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TO THOMAS PARKIN, of New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, engineer, for improvements in railroad and other carriages, in wheels for such carriages, and in roads and ways on which they are to travel.--[Sealed 9th April, 1839.]

THIS invention may be divided under four heads :-the first relating to carriages used on railways and common roads; the second to the construction of wheels for the same; the third to railways; and the fourth to paving common roads and ways with wood.

The first head comprises two improvements, the first of which is shewn applied to an omnibus, and consists in lifting the horse or horses from the ground when going down hill. For this purpose, the fore-wheels are placed as far forward as possible, in order that the weight of the horses may be counter-balanced by the weight of the body of the vehicle, from the front of which, a strong frame projects, above the horses, as far as their shoulders, carrying two horizontal axes, placed parallel to each other, and also parallel to the front of the coach. Upon each of these axes are four rollers or pulleys, and on the hind axis a worm-wheel is keyed, taking into a worm or endless screw, to which motion is communicated by the coachman, by means of a handle at the top of it. Over each of the four front rollers a rope passes, and is attached to the four hind rollers, to each of which, the ends of four other ropes are secured, the other ends of the ropes being fastened to two broad bands or girths, one under the belly of each horse; thus, by turning the endless screw, the ropes will be wound on the four hind rollers, and the horses, consequently, raised from the ground. The descent of the carriage is regulated by applying breaks to the fore-wheels.

The second improvement applies to carriages used on common roads and to railway carriages also, and consists in firmly fixing the fore-axle, so as to prevent any movement of the same, whilst the hind-axle is allowed to turn upon a centre-pin, being guided by the coachman, (when this improvement is applied to the carriages used on common roads,) by means of a lever and connecting-rods.

The second head contains four improvements :-the first relates to wheels for railway carriages, and consists in making the wheel out of twelve wooden sectors, (the grain of the wood radiating from the centre of the wheel,) the outer edges of which are fastened to the tire of the wheel, and their inner edges or points are secured by bolts, passing through them, and through two large metal bosses, which constitute the nave of the wheel; the opening for the axle-arm to work in, is formed after the wheel is made, by boring through the sectors and bosses.

The second improvement also relates to wheels for railway carriages, and is shewn in Plate XI., fig. 1, being a sectional view, taken through the wheel. a, a, are two metal bosses, which, together with the wooden ring b, b, between them, form the nave of the wheel; from these bosses a number of arms c, c, radiate, and between each pair of arms a hard wooden spoke d, is secured by the bolts e, e, e. f,f, are two wooden rings, forming the felloes of the wheel, and g, is the flanged tire.

The third improvement is shewn in fig. 2; it consists in making wheels, for travelling on common roads, with felloes of hard wood h, h, secured by bolts k, to the rib i, that projects from the outside of the metal felloe j;-a metal tire may be fastened on the felloes h, h, if desired.

The fourth improvement consists in constructing wheels for running alternately on railways and common roads.— Fig. 3, is a section of the wheel; 7, is the nave; m, m, the

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spokes; and n, the metal felloe, from the outside of which the metal tire o, projects, in order to bear the weight of the carriage, when running on common roads; the weight, when running on railways, being carried by the wooden felloe p, bolted to the tire o; the latter, in that case, acting as a flange, to keep the wheel from running off the rails.

The third head includes two improvements;—the first consists in forming the rails for railways of hard wood, placed upon a bed of concrete or gravel, with the grain of the wood in a vertical position; and the second in laying down tram-rails and edge-rails, in the same continuous line, for the wheel shewn at fig. 3, to travel upon, the tramrails being laid down at the crossings of streets, and any other places it may be desired for the carriages to turn out at; and the edge-rails at the other parts of the line. The rails are supported by bearers of wood, laid upon continuous bearers of asphalte, or other suitable cement, the rails being laid down whilst the asphalte is soft, and secured by driving nails through them, and through the wooden bearers into the asphalte; the points of these nails are larger than their bodies, so that when the asphalte becomes hard, it will prevent them from being withdrawn.

Under the fourth head, eight improvements are classed; they consist, firstly, in paving with blocks of wood, the grain of which inclines to the horizon, at angles varying from 450 to 70°.

Secondly,-In paving with oblique or inclined blocks, dove-tailed together in pairs, the alternate rows of blocks leaning in opposite directions.

Thirdly,—In paving with blocks, studded with nails, in order to prevent horses and other animals from slipping. Fourthly,-In paving with blocks or planks, connected together by inserting tongues or keys into grooves made in the sides of the blocks.

Fifthly,-In paving with blocks of various sizes, the grain of which stands in a vertical position, the blocks being cemented together, by filling the interstices between them with a mixture of sand, pulverized chalk, brick-dust, or other earthy matter, united with pitch or other bituminous substance. To separate these blocks, the cement is melted by means of a heated lever or coulter, and the blocks are then removed.

Sixthly,-In paving with blocks of wood, on a foundation of sand, ashes, or saw-dust, saturated with tar or other bituminous substance, and laid upon the ground for the blocks to rest on.

Seventhly,-In cutting furrows or grooves across the upper surfaces of the blocks of wood used in paving, (whether the grain is vertical, or inclined to the horizon,) for the purpose of preventing horses or other animals from slipping; the furrows being formed, when small blocks are used, by chamfering the outer edges of the blocks. The furrows may be made deep if required, and filled with gravel or asphalte.

Eighthly,-In laying down at the sides of streets, concave iron plates, fastened on longitudinal bearers of wood, to serve as gutters.-[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, October, 1839.]

The patentee, in a disclaimer, dated April 27, 1841, wholly disclaims that part of the title of his patent, and the description in his specification, which relates to improvements in railroad and other carriages, including the mode of lifting horses; and with reference to the improvements in railways, all right to the mode of securing tramrails or edge-rails upon wooden bearers, by driving nails through iron and wood into continuous bearers of asphalte, or other suitable cement. Also all right to the third im

provement in paving; and with respect to the fourth improvement in paving, all right to paving with planks of wood, making grooves in the sides of the planks, and inserting tongues or keys in those grooves. Likewise, relative to the fifth improvement in paving, he disclaims the use of a heated lever or coulter; as also the seventh and eighth improvements.

To CHARLES SNEATH, of Nottingham, lace manufacturer, for certain improvements in machinery for the making or manufacturing of stockings or other kinds of loopwork.-[Sealed 23rd February, 1841.]

THESE improvements in machinery for manufacturing stockings or other kinds of loop-work, consist in a novel construction and arrangement of machinery, by which successive loops of thread or yarn are formed and connected together, so as to constitute a knitted fabric.

In Plate XI., fig. 1, represents a front elevation of the machine; fig. 2, a horizontal view, as it would appear when seen from above; and fig. 3, a vertical section, taken through the machine about the middle, at right angles to fig. 1.

A rectangular frame a, a, a, standing upon feet, supports the whole machinery; to the front rails of which, brackets b, b, and c, c, are attached, carrying the principal working parts;―d, d, a series of peculiarly-formed vertical jacks or levers, vibrating upon a horizontal shaft, between combs or partitions, fixed by lead or otherwise, in the brackets c, c.

To the upper end of each of these jacks, a lead, with two needles e, is connected by a joint, the needle-leads sliding out and in, horizontally, upon the top rail of the frame a;

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