90 



THE CIVIL ENGINEE AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[March 



the purpose of making floorings and wainscotings, or panellings against 

 walls, it is preferred, before fixing it, to fasten each sheet of the mosaic, so 

 prepared, upon a separate suitable ground-work or foundation ; for this pur- 

 pose a double set of thin boards, glued or cemented together transversely 

 to each other as to grain, does extremely well. 



When used as a loose covering, it is fastened on to a thin surface of papier 

 aiache, or felt, or a preparation of India rubber and cork, known by the name 

 of karaptulicon, or other suitable material. The material we have named 

 throughout the description already given of this invention, as the surround, 

 ing material for the square or tessera, has been confined to cork, and which 

 is the material preferred by the patentees ; but any other material which 

 may be of an elastic or easily-compressible character, such as caoutcliouc in 

 its various stales of preparation, or soft leather, papier-machu, felt, gutta 



pcrcha, and other materials partaking of the like properties, will answer 

 the purpose ; some of the materials here referred to for surrounding each of 

 the squares or tessera, may also be applied in a fluid, or soft, or plastic state, 

 and poured or pressed in between the squares or tessera, instead of being 

 applied in the way described. 



In diagonal work, where the tessera of the mosaic is otherwise than square, 

 it is to be made up in the usual way of preparing and forming inlaid work 

 when made up into blocks, except that the elastic and easily-compressible ma- 

 terial before described all round each tessera, is introduced; and where com- 

 bined with work in square tessera, as shown at fig. 7, ilie principle of mak- 

 ing up the pattern is applied, when formed of square tessera as already de- 

 scribed, as far as it may be practicable. 



Fig. 1. 



T.---V, -;/--2 



ATMOSPHERIC RMLWAY TUBES. 



William Waucvp, of Ashton-terrace, Coronation-road, Bristol, civil 

 engineer, for " cerlain Improvements in the mamifacture and arrangement 

 of parts and apjjaratus for the construction and matcing of atmospheric 

 railways."— Gtanieil Aug. 11, 1S4G ; Enrolled Feb. 11, 1847. (Reported in 

 the Patent Journal.) 



This invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing the trac- 

 tion tubes for atmospheric railways, in which the driving pistons work these 

 tubes, which are of cast iron or other suitable metals, made in the ordinary 

 manner, but differ only in the construction of the longitudinal valve, which 

 is formed of different segments (answering a douhle purpose, by forming 

 the top portion of the traction tube as well as the longitudinal valve), each 

 segment being formed bv layers of flexible material, such as india-rubber, 

 leather, or other elastic' substance, placed between metal plates of given 

 lengths, admitting bv its flexibility a free passage to the piston rod. Tig. 1 

 represents a transverse vertical section, and fig. 2 a plan view of the top, 

 showing the longitudinal valve ; a a is a cast iron lube, or traction pipe; h is 

 a metal segment of the longitudinal valve ; c c is the outer segment or flexible 

 portion of the same ; dd are four lifts, two of which are attached by their 

 ends to one side of the segment, /, and the two alternate ones to the other, 

 m, by which it will be seen that, as they press upon the flcsihle substances, 

 c c, they keep the joint, indicated by the dotted lines, hermetically sealed ; 

 e is a lifting valve wheel, wliich travels wiili the piston on the frames, //; 

 1/ is a piston motion rod, which is attached to the carriage, when motion is 

 given to the piston by an externa' atmospheric pressure ; the wheel i raises, 

 as the piston advances, the alternate segments of the valve, shown by the 

 dotted line i, forming an open channel for the transmission of the arm //; 

 to a circular bar or hi"ge, on which the valves turn; r r is a belt or loop, 



passinK through the 'semicircular bearing j, and over the rod or hinge, /< A. 

 The inventor states that he does not confine himself to the whole of the 

 details herein given, so long as the impoitaut peculiarity of his iiiventmn be 

 retained ; but he claims the use of an atmospheric tube, divided longitudin- 

 ally into two parts, whether connected by hinges or not, and forming a com- 

 idete tube, ready for exhaustion when closed, the longitudinal connection and 

 oint between the top and bottom parts of the tube being eff-ected without 

 'bavins recourse to the elasticity of the material of which the tube is com- 

 posed" or the intervention of an elastic or flexible material, to form a hinge, 

 as at present used in the construction of Clegg and Samuda's, closing entirely 

 bv the weight of the upper parts, without the assistance of springs or other 

 m'echanical contrivance, lie claims also the longitudinal ribs forming the 

 abutment for the top valve, or the other half of the tube. 



ilETAL ROLLERS. 



Thomas Pwne. of llandsworth, near Birmingham, gentleman, for "Im- 

 provements in tlie ■manufacture of rolls, for rolling irm and other metals. — 

 Granted August 4, 1816 ; Enrolled February 4, 1847. 



This improvement relates to the mode of rolling iron and other metals. 

 Heretofore the rolls have been cast with necks or axles at their ends, whieli 

 are liable to he broken when in use ; and it has also been attempted to cast 

 rolls on to bars of iron, to strengthen the axles or necks ; but in such cases 

 the inventor states that bars of iron so used are much injured, and being 

 weakened, are unfit for such purposes. The patentee proposes to cast the 

 rollers of any given size required, hollow, so as to admit of the shaft or axis 

 being passed through, an.l fixed therein by keys or otherwise ; care being 

 taken in casting that the hollow space within a roller is cast or formed truly, 

 so that the shaft when introduced shall fit accurately, allowing spaces for 



