114 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECPS JOURNAL. 



[March, 



the fire, whence they diverge and join the flue D D, whereby the gases are 

 conducted outside the arrangement of generators, until they arrive at the 

 further end, at which place the flue joins the chimney ; b h b, c c, q, are the 

 steam generators made of metal, sufficiently strong for the purpose ; these 

 generators are connected at both ends by pipes so as to form one continuous 

 vessel ; ///. are three pipes, which extend as far into the interior of the 

 generators b b h, as the further end of the fire place, these pipes are perfo- 

 rated throughout their length with a number of small holes, and are con- 

 nected to a horizontal pipe (not shown in the drawing) which passes in 

 front of the aforesaid pipes///, and extends to the water heating vessel e ee. 

 Fig. 1, to which it is connected ; g-, is a pipe through whicli the steam is 

 conveyed from the generators to the engine and to a safety valve. 



The action of this apparatus is as follows. If the vessel e e e, Fig. 1, is 

 filled with water, and the pumpg', set in motion, the water which it forces 

 into the vessel at h, will force an equal quantity of water out of the vessel 

 through the pipe i, into the generators or boilers, and the water thus forced 

 into the vessel at h, will circulate through it for 8 or 10 minutes, until ar- 

 riving at i, it is forced onwards into the generators, and during the time it 

 has remained in the vessel e e e, will have taken up as much heat as the 

 steam is capable of communicating, and the water entering the generators 

 through the perforated pipes fff, will come in contact with the heated sur- 

 faces of the generators, and be thereby converted into steam, from whence it 

 proceeds through the whole arrangement of generators to the engine. The 

 water forced into the generators at each stroke of the pump only bears suf- 

 ficient to supply the engine with one stroke of steam. The fire can be regu- 

 lated by any of the well known means, care being taken not to overheat the 

 generators, which ought never to be brought to a temperature approaching a 

 red heat. 



FURNITURE CASTORS. 



John Charlton, of Birmingham, factor, for "Improvements in castors for 

 /iraj"(are."— Granted August 17, 1843 ; enrolled February 17, 1844. 



The specification, which consists of eleven skins of parchment, describes 

 about 21 different kinds of castors for furniture, one of which consists of a 

 cast iron socket, which may be subjected to the process of annealing, for 

 the purpose of converting it into malleable iron, this socket is intended to 

 receive the end of the table leg or other piece of furniture to which the 

 castor is to be attached. Another cup or socket of brass is made to fit the 

 external part of the iron one, so as to work loosely thereon ; this latter cup 

 is cast with two ears or projections, which support the roller in the ordinary 

 manner, the two sockets being held together by a screw passing through the 

 the bottom of the brass socket and screwing into the bottom of the iron one, 

 the head of the screw being made sufficiently large to prevent the brass or 

 external socket dropping from the iron one when the piece of furniture to 

 which the castor is affixed is raised from the floor. There are several other 

 modifications of ihis description of castor, among which there is one having 

 its socket made m the form of half an egg. Another class or description of 

 castor consists of a steel or iron spindle, made of a conical form at one end, 

 which part is made to fit a conical recess formed in the underside of the 

 socket, a hole being bored in the end of the table leg to receive such part. 

 This spindle, which is shown in the drawing as being made in six or eight 

 different forms, and applied to as many castors, has a collar or enlarged part 

 in the middle, which is made to fit into a recess somewhat larger than the 

 collar, and formed by a loose piece of metal, the edge of which is firmly 

 fixed and held by a projecting piece on the bottom edge of the socket, the 

 object of which is to prevent the spindle dropping out of the conical recess 

 when the castor is lifted from the floor ; and, to the lower part of the spindle 

 is firmly rivetted the ears or projections which carry the roller. By this ar- 

 rangement the weight of the piece of furniture is supported by the conical 

 part of the spindle bearing against the socket, and that part just below the 

 collar or enlarged part, which part fits in a hole (in the form of a bearing) 

 bored in the centre and through the loose piece of metal, which holds the 

 conical recess. 



HYDRAULIC ENGINE. 



Frederick Lipscomb, of Gloucester Place, Kentish Town, gentleman, for 

 " A hydrostatic cvginc, parts tvltcrcof are applicable to other engines and other 

 purposes, and also improvements in railway carriages,^^ — Granted Aug. 17, 1843 ; 

 enrolled Feb. 17, 1844. 



The patentee having ascertained that the re-action produced by pressure 

 upon a liquid is caused by the compression of the globules of .lir suspended 

 in the liquid, which globules, by being compressed, have their elasticity in- 

 creased in an equal ratio to their compression ; and that re-action would not 

 be produced in a liquid divested of air, constructs an engine which he deno- 

 minates a hydrostatic engine. 



It would only be a waste of time and room to give a descriptive account of 

 this apjiaratus, and we will only remark, that if the patentee had paid a little 

 more attention to the pressure of fluids he would not have speculated to such 

 an extent in an engine he will eventually find incapable of moving a stroke. 

 That part of the invention which relates to a break -for retarding or stopping 

 a train of railway carriages, consists in applying hydraulic pressure upon a 

 liquid confined in a tube supported by guides at the end of the railway car- 

 riage; the pressure on the fluid has the effect of driving by means of a piston 

 and intermediate gearing, the blocks or breaks against the wheels. 



The next improvement consists in fixing a thin board or other material on 

 each side of these wheels, wdiich are wholly composed of metal, and used in 

 the construction of railway carriages, the '"sheet of wood" or other material 

 being in size, or nearly so, to the space between the inside of the tire and the 

 inside of the nave of the wheel, the unoccupied space between such " sheets" 

 being filled with straw, tar, lashing, or other imperfect conductor of sound, 

 for which the inventor claims the practical application of any of the imper- 

 fect conductors of sound in contact with such railway carriage wheels as are 

 usually composed of metal, for the purpose of lessening the vibration of the 

 wheel, thereby lessening the noise consequent upon vibration. 



CLOTH FOR UNING WALLS. 



John Coilaed Drake, of Elm-tree Road, St. John's Wood, Middlesex, 

 Land Surveyor, for " Improvements in lining walls of liousis." — Granted Au- 

 gust 22, 1843 -, enrolled February 22, 1844. 



This invention relates to a mode of lining walls of houses with a water- 

 proof cloth, whereby they are rendered impervious to damp ; for this pur- 

 pose, the patentee prefers calico, on account of its cheapness : such fabric is 

 to be coated on one side with a solution of india rubber, the process for 

 making which is well known, and applied in the manner following. A 

 number of strips of calico or other fabric, from three to lour inches wide, 

 are covered on both sides with india rubber cement or solution ; these strips 

 are affixed to the sides of the wall, by means of such cement, in parallel ver- 

 tical lines, and at such distances apart, as to receive the edges of the pieces 

 of fabric with which it is intended to line the walls. These pieces, which as 

 above stated, are only covered with the solution on one side, are cemented 

 to the strips already put up, with such cemented side to or next the wall, so 

 that the plain side of the fabrics is free to receive a coat of paint; or the 

 same may be papered in the ordinary manner. In constructing the walls 

 of houses in the first instance, " stilos " or pieces of timber are inserted at 

 convenient distances, and also transverse or cross pieces may be inserted, the 

 space between being filled up with stucco or cement level with the face of 

 the pieces of timlier inserted, and to these pieces are affixed the strips of 

 calico or other fabric, as before described. For the purpose of covering the 

 wall according to this invention, the patentee makes use of a frame, for 

 stretching the pieces of cloth before applying them to the walls ; it consists 

 of two bars of wood or wood and iron, or other metal, capable of being 

 elongated by means of a screw, which connects them together ; to the ends 

 of each of these bars there is a cross piece, having a number of pins fixed in 

 it ; the ends of the cloth or other fabric are pricked or forced on to the pins, 

 and the bar elongated by means of the screw, which causes the piece of 

 fabric to be stretched previously to being cemented to the wall, in the manner 

 hereinbefore described. The patentee claims the mode of lining the walls of 

 houses, by the application of calico or other fabric coated at the back with a 

 solution of india rubber. 



BOTTLE STOPPERS. 



Alexander Spears, of Glasgow, merchant, for "Improvements on or apper- 

 taining to glass bottles proper for wine and other liquids.^* — Granted Sep. 6, 1843 ; 

 enrolled March 6, 1844. 



This invention relates to a mode of stopping bottles containing wine or 

 other liquid, and consists in making a screw plug or stopper of glass or 

 earthenware, as may be required, to fit the neck of the bottle, and is effected 

 as follows. The inside of the bottle neck is made with a female screw, into 

 which is made to fit a screw plug or stopper, having an enlarged part or head 

 equal in diameter to the external neck of the bottle, the head of the stopper 

 being slightly hollowed underneath, and made to fit nicely upon the face or 

 end of the bottle neck, which is about one-fourteenth of an inch in thickness. 

 In bottling wine or other liquid it will be necessary to apply a little soft wax 

 either to the end of the bottle or to the underside of the stnpper, for the pur- 

 pose of excluding the air, after which a strip of tin foil may be wrapped 

 round the neck of the bottle and head of the stopper. 



The specification describes certain arrangements of machinery for forming 

 the screws within the neck of the bottle and also upon the stopper. The 

 patentee claims the use of screw stoppers either of glass or earthenware with 



