1030

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

May 8, 1914.

ABSTRACTS OF PATEHT SPECIFICATIONS
RECENTLY ACCEPTED.

9321 (1913). Improvements in and relating to the Lighting
of Miners’ and like Safety Lamps. A. Paxton, of Tynycoed-
place, Cardiff, Glamorgan.—Relates more particularly to
apparatus of the kind comprising in combination a gear
case, a lamp case, and a switch having a contact adapted to
pass from the gear case into the lamp case, for instance,
such as described in prior specification No. 14547 of 1912.
One object of the invention is to provide an improved
apparatus which shall be rendered flame proof before any
current can be obtained, a further object being to render the
same also explosion proof. Another object is to provide an
improved arrangement for preventing the apparatus being
used except in combination with the lamp in a manner
similar to that described in the prior specification, and only
when the case is rendered flame proof. The invention
mainly consists in an improved apparatus in which the
movement of the switch handle into its “ on ” position
simultaneously effects the flame-proof closure of the lamp
case. The invention consists in arranging the switch
handle and the handle by which the gear within the gear
case is operated in such relative positions to each other that
the gear handle will be prevented from being operated before
the switch handle has been moved into its “ on ” position.
Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of the combined gear and
lamp case, and fig. 2 a plan view thereof ; fig. 3 is a sectional
elevation along the line A A of fig. 4, and on an enlarged
scale as compared with figs. 1 and 2, of the lamp case and
of the means for rendering the same flame and explosion
proof ; fig. 4 shows in plan view the means for rendering the
lamp case flame and explosion proof, the lamp case being
removed ; and figs. 5 and 6 are a sectional elevation and
front elevation of the improved switch respectively. The
operation of the apparatus is as follows : When it is desired
to light a lamp the lamp case is moved outward, and by
removing the end g2 of the fixing member g! from under"
neath the cage plate g the cage holder is allowed to slide
downwards until the bolt nuts e4 come against the brackets
f. The lamp is then inserted into the cage-holder, and
whilst it is so inserted it moves the clip e3 upwards until
the lamp rests on the plate g. Immediately thereupon the

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clip e3, which is supported on its middle part upon the top
of the lamp, is caused to drop at its weighted end relatively
to the other end, and the lamp thus becomes fixed in the
cage. The whole cage is then moved upwards until the end
g2 of the fixing member gx engages with the lower surface of
the plate g, thereby securing the whole cage in position
within the lamp case. The latter is now rocked inwards
until the lug d8 thereon abuts against the stop d4, and the
switch handle b moved so as to turn the disc t> and thereby
move it upwards to make a flame-proof connection with the
lower end of the lamp case. This movement of the switch
handle causes at the same time the switch within the
gear case to be moved upwards through the intermediary
of the cam c acting upon the plate I, until the contact h± in
the extension member k comes against the contact on the
lamp, when the bridge member h is prevented from being
further moved, and the springs o are compressed. The
contacts hT and are now in contact with each other and
the switch handle in such a position that its attachment b4 is
out of the path of the gear handle (as indicated in dotted
lines), thus allowing the latter to be rotated for the purpose
of driving the magneto through the intermediary of the
gear, and thereby producing the electric current. If the
apparatus be operated without a lamp in the lamp case, the
bridge member will be carried by the springs o beyond
the contact making position, as in the apparatus described
in the prior specification above referred to, and no current
will flow to the contact in the extension member k. Use
may be made instead of a magneto of an accumulator
employed in conjunction with a coil, and the lamp case
may be provided in a well-known manner with a small hole
drilled in a boss provided thereon or with a small glass
window v, for the purpose of ascertaining when and whether
the lamp has been ignited. (Eleven claims.)

14554 (1913). Improvements in Automatic Controlling
Appliances for Air Compressors. F. W. Wilson, of 7, Duncan-
street, The Cliff, Higher Broughton, Manchester, and

Tilghman’s Patent Sand Blast Company Limited, of Broad-
heath, near Manchester.—Rslates to improvements in the
construction of appliances by means of which the discharge
of compressed air from a compressor to a receiver is auto-
matically controlled or governed, so that when the working
or desired air-pressure is exceeded in the receiver, the air
from the compressor is discharged to the atmosphere
without being compressed, and, if desired, at the same time
the speed of the engine may be reduced. When the pressure
in the receiver falls sufficiently the communication with the
atmosphere is closed, and the speed of the engine may be
increased. The type of automatic control apparatus to
which this invention relates is that in which excessive air
pressure in the receiver is utilised to operate a primary
control piston valve, which primary control piston valve in
turn directly governs the action of a second valve, which is
also operated by the compressed air to open or close a
passage leading to the atmosphere from the compressor.
Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention is
characterised in that the exhaust from the outside of the
piston of the atmospheric valve is through a passage or
passages formed in the moving part of the primary valve.
In addition to moving to open or close a communication
with atmosphere the atmospheric valve or some part moving
with it may operate to slow down the engine of the
compressor when communication with atmosphere is opened
and to increase the speed of the engine when the communi-



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cation is cut off. The accompanying drawings show
apparatus constructed according to this invention in two
modifications, in one the atmospheric valve operating solely
to open and close communication with the atmosphere, and
in the other additionally operating to reduce and increase
the speed of the engine driving the compressor. The first
modification is illustrated in figs. 1 and 2, fig. 1 showing it
in longitudinal section, and fig. 2 showing it in section at
right angles to fig. 1, and partly in elevation. The second
modification is shown by fig. 3. (Two claims.)

16145(1913). Improvements in Mining Columns. F. Simon
and J. W. Scbtt, both of the Tweefontein Collieries Limited,
Minnaar, Transvaal, South Africa. — Relates to mining
columns in which the jack head consists of a screw provided
with a head for engagement with the wall of the mine,
which screw is splined to the column to enable it to move
axially thereto without rotation; the column having a
rotatable nut by which such axial movement of the screw
is effected. The bearing between the nut and the end of
the column is generally provided by balls and ball races.
Fig. 1 shows a jack head and end of a column partly in
section, and fig. 2 a perspective view of the clamp.
According to the invention, the flanges 8, 9, are neither of

17

9

'8



them threaded, but are, as shown, preferably of about the
same diameter and thickness. They are held rotatably
together by a clamp 11 composed of a plurality of seg-
ments 12, 13, preferably hinged together at 14. Said clamp
is provided with two inwardly directed flanges 15, 16, which
enclose and protect the aforesaid bearing flanges and
bearing. The ends of the clamp are preferably secured
together by a bolt 17 passing through suitable lugs 18
formed thereon. A clamp in the form described provides a
means for rotatably uniting the nut to the column whilst
allowing these parts to be separated with the minimum
amount of trouble, thus avoiding the taking of the whole
column out of the mine for effecting every slight repair
which may be necessary. (Two claims.)

25975 (1913). Improvements in the Method of. and Means for,
the Electric Transmission of Signals and Speech in Mines. R.
Haddan, of the firm of Herbert Haddan and Co., of
31 and 32, Bedford-street, Strand, W.C., London. (Com-
munication from abroad by J. H. Reineke, of Graf Engel-
bertstrasse 33, Bochum, Germany.)—The communicator
has, however, discovered that under certain conditions it is
quite practicable to use uninsulated rails, pipes and like
conductors, embedded or partly embedded in earth, for
telegraphic and telephonic purposes. Such conditions are
found to obtain in the galleries and transverse workings of
mines, where ordinary wireless telegraphy is, of course, in
any case, for various reasons, hardly practicable, being too
complicated and requiring too much power, and also
involving risk of firing explosive gases. The galleries of a
mine, though frequently wet themselves, are generally cut

through dry rock of considerable electrical resistance,
whereas the floors of the galleries are levelled by means of
earth, which has a higher degree of conductivity, but,
nevertheless, has a high specific resistance compared with
metal. A network of rails and piping is generally laid in
this earthy floor, extending to the remotest parts of the
mine. The rock itself may for practical purposes be
regarded as an electric insulator, within which the earthy
floor covering forms a conductor having no communication
with the crust of the earth, and of limited capacity. O wing
to these qualities of comparatively low conductivity and
limited capacity, an electric charge applied to any part of
the metallic-network is not wholly absorbed by the earth in
the immediate proximity of that part, but spreads through
the network, which is a first-class conductor. The com-
municator has found that the conditions here described are
fully adequate for securing! in a mine the transmission of
that small amount of electric energy which is required for
the purposes of ordinary telegraphy and telephony, even to
the remotest workings of the mine. The following arrange-
ment may, for example, be adopted. A transmitter com-
prising a battery and a microphone is connected with one
pole to the rails and with the other to an earth plate—that
is to say, a plate embedded in the earthy floor covering of
the gallery. A telephone circuit is made, either in shunt
with a section of the rail track, or with connection at one



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end to the rails and at the other end to the earthy floor
covering or to a separate rail or pipe system, if one having
sufficient capacity is available. Of course, induction effects
are produced, which may be utilised by means of wire coils,
for example, by means of arrangements such as described
for this purpose in Specification No. 15256, AD. 1912.
Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of a portion of a gallery, with
the apparatus therein, and fig. 2 a vertical cross-section
thereof. (Seven claims.)

18705 (1913). An Improved Compound for Treating Coal
and like Fuel—J. H. Harris, of 12, Anthill-road, Bow.—
Relates to compounds or preparations for treating bitu-
minous coal and like fuel, in order to enable a higher
temperature to be obtained and to render the combustion
more complete than is the case with untreated fuel.
According to the invention, an improved mixture is
provided, such mixture consisting of sodium carbonate,
sodium chloride, and silicate of aluminium mixed together
in substantially the following proportions by weight, viz :—

Parts.

Sodium carbonate.......... 53

Sodium chloride .......... 33

Aluminium silicate ....... 14

The mixture is preferably prepared in the form of a powder,
and may be applied to the coal or other fuel by well stirring
a quantity thereof in water and distributing it uniformly
over the fuel. The following proportions have been found
to give satisfactory results—viz., one teaspoonful of the
mixture stirred in one pint of water and sprinkled over each
hundredweight of fuel. (Two claims.)

24532 (1913). Improvements in Steam Boiler Settings.
Babcock and Wilcox Limited, of Oriel House, 30, Farring-
don-street, London, E.C. (Communicated by the Babcock
and Wilcox Company, of New York, U.S.A.).—Relates more
particularly to the construction of the lining of the side
walls, which is divided into three sections. The lowermost
section comprises a series of water tubes and intermediate
bricks supported upon said tubes, the tubes being connected
to front and rear manifolds supported at the bottom so that
their expansion is in an upward direction. The inter-
mediate section comprises a lining of fire bricks supported
upon the outside vertical rows of tubes comprised in an
inclined bank of tubes; and the uppermost section com-
prises a lining of firebrick bolted to the outer steel casing.

The steam and water drums are supported from overhead
beams in an open chamber. The generating tubes are
connected to the drums through the intermediary of vertical
headers, and the expansion of the vertical headers and their
connections is downward. Between the lowermost and the
intermediate sections is provided an expansion joint which
will permit a relative movement between these two sections
without distortion of the walls. Fig. 1 is a vertical longi-
tudinal section; and fig. 2 a view in part elevation and part
section, the right-hand portion being a vertical section on