696 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. October 1, 1915. Each of said sets or combinations may have its own bell, but where it is preferred or more convenient to have only one bell or gong, the following device is employed. The pivoted lever, carrying the hammer shaft of the bell or gong at one end, is fixed on a shaft, to which are fixed on the opposite side to the hammer shaft a number of levers corresponding to the number of sets or combinations, i.e., the number of sending stations connected to the receiving station. Each of these levers carries a hinged pawl at its end, the end of the pawl overlapping into the path of the teeth of the corresponding ratchet segment; whilst the end of the lever stops short of such path. Thus when one of the ratchet wheels is moved in the signalling direction, the corresponding pawl transmits the movement of the corresponding lever, which draws back the hammer shaft, whilst when the movement of the ratchet segment is reversed, the pawl lifts without moving the lever, so that the separate independent movement of the ratchet segment of any one of the sets or combinations produces an audible signal, without moving any of the parts of the other sets or combination. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a signal indicating apparatus for the case where winding takes place in the same shaft from three different levels or seams; or signals are received from three sending stations; fig. 2 is a plan of fig. 1, with the exception that the centre bolt and the sleeves and bosses carried thereon are shown in section; fig. 3 is a front elevation, with the front dial plate removed of a modified signalling apparatus as installed at any one of the levels or seams from which signals are transmitted by a corresponding multiple of separate strokes of the operating lever to the indicator illustrated in figs. 1 and 2; fig. 4 is a plan corresponding to fig. 3. (Five claims.) 28735 (1913). An Improved Process of and Apparatus for Obtaining Ammonia from Solid Fuel. Dr. K. P. Sachs, of 13/14, Haberlandstrasse, Berlin, W. 30, Germany.—Accord- ing to the invention, the whole of the gases are discharged from the interior of the fuel layer as near their point of generation as possible through pipes, the temperature of which is reduced by cooling devices to such an extent as to prevent any decomposition of the ammonia-containing gases admitted thereinto. The discharge pipes introduced into the fuel layer are perforated at several points, so that the gas enters simultaneously at many points. These pipes have arranged in the interior separate cooling pipes through which a constant current of water is caused to pass. With such Fig.2. .15 12 -11 <2/ -10 M I '0 6 o ■ © i 0 o 6 i) 0 I 0 0 Q 0 0 |0 |0 (■) o| I 9 cooled discharge pipes, it is possible to obtain up to 90 per cent, of the total nitrogen of the fuel in the form of ammonia. The cooled pipe is shown in fig. 1 in elevation and in fig. 2 in section, but it is of the same construction in both appa- ratus. For the rest, the two apparatus differ, however, from each other as regards the charging devices. According to fig. 1, the generator casing 7 is provided in the usual manner with a water seal 8, and a conical grate 9. Two charging devices are provided, consisting of closing cones 10, and charging hoppers 11. In fig. 2, on the contrary, a single charging device is provided, which (as in the manner of the Langen bell used in blastfurnaces) is provided with a bell. 12, in addition to the closing cone 10, and the adjustable charging hopper 11. (Three claims.) 29694 (1913). Improvements in and relating to Steam Actuating and Distributing Valves for Direct-acting Pumps. G. and J. Weir Limited, Holm Foundry, Cathcart, Glasgow; W. Weir, and J. Petermoller.—The object is to improve upon the valve arrangement of the well-known Weir type, wherein the main distribution valve has heretofore been Constructed as a cylindrical slide valve having a recess with a flat face pro- vided in the centre of the valve, on which flat face an auxiliary valve is adapted to slide, the motion of the auxiliary valve being at right angles to the motion of the main valve, the main valve being steam thrown and adapted to admit steam to, and exhaust from, the ends of the main steam cylinder, while the auxiliary valve serves to control the admission of steam to, and exhaust from, the ends of the main valve (for the purpose of throwing the latter), and may —for expansive working—also act to cut off the steam supply leading through the ports in the main valve to the top and bottom of the main steam cylinder. It is a feature of the invention that the steam and exhaust ports in the main valve chest controlled by the main valve are annular, so that these ports do not involve an unbalanced pressure on the main valve. This construction allows of the wear and tear being greatly reduced by avoiding the excessive pressure between valve and seat, while maintaining the same reliable and definite action characteristic of the existing Weir valve. The main valve is provided with three pistons at each end, and with a central portion having a flat face. The pistons serve to control the annular steam and exhaust ports above- mentioned, and to throw the main valve. The central portion of the valve is located within a main chamber in the valve chest, to which chamber the steam is primarily admitted, and a positively actuated expansion or cut off valve is provided to control the flow of steam from this main chamber to spaces between the aforesaid pistons whence—when allowed by the said pistons—it flows into the aforesaid annular steam and exhaust ports leading to the ends of the main steam cylinder. The main valve is thrown by an auxiliary valve in the well- known Weir manner, i.e., the auxiliary valve is operated from the piston rod of the main steam cylinder, and works on the aforesaid flat face of the main valve, its line of motion being at right angles to the motion of the main valve. Figs, 1 to 4 illustrate one convenient manner of carrying the invention into effect. (Ten claims.) NEW PATENTS CONNECTED WITH THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. Applications for Patents. 13360. Haulage clips for colliery and like boxes or tubs. J. Hewitt. 13401. Igniters for firing explosive charges. W. F. Bennett. 13402. Aerial railways. E. Odazio. 13414. Safety apparatus for lifts, mine cages, and the like. E. Hartshorn and T. Hartley. 13437. Means of pumping water or other fluids by centri- fugal action. E. L. Rankin and H. Grove. 13444. Rotary pump. C. N. Strasding. 13450. Thermic telephones and like instruments. P. de Lange and Naamlooze Vennootschap de Neder- landsche Thermo-Telephoon Maatschappij. 13455. Apparatus for cleaning coal. H. N. Wood. 13499. Furnace for de-tinning refuse tins, scrap tin, and the like. M. L. Jones. 13525. Couplings of railway wagons, trucks, and the like. W. Tomkins. 13526. Manufacture of bolts, rivets, and the like, and means for use therein. J. Fellows, junr. 13546. Method of disintegrating and loading hard pitch or the like material. Carl Still (firm of). 13547. Hoisting appliances. J. T. Pickering and H. S. Garrard. 13593. D'fills and drill bits for rock drilling. A. G. Flurian. 13602. Manufacture of picric acid. H. E. Harris. 13626. Steam superheaters. Stirling Boiler Company Limited, and H. J. S. Mackay. 13637. Jib cranes. Babcock and Wilcox Limited, F. W. Hollick, and A. Gray. 13670. Rotary pump. Soc. Anon, des Turbines et Appareils du Saussois. Complete Specifications Accepted. (To be published on October 14.)- 1913. 24167. Steam turbines. Baumann. 1914. 13443. Igniting device for miners’ safety lamps. Marschall. 13981. Feeding device for granular, pulverulent, or like materials. Ross. 17000. Signalling in mines. Black. 19388. Signalling devices for use in mines. Lochhead. 20082. Marine turbine installations. Parsons, Cook, and Walker. 20581. Pit props and the like. Gainsford. 21791. Safety devices for winding engines. Smith. 22663. Ferro-concrete linings for pits, shafts, tunnels, and the like. Lind. 23189. Apparatus for charging electric accumulators. Joel. 23305. Automatic coupling devices. Boucher and Boucher. 23858. Miners’ safety lamps. Best. 24204. Furnace doors. O’Neill. 1915. 1119. Electrical alarm apparatus for mines and like places. .O’Donnell. (Hodges and Smith.) 1951. Furnaces for supplying hot air for drying moulds and other purposes. Ketin. 3792. Rolling mills. Fa well. 5148. Mechanical signalling apparatus for use in mines and on inclines. Armstrong and Thompson. 5272. Pumps. Tarbet. 9375. Method of obtaining the volatile products distilled from carbonaceous material, and apparatus therefor. Prioleau and Prioleau. THE ACQUISITION OF ENEMY PATENT RIGHTS. The following list of British Patents, which have been granted in favour of residents of Germany, Austria, or Hungary, is furnished in view of the new Patents Acts, which empower the Board of Trade to confer upon British subjects the right to manufacture under enemy patents, which right, when acquired, can be retained after the war, and is specially compiled for the Colliery Guardian by Lewis Wm. Goold, chartered patent agent, 5, Corporation- street, Birmingham. It is desirable in the first instance to obtain the latest particulars upon the Patents Register. If any patent listed has been assigned to a non-enemy pro- prietor, the law does not apply. 6645/08. Conveyors. Relates to jigging conveyors having sheet-metal troughs formed in sections, and consists in making the sections readily inter- changeable, and so that they can discharge at any point. The trough sections are carried by a frame connected to the actuating mechanism, and having short rails which rest on wheels bearing on the track rails. The sections are secured to the frame by longitudinal plates, which grip the trough and are tightened by screws. The end of each trough section fits into the next, and when it is required to discharge the conveyed material at any point, the section there is slid back so as to leave a space. A portion of the bottom of the trough at the end * of some of the sections may be cut away, the slides being left so as to extend to the next section and act as guides. The space may extend over the whole of the bottom, or it may extent over one half only, so that half the material may be discharged there and the remainder at any further point. H. Marcus, Germany (dated April 27, 1907). 6765/08. Electric contacts. A contact device, applicable for switches, controllers, safety fuses, releas- able connections, and the collectors of dynamo- electric machines, is built up of thin rings, with internally projecting contact pieces. These rings are adapted to be connected together in any desired manner by a rotary body within the rings carrying blade contacts. O. Engel, Berlin (dated March 27, 1907). 8226/08. Pumps. End thrust in centrifugal pumps is automatically balanced by a piston arranged in a cylinder so that annular and radial throttle spaces are formed. F. A. Griessmann, Berlin. 8371/08. Steam engines; cylinder jackets; pistons. In a terminal-exhaust engine, the cylinder is heated in the neighbourhood of the inlet valves by a jacket formed with the cover, and is cooled in the neighbourhood of the exhaust ports by an annular exhaust passage. The covers are formed with extensions which form part of the cylinder walls, and the piston is formed with corresponding projections of reduced diameter. The exhaust pipe forms a belt round the cylinder in the neighbourhood of the exhaust ports. J. Stumpf, Berlin. 8414/08. Dynamo-electric machines; motors, alternating- current. An increased series characteristic is imparted to alternating-current commutator motors having the armature or exciting trans- former therefor connected in series with the stator, and fed by the line potential or a part of the stator potential by the inclusion of a resist- ance in the shunt circuit. Allgemeine Elektricitats-Ges., Berlin (dated April 27, 1907). * Copies of any of the above specifications can be supplied at the price of Is. post free. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS. *** Any of the following publications may be obtained on application at this office at the price named post free. MINES AND QUARRIES REPORT, 1914 : Northern Division, lljd. Foreign Trade : Accounts up to September 20, 1915, 4d. Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues : Report for 1914-15, Is. 3d. Consular and Trade Reports : China, Icbang, 1914, 2d.; Norway, 1913, 6d.; Ceylon, 1914, 4|d.; China, Swatow, 1915, 2d.; Germany, Samoa, 1915, ljd.; Denmark, 1913, 3£d. War Charges Return, Id. Board of Education : Statistics of Public Education, Part 2, 1912-13, Is. 4d. Registry of Ships, August, 1915, 31d. Interim Report on Home Office Investigation of Industrial Fatigue, 1915, 6d. Factory Form : (950), Casting of Brass, l|d. Lighting in Factories Committee : Minutes of Evidence, Is. lid. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. The Coals of South Wales, with Special Reference to the Origin and Distribution of Anthracite (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of England and Wales). By Aubrey Strahan and W. Pollard, assisted by E. G. Radley. Second Edition. London : E. Stanford Limited, and T. Fisher Unwin. Price, 2s. Coal Distillation, Gasification, and By-Products. By J. E. Christopher. Wigan : T. Wall and Sons Limited. Price, 2s. 6d. “The Pressman’’ (Vol. 1, No. 6), September, price 2d.: “ Proceedings of the South Wales Institute of Engineers ’’ (Vol. 31, No. ’4), price 2s. 6d.; “Transactions of the Mining and Geological Institute of India ’’ (Vol. 10, Part 1), price, 2s. 8d.; “ Transactions of the North-East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders ’’ (Vol. 31, Part 6), September, price 5s.; “The Journal of the Chemical, Metallurgical, and Mining Society of South Africa’’ (Vol. 16, No. 1), July-August, price 3s.: “The Journal of the South African Institution of Engineers ’’ (Vol. 14, No. 1), August, price 2s.; “The Manchester Steam Users’ Association for the Prevention of Steam Boiler Explosions : Memorandum by Chief Engineer for 1914’’; “Transactions of the Manchester Geological and Mining Society ’’ (Vol. 34, Part 6). Immingham Coal Exports. — For the week ended September 24, coal exported from Immingham consisted of 617 tons to Havre, and 650 tons to London, against 27,713 tons foreign and 5,420 tons coastwise in the corresponding week of last year. Hull Coal Exports.—The official return of the exports of coal from Hull to foreign countries for the week ending Tuesday, September 21, is as follows :—Amsterdam, 489 tons; Alderney, 409; Arendal, 343; Copenhagen, 2,097: Christiania, 178: Drontheim, 1,177: Deauville, 933: Dieppe, 334; Dunkirk, 1,328: Fecamp, 795; Gefle, 6,089: Guernsey, 600: Gravelines, 228; Gothenburg, 2,896: Genoa, 5,735; Harlingen, 606: Havre, 1,378; Honfleur, 611; Marseilles, 3,900; Ma ria ger fjord, 1,906: Naples, 300; Oxelosund. 2.050: Rouen, 27,667: Rotterdam, 940: South Georgia. 479: Stock- holm, 6,633; Treport, 3,008: Uddevalla, 478: Matadi, 300— total, 73,887 tons. The above figures do not include bunker coal, shipments for the British Admiralty, nor the Allies’ Governments. Corresponding period. September 1914. total. 40,501 tons: corresponding period, September 1913, total, 54,646 tons.