8S 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS. 



SMELTING COPPER ORE. 



Thomas Beil, of Don Alkali Works, Suutli Shields, for " Improvements 

 in smelting copper ore." Granted July 23, 1846. Enrolled Jan. 23, 1847. 



These improvements relate to obtaining sulphuric acid from co]>per ores 

 during the roasting, by placin» the ore iu powder on the shelves of a com- 

 mon roasting furnace, to which a roasting kiln is attached by a flue, which 

 enters two feet from the bottom, from 150 to 200 feet in length ; in this kiln 

 copper ore, in lumps, is put ; near the end of the flue there is a jet of 

 steam, which increases the draught; coke, anthracite coal, or charcoal, 

 may be used instead of bituminous coal. The top of the kiln is arched 

 over, and a flue passes through the top into a vitriol chamber. Near the 

 end of this flue also there is a steam jet. During the roasting of the ore, 

 snlphurous acid is formed, which, in passing through the flues, is mixed 

 ■with the aqueous vapour, and partly beco">es condensed into sulphuric 

 acid ; in tliis state it passes into the vitriol chamber, and collects on the 

 floor; at the fame time, the uncondensed sulphurous acid gas and steam, 

 on passing into the vitriol chamber, meet with nitrous acid gas, produced 

 by acting on saltpetre, or niirate of soda, by strong sulphuric acid. But 

 that portion of the sulphurous aciil which escapes condensation is afler- 

 •wards condensed in columns of coke, previously exhausted, as described 

 in a former patent (Nov. 3, !H45), " for improvements in the manufacture 

 of sulphuric acid," or by means of a high chimney. 



AREA GRATINGS. ^ 



r Richard Marvin, of Pcrlsea, Southampton, gentleman, and William 

 Henry Mooue, of SoDthsta, genlleraan, for '^Improvements in gratings 

 of metal or wood, for the fronts of houses and general purposes, for the ad- 

 mission of light and i«n(iJa«ion."— Granted May 28 ; Enrolled Nov. 28, 



1840. 



FiS. I. Fig. 2. 



This invention relates to constructing gratings of wrought or cast metal, 

 or wood, as shown in the annexed engraving ; fig. 1 is a plan of part of a 

 grating, and fig. 2 a section. The bars are fixed in the frame in such a 

 manner thai the top of one bar shall cover the bottom of the next bar. 

 The length of the frame is regulated by the number of bars ; it is 2 inches 

 deep, and I inch thick. The length of the bjr depends upon the size of 

 the required grating ; the depth of each bar is 3 inches on the top side, 

 and 3J inches on the under side; the thickness is J inch on the lop edge, 

 gradually reduced to | inch in the middle, immediately beneath which it is 

 reduced to ^l- inch, and then gradually reduced to J inch at the bottom. 

 The distance from one bar to another is 1^ inch at the top, which is in- 

 creased to IJ iuch at the bottom. 



HOUSE PAINTING. 



Hai;old Creask, of l>rixton-hill, Surrey, paper stainer, for " 7;nproc«- 

 ments in the preparation of paiiils and cohursfor decorative and other simi- 

 lar purposes"— Gmnieii July 23, 1846; Enrolled January 23, 1847. 



The invention relates to the preparation of colours, whereby they 

 are rendered suitable for painting " flatting or dead white ;" the colours so 

 prepared will be free from any ollensive smell, dry quickly, and be ready 

 to receive a second coat within an hour after the application of the first. 

 The improvements consist in combining shellar, gelatine, and animal or 

 vegetable oil, with an alkaline base, and incorporating this mixture with 

 ordinary paint, in the following manner:— Boil 2.i lb. of well-bleached 

 shellac and ! lb. of borax, or olher suitable alkaline base, in five quarts of 

 water until dissolved ; the bulling to be continued until the solution is re- 

 duced in bulk to about one gallon. To one quart of this solution, from 

 half a pint to a pint of pure gelatine, according to its strength, and four 

 drachms of alcohol are added, and gradually incorporated therewith by 

 the application of heat. The mixture is then added to the remaining por- 

 tion of the solution, together with the requisite quantity of white lead to 

 give it a body, and a small quantity of well-bleached oil ; the latter ingre- 

 dients being added in the proportion of 9 lb. of white lead and two ounces 



of oil to each quart of the solution. This mixture is ground in an ordi- 

 nary paint mill, and afterwards thinned « ilh a solution of shellac : it is 

 then ready for use. The preparation is applicable to all colours used by 

 painters, excepting a few containiug iron. 



GAS APPAR.VTUS. 



Augustus William Hillary, Esq., of Chelsea, gent., for " Improve- 

 ments in the manufacture of gas." — Granted July 23, 184(5 ; Enrolled Jan. 

 23, 1817. 



The objects of the improvements are, first, for separating the condensible 

 matters from the gas at one operation ; secondly, for converting bituminous 

 matters into gas ; thirdly, for decomposing the condensible matters, by 

 passing steam over them in the heated tubes ; fourthly, the obtaining from 

 the pitch, tar, £>:c., matters capable of enriching the gas. Thse objects the 

 patentee proposes to obtain by the arrangement of apparatus, consisting, 

 iirst, of a retort, which is of an oval form in front, with one end rounded, 

 and within which are placed, lengthwise, three parallel tubes, reaching 

 nearly the whole length ; the ends of the tubes towards the back are open. 

 The tubes conlain, to about three quarters of their length, twisted plates 

 of metal or other suitable material. Prom the centre one of these tubes, 

 which is larger than the other two, a tube rises to a considerable height, 

 and then turns downward again in the ordinary manner of refrigerators, 

 the end dipping into a condenser. This condenser is a rectangular re- 

 ceiver divided into eight compartments. The tube above meniioned dips 

 into the first of these compartments, from this again another tube passes to 

 an equal height with the first, and dips into the second compartment, and 

 so on throughout the several compartments to the last in the series ; from 

 which a tube passes into the hydraulic main. From the ends of the two 

 latter tubes above described, two smaller tubes rise and enter the front of 

 the condenser ; these tubes have such a form that by a bend in the hori- 

 zontal portion, it acts as a syphon, and prevents the gas rising from the 

 retort by these channels into the condenser. Prom the back of the con- 

 denser there is a syphon, which can be opened or shut at pleasure ; this 

 syphon, if required, will conduct the tar and amnioniacal liquor to the 

 furnace. 



AVhen the charge of coal in the retort is being deromposed, the gas and 

 vapours formed pass (by the middle tube above described) up and down 

 the series of pipes in the refrigerator, depositing the tar and other conden- 

 sible niattor in the condenser, from which the fluid matters, viz., water 

 containing ammonia and sulphurous acid, and tar, flow by the two syphons 

 first above mentioned, into the two tubes within the retort ; here, coming 

 in contact with the heated metal plates, these waters, the patentee states, 

 are decomposed ; the metal becoming oxide of iron by the decomposition 

 of the watery vapour, at the same time that the free hydrogen unites witli 

 the carbon of the pilch and tar, it forms a superior gas. Coal contains 

 besides sulphur, ammonia ; the steam in passing over the oxide of iron 

 formed in the tubes, enables it to absorb a larger quantity of sulphur. 

 In this manner the metal is converted into sulphur of ammouia and iron, 

 and the gas sufliciently purified for ordinary purposes ; but if it be used in 

 private houses, it is to be further purified by passing it through sulphuric 

 acid, diluted with three proportions of water,aad then through lime before 

 entering the gasometer. 



PROPELLERS FOR STEAM VESSELS. 



Peter Claussen, of Leicester-square, Middlesex, gentleman, for " Im- 

 provements in methods of an apparatus for propettiug and exhausting and 

 compressing air and aeriform bodies." — Granted July 23, 1846; Enrolled 

 Jan. 23, 1847. (Reported in the Patent Journal.) 



This invention relates to propelling vessels from the stem. With this 

 view, the patentee employs horizontal propeller shafts, attached to the pis- 

 tons of two steam cylinders ; the ends of these shafts, whiih pass through 

 stufliug-boxes into a watertight casing, are affixed to frames or chases, 

 subdivided into twelve or more compartments, for the reception of an equal 



