422 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



which the patentee proposes to accomplish in the folloH'ing manner — buffers 

 are fixed at one enJ of tlip carriage, they act principally by the elasticity of 

 air. A number of strong hollow spheres of caoutchouc filled with compressed 

 air are placed in a cylinder attache 1 to the frame of tlic carriage, and the 

 cylinder is closed by a piston attached lo the spindle of the buffer, whicli 

 moves in a guide fixed across the mouth of the cylinder ; when any pressure 

 is tliroivn upon the buffer the spheres, from the elasticity of the air inclosed 

 within them, as also in some degree from the elasticity of the material of 

 whicii they are composed, yiolil to the force :^ nd become comjiressed, thereby 

 allowing the piston to advance further into the cylinder, and on tbe pressure 

 being relaxed the bufier is again forced outw ard by the expansion of the air. 

 The springs for siipy)orting one end of the carriage are upon the same princi- 

 ple of constructiorf? they consist of a cylinder open at bottom and fixed be- 

 tween the axle guides, within this cylinder is jdaced a bollovv sphere of caout- 

 chouc filled with comi'ressed air, and upon the top of the axle box is fixed a 

 plug or piston which enters the cylinder and forms the support upon which 

 the sphere rests. 



The buffer springs at the opposite end of tbe carriage are upon a different 

 principle, and are constructed with a flat drum or barrel mounted in beatings 

 attached to the carriage frame and containing within it a strong helical 

 sprinfr, one end of which is attached to the a.\is and the other end to the 

 barrel ; a chain is attached at one end to the barrel and at the other end to 

 one arm of a lever w hich turns upon a fulcrum fixed to the back of the car- 

 riage frame, the other arm of the lever is forked and works upon the spindle 

 of the bufier between two collars or ruffs. The supporting springs at this 

 end of the carriage are upon the same principle but somewhat differently 

 applied, they consist of two spring barrels, the axes of which are supported 

 by the axle guide ; a chain attached to the two barrels passes over the axle 

 box and thus supports the carriage. 



Tlie fifth claim is for stopping and retarding the carriages by an improved 

 break. It consists of a block of wood saturated with water placed in an iron 

 case whicli is open at tlie bottom, the block being retained in the case by 

 pins. The case is moveable in strong iron guides attached to the frame of 

 the carriage, and is connected by a link to one end of a lever, the oilier end of 

 which is connected to a screw, whereliy the block can he raised off the rail or 

 pressed down upon it with great force. A supply of blocks are to be kept 

 constantly in a vessel of water at the stations for the purpose of replacing 

 them when they become too dry. 



The sixlh claim is for preventing the en:.;ines running oft the rails when 

 going round curves at a great velocity. Two horizontal wheels are a'taclied 

 to the fore part of the engine and w ithin the rails, so that the deviation of tbe 

 engine to either side causes the horizontal wheel on that side to come in con- 

 tact with the inside of the rail, these wheels are attached to vertical spindles 

 with levers for raising and lowering them. 



The seventh claim is for preventing accidents from the engine or carriages 

 getting off the rails at curves. It consists in placing a preventer tram plate 

 tietween the rails and nearly close lo the inner rail, leaving a little more space 

 between them than is required for the flanches of the wheels in the cases 

 where the wheels have flanches. 



The eighth claim is for preventing the loss of water ; in lieu of the flexible 

 hose commonly used to connect the tank wilh the feed pumps an arrange- 

 ment of metallic pipes is employed, capable of motion In all directions. 



SEASONING WOOD. 



EoET. Davison. C. F,., of Brick Lane, Spitalfields, and William Symington, 

 C. E., of Kast Smithlield, for " A mi>lhod or methoth of ilrifiitg, stasoning, and 

 hardening wood and other arth /ti- ; pd'ts of which an also applicable to the de- 

 siccation of vegetable substances generally."— Granteii April 28; Enrolled Sep- 

 tember 28, 1844. 



The first or principal part of tbe invention consists in drying, seasoning 

 and hardening wood and other articles, among » hich other articles are in- 

 cluded generally all things m:ide of wood or chiefly of wood, such as ships, 

 barges, punts, tanks, &c. l>y means of rapid ciirrenls of healed air. Tlie man- 

 ner in which these rapid currents of healed air rire produced is hy an appara- 

 tus consisting of a furnace and a series of pipes withinsiile of a case of bricl' 

 work. On each side of the fcrnaco, on a level w iih the fire bars, is a horizon- 

 tal tube, communicating with and springing from these tuIies are a ser es of 

 18 tubes, placed vertically and par.illel to each oilier over the furnace. The 

 outer end of one of the horizontal lubes cnnimunicales willi a fan, or other 

 impelling apparatus, for driving a constant stream of atmospheric air through 

 the tubes ; as the air passes through ihe tubes it becomes heated at a high 

 femiieraiure and rushes out at the fariher end of the oilier horizonlal tube, 

 and IS then conveyed to the place w here it is lo be applied. 



The articles to be sulijecled lo the healed currents may he of lno sorls ; 

 either such as can he heated byexlernal application as logs, deals, and porla- 

 bV wooden articles of all sorts, or such as must have the heated currents ap- 



plied interiorly, as ships, tanks, 8ic. In the case of the former class of arti- 

 cles, they must be placed in closed chambers, galleries, vaults, or flufs. 

 These chambers and other places may be of any suitable form or magnitude, 

 but it is recommended that Ihey should be built of fire brick, and have double 

 doors or shutters for introducing or removing the wood. Flues or channels 

 for the heated air may be constructed in parallel lines either in the floors or 

 in the upright walls of a building, having narrow openings through w hich Ihe 

 heated air may issue in thin streams and spread itself over the surface of the 

 wood. If the opening are in the floor the wood will require tu be placed in 

 an upright position, but if admitted in a horizontal direction, standards and 

 skeleton shelves will he necessary to lay it upon. The great object in all cases 

 is to bring the heated air as speedily as possible into contact with Ihe wood, 

 and to alio wit, after it has done its office to pass away as speedily. Furnaces and 

 apparatus f( r the production of rapid currents of heated air may be erected 

 to prepare any quantity of timber or articles in wood at one time, hut care 

 should be taken that whatever the size of the outlet may be from the series 

 of pipes or vessels by w hich the heat is generated, an outlet of at least equal 

 dimensions is left for the free exit of the air and vapours thrown off. It 

 should also be observed, in constructing the open spaces in tlie floor or up- 

 right walls for ihe stream of heated air to pass towards the timber, that the 

 superficial area of the whole of them combined does not exceed the outlet of 

 the principal outlet of Ihe pipes at the extremity of the furnace so that a free 

 current of hea'ed air maybe allowed to pass uniformly throughout Ihc cham- 

 bers containing Ihe wood to be prepared. With respect to the secmd class 

 of articles, namely those which must have the healed air applied to them in- 

 ternally, as ships, barges, &;c., they must, before introducing the hot currents 

 of air, be covered in from the exieri al atmosphere and made as air light as 

 may be conveniently practicable, except at the inlet provided for the admis- 

 sion of the hot air, and the outlet for the escape of the hot air and vapours. 



The temperature proper to be given to the air and velocity to the current 

 in each case will depend on the size, density, and maturity of the wood to be 

 acted upon. The inventors find by their experiments that wood generally 

 may be advantageously subjected to currents of air raised to a temperature 

 of from 400° to 500° F. w hen the currents are impelled at the rate of 100 feet 

 per second. But when the wood is in a green state it is better to commence 

 at a lower temperature, say from 130° to 200°, and gradually raise it to the 

 high degrees tiefore staled as Ihe dessicalion proceeds, an object which 

 may in some cases be facilitated by c.irrying a cold air drain from the 

 fanner or other propelling apparatus and attaching a damper to it, so that 

 any quantity of cold air required to reduce the temperature of the hot current 

 may from time lo time be admitted. When, again, the wood is in the log or 

 unconverted stale it should be bored or angered out in the centre, and Ihe 

 current uf hoi air caused to traverse it as well interiorly as exteriorly, whereby 

 much time will be saved in Ihe process of dessicalion and a more uniform re- 

 sult obtained. Woods treated in this manner and with the above modifica- 

 tions when requisite, part rapidly with their natural sap, and any other 

 aqueous niitter whicli they may contain, and the fibres are brought closer 

 together, acquiring thus more rigidity and strength. 



With respect to the time required to season the wood upon this plan, much 

 must depend upon the original stale of dryness it may be in, as well as the 

 qualily and lemperalure of the healed air forced into contact with it, and it 

 may suffice to remark that the wood may safely remain thus exposed till any 

 escape of moisture ceases to be perceptible. This may be readily known 

 either by applying a mirror or any other polished surface to the outlet, or by 

 calculating ihe quantity of moisture removed from Ihe wood, which will be 

 found to range between J and -ri of its whole weight. For the purpose of 

 ascertaining more correctly the amount of moisture removed from time to 

 time, where Ihe articles are placed in seasoning chambers as before described, 

 an opening should be constructed in the chamber in any convenient position 

 through which a specimen of the wood may be withdrawn and weighed. 



The second part of the invention consists in purifying wood and oilier ar- 

 ticles, as well as drying, seasoning, and hardening them, by subjecting them 

 to the combined action of steam and of rapid currents of heated air ; and 

 the manner of doing so is exemplifiel in the following description of ihe 

 m ide ot treating wood which is intended lo be made into casks for containing 

 articles such as beer, beef, butler. &c. which would be injured by any emana- 

 tion of colouring, odour.", or noxious matters from ihe wood. It is now a fre- 

 quent practise to steep such wood, wdien made into staves, in cold water for 

 a long period before making them uji, ihe water being renewed from time to 

 time as it becomes discoloured and foul. Instead of Ibis Ihe patentees place 

 the slaves, or pieces of wood of a scantling suiiable for conversion into staves, 

 in a close chamber piled edgeways, either vertically or horizontally, so as to 

 le.ive a space of about an inch between every two pieces or ranges of pieces, 

 and then ciiarge the chamber w ith steam conveyed into it from a boiler, w hich 

 is placed over the beating pipes. As the steam becomes condensed it is al- 

 lowed 1o run off from the boltom of tlie chamber, and a rapid current of 

 heated air is iheu forced through tlie chamber by the means before explained. 

 Alter this the sleam is once more let on ami as it becomes condensed a rajJid 

 current of healed air is a second lime passed througli. And this alternate 



