Year: 1886

page_text: I CHARLES ROBERT EDWARD BELL, of 83, Knightrider Street, in the city of
London, Wax Vesta Manufacturer 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 :-
The object of my invention is to produce a lighter which may be applied to the
ordinary match or vesta and by means of which such match or vesta may be con-
verted into a fusee so as to allow of effecting the lighting of a pipe or cigar by means
thereof even in a high wind.
I form a hollow cylinder or bead of combustible material of any kind suitable for
the heads of ordinary fusees.
The ingredients of which such combustible material may be made are well known.
For instance a compound often employed is a mixture of carbon and chlorate of
potash. Such material should have the property of deflagrating completely when
ignited at one point.
When it is desired to light a pipe or cigar in a wind which would blow out an
ordinary match this hollow cylinder or bead may be slipped on over the stem of a
match or vesta until it reaches the striking or igniting end. The match or vesta may
be then struck or ignited in the ordinary way and the ignition will be immediately
communicated to the hollow cylinder or bead of combustible matter even in a light
wind and the match with the addition of such hollow cylinder or bead will then serve
all the purposes of a fusee.
-
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the forms which such hollow cylinder or bead may tako
and the application thereof to a match or vesta but I do not confine myself to these
precise forms of bead.
My intention is that such cylinders or beads (of assorted sizes if necessary) should
be separately sold so as to be used when required with matches or vestas of ordinary
kind.
These hollow beads or cylinders may be conveniently and cheaply manufactured m
the following manner :-
Smooth wires are taken of a diameter slightly larger than the match to which the
lighter is intended to be applied. Such wires are slightly coated with paraffin,

page_text: stearine or some other similar substance which can be melted with a small degree of
heat. The hollow cylinders or beads of combustible material are then formed upon
such coated wires in the mode in which the combustible ends of fusees are usually
made. When the composition has set, the wires are slightly heated so as to melt the
coating and the cylinders or beads can then be removed and packed into boxes. Or
the hollow beads or cylinders may be made in continuous lengths and afterwards cut
into the required lengths for use.
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 :-
1. The manufacture of hollow cylinders or beads of combustible material of the
kind hereinbefore described suitable for slipping over ordinary matches or vestas so as
to convert the same into fusees.
2. The mode of manufacturing such hollow cylinders or beads hereinbefore
described.
3. The combination of an ordinary match or vesta with a hollow cylinder or bead of
the kind hereinbefore described slipped over the match or vesta so as to convert it into
a fusee.