1 848.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



33 



apertures, must be increased by the size of the apertures, for 

 the purpose of not interferinjj; with the upward current from tlie 

 upcast shaft. The patentee, after describing his invention, chiims 

 the mode, or modes, of elongating tlie upcast shafts of mines, for 

 the better ventilation of such mines, as described in the speci- 

 ti cation. 



CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES. 



Stephen Moulton, of Norfolk-street, Strand, Middlese.x, gen- 

 tleman, for " Improvements in the construction of bridges." — Granted 

 April 8; Enrolled Oct. 8, 184.7. 



The improvements are for constructing bridges in the manner 

 shown in the annexed engravings. Fig. 1 is a side view of a bridge 



Fig. 1. 

 constructed according to the invention. Fig. 2 shows two trans- 

 vei'se sections thereof, by which it will be seen that the top rail B, 

 and the bottom rail A, are combined togetlier by a series of diago- 

 nal bars D, so that tlie bottom rail A, is 

 suspended from the upper rail B, by 

 means of such diagonal bars D ; and the 

 rails, A and B, are kept apart by means 

 of the uprights C, wliich uprights are 

 not fixed to the upper or lower rails 

 B, A, but simply come in between them 

 as supports to retain the parts A, B, at 

 the correct distance apart ; and in the 

 event of the chain being formed to act 

 unequally on any of the diagonal bars 

 D, by driving in wedges, as shown at E, 

 fig. I, the wliole must be correctly ad- 

 justed. The diagonal bars I), proceed 

 in opposite directions, and cross each 

 other, as is shown, but they are not fixed 

 to each other, they l)eing simply fixed 

 at their ends by means of pins passing 

 through them ; and the top and bottom 

 rail, B, A, fig. 1, shows part of the side 

 framing of the bridge. 



Fig. 3 shows the diagonal bars D, 

 with the screw pins and nuts, by which 

 they are attached to the rails A, B. The upper rail may be formed 

 of two angle-irons, as shown at fig. 2, or in one double angle-iron, 

 as shown at fig. 3, the diagonal bars D passing between the parts 

 B B, and such parts will be held together by the pins and nuts J, 

 as shown. The lower rail is composed of two 

 bars. A, A, shown in fig. 2, and the ends of the 

 bars D are placed between them, and held by the 

 screw pins and nuts J, as shown. K, the beams 

 for receiving the floor of the bridge. F, tlie caps 

 which cover the upper edges of the two bars of 

 which the bottom rail A, is composed. At the 

 ends of a bridy^e it is preferred to use additional 

 bars D*, D", as shown at fig. 1, and also holding- 

 bars G, with adjusting screws and nuts, as at H ; 

 but these may be dispensed with. There are 

 opening through tlie uprights C, for the passage 

 of the diagonal bars D, but these bars I) should 

 be free and not confined in the openings through 

 such uprights C. 



' ' the peculiar arrangement of the 



G) m 



Ml* 



r-.g. 3. 

 It will be found by examinina 

 parts tliat great strength with lightness are obtained by construct- 



ing Jiridges in the manner described, for it will be evident that as 

 the rails A, B, are kept separated by the uprights C, which act as 

 stretchers, tliey will be rendered stiff and secure from flexure Ity 

 the diagonal bars D. 



LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND RAILWAY CARRIAGES. 



^ George Taylor, of Holbeck, near Leeds, for " Improvements in 

 locomotive etigiiies and railway carriages." — Granted June 3; En- 

 rolled Dec. 3, 184.7. [Reported in the Mechanics' Magazine.'] 



The patentee states that his invention consists: Firstlv In 



certain improved arrangements of the steam cylinders of locomo- 

 tive engines, and the parts which communicate the recijirocating 

 motion of tlie pistons of the cylinders to the axle or axles of the 

 driving-wheels, which arrangements have for their object to con- 

 centrate the driving power of the actuated pistons, so as to com- 

 municate an even rotating motion to the driving-wiieels, or to dis- 

 tribute the moving power (before concentrating it), 'in an even 

 and uniform manner to one, two, or more pairs of wheels. The 

 advantages which the patentee states he believes to result from 

 this part of his inventiiui are, diminished wear and tear of the en- 

 gine, and the attainment, with safety, of a greater degree of 

 speed, in consequence of the decreased amount of oscillation of 

 the locomotives. The construction is as follows :— Above the 

 boiler, and near the smoke-box, are placed, horizontalh', and in 

 juxta-position, two steam cylinders of equal capacity, each having 

 its piston furnished with cross heads sliding in guides supported bv 

 the frame of the engine. The pistons are connected by rods to 

 two cranks, m hicli are attached on either side to a wheel ha\ing 

 cogs or indentations on its periphery, and whicli gears into another 

 wheel fastened on the centre of tlie axle of the driving-wheels. 

 The axle is placed above tlie boiler, and allows of the employment 

 of driving-wheels of larger diameter (say from 10 to IJ "feet), 

 with even a diminished amount of oscillation, in consequence of 

 i the weight of the engine being brought near the line of rails. All 

 j the wheels may be made to drive by being coupled in the ordinary 

 j manner. In order that the cog-wheels may work properly, and 

 I the bearing-springs of the engine act freely, the guides, in which 

 I are supported the journals or axle-boxes of "the driving-wheels, are 

 made slanting. Two modifications of the mode of connecting the 

 piston-rods of the steam cylinders with the axles of the driving- 

 wheels are specified by the patentee. The first consists in forming 

 a slot in the centre of each of the piston-rods, in which works a 

 short vibrating link, connected to a vertical frame on either side 

 of the engine, which is made fast underneath the boiler by means 

 of a pin, on which it vibrates — and in connecting each of these 

 vibrating vertical frames by rods as is usual with the bosses of the 

 driving-wheels, or in attaching one end of a connecting-rod to the 

 outside end of the cross head of the piston-rod, and the other to 

 the boss of the driving-wheel. Secondly — This invention has re- 

 ference to the construction of an apparatus applicable to the loco- 

 : motive, tender, and carriages, which serx-es toretard the progress 

 ' of the train when necessary, and to support, in the case oi the 

 breakage of an axle, the vveight of the carriage. To eft'ect this, 

 I two levers are made fast to the bottom of the carriage in such 

 manner as to allow of their acting freely, and have each at the 

 outer end a flanged skid placed directly over the line of rail. 

 I These skids have on the under surfaces blocks of hard wood with 

 , the grain placed vertically, and are moreover connected by a 

 strong spring. From the centre of this spring rises a vertical 

 shaft, consisting of two pieces joined by a threaded connection, 

 whereby it can be lengthened or shortened, as required. The top 

 of this shaft is forked, and has between the prongs at top and bot- 

 tom two anti-friction rollers; between these rollers is a cam, fast- 

 ened to a horizontal rod, which is made to rotate by apparatus 

 brought under the control of the driver or guards, after any ordi- 

 nary and well-known means. When the longest radius of the cam 

 is brought to bear upon the lower anti-friction roller by means of 

 the rotating of the horizontal shaft, it follows that the vertical 

 shaft is forced downwards and the flanged skids thereby depressed 

 on to the line of rail which they bite, and thus retard the progress 

 of the train. The flanges serve to retain the carriages on the line 

 of rails, and the skids to support the carriage in the case of the 

 breakage of an axle ; but, in order that the vertical shaft may be 

 relieved from the weight of the carriage, stops are inserted in the 

 lower part thereof at the most convenient point, against which the 

 skids catch. ThirfUy — The patentee proposes to divide the tender 

 horizontally into two parts, using tlie upper or open portion for 

 coals, and the lower to contain the water, and to pass the axle of 

 the wheels through the water or above it, in order that the weight 



