US37529A - Improvement in lanterns - Google Patents

Description

.1. STRASZER.

Lantern.

Patented Jan. 27, 1863.

No. 37,529. A

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN STBASZER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN LANTERNS.

" Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37.529, dated January 27, 1863.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN STRASZER, of St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvenient in Lanterns; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a lantern wiih my improvement applied to it; Fig. 2, a vertical central section ofthe same, taken in the line x x, Fig. 3; Fig. 3, a plan or top view of the same, with the upper part o-f the lantern thrown back to expose the lamp.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in the several gures.

lliis invention consists in a novel way of securing the bottom of the lantern, which contains the lamp, to its upper p irt, as hereinafter fully shown and described, whereby the two parts cannot become detached and the lamp portion lost or mislaid, a contingency of frequent occurrence in using ordinary lanterns, the invention at the same time admitting of the lamp being very readily exposed when it is required to be lighted, trimmed, or extinguished.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, l will proceed to describe it.

A represents the upper part of a lantern, and B the lower part. These two parts may be constructed in the usual way, and theretore do not require a minute description. The lower part, B, has the lamp C attachedvto it as usual, and said part is connected atits upper edge to the lower edge of part A by a hinge, a, (see Fig. 2,) which admits of the upper part, A, being turned over in a horizontal position to expose the lamp O for convenience of lighting or extinguishing the same. When the upper part, A, is turned or adjusted in a vertical position its lower edge ts within the upper edge of the part B, as shown in Fig. 2, a ange, b, which encompasses the lower part of A resting on the upper edge of B. Within the pai-t B there is secured a spring, D, which may be constructed of a steel rod, bent in circular form, and attached at its center to B, the ends of said rod being bent outward and passing through oblong slots c in the part B. This spring D, by its elasticity, has a tendency to bear or press against the inner side ot' B, and to said spring, near each end, there is attached a vertical plate, d. The upper ends of these plates are bent over toward the inner side of B, so as to form convex surfaces at their upper sides, as shown at c, and the lower ends of said plates are also bent toward the inner side of B, as shown at f. (See Fig. 2.)

To the inner side of the lower part, A, of the lantern there are attached two pins, g, which, when the parts A B are connected in close contact, are below the upper bent ends, e, of the plates d, the ends e forming catches to hold A to B. In consequence of the upper surfaces of e being rounded, or of convex form, the pins g are allowed, when A is turned in a vertical position, to press inward the plates dand pass down underneath the catches e. ln order to release the catches efrom the pins g, the operator simply presses the outer ends of the spring D toward each other, which throws inward the plates (l. By this simple arrangement the bottom B ot' the lantern cannot be lost or mislaid, as it is permanently attached to the upper or main part A, and at the saine time the lamp C may, by actuating the spring D and turning over the part A, be exposed with the greatest facility for lighting, trimming, or extinguishing the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the hinge and springcatch, when applied to lanterns, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

JOHN STRASZER.

Witnesses J. HOLTZINGEE, BENJAMIN HORTON.

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