304 



THE CIVIL engines: 



3 ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[OcTOBEK, 



STEAM-BOILERS. 

 HoiiATio Bi.ArK, of Nottitifrh;im, lace-maker, for " improvements 

 m cvaporutioii." — Granted February 14; Enrolled August 14, I8t8, 



This invention relates to a mode of supplyinjj water to steam 

 and otlier boilers, by passing it tliroii^:h a succession of hollow 

 fire-bars, of wrought-iron, brass, copper, or malleable cast-iron, 

 previous to entering the boiler. 



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The annexed engraving is a plan of a set of fire-bars, a is the 

 supply-pipe, through which the water is forced into the tubular 

 fire-bars, hb : the water first enters the middle bars 6' 6', and, after 

 circulating through the whole series of bars, passes, in a highly- 

 heated state, through the pipes cc, into the boiler. It is not essen- 

 tial that the water should be divided into two streams, as the whole 

 supply may enter into one bar, and circulate through the series of 

 bars in the same direction ; or more than two divisions of bars 

 may be used in large furnaces, cf is a cock on the supply-pipe, to 

 regulate the quantity of water admitted, e is a pipe, furnished 

 with a cock _/; which is to be opened when the supply of water to 

 the boiler is not going on ; as otherwise the heat of the fire would 

 tend to force the water out of the tubular bars ; but by the cock,/" 

 being opened sufficiently to permit the escape of a small quantity 

 of water, such a circulation will be kept up as will prevent the 

 water being driven out of the bars 66, when the supply of water to 

 the boiler is stopped. 



The above arrangement is suitable either for high or low pres- 

 sure boilers ; but, generally, for low-pressure, a rising pipe is at- 

 tached, with a small cistern at the upper part, to the supply-pipe 

 n, near the force-pump ; and a valve is placed over the opening 

 through which the water enters the cistern ; — " the valve prevent- 

 ing the water from flowing from the cistern to the boilei, by the 

 valve being weighted, causes a pressure sufficient to force the 

 water into the pipe «, and thence through the hollow bars 6 6, into 

 the boiler ; the quantity admitted to the boiler being regulated by 

 the cock on the pipe a." By means of this arrangement, the 

 water, forced into the pipe a, will flow into the boiler so long as it 

 is required ; but any excess will pass up the rising-pipe into the 

 cistern, which is provided with an overllow-pipe : the boiler will 

 thus work, at all times, subject to the pressure of the column of 

 water in the rising-pipe and cistern. It should be stated that there 

 is a valve in the pipe «, between the rising-pipe and the force- 

 pump ; which valve opens towards the boiler, and permits the 

 water to flow in that direction, but closes against any flow of water 

 from the boiler. 



REVERBERATORY FURNACES. 



James Timmins Chance, and Edward Chance, of Birmingham, 

 for '■'■Improvements in furnaces, and in the manxifaeture of glass." 

 Granted February 14 ; Enrolled August 14, 1848. 



This invention, as the title imports, relates to improvements in 

 two distinct departments of the manufactures. Tlie first, wliich 

 refers to reverberatory furnaces, has for its oliject tlie greater 

 economy of fuel, by re-conducting the heated gases to the furnace. 

 In the usual construction of such furnaces, the beat from the fire, 

 after striking against the arch above the furnace, and being re- 

 verberated downwards, passes off to the chinuiey. The patentees, 

 instead of thus passing the heat direct into the chimney, render it 



further available to he.'iting the furnace by returning the fltie 

 and carrying it back over the reverberating arch, and tlien down- 

 wards and to the chimney, whereby the heat in passing through 

 the return-flue is reverberated downwards upon the top of the re- 

 verberating arch of tlie furnace itself, and thus assists in heating 

 that portion of the furnace. The second part of the invention 

 consists in a mode of passing sheets of glass into annealing fur- 

 naces or kilns. By the ordinary method the glass to be annealed 

 is pushed into the kiln, and before this can be done the glass must 

 lose a great portion of its heat, to enable it to possess sufficient 

 firmness and solidity to hear the pushing strain to which it is sub- 

 jected. The patentees make in the side wall of the furnace op])i)- 

 site to that where the entrance for the sheets of glass into the 

 furnace is situated, a hole or opening through which the workman 

 passes an instrument which, passing across the furnace and taking 

 hold of the edge of the sheet of glass, pulls and draws it into the 

 kiln ; by tliis mode the temperature may not be so much reduced 

 as when the old mode of pushing is adopted, inasnuich as the 

 strain attending the pulling is considerably less than that of 

 pushing. 



RAILWAY-BREAKS. 



Robert Heath, of Ileathfield, Manchester, gentleman, for 

 ^'■certain improvements in the method of applying and working friction 

 breaks to engines and carriages used upon railways." — Granted Janu- 

 ary 13; Enrolled July 13, 1848. 



The object of this invention is to bring a heavy weight, attached 

 to a lever, to bear against the friction break, so as to render the 

 action more certain and regular than when manual force alone is 

 exerted. The lever is placed under the control of the guard, who, 

 by turning a winch placed in the ordinary manner, may bring the 

 weight to bear upon the peripheries of the wheels, or remove it, 

 with very little efl"ort. 



Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Manningham-ball, Bradford, gen- 

 tleman, for " improvements in stopping railway trains and otlier 

 carriages, and generally where a lifting power or pressure is required." 

 Granted January 18 ;" Enrolled July 18, 1848. 



In this railway-break the resisting force is atmospheric pressure, 

 or the pressure of compressed air, bearing against the breaks, 

 which, as usual, act on the circumferences of the wheels. The 

 apparatus consists of an air-chamber, placed below the framing of 

 the carriage. It is provided with a piston or pistons, to the rods 

 of which are attached the blocks, bearing against the wheels. The 

 air is condensed into the air-chamber by air-pumps, worked by the 

 axles of the carriages ; and, by means of the pistons and rods, the 

 pressure is communicated to the wheels. The mode to be adopted 

 when the breaks are required to be thrown into action, is for the 

 guard, by means of suitable connecting apparatus, to open the 

 valves, by which means the atmospheric air will be admitted to the 

 pumps, a few strokes of which will then so compress the air within 

 the receiver as to press the breaks against the wheels. Similar 

 effects are produced by making the pumps act as exhausters, in- 

 stead of compressers. 



RAILWAY KEYS. 



William Henry Barlow, of Derby, civil engineer, for " Im- 

 provements in the manufiicture of railway keys." — Granted January 

 27 ; Enrolled July '27,' 1848. 



In these improved wooden keys, the inconvenience arising from 

 expansion and ciuitraction is attempted to be obviated, by render- 

 ing the wood impervious to moisture. This is done by introducing 

 into the pores of the wood, fatty or other matters that are insoluble 

 in water. The patentee first prepares the keys of the requisite 

 proportions, after which they are subjected to heat for the purpose 

 of expelling the moisture. This he eff'ects by placing them in an 

 oven for 24 hours, which is maintained at a temperature of 212°, 

 after wliich they are immersed in a solution by preference composed 

 of four gallons of creosote, one gallon of naphtha, 24 lb. of pitch, 

 and half a gallon of boiled linseed oil. The proporti(m of this 

 mixture used to impregnate the wood is about one gallon to the 

 cubic foot, and the keys should be immersed therein about 24 

 hours. They are then ready for use, unless it he deemed necessary 

 to subject them to the process of compression. Instead of simple 

 immersion in these insoluble matters, the process may be greatly 

 facilitated by exhausting the air from the wood in a close vessel, 

 and afterwards forcing the fat composition in under jiressure. 



