I8-J7.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



145 



LIFE BUOYS AND BOATS. 



Arthur Howe Holdsworth, Esq., of Brookhill, Dartmouth, De- 

 vonsliire, for " Improvemeiils in buoys, and in giving buoyancy to 

 toa/8."— Granted August 29, 1S46; Enrolled February 20, 1847. 



This invention relates to the employment of india-rubber for tube.», 

 and vessels, prepared ns described iu the specifications of patents 

 granted to C. Hancock and A. Parkes. 



The life-buoys are tubular vessels of prepared india-rubber, filled 

 with air, like those described for boats; each vphen thrown into the 

 water will constitute a life-buoy, and cords may be attached to them, 

 to admit of a person securing himself thereto. " Watching buoys" 

 mav be made of anv form, but the patentee prefers a globular shape, 

 or a cylinder with hemispiierical ends; the buoys are enclosed in a 

 net of strong cord, and the mouth secured to a ring, to vfUich the 

 raooring chain is to be fastened. 



For the purpose of giving additional buoyancy to boats, tubular 

 vessels of prepired india-rubber are filled with air, and attached bv 

 cords to the raisings under the thwarts, from the head to the stern, or 

 placed across the boat, beneath the thwarts, and secured thereto by 

 cords. Apertures five by three inches are made in the sides of the 

 boat (the bottom being level with the thwarts), and each furnished 

 with a valve, opening outwards, so that water may be discharged but 

 cannot enter through tliem. When applying this invention to the 

 quarter boat of a large ship, four apertures in the sides are made with 

 valves; to each side of the boat are attached six tubes, six feet long 

 and six inches in diameter, four being secured to the raisings below, 

 and two to the raisings above the thwarts: each tube is capable of 

 sup|)orting from 74 to SO lb. when immersed in the water. The rea- 

 son for placing the tubes at the side, rather than across the boat is, 

 that she may be more readily restored to an even keel, if, in being 

 lowered from the ship, or from any other cause, she should be thrown 

 on her side and suddenly filled with water; when this happens, the 

 buoyancy of the tubes causes the boat to rise and the water to flow 

 from it through the apertures, until the gunwale becomes elevated to 

 a heiglit above the surface of the sea, corresponding to the difference 

 in height between the apertures and the gunwale — the crew can then 

 easily throw out the remainder of the water. Boats intended to be 

 used solely as life-boats, have six or eight apertures in their sides, 

 and in addition to the ordinary raisings under the thwarts, ons or two 

 more are fixed below them, and to these additional tubes are secured. 



Tlie annexed figure is a transverse section of a boat, constructed 

 according to this invention, a, a, are the side and bottom planks ; 

 b, b, the ribs; c, c, the thwarts; (/, d, the internal bottom boards; e,e, 

 the raisings or rails under the thwarts; _/", one of the tubular vessels 

 attached thereto; g, g, the additional rails; and i, h, the correspond- 

 ing tubular vessels, i, is a tube connected to the under side of the 

 thwart bv cords, for which purpose the rails j, are applied; k, k, are 

 the valves or doors for closing the apertures in the sides of the boat ; 

 they turn on a hinge at the upper part, and are furnished with weights 

 to cause them to close readily, and be kept closed, when required, by 

 means of cords. 



BRICK MACHINE. 



Frederick Ransome, of Ispwich, engineer, and John Crabb Blair 

 Warren, of Little Horksley, Essex, clerk, for " Improvements in the 

 manufacture of bricks, tiles, pipes, and other articles coynposed of plastic 

 materials, and in the preparation o/ plastic materials to be used for 

 such purposes." — Granted July 6, 184G ; Enrolled January 6, 1817. 



The first part of the invention consists in mixing in the pug-mill, 

 with the clay or plastic materials, of which bricks, tiles, and similar 

 articles are usually composed, vegetable, bituininoi\s, or other sub- 

 stances that are susceptible of being destroyed by fire, or burnt out of 

 the bricks, &c., when burning. 



As the sole object of adding these destructible ingredients is to 

 render the article porous, the addition of one-tenth part by weight, 

 more or less, of the destructible to the indestructible or plastic ingre- 

 dients, will be found to effect this object. 



Tiles, bricks, and pipes male in this manner will be found to be 

 exceedingly porous, and, when employed for draining, will allow the 

 water from adjacent earth to percolate or filter freely ihioiigh them 

 into the hollow space within, but at the same time eflfectually prevent 

 any sand or extraneous matters from entering the drain. 



The second part of the invention consists cf an improved apparatus 

 for forming bricks, tiles, pipes, and other articles, of clay or plastic 

 material. 



Fig. 1, is a side elevation of the machine, partly in section, to show 

 the interior construction ; and fig. 2, is a plan, also partly in section. 

 In this arrangement two horizontal fixed cylinders are employed, fur- 

 nished with dies at their outer ends, and doors on the upper part for 

 the admission of clay, which is forced out through the dies by the ac- 

 tion of pistons working within the cylinders, in the manner commonly 

 practised. The peculiarity consists in the mode of working the pistons, 

 a, a, are the horizontal cylinders, secured to a bed-pl,ite; fc, 6, are 

 suitably-formed dies, bolted to the outer ends of the cylinders ; c, c, 

 are doors hinged to the cylinders with a bdt rf, for se'curing them; 

 e, e, pistons, attached together by a plate/,/. Upon one face of this 

 plate are pins g, g, into which a pinion h, takes alternately on the 

 upper and under side thereof, i, j, are semi-circular guides attached 

 to the plate/,/, and intended to keep the pinion, when it has arrived 

 at either end of the series of pins, still in gear therewith, in 

 order that the traverse of the pistons may be continuous. The pinion 

 h, \s motinted in a slotted bearing *, and its axle may be provided 

 with a winch-handle, for communicating a rotating motion to the 

 pinion. The cylinders a, are filled alternately with clay by the door 

 c. When the cylinder is filled, the door is closed, and the rotation of 

 the pinion h, will then bring forward the piston, and cause the clay 

 to find an exit through the die b. While this is being efFected, the 

 other cylinder is ready to be charged with clay, which in its turn will 

 be forced out by the return motion of the pistons. It will now be un- 

 derstood that the continuous rotation of the pinion A, in one and the 

 same direction, will force the pistons alternately forward in their re- 

 spective cylinders, and cause them to press the clay contained therein 

 through the dies attached to the ends of the cylinders. In some cases, 

 instead of filling the cylinders by hand, as is the plan generally adopted, 

 the patentees propose to attach a hopper to each cylinder, whereby 

 the clay may be fed iu by the rotation of "sweepers" or arms, set 



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