THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



298 



cWsvly seen aaa arc three force-pumps atlaclied lo llie side of a vessel i, 

 fig 3 this vessel is Jividea lonsiti'dinal'y '"'o '"'O compartments, 6 and c. 

 The compartment h is again divided transversely inio three compartments 

 i' 6' b- so as to form a separate compartment to each pump-barrel, c and / 

 are inlet and outlet valves for the water which passes throu^li tl'C induction 

 pipeff into the comparlment 6, and from thence into the compartment c, and 

 through the eduction pipe d, which terminates in two prongs or forks, so as 

 to eject a stream of water through the stern of the vessel on each side of 

 the rudder. The apertures at the lerminalion of this pipe are provided with 

 sliding valves, shewn at fig. 3, for the puriose of increasing or diminishing 

 tlie size of the opening as may be required. 



Tlie fifth part of this invention relates to a mode of counterpoising the 

 slide-valves and other parts of engines requiring a counterpoise. This part 

 of the invention is effected as follows. To the weigh-shaft which works the 

 slide-valves there is an additional lever, connected by a pair of slings to the 

 piston-rod of a small cylinder. This cylinder is connected by means of a 

 pipe having a three-way cock, wilh the condenser of the engine. The action 

 of this arrangement uf parts is as follows: when the counterpoise or balance 

 for the slides is required, a communication is formed, by means of the three- 

 way ccck, with the aforesaid cylinder and the condenser, a partial vacuum 

 being thus formed in the cylinder, a force equivalent thereto wili be exerted 

 on the piston, which force will be transmitted to the weigh-shafts, and thus act 

 as a counterbalance to the slide-valves ; the force may be discontinued or cut 

 ofi; by giving the cock a quarter turn, so as to form a commuuicalion with 

 the atmosphere and the cylinder. Where condensers are not employed, the 

 inventor proposes to use the clastic force of sleam. 



IMPROVED RAIUVAY BREAIC. 



Frederick Hebebt Maberly, of Stowmarket, in the county of Suffolk, 

 clerk, M. A. for " Certain Improvements in machinery or the apparatus for 

 stepping or retarding railway or other carriages appUcahle also for these pwposes 

 in regard to other engines or wheels."— GranUi February 10 ; August 9, 1845. 



The mode of working and applying breaks to raihvay and other carriages, for 

 the purpose of stopping or retarding the same, is as follows: Fig. 1, shews an 

 elevation of an engine, with the apparatus for working the breaks of a train, in 

 tlie following manner ; a « is a frame, fi.wd on tlie framing of the engine, b is 

 a grooved or flanged pulley, supported by and moving in a slot formed in the 

 frame n ! this pulley is capable of being raised or lowered by means of a lever 

 c, extending to the front of the engine and slings c', upon the a;;le of the 

 driving wheel is fixed another grooved or flanged pulley d, f p is a chain, or 

 friction band, passing round the pulleys b and ri ;/is a rod, one end of which 

 is connected to the pulley i, the other end being connected to a short lever 

 fixed upon a shaft, g ; upon the middle of the shaft, which extends across the 

 angine, is fixed a flanged pulley h, to the periphery of which is attached the 

 ends of two chains i i ; the extreme ends of these chains are attached to rods 

 lik, these rods, which are connected to similar rods passing underneath each 

 carriage, one above and the other below the several axles, give motion or 

 put into action the whole of the breaks of the train simultaneously, in a 

 manner hereinafter described, l is the guard rails, which, in the drawings 

 of the specification, are unfortunately placed at the wrong end of the engine, 

 the engineer being supposed, or rather shewn, as standing behind the smoke- 

 boK, instead of in front of the fire-box, so that in practice the guard rails, 

 together with' the) arrangement of levers, ought to be shewn at the oppo- 

 site end of the engine. / Z is a rod, shown in dotted lines, one end of this 

 rod being attached to the lever m, the other end being attached to a short 

 lever n, fixed upon the shaft g. To the other end of the lever c is fixed a 

 ■•' spring," c", for the purpose of keeping such lever in any required posilion- 

 It will, therefore, be seen, that by depressing the end of (he lever c, the pulley b 

 will be raised, and will thereby receive motion from the wheel <?, by means of the 

 »fietion-band e e ; this motion will, by means of the rod/, be imparted to the 

 witeel h, and also to the chains i i and rods /c /., in one direction or the other, 

 Jepeuding on the motion of the driving-wheels. In fig. 2, n a shews the frame 

 of the carriage, to the side of which is attached a sliding-bar b b, which 

 receives a certain amount of motion from the rods 7,- k above described, by 

 ineans of a lever moving on an axis at;;. To the under side of the sliding- 

 bar 6 b are attached breaks q q, one or other of which are brought to bear 

 against the wheels by the sliding of the bar b b. The specification shews 

 several other modes of applying and bringing the breaks into action simul- 

 taneously, by means of the rods A /,, the mechanical action of which we can- 

 not say much for. o o is a lever attached to the rods k /,-, intended to be 

 worked by the breaksman. The inventor very properly stales that this lever 

 may be worked by a screw to give it additional power. Another part of this 

 invention, which consists in making the body of the carriage delached from 

 the framing of such carriage. In fig. 2, A a represents the body of the car- 

 riage, which fits in a recess formed in the side framings of the body of the 

 ■carriage, being held in its proper position by spiral springs ss upon the fram- 

 ing; and at each end of the body of the carriage there are inclined planes> 



[Sept. 



shewn in dotted lines,' the object of this arrangement being to prevent 

 accidents by concussion or the sudden stopping of the train. 



With regard to fig. 1, the specification states that the friction-band e c may 

 pass direct from the pulley rf to a pulley fixed upon the shaft g. f shews a 

 mode ofj attaching the carriages by means of links, but the inventor prefers 

 a ball and socket joint. He also proposes to have a flexible tube for the use of 

 the engineer and breaksman to converse thiough, together wilh an apron 

 attached to the sides of the carriage, for the purpose of catching any person 

 or thing falling from the train. 



MANUFACTURE OF GAS. 

 James Muedock, of Staple-inn, county of Middlesex, for " Certain Im- 

 provemenls in tlie manufacture of gas, and in the apparatus emploijed therein." — 

 Granted February 12 ; Enrolled August 12, 184.3. 



We have given three views, shewing the mode of arranging the retorts 

 according to ihis invention. Fig. 1 being a plan, fig. 2 a side elevation, and 

 fig. 3 a front end view of the retort, the brickwork being omitted, a a is an 

 ordinary d retort for distilling the coal. Above this retort, and parallel with 

 it, are two purifying tubes or retorts b b', each having a spiral piece of iron 

 within them, and communicating 'at one end wilh the neck of the retort a, 

 and at the other end wiih a retort c, wliich latter is [ilaced at the extreme 

 end of the others, and in a vertical position; this retort, which is to be 

 nearly filled with coke or charcoal, is intended to decompose water, as will be 

 hereafter described. The gas, as it is formed, passes from tlie reti.rt a through 

 an opening, shewn in dotted lines, fig. 1, into the purifying retort b, and from 

 thence into the retort c, through the incandescent coke or charcoal, and 

 through the retort b', from whence it passes through the pipe d d into a cir- 

 cular vessel containing water. The lid of this vessel, and on the underside 

 thereof, is constructed wilh a spiral channel, in order that the 'gas may pass 

 over as great a surface of cold water as possible, previous to entering the 

 outlet pipe of such vessel, which leads to the gas holder, /is a syphon-pipe 

 extending nearly to the bottom of the retort c. 



The mode of working the apparatus is as follows. Tlie retort c is to be 

 nearly filled wilh coke or charcoal, and the covers of the two retorts c and a 

 securely luted, and a fire got under them, which is to be kept up until the 

 retort a becomes of a cherry red, the retort c being of a bright red heat, the 

 retort a is now to be charged with coal and a small quantity of water admit- 

 ted into the retort c, the effect of uliich is said to be that the gas from the 

 coal is mixed with tar, which passes into the purifying retort 6, the sulpher- 

 etted hydrogen being decomposed by the coil of incandescent iron; at the 

 same time, the tar is said to undergo a second distilation, and thereby con- 

 verted into gas, which is mixed with that which comes from the coal. The 

 gas, which is now more dense, being coml/ined with tlie carbon contained in 

 the tar. passes along the tube b round the spiral, till it arrives at the retort c, 

 where it mixes with the hydrogen formed by the decomposition of water by 

 the incandescent coke. This decomposition takes place at the same time as 

 the distilation of the coal ; the water which is dropping in their streams over 

 the coke gives out hydrogen, which mi.ws with the other gases, and passes 

 into ;he jurifying retort b', carrying with it the volatile oils which may have 

 escaped decomposition ; but which, in passing the iron spiral, becomes de- 

 composed, and gives out carbon to the hydrogen, which thus becomes car- 

 huretted, without impoverishing the other gas. The gas, on passing to the 

 end of the second purifying retort, passes to the vessel e having tlie spiral 

 channel, for the purpose of cooling it down, after which it passes to the gas 

 holder. 



ATMOSPHERIC ENGINE. 



Abthce Faesey, of Spur-street, Leicester-square, Artist, for "Improve- 

 ments in obtaining motive power.'^ 



These improvements in obtaining motive power consist in certain modifica- 

 tions of machinery, by means of which compressed air may be employed to 

 work, without a vacuum, pistons, valves, levers, rods, and other appendages, 

 for the purpose of producing mechanical force, and communicating that force 

 for driving other machinery. The application of this motive po.ver is as 

 follows : A, fig. 1, is a vessel made sufficiently strong to withstand a very high 

 pressure into »hich air is to be forced by means of pumps or otherwise, d 

 is a cylinder provided with a piston, and is, in all respects, similar to the 

 ordinary cylinder of a locomotive or other engine, d is a chamber placed 

 contiguous to the receiver, into which chamber the compressed air may be 

 admitted by the pipe and cock a, before it passes to the working cylinder, in 

 order to reduce its density, and determine its elastic force, which may be 

 regulated to the power required for working the engines by means of a spring 

 valve b set to the desired torce, or by a governor or other contrivance, well 

 known in the construction of steam-engines, and which need not, therefore, 

 be further described. The inventor, in some cases, proposes to have large 

 vessels at the several stations ready filled with compressed air, to which Ihe 

 vessel A may be attached fur the purpose of refilling or supplying the same 

 with compressed air. 



