguisher round the wick-holder is drawn up
over the wick by means of its arms, and the flame is extinguished.
The above arrangement admits of modification, but in all cases the top of
the extinguisher is placed on a level with or below the flame so as not to
obstruct the light, and as the light cannot be withdrawn from lamps thus
constructed locks will not be required for the same as heretofore.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Harby Barber in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HARBY
BARBER, of Belgrave, in the County of Leicester, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, 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
me, the said Harby Barber, Her special licence that I, the said Harby
Barber, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Harby Barber, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LAMPS USED IN MINES," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said
Harby Barber, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Harby Barber, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
My said improvements are applicable to lamps used in mines wherein the
object is to prevent the flame being brought in contact with the external air,
and for which purpose the same is surrounded by a cylinder of wire gauze
secured in its place by a lock to prevent the lamp being withdrawn and used
in an exposed state; but lamps as hitherto constructed have failed to give the
security required, the miners by forcing the lock being enabled to remove the
wire gauze from the lamp and expose the flame.
The object of my said Invention is to prevent the flame being, under any
circumstances, exposed whilst the lamp is in use, for which purpose the wick-
holder is surrounded by a tube, the top of which does not stand above the
level of the light, and which, on an attempt being made to unscrew or remove
the oil chamber from its gauze cover, is raised up over the wick and extin-
guishes the light before the lamp is opened; this is accomplished by the use
of inclined planes fixed outside the nozzle of the oil chamber, which lift the
said tube by means of arms with which it is provided, or by the use of a
screw or worm on the wick-holder for accomplishing the same purpose. In
either case the arm or arms on the said tube catch against the end of a spring
on the inside of the lamp on an attempt being made to unscrew the same from
the gauze cover, and cause the light to be extinguished before the lamp is
detached.
I will now proceed to describe my said improvements in connexion with the
Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a miner's safety lamp, the lower part being
drawn in section to show the manner of carrying out the principle of my said
improvements by means of a worm or screw on the wick-holder, and Figure 2
is a plan view of the same on the line A, B.
Letter (a) is the oil chamber; (b) is the tube for extinguishing the light;
(c) is an arm on the same; (d) is a spring fixed to the screw cap of lamp
cover. Figure 3 is a side view of the said tube, shown detached, and the
dotted lines indicate the female screw or worm (f) contained therein. Figure 4
is a side view of the said wick-holder, with the said male screw or worm (9)
thereon; the said improvements thus applied act as follows:-On an attempt
being made to unscrew the oil chamber (a) the arm (c) on the tube or extin-
guisher (b) is brought in contact with the end of the spring (d) and is there
beld, which causes the tube (6) to traverse the screw (9) on the wick-holder,
by which it is brought up to surround and extinguish the light.
Figure 5 is a part sectional view of a lamp, showing the application of

page_text: inclined planes, as another mode of carrying the principle of my said Inven-
tion into effect; and Figure 6 is a plan view of the same. Letter (h) is the
oil chamber; (j) is the tube for extinguishing the light; (k) are arms on
the same; (1) are inclined planes fixed outside the nozzle of the oil chamber;
(m) is a spring fixed on the inside of the screw cap of lamp cover. Figure 7
is a side view of the said tube shown detached, which in this case is only placed
round a wick-holder of the ordinary kind. The action is as follows:-On an
attempt being made to unscrew the oil chamber (h) one of the arms (k) is
brought against the end of the spring (m), which causes the lower ends of the
arms (k) to ascend the inclines, and thus elevates the tube and extinguishes
the light. The ends of the said arms are each provided with a small projec-
tion, one of which drops into a notch on the top of one of the inclines and
prevents said arm from being carried too far. When the lamp is being screwed
up the spring on the inside of the screw cap of cover permits the passage of
the said arms on the tube, and it is only on an attempt being made to unscrew
the lamp that it operates upon the said tube or extinguisher.
Having now described the nature of my said improvements, and the manner
of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood-that-I-do
not confine myself to the exact details herein-before described, as the same
may be varied without departing from the principle of my said improvements;
but what I claim is,-
First, the use of a screw, worm, or inclined plane as a means for raising or
placing an extinguisher upon the flame of a safety lamp to extinguish the light
before the said lamp can be opened.
Second, the use of a screw worm or inclined plane in combination with a
spring, so placed that the arms on the tube or extinguisher can pass it while
the lamp is being screwed up, but acts as a means for extinguishing the light
on an attempt being made to open the lamp, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Harby Barber, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
WILLIAM FREEMAN,
Belgrave, n Lester.
HARBY BARBER. (L.S.)