90 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



off plates or slides wHli the governor, so that the steam may be cut off earlier 

 or later by the action of the governor. This is etFected by an apparatus con- 

 sistini; of a heaiistock sliding on a bed and attached by a link to the end of 

 the eccentric rod, and by another link fastened on to a cam mounted on the 

 headstock at one end and at the other end the hell crank lever before de- 

 scribed. The headslock is connected by bevil wheel ge.irinj to the shaft of 

 the fly wheel and the governor, the action of the latter moves the headstock 

 backwards and forwards according as it expands or collapses, and the cam 

 round its axis; this movement regulates the cutting off slides, and causes the 

 speed of the engine to go quicker or slower as may be required. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING IRON' AND STEEL. 



Charles Low, of Robinson's Row, Kingsland, Middlesex, for " Improve- 

 ments in the mahmi/ or manufacturing iron and steel." — Granted May 25 ; 

 Enrolled Nov. 25, 1844. 



These improvements relate to the manufacture of laalleable iron and steel 

 by using a mixture of the following materials ground, — 42 Ih. oxide of man- 

 ganese, Sib. plumbago, 141b. wood charccjal, and 21b. saltpetre. 



This mixture is thrown into the blast furnace either with the iron stone 

 or fuel, with each charge of ore as will produce 4801b. of metal. It can also 

 in a fine state be introduced into the puddHng furnace, when the pig iron is 

 in fusion, by throwing a few pounds upon the surface every few minutes, 

 thoroughly incorporating it by stirring it in the metal, until the G61b. are 

 used, or until the metal begins to thicken ; it is then balled and sent to the 

 tilt hammer and rollers, and passed through the usual process for making 

 malleable iron. The same mixture may he used in the manufacture of cast 

 steel from malleable iron made by the above process, by adding 2 or 3 lb. of 

 the ingredients to every 30 lb. of steel, when in the melting pots, during its 

 conversion into cast steel. The same object may be more immediately 

 effected by adding the ingredients in the same proportion as for steel to the 

 malleable iron made as above, and then the application of a moderate heat 

 ■will fuse the iron in contact with the mixture and immediately convert it into 

 cast steel. 



GAS RETORTS. 



Joseph Cowen, of Blaydon Burn, near] Newcastle-upon-Tyne, merchant, 

 for " certain Improvements in makini/ retorts for generating r/asforiUumina- 

 //on."— Granted June 4 ; Enrolled Dec. 4, 1844. 



The improvements are, first for making illuminating gas retorts of New- 

 castle or Stourbridge fine clay, or any other suitable clay, mixed with saw- 

 dust, pulverised wood, charcoal, coke, carbon obtained from the interior of 

 gas retorts, and other carbonaceous materials, in such proportions as the 

 quahty of the clay njay require, the larger the quantity of alumina the greater 

 will be the quantity of carbonaceous matter required, varying from -\[to i of 

 the earthy materials; by this mixture the clay is made porous and less liable 

 to crack. 



The second improvement relates to the making of illuminating gas retorts 

 in moulds consisting of a cylindrical box, flat on the top or end, with an 

 aperture therein and a conical mouth piece at the bottom, closed by a move- 

 able plate ; through the centre of the cylinder and the mouth piece passes a 

 core of the shape of the intended retort, leaving a space round the core at 

 the aperture of the mouth piece and at the tjottora equal to the thickness of 

 the material to form the retort ; a piston is made to fit the interior of the 

 cylinder and round the core, with guide rods passing through the flat top or 

 end, moveable by mechanical power. For cylindrical retorts the clay is put 

 into the cylinder with the moveable plate covering the mouth piece, it is then 

 compressed by means of the piston, which forces the clay to fill the interstice 

 surrounding and at the bottom of the core at the orifice of the conical mouth 

 piece; the plate is then removed and the piston forced forward, when the 

 clay comes out the shape of the retort, and is then cut off to the required 

 length by a wire and taken to the drying place. Any other shaped retorts 

 may be made by introducing a core of the shape proposed and having a die 

 ■with an outlet of the same form made to fit the mouth piece, the die is 

 applied after the clay is first compressed in the cylinder as before stated, the 

 piston in this case is fixed to the core which advances with it through the 

 mouth piece and die plate. 



SCREW PROPELLERS, 



Christopher DtJNEiN Hays, of Bermondsey, Surrey, wharfinger, for 

 " certain Improvements in propelling vessels." — Granted July 3, 1S44 ; En- 

 rolled January 3, 1845. 



The improvements in propelling vessels consist in the first plncein a novel 

 mode of transferring the motive power of the engine to the propeller, whereby 

 the latter may be driven at different speeds according to circumstances, and 

 without the necessity for altering the speed of the engine, and also an im- 

 proved mode of constructing certain of the working parts, whereby the 

 friction thereof is considerably reduced. Secondly, in a nove construction 

 of propeller. The principal object of the invention is the application or em- 

 ployment of an auxiliary steam power for propelling sailing vessels in a more 

 economical and advantageous manner than has hitherto been done. Accord- 

 ing to tbe present mode of employing steam engines as an auxiliary power 

 for assistnig in propelling sailing vessels, the engines and propeller are only 

 brouf>ht into use occasionally, and under certain circumstances, such as during 



calms and light winds, but when favourable or strong winds prevail, the pro- 

 pellcr and engine are thrown entirely out of use, and become so much dead 

 and useless weight in the ship. Instead of following this plan the inventor 

 makes use of the auxiliary steam power continually during the whole of the 

 voyage, and under all circumstances that it can be of the slightest use. For 

 this purpose he employs an engine and propeller of such a power as will be 

 capable of propelling a vessel unaided by any other power, at a moderate 

 rate of, say four or five knots per hour duiing calms and very light winds, 

 and by the adaptation and employment of a certain apparatus hereafter 

 deserihed, and wbicb is connected to the engiiic and propeller shaft, he is 

 enabled at all times to propel tbe vessel four or five knots per hour, or nearly 

 so, beyond the speed that she would go if unaided by this apparatus. For 

 example, suppose that the engine will, as above stated, propel the vessel at 

 the rate of four or five knots per hour in a dead calm ; if a light wind capable 

 of propelling her two knots per hour without other assistance should arise, 

 then by the additional power of an engine and propeller with his apparatus 

 adapted thereto, he imagines by tbe two powers combined they will propel 

 the vessel, say .tbout six or seven knots per hour, and if the wind should 

 increase so as (unaided) to propel the vessel four or five knots, then by the 

 additional power of the engine she will proceed at the rate of eight or nine 

 knots per hour, or nearly so, and so on according to the wind. The means 

 employed to effect this object consist in the employment of differential 

 gearing for communicating the power of the engine to the propeller shaft, and 

 whereby the propeller can always he driven at an increased speed according 

 to the speed that tbe vessel would be propelled by the wind alone. 



The following are the words of the specification : — " In order to fully un- 

 derstand this point, it will he necessary to examine what would be the effect 

 of the ordinary auxiliary steam power upon the progress of a ship. Suppose 

 this auxiliary power is calculated to propel the vessel four knots per hour 

 unaided by any other power, and to effect this object the propeller is obliged 

 to make sixty revolutions per minute— now if a wind springs up which un- 

 aided is also capable of propelling the vessel at the same or a greater speed 

 than the engine is calculated for, it follows that although the propeller may 

 still revolve sixty times per minute, still there is no (or at any rate very little) 

 increased speed imparted to the ship, and the propeller is revolving uselessly, 

 as the passage of the ship through the water would of itself drive the pro- 

 peller at nearly the same speed if the latter were detached from the engine. 

 Tbe method I adopt in making the propeller available under these circum- 

 stances, is to drive it at a speed greater than that which the progress of the 

 ship itself would give the propeller in its progress through the water — that is 

 to say, if the speed of the ship sailing four knots per hour, is such as would 

 cause the propeller to revolve sixty times per minute if detached from the 

 engine, it is clear that it will be necessary for the engine to drive tlie pro- 

 peller an additional sixty, making one hundred and twenty revolutions in all, 

 in order to propel the vessel about eight knots per hour. It would be under- 

 stood that the engine is not required to exert any increased power to obtain 

 this increased speed, as the ship's motion drives the propeller one sixty and 

 the engine the other sixty revolutions, the wind therefore by means of the 

 motion of the ship through the water assists in driving the propeller and the 

 engine gives it an additional impetus. If the vessel is propelled by the wind 

 at the rate of six knots, a further increase equivalent to an additional four 

 knots, must be made in the speed of the propeller before the full benefit is 

 obtaiued from the power of the engine, and so on according to the increased 

 power of the wind." 



Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 



^- J 

 Fig. 5. 

 The accompanying engravings show the method adopted by the patentee 

 for carrying the invention into effect. Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal ver- 

 tical section of the dilFerential genring; c c is the propeller shaft which is 

 supported by and turns in bearings d d; eee is the differential gearing. An- 

 other shaft //, furnished with a feather li, is mounted in bearings inime- 

 diatfly above the inner end of the propeller shaft, and also carries toothed 

 wheel's g g g of dift'erent diameters, and which wheels are mounted on and 

 made to slide easily along the shaft/ when it is required to change the speed 

 of the propeller, tiie feather // of tbe shaft/ passes through and loosens all 

 the wheels g g g, and of course carries them round with it. The shalt of the 

 engine is seen at /. and carries at its end a clutchi, which when liroughtinto 

 contact with the clutch box k, on the inner end of the shaft /, causes the 

 latter with its wheels g g g to he carried round and drive the propeller shaft. 

 It will he seen upon referring to the engraving that the slowest motion is iu 

 gear, as would he the case in calms or very light winds, when it is the whole 

 power of the engine only rather than the speed of the propeller that is re- 



