US35089A - Improved mode of firing night-signals - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC EDGE, OF JERSEY CITY, NEWv JERSEY, AND CHARLES C.

" OF STONING'ION, CONNECTICUT.

HYDE,

IMPROVED MODE OF FIRING NIGHT-SIGNALS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,089, dated April 29, 1862.

To all whom it may concern:

y Be it known that we, Isaac EDGE, of .Tersey City, in the State of New Jersey, and CHARLES CARROLL I-IYDE, of Stonington, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Means fo r Ign itin Night Lights or Signals to `be Used for Military and other Like Purposes; and we hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference beingl had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

' le employ the usual signal ease and tube provided with a proper handle for holding the signal while burning, the signal-case being rammed with inflammable composition to produce the proper light or lights required. This tube is slotted at its upper end, and is vprovided with a sliding ring to compress the tube upon the stem of the signal and secure it thereto. )Vith such ordinaryT contrivance Vthe handle is not fastened to the holdingtube, but its stem is allowed to play freely therein, and to this stem a wire or metallic rod is firmly secured,jand is of such lengtli i that when the handle is closed against the ,signal B attached, and Fig. 2 shows the same in longitudinal section. C shows the slots; D, the sliding ring; l l l, the signal-Case, of paper or other proper material; 2, 'the base with its stein and match -case, carrying a rammed fuse, 3, and match 4; and 5 shows the rammed signal composition; and for further explanation E may represent the sliding handle, and c the rod firmly secured to it.

' The difficulties in the employment of the above-described are inconvenience, uncertainty, and danger, as it is difficult to so regulate the force of the blow (usually by striking the end of the handle against some hard substance) but that the signal is often driven from the socketaltogether; again, ineifectual blows frequently discover the signal useless for the tiine, which difficulty, after such repeated vain efforts, (always in the dark,) leads to the discovery that the cap had dropped oil' or had become useless from corrosion from its long contact with the iron nipple. As the cap is exposed when the signal is not in the staff, it isA easily `fired by accident, thus rendering it dangerous.

Ourimprovemcnt (see drawings) consists in placing a couche of fulminate paste within a socket in the stem of the signal at a, and directly upon t-he fuse composition The fulminate paste will not deteriorate from age, it cannot fall from its place, it will not miss fire, nor can it be fired except by design, for which We employ a firing-tube provided with its handle E firmly attached thereto. handle is provided with a socket, l), throughout nearly its entire length to admit the rod c to slide freely therein. To this rod cwe attach a piston or plug, d, fitting the tube, and to this plug we afx a strong knob or button, c, secured from the outside of the tube and traversing freely in a longitudinal.

slot, fi, cut therein, the slot at its lower end being cut across the tube a distance about equal to the diameter of the stem of the knob and designed to lock it in position when drawn down.

Between the en d of the fixed handle E and the piston d we place a helical spring, f, and above the piston we place a shorter and more feeble helical spring, g, which bears against an annular plate or diaphragm, 71 soldered to the tube. Now it follows that with the signal lixed as in Fig. 2, if the button be drawn down and locked, as shown in Fig. l, and the tube be held by the handle, the button may be pressed to the right with the thumb or finger, .y

when the spring f willforce the rod upon and ignite the fulminate a and iire the signal.

y The spring g will quickly withdraw the end of the rod from` the socket, as shown in Fig.'

This.

2, toallow the escape of the gas downward the annular .'piate 71y through the agenoy of from the fuse and ont by orifices la, or othei'- the button e, the slot i, and the Socket b, sub- Wise it might force the signal from the tube. stantially as described.

\Ve claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent gigiigiio i HYDE Theherein-described improvement in firing' Y f' Y Y 1 1 night -signals by means of the fuhninate i Witnesses: couche a., fired by the self-acting rod 0, aetu- J. B. HYDE,

ated by springs f and g and the piston l and LEROY SCHERMERHORN.

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