aro 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[September, 



arch, the heat from which fire, after having heated the retorts in the upper 

 arch, descends and heats the retorts of the lower arch. 



The third part of this invention relates to a rnode of manufacturing clay 

 retorts, and consists in making them in two parts, the division being in the 

 middle cat transversely ; the mode of making such retorts is as follows. A 

 mould of the proper size and form of the external part of the retort is firmly 

 fixed upon the ram of an hydraulic press, another mould corresponding with 

 the inside of the retort is firmly fixed and properly adjusted above the other, 

 the clay of which the retort is to be made being placed within the lower 

 mould, the same is forced over the other mould which forms the retort by 

 means of the clay being pressed or forced upwards between the two moulds ; 

 the inner mould being hollow is heated by means of steam for the purpose of 

 expanding it, and then left to cool for the purpose of contraction, in order 

 that it may be more readily withdrawn. 



The fourth and last part of the invention is for improvements in gas meters, 

 the principal features of which are in the so combining of two flexible par- 

 titions that a continuous and uniform stream of gas may be obtained from 

 the burner and thereby produce a steady flame ; and also in the mode of ar- 

 ranging or constructing the flexible partitions in such manner that the lea- 

 Iher or other material of which they are made is, in the working of the meter 

 only bent one way, that is to say, the flexible part is not bent backwards and 

 forwards, which bending has, in a great measure, a tendency to destroy such 

 partitions ; and lastly, in the peculiar mode of transmitting motion from the 

 flexible partitions to the registering apparatus. 



STEAM BOAT PROPELLER. 



Wm. Faihbairn, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, engineer, for 

 ** Improvements in machinery used for propelling vessels by steam, — Granted 

 March 7 ; Enrolled September?, 1844. 



This invention consists in the application of an internal toothed wheel 

 fixed on the main or crank shaft of the engine of a vessel, when such vessel is 

 to be driven by screw propellers, in » hich case it is necessary that the num- 

 ber of revolutions of the propeller shaft should be considerably increased 

 beyond the number of revolutions of the main or driving shaft. 



The drawing shows the elevation of an engine of the same construction as 

 the land engine, in which the beam is above the cylinder, and is provided 

 with a connecting rod, crank shaft, and fly wheel, which latter forms an in- 

 ternal wheel, in the teeth of which work the teeth of an external wheel or 

 pinion keyed on the end of the screw propeller shaft. The object of using an 

 internal wheel is said to be— firstly, that such arrangement admits of a much 

 larger driving wheel being employed, and also that the propeller shaft can be 

 got much nearer the bottom of the vessel ; and secondly, that the power trans- 

 mitted from the driving wheel to the driven is received in a greater number of 

 parts, that is to say there is a greater number of teeth of the driven wheel in 

 contact with the driver than would be the case if the wheel of the propeller 

 shaft was driven l)y an external instead of internal w heel. 



NAIL MACHINERT. 



Bernard Fea«d Walker, of North Street, Wolverhampton, clerk, for 

 " Improvements in.machinery for maldng nails'^ — Granted March 6; Em'oUed 

 September 6, 1844. 



This invention relates to certain improvements in nail cutting machinery, 

 and in order to render the same intelligible we have given a diagram which 

 •will no doubt be sufficiently clear to those who are at all conversant with me- 

 chanics, a is the main or driving shaft of the machine ; 6 is a connecting 



rod, one end of which is attached to a crank on the main shaft, a, the other 

 end being connected to the ends of two levers, c c, the upper one is attached 

 to a fixed centre, and the lower one is attached to the end of a sliding bar, rf, 



which carries the moveable cutter, e being the fixed cutter ; / is a portion of 

 the frame of the machine, and ^ a triangular bar which carries a slide, A ; 

 i is the flat bar or plate of metal intended to be cut mto nails, and is held by 

 means of a pair of clams or holders attached to the end of the spindle,^' ;". 

 which spindle passes through a hollow shaft, I, and by meaus of a fixed key 

 is allowed to slide ednways, but not to turn within the hollow shaft; m is a 

 cranked lever actuated by a cam or eccentric on the shaft, a, to (he lower end 

 of this lever is attached one end of a connecting rod, n, the opposite end being 

 connected to a lever, o, to which there is attached a toothed sector working 

 in the teeth of a bevel wheel keyed on the hollow shaft, /. Thus at erery 

 stroke of the slide or cutter, d, the plate of metal, i, which is at an angle with 

 the cutter, is turned over by the apparatus last described so as to cut the nail 

 off tapering from head to point, the plate being drawn along as the nails are 

 cut off by means of a weight, p, and cord which is attached to the slide, h. 



The principal novelty in this machine consists in the application of an 

 universal joint at«, which as the plate, i, is turned over allows the end thereof 

 and that part of t^e spindle marked j' to rise. There is another machine 

 described in the specification, in which the raising of the plate as it is turned 

 over, is effected by eccentrics. The patentee claims as his invention the mode 

 described of combining machinery for making cut nails, whereby the holder 

 of the flat plate of metal from which the nails are cut is caused to rise in the 

 act of turning over the metal ; and also attaching the strip of metal to be cut 

 to an advancing holder. 



IRON CASTINSS. 



Charles Harrison, manager of the Coed Tallon and Leeswood iron works, 

 Flintshire, for " certain Improvements in the manufacture of cast iron pipes and 

 other iron castinffS."—GranteA March 14 ; Enrolled September 14, 1844. 



This invention consists in a peculiar mode of making or forming the moulds 

 for casting pipes, pillars, and other articles of a cylindrical form ; in carry- 

 ing out these improvements the inventor proceeds as follows. 



In the first place two " shells" are to be provided, or what is technically 

 termed the moulding box, consisting of the top and bottom which when put 

 together are cylindrical in placeof square, as heretofore, the internal diameter 

 being somewhat larger than the external diameter of the pipe to be moulded. 



These two parts of the moulding box have on their inner surface a number 

 of projections, the object of w hich is to cause the loam or wet sand to adhere 

 firmly to the sides or inner surface of the box, which loam is to be plastered 

 over the whole of such surface with the hand : this operation being performed 

 on one half of the box, a piece of board which has been cut on one edge so 

 as to form a profile of the external part of the pipe, and of the same length 

 is mounted upon an axis in such manner that the board forms a radial line to 

 such axis ; the axis or shaft to which this board or template is attached is 

 then placed into its bearings, which are formed at each end of the moulding 

 box, it will therefore be evident, that on giving motion to the axis or shaft, 

 the edge of the board will describe a circle whose plane will be equal to the 

 external surface of the pipe intended to be cast, and will therefore form ahalf 

 mould of loam in the aforesaid box. This operation being carefully per- 

 formed in the top and bottom parts of the box, the same are taken to the- 

 stove and dried, after which the edges are carefully cleaned off, so as to make 

 a good joint, and the surface covered with charcoal, the mould is then ready 

 to receive the core, and afterwards the metal for casting the pipe in the ordi- 

 nary manner. 



The object of this mode of proceeding being that when a casting has been 

 made in such mould it is only necessary to examine the mould, and if re- 

 quired, to repair it in such parts as may have broken up, when it will be 

 ready to receive another casting, &c, so long as the mould lasts. 



STEAM ENGINE IMPROVEMENTS 



Emancel Wharton, of Birmingham, engineer, for " certain Improvements 

 in steam e7igities, which are in the whole or in part applicable to other motive en' 

 gines, and to machines for raising and impelling fluids," — Granted March 14 ; 

 Enrolled September 14, 1844. 



The first part of this invention relates to a peculiar mode of constructing 

 metallic pistons, fig. 1 being a section taken through the centre of the piston, 

 and fig. 2 a plan thereof showing the upper plate removed, a is the boss 

 which receives the piston rod ; b the bottom part upon which the boss is cast, 

 and c the upper part ; e, e, e, e, are four segments, the inner surface of which 

 are of a conical form as will be seen by the section : // is a ring which, it 

 is said, if made of cast iron should have a piece cut out so as to give it a 

 degree of elasticity. This ring, which is placed between the projecting part. 

 J', of the bottom part of the piston, and the four segments, c, is furnished with 

 four screws or screw blocks, /, which have their heads bevelled in such man- 

 ner as to fit the conical or inclined surface of the segment ; g is a projection 

 or stop for keeping the ring in its proper place. It will therefore appearevi- 

 dent that if the ring f'f, with its adjusting screw blocks, be dropped into its 

 place, and a pressure applied to its upper surface, that the segments will be 



