To THOMAS VAUX, of Frederick-street, Gray's-Inn-road, in the county of Middlesex, worsted manufacturer, for improvements in horse-shoes.-[Sealed 19th January, 1841.]

THIS invention consists in forming horse-shoes with moveable toes and cauks, in order that they may be roughed and unroughed without removing them from the foot.

In Plate V., fig. 1, is a side view, and fig. 2, a plan of the under side of a horse-shoe, constructed according to this invention; fig. 3, shews the toes and cauks to be attached to the shoe. The toe a, is received by a dove-tail groove, in the front part of the shoe, and is secured therein by a screw b; the cauks c, are inserted into dove-tail grooves, at the hind ends of the shoe, and are retained therein by the pins d, driven through the back of the shoe, and clenched, as shewn in the drawing.

Fig. 4, is an edge view, in section, and fig. 5, is a plan of another shoe, the toe of which is retained in the dovetail groove by the wedge e, driven into suitable grooves at the back of it; a pin f, is then passed through the wedge and toe, and clenched at the front of the shoe.

Fig. 6, is a plan of the under side of a shoe, with two toes or projections a, secured by screws b, as shewn in figs. 1 and 2.

The shoes may be made of wrought-iron, as usual; but the patentee prefers casting them in sand moulds, and afterwards annealing them from seven to ten days, according to the substance of the metal to be operated upon.

The patentee claims, firstly, the mode of constructing shoes of malleable cast-iron, with dove-tail grooves and moveable projections, as described.

Secondly, the mode of making shoes of wrought-iron, with dove-tail grooves and moveable projections, as described. [Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, July, 1841.]

VOL. XXII.

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To OSBORNE REYNOLDS, of Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, clerk, for certain improvements in covering streets, roads, and other ways, with wood; and also in the means of enabling horses and other animals to pass over such roads and other slippery surfaces, with greater safety than heretofore.-[Sealed 25th February, 1842.]

THIS invention of improvements in covering streets, roads, and other ways, with wood, and in the means of enabling horses and other animals to pass over the same with greater safety than heretofore, consists, firstly, in various improvements upon a former invention of the patentee, for which a patent was granted on the 27th April, 1841, for improvements in paving streets, roads, and ways;* and secondly, in a novel method of making the shoes of horses and other animals take a firmer hold on the pavement.

In order to form a firm, compact, and cheap paving, the patentee first levels the ground, and rams it hard, covering it also with sand, if desirable; upon this surface, boards, planks, beams, laths, or slips of wood, are laid, either in close contact, or with any intervals between them; and upon these boards, so arranged, blocks of wood, of any form, are placed. The forms of blocks preferred, are parallelopipedons, or other figures, such as may be formed by one cut, either oblique, or perpendicular to the grain of the wood, from a plank of any breadth, and of any thickness not exceeding four inches; and blocks, formed similarly from round or unhewn timber, may also be used. If thought desirable, a second, or even a third layer of boards are placed on the first; these boards are imbedded, wholly or partially, in cement, and nailed, or otherwise fastened together. In some instances, a few grains of gravel, or other hard substance, not less in diameter than one-twentieth of an inch, are interspersed between those sides of blocks which are in contact, in order that these grains may be partially imbedded in each of two adjacent sides, and thereby add to their mutual support.

* See Vol. XXI., p. 16, of our present Series.

To make the pavement water-tight, the blocks are surrounded with cement; and to unite the whole compactly together, the blocks are secured to the foundation-planks, or to each other, or both, by nailing or pinning each block to the mass already formed.

To roughen the surface of the pavement, gravel, or broken stone, screened, so as to contain neither dust, sand, or grains of any size less than that described above, is scattered over it.

The second part of the invention consists in forming bars, ribs, or projections, on that part of the under side of horse-shoes which is between the toe and the cauk, for the purpose of preventing horses from slipping. In Plate V., fig. 1, represents the under side of a horse-shoe, constructed in this manner; and fig. 2, is a side view of the same. a, a, are the bars, ribs, or projections, formed on the under side of the shoe, and b, b, b, are three ribs, which form the toe of the shoe.

The patentee claims, firstly, the method, herein described, of using boards for a foundation of wood pavement; also the use of blocks, of the forms described, together with the modes, described, of strengthening the whole, by means of hard grains of gravel, and nails of iron, or pins of wood; and further, the method, described, of roughing the surface continually by gravel, or broken stone. Secondly,the improved method, herein shewn, of constructing the shoes of horses and other animals, whereby they are prevented from slipping, as above described.-Inrolled in the Rolls Chapel Office, August, 1842.]

Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son.

TO JOSEPH BUNNETT, of Deptford, in the county of Kent, engineer, for certain improvements in pavements for streets, roads, and other surfaces, and in machinery for producing and repairing the same.-[Sealed 21st June, 1842.]

THE first improvement consists in the new form of block, for wood pavement, shewn in Plate V., at fig. 1.

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This block is from eight to twelve inches square, and is made with two of its sides vertical, and the other two shaped in the manner represented in the drawing; it is formed out of a rectangular block, by making two cuts a, a, at an angle of from 65° to 750 with the surface of the block, two horizontal cuts b, b, and a vertical cut c. The blocks are combined together, (as shewn,) without the employment of keys, pegs, or tenons; the projection d, of each block, resting upon the shoulder e, of the preceding block. The fibres of the wood are inclined at an angle of from 65o to 75o.

The second improvement consists in connecting wooden blocks together by the use of keys, which are inserted into recesses in the sides of the blocks.

Fig. 2, is a side view, and fig 3, a section (taken on the line, y, z, fig. 2,) of four blocks, combined in this manner. The ends of these blocks are inclined at an angle of from 65° to 75°, and their sides are vertical, having a recess or mortice f, formed in them by a circular cutter. These mortices, when the blocks are being laid down to form a pavement, come opposite the mortices in the sides of the adjoining blocks, and receive the lozenge-shaped keys g.

Fig. 4, is a sectional plan of four square blocks, connected together by keys g, and having a mortice in each side; fig. 5, is a sectional plan of seven square blocks, combined into a mass by the application of keys; the mortices being formed at the corners of the blocks, in each alternate row, instead of at the centre of their sides. Fig. 6, is a vertical section of a key-block, the mortices f, of which, are cut away to its under surface, to permit of its being raised when the road requires repairing; and fig. 7, is a sectional plan of another key-block, which is removed from its place in the pavement by drawing it endwise; two of the mortices being cut away, in a horizontal direction, to the end of the block, for that purpose.

The third improvement consists in the adoption of a uniform system of grooving for the upper surfaces of the blocks, so that the grooves in each block will correspond with those in the adjoining ones, and form continuous lines of grooves; thus, admitting of machinery being used for

deepening and clearing them from dirt. The grooves either cross each other at right angles, as represented in fig. 8, or half the grooves proceed in a direction parallel to the side of the road, and the others cross them in a diagonal direction, as shewn in fig. 9.

The fourth improvement consists in machinery for cutting and preparing wooden blocks for paving. Fig 10, is a front view of a machine for making the block described under the first part of this invention; it consists of a table a, supported by legs b, upon which the blocks of wood are placed, to be made into the form represented in fig. 1. c, are guides for the blocks; and d, is a ribbed wheel, that moves them through the machine; being driven by an endless band, from the steam-engine, or other prime mover, passing round the pulley e, on its shaft f. This shaft is carried by springs g, which are pressed upon by the screws h, for the purpose of causing the ribbed wheel to take a firm hold of the blocks; and the screws are made to press, more or less, upon the springs, by turning the handle i, of the wheelj; and thus giving motion to the wheels k, upon the heads of the screws. 7, is an inclined shaft, carrying the discs or cutters m, by which the oblique cuts are made in the block; two horizontal circular cutters n, are affixed on the upper ends of the shafts o, for effecting the horizontal cuts in the sides of the blocks; p, is a vertical cutter, keyed upon a shaft q; and r, are four bevil-edged cutters, for forming the grooves in the upper surfaces of the blocks, mounted on a horizontal shaft s, which turns in bearings underneath the table a. The shafts l, o, q, and s, are driven by endless bands, passing round their pulleys t, u, v, and w.

The following is the operation of the machine :-The blocks of wood being placed upon the table a, between the guides c, motion is communicated to the different shafts, by means of their respective pulleys, and, by the revolution of the ribbed wheel d, the blocks are moved along the table or bed a, over the inclined cutters m, between the horizontal cutters n, beneath the vertical cutter p, and, lastly, over the bevil-edged cutters r. The blocks are thus brought to the form represented in fig. 1, and their upper surfaces