284 



THE CIVIL ENGINEtR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Sept. 



obtained from the first part of the operation when lime is used, or from 

 the liquor of the wet purifiers of Ihe gas-works. The sulphuret of lime 

 decomposes Ihe fised salts of ammonia, liberating the latter substance in 

 the state of hydrosulphuret, which may be treated in the same manner as 

 that erolved in the first stage of the process. 



STEAM ENGINES AND PROPELLERS. 



John Seaward, of the Canal Iron Works, engineer, for " Improvements 

 in the steam engine, and in macliinery for propeUinj;. Granted January 

 12; Enrolled July 12, 1846. — Reported in \he Patent Journal. With 

 Engravings, see Plate XIV. 



Guide hlock. — The first part of this invention relates to a guide block 

 (fig. 1) for preserving the parallelism of cross-heads of steam engines, and 

 other machinery, a a are two guides, bevelled on both sides, forming an- 

 gular edges, to which are fitted two sliding pieces, b b, c is a block titled 

 between the pieces bb and their respective lugs or projections, dddd. 

 Two powerful spiral springs, as shown by the dotted lines, are compressed 

 within the block c, forcing the pieces 6 b against the guides, and in order 

 that they shall not cause the friction to be too great it is furnished with two 

 bolts ee on each side side, and thus regulated at pleasure ; /is a hole for 

 the reception of the cross heads. 



Plumber block. — Secondly, this invention relates to a plumber-block, to 

 be used where the force acts longitudinally, or at an angle. It is fitted 

 with two sets or pairs of brasses, one being divided longitudinally, the 

 other vertically ; the last-named are closed by keys placed vertically at the 

 back; these are furnished with screws and nuts similar to the key of a 

 connecting rod ; the others by bolts, as usual. 



Valves. — Thirdly, these improvements consist of an apparatus for work- 

 ing the valves of such engines as are fitted vith a double set. 



Fig. 2 shows a fore and aft vertical section of a cylinder fitted with a 

 double set of slide valves ; and fig. 3 an external side view of the same, 

 li is a horizontal slide, which moves in dove-tailed grooves, b b, and is con- 

 nected to the bent lever c by a rod, as shown by dotted lines. This lever 

 works on a fixed fulcrum at rf, the short end being connected in the usual 

 way to the eccentric or other rod by which it may be worked, eeee are 

 four weigh shafts connected in pairs by the levers////, and cross rods g-g-. 

 The levers A A A A on the weigh shafts are connected by links to the valve 

 spindles, as shown in fig. 2. 



Now, it will be observed that when the slide a is moved to the right by 

 the motion of the engine, the tappet h will come in contact with tl>e lever 

 J, thereby closing the steam valve_;, cutting off the steam at any part of 

 the stroke according to where Ihe tappet may be set, and partially closing 

 the escape valve fc, as shown in fig. 2. On the slide moving still further, 

 the lever i will slide along the back of the tappet h, till it meets with the 

 tappet /; this will entirely close the eduction valve k; the lever m will be 

 acted on in a similar manner by the corresponding tappets producing the 

 motion of the opposite valves as before described, when Ihe lever > is 

 moved by the tappet I. The toe n (fig. 4) is caught in the step o, and held 

 in that position till relieved by the opposite toe p coming in contact with 

 the corresponding step, which, it will be remembered, does not take place 

 till the tappet q closes the eduction valve s, the weight on the weigh shaft 

 bringing it smartly back to its original place ; the spiral springs, r r, are 

 for keeping Ihe steps moreeirectually to their work. The tappets are fitted 

 with regulating screws 1 1, for the purpose of altering their position so as 

 to cut off the steam at any required part of the strokes, uu are rods by 

 which the weights are hung on the weigh shaft to alter the valves for the 

 return stroke of tiie engine. 



Steam Pipe. — The fourth part of this invention relates to an apparatus 

 for the better separation of the steam from the water in boilers, thereby 

 preventing what is usually called priming ; it consists of three circular 

 concentric casings, a (/ c (fig. 5); they are attached to the upper parts of 

 the boiler in the space occupied by the steam, b is filled with a conical 

 bottom, terminating in a pipe d, reaching nearly to the bottom of the 

 boiler; the upper part of this casing is perforated with a number of small 

 holes to admit the steam which passes up between it and the outside casing 

 a, thence downwards under tiie inside casing c, where the water separates 

 and runs down the pipe d ; the steam again rising, passes off by the steam 

 pipe e to the engine. 



Screw Propeller.. — Fifthly, this invention has relation to an improved 

 metho*' of shipping and unshipping, or in other words, raising and lower- 

 ing screw propellers, and the means of fixing them to the shift. 



Fig. G is a view of the stern ((uarters of a ship fitted with these im- 

 provements. Figs. 7, 8, and 9, show some of Ihe parts separately, n a is 

 a swinging frame furnished with bearings and journals, in which the pro- 

 peller revolves freely, b h are two sliding bearings to support the journals 

 of the swinging frame, and ^uide it in its ascent or descent. The lever c 

 is for swinging the frame on its bearings dd, for the purpose of placing or 

 displacing the propeller on or from the shaft, which, it will be observed, is 

 conical at the end, for its more easy entrance and removal. Fig. 8 shows 

 part of Ihe propeller shaft ce in section, having an internal shaft, the outer 

 end of which is furnishced Avilh a screw/, the inner with a screw wheel g, 

 gearing into a screw spindle by it turned round. The action of this is as 

 follows : — The swinging frame and propeller being placed within the 

 sliding pieces h b, it is lowered (by Die. ins of the chain and crab placed in 

 the stern, as indicated by dotted lines) till, opposite the end of the shaft, 



the lever c is forced back ; this will place the propeller on the shaft, and, 

 by turning the screw wheel, the screw will enter the propeller, thereby 

 firmly securing it. The reverse of this operation will unship the propeU 

 ler. By another plan the swinging frame is dispensed with, in which 

 case the shaft is supported by two stays, as seen at fig. 9, by dotted lines. 

 The propeller is raised and lowered by means of two round bars, pointed 

 and screwed at Ihe lower ends, and placed in a vertical position immedi- 

 rtely over two holes formed in the blades near the centre ; these bars slide 

 vertically in guides, and are connected near the lower ends by a yoke, 

 which is attached to a crab by a chain, as shown in the last case; the boss 

 is drawn on and secured to a conical wedge-shaped clutch on the propeller 

 shaft, by the means before described ; when it is desired to unship the pro- 

 peller blades, they are placed in a horizontal position, with the holes 

 before mentioned uppermost; the round bars are lowered and screwed 

 into them ; the shaft is then withdrawn from the propeller, and purchase 

 applied to the crab, which will bring it above water under the counter of 

 the ship. 



The sixth and last part of this invention has also relation to propelling 

 machinery, and is for the purpose of reducing the friction on the end 

 thrust of the propeller shaft, by introducing a thin film or stratum of oil or 

 water between the rubbing surfaces, which are of hardened steel. The 

 face that receives the pressure from the propeller shaft is secured to some 

 convenient part of the engine, or beam of the ship, and has a channel 

 bored through to the centre of Ihe steel face, which is turned concave 

 about one-third its diameter, as also that on the end of the shaft. A con- 

 tinuous stream of oil or water is forced by three pumps through this chan> 

 nel into the hollow faces, and escaping at the circumference, where it is 

 collected by a casing, is returned through a tube to Ihe tank below the 

 pumps ; thus preventing the rubbing surfaces from coming in contact, and 

 thereby reducing the friction. 



Claim : — First, the forming of guide blocks of steam engines of three 

 several pieces, having springs and adjusting screws, as before described. 



Second, the improved compound plumber block, having two sets of 

 brasses, one pair divided longitudinally, the other vertically, as before de- 

 scribed. 



Third, the working of steam engines having double slide valves, by 

 means of horizontal slides having double tappets at each end, as before de- 

 scribed. 



F'ourth, the adaptation of an apparatus to steam boilers, for the preven- 

 tion or lessening of priming, as before described. 



Fifth, the methods of connecting and disconnecting the propeller to or 

 from the shaft, in screw-propelled vessels, as before described. 



Sixth, the means of reducing the friction consequent on the end thrust 

 of the propeller shaft, in screw-propelled vessels, as hereinbefore de- 

 scribed. 



PLATE AND SHEET IRON CUTTER. 



William Vincent Wennisgton, of Goscote ironworks, Staffordshire, 

 Esq.. for " Improvements in or improved methods of cutting plate and sheet 

 iron." — Granted January 20 ; Enrolled July 30, 181(i. With Engravings, 

 see Plate XUT 



The improvements consist in the combination of a rotary and horizontal 

 continuous movement, by which means plates of iron of any length may be 

 cut without curling or buckling. The rotary movement consists of a circu- 

 lar cutter a, set in motion by the gearing hereafter explained and the hori- 

 zontal movement of another cutter b, attached to the traversing table c, 

 upon which the iron plate is laid. An alternate rotary motion is produced 

 by the circular cutter a being fixed on one end of a shaft d, revolving in 

 bearings fixed between the standards e, and over the bearings are regu- 

 lating screws//; on the other end of the shaft is a bevelled wheel g-, 

 which takes into either of the bevel wheels h or ;', keyed on to the hollow 

 shafts ^j, and which slide on the main shaft k, set in motion by steam or 

 any other known power. For the purpose of giving a horizontal move- 

 ment to the traversing table, there is a cog wheel keyed on to the shaft d, 

 immediately at the back of the cutter a ; this cog wheel takes into the rack 

 I and causes the table c to move on the \ rails m m. On the under side 

 of the table are tappets n, which act on a lever, n', fixed on the small 

 shaft ; and at the other end is a forked lever p, which acts on the clutch 

 g, for throwing the bevelled wheels h i in and out of gear ; thus an alter- 

 nate backward and forward movement is given to both the revolving cutter 

 a, the traversing table c, and cutter b. 



The claim is for the combination of a rotary and horizontal motion for cut- 

 ting plate and sheet iron. 



COKE OVEN. 



jAnr.z Chcrch, of Colchester, Essex, gas engineer, for " Improvements 

 in manufacturing coke." — Granted December 20, 1845 ; Enrolled June 

 20, lb4(i. With Engravings, see Plate XIV. 



The improvements consist in the construction of coke ovens with regu- 

 lators, valves, and flues for admitting cold air to the inside of the oven 

 during the niaaufacturing process and to cool the coke within the oven at 

 the end of the process. Fig. I shows one half of the front elevation and 

 one half of the transverse section of a coke oven ; fig. 2 the side eleva- 



