46 



THE CIVIL EXGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Febkvaby, 



is represented in tlie aocompiinyinir driiwinfrs, in wliich h, fifj. 1, 

 is anu'tallic coiiii'al vessel, witli a concave 

 plate or disc at bottom. The u|)per edije 

 of this vessel is bevelled inwards around 

 its circnmference to receive the edye of 

 the belts./'and //. tlie inner e<lg'es of which 

 are there secured by a )ilate c, depiessed 

 or sunk in the centre, wliicli has a bevelled 

 and jfrooved tlanch, so Unit when the |ilate 

 e, is drawn towards the hotlom plate by 

 four or more screw-bolts /i, the belts are 

 g-riped and firnilyheld l)etweenthe ijrooved 

 edge of the vessel ami. the l)evelled or 

 frrooved llanch. Tlie outer edges of the 

 are connected with and held by the cylindrical 

 surrounds the vessel h, liavin;? space enough be- 



F'S I. 



belts / and 7, 



\essel «, which „,...... , , . , -, , 



tween the two for the working of the belts, which by the pressure 

 of the contained air are alternately pressed against and sustained 

 by the inner periphery of the conical vessel. 1 he belts are secured 

 in vessel o, bv making its cylindrical part in two i)ortions. 1 he 

 edges of these tM-o i)arts, where they come together, are bevelled 

 .«- grooved to receive the outei edge of the belts, which are there 

 griped and firmly held by drawing the two parts a and rt together 

 liy means of scre'w-lmlts ;, that pass through the head of the vessel 

 II, and a flanch in the part a. 



The connecting-belts /"and jr, are flexible hoops of india-rubber 

 or other flexible sulistance impermeable to air, and the edges being 

 firmly helil, the space j between the two is filled with alcohol or 

 other" liipiid, which not only prevents all possibility of air passing 

 through, but brings an equal jiressure on all parts to prevent rup- 

 ture. 



The connexion of the two vessels a and //, by means of the belt, 

 divides the apparatus into two parts or chambers a' and I,', the plate 

 or diaphragm e being the division, the inner and depressed cir- 

 cumference of which is perforated with holes to break the passage 

 of the air, as the chamber «' is enlarged or contracted by the 

 movement of the two vessels on each other ; this perforated plate 

 is, therefore, termed a respirator, as it permits the passage of the 

 air from one chamber to the other, and at the same time checks its 

 too sudden passage, and therefore avoids to a certain extent all 

 sudden jars in cars or other bodies having such springs inter- 

 ])osed. 



The motion of the two vessels on each other is guided by a rod 

 k, attached to the head of the vessel n, which passes into a tube /, 

 which tube arises from the bottom and centre of the vessel 6, ex- 

 tending through the centre of the respirator or plate e ; or guide- 

 rods may be applied outside. The vessel b, instead of being coni- 

 cjtl, may he cylindrical, but the two vessels should be so formed as 

 to present alternately a siijiporting surface to the belt, which in 

 conse(pience of the pressure of the air in the chamber a', rolls 

 gradually from one surface to the other, and is therefore at all 

 times supported by either one or the other, or both of these sur- 

 faces. 



Instead of one respirator or jierforated diaphragm two or more 

 may be employed, the more effectually to ease ofi" the passage of 

 the air as it is compressed or expanded, and tliis respirator may be 

 of any desired form, and may be located in any part of the two 



chambers. Fig. 2. 



„ Instead of the double belt 

 ■^ above descrilied connected 

 together at the edges, it is 

 contemplated to place two or 

 more single belts separated 

 from each other, as repre- 

 sented at fig. 2, with the 

 licpiid in the space t ; the 

 holes t, being made through 

 the outer casing for the in- 

 troduction of the li(piid and 

 closed by a screw-plug. 

 AVhen this apparatus is used 

 as a hydrostatic press, the 

 water is forced into the 

 chambers a' and b', by any of the known means which forces apart 

 the two vessels a and /;, in the same manner as in the cylinder and 

 ]iiston jiress, except that the friction of the moving part is avoided. 

 Air is to he forced into the chambers when the apparatus is used as 

 fi spring. 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON. 



Reginald Jamks Blewitt, of Llantarnam Abbey, Newport, 

 Esq., M.P., for '•'• Jntiiriivrniriifx in themiinnfactnre iif malleable iron.' 

 — Granted May 27 ; Enndled November 27, IHI.7. 



The usual mode of preparing pig or cast-iron fm- malleable iron 

 is by melting such iron, or by mixing together and melting different 

 qualities of ]pig or cast-iron with coke, in furnaces called refineries, 

 and keeping it there in a state of fusion, at a great heat, with a 

 strong blast ; and the produce, run into mimlds, is called refined 

 iron, or metal plate. The patentee uses this, either alone, or 

 mixed with different qualities of pig- or cast-iron, in the puddling- 

 furnace, and subjects it to tlie after process of puddling, by which 

 it is brought inio the first state of malleability. He states, he has 

 discovered that a better <piality of refined iron, or metal, may 

 he obtained from an air furnace — such as is commonly used for 

 casting, or foundry purposes — than from the refinery, by which 

 there is less waste of metal, and less ex|>ense of fuel, in the manu- 

 facture, lie lights and heats an air-furnace in the usual manner. 

 For each charge about four tons of pig or cast-iron is put in of such 

 qualities as the manufacturer may think most desirable to produce 

 the required quality of malleable iron, as has hitherto been the 

 practice in using refinery furnaces ; and the charge, when fully 

 melted and mingled together at the bottom of the furnace, is run 

 into sand, or iron moulds, of any convenient size, and then sub- 

 jected to the after process of puddling, which is conducted as if 

 using refined metal produced from ordinary refinery furnaces. 

 The fuel employed for heating the air-furnace is a white-ash, semi- 

 bituminous coal of excellent quality, to which may be added, with 

 good effect, 1 or 2 cwt. of charcoal to each charge. 



RAILWAY CARRIAGE AXLES. 



Samuel Benjamin Edward Bergeb, of Abchurch-lane, London, 

 merchant, for '''' Iniprovenieiitti in the coiiatruction (if ruihriiy car- 

 riages." (A communication.) — Granted June 3 ; Enrolled Uec. 3, 

 184.7. [Reported in Newton s London Journal.^ 



This invention relates to a mode of connecting the axle-boxes of 

 railway axles ^vith the framing of the carriage, whereby the axles 

 will have a slight horizontal play, suflScient for them (when tra- 

 velling over curves) to take a line parallel to the radius of the 

 curve over which they may be passing. This is efi^ected by con- 

 necting the axles to the carriages in the manner shown in the an- 

 nexed engravings. For four-wheel carriages the apparatus i» 



Fig. 3. Fig. 2. 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 4. 



shown in figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. a, a, is one of thetwo main side- 

 beams of the framing of the carriage ; and as side case of the car- 

 riage is similarly furnished for the support of the axles, a descrip- 

 tion of the parts pertaining to one end only of an axle wUl suffice 

 to explain the nature of the invention. 



a, a, are four arms or brackets, bolted, two on each side, to the 

 beam a ; and at their lower ends they are coupled together, in 

 piiirs, by a bolt or pin 6. These pins each carry two links, c, c ; 

 and through their ends a coupling-pin is passed, and secured in its 

 place by rivet-heads or otherwise, d, d, are two rods or bars, pro- 

 vided at each end with eyes, for the purpose of being connected 

 respectively at their outer ends by the coupling-pins of the links 

 c, c, and at their inner ends, of being jointed together by the coup- 

 ling-pins e, e, and intervening links /, /. These coupling-pins e. 



