1819.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



83 



MACHINE FOR BENDING IRON PLATES. 



Thomas Bubdett Turton, of Sheffield, steel manufacturer, for 

 '■^hnprnvenients in machinery for bending and fitting plates or bars of 

 stf'e/, iron, and other materials, to be nsed for Inenmotive engine and 

 carriage springs, and other purposes." — Granted June 1 ; Enrolled 

 December 1, 1848. 



The first part of this patent relates to a machine for bending 

 plates or bars of metal by means of three rollers placed vertically, 

 to be driven by steam or other power, and is for the purpose of 

 supersediufjf in a ^reat measure the manual labour now employed 

 for bending or fitting carriage springs. 



The second part of the invention relates to another machine for 

 the same piirpose; of which fig. 1 is a front elevation, fig. 2 a 

 transverse section, and fig. 3 a plan view, partly in section, of 

 such a machine. 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. a. 



Fig. 3. 



In this machine the process of bending and fitting is performed 

 by suitably shaped blocks, the lower one a, remains stationary 

 when the machine is l)eing used, and tlie upper one b, is lifted up 

 to allow tlie bar which has been bent to be removed, and an un- 

 bent bar to be put in its place; tlie upper block is attached to a 

 plate c, to which is secured the guide-rod d. Near tlie upper ex- 

 tremity of the rod d, is the antifriction-roller e, against which the 

 cam h works when the top block is being pressed down upon the 

 plate or bar to be bent. The cam h is fi.\ed on a shaft i, and is 

 provided with a segmental slot, through which and through a fork 

 made at the top of the guide-iod d, a pin or bolt m is passed; to 

 the strap i is also fixed a long lever A-, by means of which the ma- 

 chine is worked. AVhen the attendant elevates this lever, the 

 ujiper block is raised by means of the bolt or pin m, above de- 

 scribed, and when the bent plate has been removed, and another 

 plate substituted between the blocks, the attendant, by pressing 

 down the lever A-, causes the cam h to bear upon the antifriction- 

 roller e; and by this means the top block is depressed, so as to 

 give the proper curve to the plate or bar between the blocks. If 

 it should be found more convenient to work this machine by steam 

 or other power, instead of by the lever Ic, and its adjuncts, a 

 wheel 7, represented by a dotted line in fig. 1, should be keyed on 

 the shaft i. This wheel would be driven by the pinion n, fixed on 

 the same shaft as a pair of fast and loose pulleyso, the cam h would 

 have to be replaced by a crank, to which the upper end of the con- 

 necting-rod ^ would be attached, and the lower end of the con- 

 necting-rod would be attached to the guide-rod d. It will be 

 evident that by cliauging the blocks «, and 6, any variety of curve 

 may be given to the plates or bars under operation. It is neces- 



sary to remark that the block a is provided with a groove to 

 admit the nibs of the s])ring-plates, as seen in figs. 1, and 2. 



The construction of the framing for supporting and guiding the 

 various parts of this machine does not require to be particularly 

 referred to, being well understood by any competent workman. 



HYDRANT OR FIRE-COCK. 



An imprrwed Hgdrant or Slide-Valve, for Water-Pipe^, Fire-Hose, 

 S^c. Registered for Messrs. George Forrester and C'o., of Vaux- 

 hall Foundry, Liverpool, Dec. 29th, 184,8. 



Fig. I. Pig. 2. 



Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, and fig. 2 a transverse section of 

 the hydrant. Tlie improvement is in making the branch c project 

 so far through the body of the valve b, as to form its own face for 

 the valve a to shut against. The projecting end of the branch c, 

 is truly faced in the lathe. In the engraving, the branch is shown 

 with a bend, but it may be made of any suitable form. The valve 

 is opened by a handle on the screw, e. 



CAST AND WROUGHT IRON BRIDGES. 



Sir — Having read in the January number of your Journal the 

 remarks taken from a paper read at the Royal Scottish Society of 

 Arts, by its President, George Buchanan, Esq., F.R.S.E., on the 

 " Strength of Materials as applicaltle to Cast and Wrought Iron 

 Bridges," I beg leave to send you the following communication, 

 which being confirmatory of some of the views brought forward 

 therein, will, 1 trust, be deemed worthy of insertion. 



The formation of beams of a compound nature, so as to insure a 

 proper combination of the distinct qualities of cast and wrought 

 iron, by subjecting the one to compressive strains only, and the 

 other to those only of tension, is a subject worthy of much prac- 

 tical investigation; and in which economy of construction, safety, 

 and durability, are particularly involved. 



The principle which governs the construction of the beams 

 alluded to by Mr. Buchanan is indeed a modification of the old 

 and simple principle of the roof, where two rafters meet and abut 

 at the top, and are tied together at the feet by a longitudinal 

 beam ; but it also exhibits a modification of the common king and 

 queen post truss — a combination that cannot fail, if rightly carried 

 out, to ensure great rigidity; for taking a pair of the main-braces, 

 with their adjacent counter-brace, and the vertical tie, we have a 

 complete king-post truss ; and if all the braces be removed for 

 a couple of spaces, we then have a queen-post, with the top cord 

 acting as a straining-beam for this distance, and resisting, unaided, 

 the compression to which it is subjected by a passing load. As 

 proof of this fact, I have frequently had adjacent main and 



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