1226

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

June 6, 1913.

ABSTRACTS OF PATBBT SPECIFIC AT 10 IS
RECEBTLY ACCEPTED.

1966 (1913). A New or Improved Conveyor, specially
adapted for Use as a Coal Face Conveyor in Collieries. H.
Hirst, of Crescent House, Moorlands-avenue, Dewsbury,
Yorkshire.—The conveyor consists of a low wagon or
sledge, having a slidable or sliding bottom; the wagon
being attached to one end of the conveyor wire or rope
which is actuated by a hand or power windlass, placed most
conveniently at the gate, i.e., the junction of the gateway
and the road along the coal face. The rope or wire may
be carried along the coal face on one or both sides of the
gateway as may be desired, and is paseed round guide
pulleys at the two ends of its path or travel. The floor of
the gateway is lowered sufficiently to enable the ordinary
pit corves or wagons to be pushed immediately beneath the
conveyor wagon, which latter is brought to rest on bearers
or beams spanning the gateway. Just before reaching this
position—that is, when the front end of the conveyor wagon

3

first comes over the ordinary pit corf or wagon, an inclined
bar, carried at the front end of the conveyor wagon, comes
in contact with and moves a lever carried at one side of the
path of the conveyor wagon. This lever, which is weighted
or made heavy, is connected by a shaft with a second lever,
hereinafter called the stop lever, which is moved thereby so
as to catch against an attachment fixed to the rear end of
the sliding bottom of the conveyor wagon, and holds the
bottom stationary whilst the conveyor wagon moves
forward nearly its own length. This uncovers or opens the
bottom of the wagon and allows the coal to fall into the pit
wagon beneath. The reversal of the movement of the con-
veyor wagon first closes the sliding bottom, which is held
stationary, until the inclined bar at the front end of the
wagon allows the weighted lever to drop, thereby with-
drawing the stop lever out of the path of the said attach-
ment and allowing the wagon to return along the coal face
with the bottom closed. Fig. 1 is a side elevation, fig. 2 a
plan, fig. 3 a front elevation, and fig. 4 a back elevation.
(Five claims.)

4459 (1913) Improvements in or Relating to Draining or
like Pipes for Mines. E. Seyer, of 55, Unterdorf strasse,
Essen-Ruhr-West, Germany.—According to this invention
each pipe is made of separate parts of strong material,
rigidly connected together. The most suitable material for
the purpose is chilled cast metal. For instance, short pieces
of piping are made of chilled casting and secured together
to form pipes of the greatest admissible length, by means,

-a

for instance, of rings shrunk on. When single portions of
the pipe become worn out, the other pieces of the pipe, as
well as the shrunk rings and flanges, can be utilised again.
A construction is illustrated in the accompanying drawing,
each pipe being constituted only by three parts. The pipe
portions a b and c are connected together by shrunk rings
d, so that they form, for erecting a single, a single pipe
provided with flanges e and/. (Two claims.)

5527 (1913). Improvements in or relating to Centrifugal
Fans. S. C. Davidson, of Sirocco Engineering Works,
Belfast, Ireland.—According to this invention, a substantial
space is left around the periphery of the fan wheel, whereby
the inflow of air through the fan wheel is combined with an
induction flow along and around the periphery of the blades
from the suction side of the fan into the discharge sid6 of
the fan without such air passing through the blades at all.

The fan may be located within a duct or aperture which is
of sufficiently greater diameter than the fan wheel. To
assist this induced flow of air, suitable guide plates are or
may be placed in the eye or in the space surrounding the
fan wheel. Recirculation back from the discharge side is at
the same time prevented by the means above described or
by a suitable form of eye or by guide plates. According to
the invention—for example, as indicated in fig. 5—the
aperture, where a partition such as a is used, is increased in
diameter, so that there is a substantial space between the
most contracted portion of the eye and the periphery of the
fan wheel. To prevent any undue rotation of air being
established outside the circumference of the “ negative’’
end of the blades, stationary guide plates may be fitted

Z.

around the said “ negative ” end, and such guide plates may
be attached to the inner circumference of the recess or the
exterior of the casing. The said guide plates may be
arranged in radial planes or obliquely thereto, and may be
oblique to the axis of the fan or at some suitable deflecting
angle. In some cases another series of fixed guide plates
may be employed around the fan wheel on the “ positive ”
side of the fan wheel (see figs. 9 and 10) to suitably engage
and guide the air which is being discharged. In the
arrangement indicated in fig. 6, the opening of the eye is
now most contracted in the neighbourhood of the neutral
point, and the eye Y may be furnished with guide plates g
either straight or curved. (Eleven claims.)

5528 (1913). Improvements in or relating to Centrifugal
Fans. S. C. Davidson, of Sirocco Engineering Works,
Belfast, Ireland.—This invention relates to compounding
fans with the aid of the invention described in Applications
for Patent of even date, viz., Nos. 1476 of 1912 and 5527 of
1913 (see supra.) According to the present invention a
compound fan is provided consisting of fans constructed
according to either or both of said applications for patent,
said fans being adapted to work in series. Suitable guide

plates are provided either without or within the fan wheel
blades, and if required also in the chambers or passages
which intervene between the fan wheels and serve to convey
the air from one fan wheel into the next. Each succeeding
fan wheel of the series may if required be reduced in
dimensions or axial length towards the end of the series or
otherwise arranged to suitably provide for the reduction in
volume due to the higher pressure of the air as it passes
from the preceding fan to the successive fans of the series*
The accompanying drawing shows in diagrammatic form one
arrangement of the improved fan compounded or arranged
to work in series. (Two claims.)

6168 (1912). Improvements in Valve Gears for Engines. A
Bever, Bowling Ironworks, Bradford, Yorkshire.—Relates
to improvements in valve ge°rs for engines fitted with drop
lift or beat valves, and to that type known as positive
motions in which the variations in expansion are not
obtained by tripping the valve and allowing it to fall
against an air cushion in a dashpot, but in which the valve
is lifted and lowered positively by the gear with the help
of a spring acting on the valve spindle, the variation in the
point of cut-off of the steam or other vapour being obtained

by a system of links regulated by the governor. According
to the invention, the valves are worked in the usual way
by means of a lay shaft and drive this lay shaft either by
bevil gearing or other similar means. On this lay shaft are
fitted an eccentric and eccentric rod; the eccentric rod,
however, is not connected directly to the valve-lifting
mechanism, but approximately is placed at right angles
to a line connecting the lay shaft with the valve-lifting
mechanism. The eccentric rod is guided by a link at a
point between the extreme end and the eccentric, thus
causing the end to describe an irregularly-shaped ellipse,
the form and the obliquity of this ellipse varying according
to the position of the fixed point around which the aforesaid
link swings. The position of this fixed point is varied by
the governor, and by this means the rate of expansion is
varied in the cylinder. The end of the eccentric rod is
connected by a rod to the valve-lifting mechanism. This
mechanism consists of a lever, one end of which is connected
to the above-mentioned rod and is pulled down more or
less to open the steam valve more or less according to the
load on the engine, the other end being provided with a
roller, the roller working against the face of the lifting
lever. This lifting lever is |_-shaped, the outer face of one
limb of the L_ being specially shaped so that it lifts the
valve slowly off its seat and then opens it quickly. The
other limb of the L_ is so arranged that the upper surface
acts on the valve spindle and lifts the valve, a spring

pressing on the end of the valve spindle keeps it pressed
down on the lever and keeps the specially-shaped face of
the lifting lever against the roller. Fig. 1 shows the valve
gear applied to a horizontal engine, fig. 2 is a larger scale
drawing of the valve-lifting mechanism, and fig. 3 shows
three different forms of ellipses described by the valve gear
and how the rate of expansion is varied. (One claim.)

6947 (1912). Improvements in or Connected with Winding
Engines. R. J. W orth, of Longfield, Station-road, Norton-
on-Tees, Durham.—The several features comprise: (1) The
use of a governor consisting of a pump positively driven by
the winding engine and continuously discharging liquid
under a loaded piston freely working in a cylinder for
regulating the speed of a winding engine during the full
speed portion of the wind and in combination with a motion
derived from the engine to regulate the steadily reducing
speed as the cage approaches its stopping place at the end
of the wind; (2) the use for a governor of the aforesaid
type of a reversing arrangement which causes the flow of
the liquid to be always in the same direction when the kind
of pump used would otherwise reverse the direction of the
flow when the engine was reversed, provision being made to
control this reversing arrangement during the first or last
half revolution of a wind either automatically from the
engine or by a connection to the engine reversing gear.
(3) the provision and regulation of an adjustable outlet
orifice in connection with the governor cylinder by levers or
rods worked from the engine by means of cams or otherwise
which commence to move when the engineman should
commence to reduce speed and thereafter have a definite
relation to the position of the cage in the shaft; (4) the
further provision of a connection to a handle under the
control of the engineman, the movement of which reduces
the area of the adjustable orifice throughout its range of
action so as to provide a slower speed of the engine when
desired, as for winding men; (5) an arrangement whereby
the engineman can control the speed of the engine indepen-
dently of the automatic control arrangements; (6) means
whereby the brake is applied and the engine brought to
rest at or before the ordinary stopping place should the
engineman be incapacitated by any cause ; (7) means for
automatically applying the brake should the engineman
bring the cage beyond its proper stopping place or start the
engine in the wrong direction. Fig. 1 is a transverse view
of such mechanism partly in section to show more clearly
the position of the eccentrics working on the pump driving
shaft; fig. 2 is a corresponding side elevation with the cam
wheel and the valve and brake gear and rocking lever in
rolling contact therewith shown in full; fig. 3 is a sectional
view corresponding to fig. 2 as taken on line X— X of fig. 4
which is a corresponding plan view with the tank cover
removed. The working of this apparatus is as follows -.—
During that part of the wind where the engine should be
running full speed, the lever m is stationary and the piston
in the governor cylinder through its connections to the bell
crank lever and the rod j* alone controls the speed of the

(Continued n page 1230.)