IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LIGHTING OF TOWNS AND DISTRICTS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Forster Shedlock and James John
Shedlock, of 27, Dudley Grove, Harrow Road, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LIGHTING OF
TOWNS AND DISTRICTS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Forster Shedlock
and James John Shedlock at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 9th December 1872.
We, JAMES FORSTER SHEDLOCK and JAMES JOHN SHEDLOCK, of 27,
3 Dudley Grove, Harrow Road, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
LIGHTING OF TOWNS AND DISTRICTS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,” to
be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the lighting of street lamps and public
and private buildings by an improved method, and for which purpose
atmospheric air is forced by means of air pumps or other suitable
apparatus into an accumulator, and thence through main pipes laid

page_text: in the ordinary manner in the roads or pathways to the service pipes
of the street lamps, and the public and private buildings. The
accumulator may be an ordinary gas holder, or a strong vessel fitted
with safety valves and pressure gauges, into which the atmospheric air is
compressed.
The inlet to the accumulator is connected with the air-forcing
apparatus, and the outlet fitted with governors or regulating valves
communicates with the main pipes. The object of the accumulator is
to contain a supply of atmospheric air, so as to compensate for any
sudden or extra withdrawal of atmospheric air from the mains, and
thereby allow the attendant in charge to increase the speed of the
apparatus, or put other apparatus in motion. After passing through the
service pipes the atmospheric air is made to pass through a reservoir
containing a hydrocarbon liquid, with the vapour of which the
atmospheric air becomes charged, and being conveyed by pipes to the
burners, and ignited, produces a powerful illuminant.
The reservoir may be of any convenient form, but so constructed that
an extended area of the hydrocarbon liquid is exposed to the action of
the atmospheric air passing over or through it. Valves or stop-cocks
are attached to the inlet and outlet pipes of the reservoir for the purpose
of regulating the supply and pressure of the atmospheric air passing
through the apparatus.
The inlet and outlet valves are opened or closed simultaneously.
Provision is made by a plug, or it may be a valve, for the supply of
hydrocarbon liquid when that contained in the reservoir becomes
exhausted. The inlet pipe of the reservoir communicates by the service
pipe with the main, and the outlet pipe is connected with the burner.
The lamp-posts are constructed with a chamber, in the lower part of
which is placed the reservoir containing the hydrocarbon liquid, and a
similar reservoir is supplied to each public and private building, but of
such capacity as to supply the required number of burners. Governors
and regulating valves are attached to the mains at the necessary
positions, so as to maintain as near as possible an uniform pressure
throughout the town or district to be lighted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Forster Shedlock and James John Shedlock
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th June 1878.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
FORSTER SHEDLOCK and JAMES JOHN SHEDLOCK, of 27, Dudley Grove,
Harrow Road, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
"
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said James Forster Shedlock and James John
Shedlock, Her special licence that we, the said James Forster Shedlock
and James John Shedlock, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said James Forster Shedlock and James John
Shedlock, 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 "Iж-
PROVEMENTS IN THE LIGHTING OF TOWNS AND DISTRICTS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED
THERE WITH, upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
James Forster Shedlock and James John Shedlock, 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.
زو
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said James Forster Shedlock and James
John Shedlock, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the lighting of

page_text: apparatus, but we prefer rotary air pumps driven by steam or other
power. Before entering the air pumps the atmospheric air may be freed
from moisture or other impurity by being made to pass through a
material having an affinity for such impurities. The accumulators
capable of resisting the expansive force of the compressed air contained
therein are fitted with pressure gauges, safety valves, and inlet and outlet
pipes; the inlets being provided with non-return valves for the purpose
of relieving the air pumps of any back pressure; and the outlet pipes arc
fitted with valves for the purpose of regulating the flow of atmospheric
air to the governors, by which means the atmospheric air is delivered to
the mains at an uniform pressure. After passing through the mains
and service pipes the atmospheric air is made to pass through a reservoir,
the lower part of which forming a vapourizing chamber is so constructed
as to expose a large surface to the action of the atmospheric air passing
through it. The vapourizing chamber is filled with an absorbent
material, and supplied with a hydrocarbon liquid from the reservoir, the
supply being regulated by the level of the liquid in the vapourizing
chamber, and the pressure of the atmospheric air passing through it.
The inlet and outlet pipes of the reservoir and vapourizing chamber are
fitted with cocks or valves so arranged that they are opened and closed
simultaneously. The hydrocarbon liquid is supplied to the reservoir
through a cock or valve having a connection attached thereto common
to all reservoirs. The street lamps may be supplied with the illuminant
from a reservoir contained in the base of the lamp-post, or a similar
reservoir may be placed in a box let into the ground near the lamp-post.
The public and private buildings are lighted by a supply of the atmo-
spheric air saturated with hydrocarbon vapour provided in a similar
manner; the reservoir containing the hydrocarbon liquid being placed in
any convenient place whether inside or outside the building.
And in order that our Invention may be more fully explained,
reference is made to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Fig. 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan of an apparatus for carrying
out this Invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a lamp-post fitted
with the reservoir and vapourizing chamber.
The atmospheric air is drawn through the vessels D, D, containing a
material having an affinity for the moisture or other impurity contained
therein, and by the pipes S, S, and valves T, T, into the air pumps B, B,

page_text: and thence forced through the pipes U, U, and valves V, V, to the
inlets E, E, of the accumulators A, A. The inlets E, E, are fitted with
non-return valves I, I, for the purpose of taking the back pressure off
the air pumps. Ordinary gas holders may take the place of the accumu-
lators A, A. The pipe X and the valve W is intended as a bye pass, so
as to connect either or both of the accumulators A, A, or gas holders
with either or both of the air pumps B, B. Pressure gauges G, G, and
safety valves H, H, are fitted to the accumulators A, A, and the outlet
pipes F, F, are provided with valves K, K, for the purpose of regulating
the flow of atmospheric air to the governor J, which will deliver it at an
uniform and regular pressure into the mains, and thence by the service
pipes to the reservoirs and vapourizing chambers.
The air pumps B, B, may be driven by steam or gas engines C, C, or
by any other power that can be conveniently applied for that purpose.
After the atmospheric air has passed through the mains and service
pipes, it is carried by the pipe N into the vapourizing chamber L, which
is filled with an absorbent material and contains a quantity of hydro-
carbon liquid supplied thereto from the reservoir M. The atmospheric
air after becoming saturated with the hydrocarbon vapour is conveyed
by the pipes O and O' to the burners. The inlet pipe N and the outlet
pipe O are provided with cocks or valves P and P¹, which are simul-
taneously opened or closed by means of toothed quadrants geared into
each other and attached to the shanks of the valves or cocks P, and P¹.
The hydrocarbon liquid is supplied to the reservoir M through the
pipe Q', and the cock or valve Q, which is fitted with a connexion
common to all the reservoirs. The reservoir and vapourizing chamber
are shewn as fitted in the base of a street lamp-post R, or a similar
apparatus may be placed in a box let into the ground either to supply
the public lamps or public and private buildings, but if desired the
reservoir and vapourizing chamber may be placed in any convenient part
of the building.
Having thus stated the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is carried into effect, we would have it understood that
we do not confine ourselves to the precise details shewn and described,
but that which we claim and desire to have secured to us is, the lighting
of towns and districts by forcing atmospheric air through the mains and
service pipes, and then saturating it with a hydrocarbon vapour which

page_text: when conveyed to the burners and ignited produces a powerful illu-
minant.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Forster Shedlock, and
James John Shedlock, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand i
eight hundred and seventy-three.