160 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[May, 



through holes in Ihe door escapes from the upper part of the bos, as indicated 

 liy the arrow, and then passes over the fire, 



SLATE CUTTING MACHINE. 



Jajies Caktee, of Delabole, Cornwall, slate merchant, for " Improvements 

 in cutting slate for roofing and other purposes.^' — Granted Sep. 27, 1844; En- 

 rolled March 27, 1845. 



These improvements consist in a machine for squaring or cutting the edges 

 of slates for roofing ; in the accompanying figures we have given a side ele- 

 vation and end view of Ihe apparatus, which consist of a Hy wheel a a, 

 mounted upon an axis supported liy the frame J 6 ; to the outer end of one of 

 the arms of the iiy wheel is firmly fixed a steel cutter c, which stands at about 

 6 inches distance from the face or arms of the wheel, the object of which is to 

 give room for any inequalities on the edge of the slate w hen in an uncut state, 

 rf is a frame or rest, to the side of which is attached another steel cutter e ; 

 the frame d is divided into inches, beginning from the cutter ; the two cutters 

 are so arranged that their faces are about Jj, of an inch apart, and that the 

 cutter c meets the cutter c at an angle of about 8°, / is a guide for preventing 

 the fly wheel from vibrating, g wo suppose to be a pulley keyed upon the end 

 of the fly wheel shaft, for driving the same hy means of a strap from some 

 first mover, although the above is not stated. The action of this machine to 

 those at all conversant with machinery is easy to conceive, notwithstanding 

 we think it would have been quite as well if the inventor had described it, but 

 such is not the case. The claim is for a mode of cutting roofing slate with 

 the edges perfectly straight and at right angles to each other, also to avoid 

 the shelling otf of the underside of large portions of the slate, which is stated 

 to be unavoidable in the old process. 



WINDOW SHUTTERS AND BLINDS. 



John Harcocrt Quincet, of Old Street, City-road, gsntlenian. for "Im- 

 provements in the manufacture of Uinils and .rfiH/^crs."'— Granted .Sep. 27, 1844; 

 Enrolled March 27, 1845. 



The first part of the improvements consists in the construction of metallic 

 hlinds or shutters, in the following manner. The shutters are made of 

 bent plates of metal, that is to say, the plates forming the shutters are bent 

 in a direction of their length, so as as to be concave on one side and convex 

 on the other, these plates, which are fastened together by suitable hinges, 

 have an axis at each end which passes through holes formed in the links of a 

 guide chain; the plates forming the shutter are also made of different 

 breadths, the narrowest plates being at the top and widest at the bottom, by 

 this arrangement a greater length of metallic shutter can be wound on a given 

 diameter than those of the ordinary construction, — another advantage the 

 inventor states is that by making them of bent plates a great strength is ob- 

 tained, moreover, should it tie desirable a number of plates near the top may 

 be perforated so as to admit light, without materially affecting the strength 

 of the plates. 



The second part of the improvements relates to a peculiar mode of construct- 

 ing Venetian blinds, and consists in the application of perforated plates of 

 metal or wood, and also in applying plates of glass or earthenware. In con- 

 structing Venetian blinds the inventor, in place of making the ribs or barsof 

 solid pieces of wood, makes them of perforated wood or perforated zinc plates, 

 which may either be a bent little in direction of their length so as to give 

 them a greater strength, or they may be made flat with a raised border round 

 the edge. Another method of making Venetian blinds, according to this in- 

 vention, is to make the ribs or bars of metal and glass or earthenware, by 

 first making a frame of metal equal in size to one ol the ribs, and then fixing 

 in the frame ground or coloured glass, or the frames may be so made as to 

 receive two pieces of glass with a thin perforated metal plate between them, 

 thereby producing very novel effects. In drawing up these blinds the in- 

 ventor uses pullies of glass or earthenware. 



The third part of the improvements relates to the manufacture of blinds 

 which turn upon axes, and is similar in every respect to the method last 

 described, viz. the application of perforated plates, or ground or coloured 

 glass ; the specification also describes the mode of making carriage blinds in 

 the same manner. 



The fourth improvement relates to apparatus for opening and closing fold- 

 ing shutters, and also in the construction of the same. The shutters are 

 made of narrow bent plates of metal joined together in a suitable manner, 

 which plates may if desired be perforated so as to admit light into the apart- 

 ment ; the mode of opening .and closing the same is as follows, — each shutter 

 is supported by iwo vertical axes upon which turns, upon the lower axis 

 is keyed a small worm wheel ; at right angles to this axis there is a short 

 shaft which passes through the window framing or wall into the room, one 

 end of this shaft is squared to receive a key, the other end having a worm or 

 screw keyed upon it taking into and driving the worm wheel upon the L.wer 

 axis of the shutter, by this arrangement it will be .seen that by turning round 

 Ihe short shaft, by means of a key made to fit on Ihe end thereof, the shutters 

 can be opened or closed from withing the room. 



The fifth improvement relates to a mode of constructing sliding metal 

 shutters, and consists in making the shutters of rectangular plates of metal, 

 each of the plates having a slot cut through it at each end, there is also 

 a projection upon each end of the plate, beginning at the second plate from 

 the top ; these projections pass through the slots of the plates adjacent : thus 

 supposing four of these plate to form the shutters, and the same to be placed 

 side by side, and the whole to fit in a recess below the window sill, the first 

 plate, which is raised by means of a chain, raises the second by means of the 

 bottom end of the slot coming in contact with the projection on the second 

 plate ; this, as we have stated, fits into the slot ; in this manner all the 

 plates forming the shutter are raised so as to close the window, the upper 

 edge of one plate lapping over the lower edge of the plate adjacent. 



The sixth improvement consists in making shutters or blinds of plates of 

 metal bent in a' direction of their length, so as to give them additional 

 strength, these plates, which may be perforated, are fixed to a suitable frame 

 so as to form a shutter. 



COMPOSITION FOR MOLDINGS. 



Joseph Ecgene Chabet, of Paris, for " Improvements in preparing materials 

 to be tised in 7naking picture and other frames, and fur architectural and other 

 ;iarposps."— Granted Oct. 10, 1844; Enrolled April 10, 1845. 



The materials employed in the composition for making picture frames and 

 architectural purposes consist of glue, (which the inventor prefers to be made 

 from rabbit skins, although other glue is stated to answer the purpose,) gela- 

 tine, oxide of lead, .Spanish white, sulphate of lime, and sawdust, in the fol- 

 lowing proportions : — for every 3fJ parts the inventor takes 12 parts of glue, 

 I part of gelatine, 4 parts of oxide of lead, 8 parts of Spanish white, I part of 

 sawdust, and 10 parts of sulphate of lime. In preparing this ccmposition the 

 oxide of lead is to be put into a suitable vessel, and the glue, which has been 

 previously melted, is to be mixed with it. after which Ihe Spanish while and 

 sawdust may be put in the vessel and the whole well mixed up together, 

 should it be desired to add a little colouring matter, such as yellow ochre or 

 lamp black, the same may be added at this st.age ; the sulphate of lead is now 

 to be added to the other materials and the whole well mixed up together. 

 The preparation may then be poured mlo suitable molds, observing to apply 

 a little oil to the inside of the mould, after remaining about 5 minutes Ihe 

 same may he removed from the mould, and aftei wards finished ofi' as may be 

 required. 



PADDLE WHEEL F.WTENINGS. 



Sir Graham Eben Hamonp, Bart:, K C.B., Norton Lodge, Yarmouth, for 

 " Improvements in the mode of fastening on and reefing paddle wheels, fioat boards, 

 or paddles." (Being a communication.)— Granted Oet. 14, 1844; Enrolled 

 April 14, 1845. (See Engvavings. Plate XII.) 



The improvements relate to the mode of fixing the float boards to the arms 

 of the paddle wheel ; instead of fixing them with bolts, screws and nuts, the 

 inventor uses a square link c, which is put upon the arms of the wheel a : before 

 the periphery or outer rim is fixed, a hole is made in the float board h, 

 through which the link passes, and in the projecting part of the link at the 

 back a key or wooden wedge d, is placed and driven in, which secures the 

 float board to the arm of the wheel, as shown in the engraving ; for large 

 floats two of these links can be used to each arm ; it will be perceived from 

 this description that if it be desired to reef the paddles, it can easily be done 

 by loosening the wedge, when the float may be drawn in. The inventor sug- 

 gests cutting notches on one edge of the arms, which he states will hold the 

 link firmer, and at the same time be a guide for the fixing the hoards without 

 measuring. 



For old wheels, to obviate Ihe inconvenience of removing the outer rim, Ihe 

 inventor has introduced a forked strap e, with an aperture in each side, the 

 strap is put through the float and over the arms, and then a clamp i, is passed 

 through the two eyes or apertures, and afterwards the link or tie is wedged 

 up as before explained. To prevent the wedge slipping an iron pin is used to 

 secure it to the float. 



AMERICAN PATENTS. 



A. D. Childs, Rochester, Monroe county, New York, for " an Improi'S- 

 r>imt in the horse poiver." — May C. 



This horse power, like many before it, is on the general principle of the 

 sun and planet movement ; motion is communicated to a central vertical shaft 

 provided with a mitre wheel near its lower, and a pinion near its upper end, 

 the former driving the line shaft, and the latter receiving motion from three 

 planet wheels arranged at equal distances around it, and each provided with 

 a pinion on its arbor, the teeth of which take into cogs on tlie inner peri- 

 phery of a permanent ring. The planet wheels turn on, and are carried 

 round the central shaft by studs projecting downwards fiom a cap plate, 

 (so formed as to mske an entire covering to the whole machine,) which » 



