Scientific American Supplement, No. 514, November 7, 1885 by Various

V >> Various >> Scientific American Supplement, No. 514, November 7, 1885

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

He had called the attention of two governments to this matter, and he
hoped that before long there would be proposed an international
congress--such as the postal, telegraph, and sanitary congresses, and
the international convention to fix the common meridian--by one of the
maritime powers, by which would be founded an international institution
to diminish casualties at sea. He recommended a universal system of
buoys. The great losses of life and property every year were worthy the
devotion of L300,000 by an international institution, which would be
much less than the monthly average loss in navigation.

Admiral Pim said that ships were improperly built--some were ten times
longer than their beam. There was nothing in the world so ticklish as a
ship; touch her in the waist, and down she goes. He believed sailing
ships ought not to exceed four times their beam, and steamers certainly
not more than six times. He pointed out that a fruitful cause of
accidents was the stopping of steaming all at once in the case of
impending collision, by which the rudder lost control of the vessel. If
constructors looked more to the form of the ships, and got them to steer
better, collisions would be avoided.

The Lord Advocate said it had always occurred to him that one great
secret of collisions at sea was the present system of lights, which made
it impossible for the vessel at once to inform another vessel what it
was about. The method of signaling was very crude, and he ventured to
say that it was quite out of date when vessels met each other at a rate
of speed of 24 to 25 knots. He had, as an amateur, tried a method which
he would attempt to explain. His idea was to fit up a lantern on deck,
showing an electric light. The instrument would be controlled by the
rudder, and the commanding officer of the vessel would be able so to
turn it when the helm was put up or down that the light would flash at
some distance in front of either bow of the vessel, and thus be a signal
to a vessel coming in an opposite direction. When the helm was
amidships, the light was shown straight ahead, and could not be moved
until the helm was shifted. The direction in which the vessel was going
could not by any possibility be mistaken, and it was plain that if the
lights from two ships crossed each other, then there was danger. If the
lights were clear of each other, then the ships would pass safely.

Sir James Douglass asked if his Lordship had made any experiments.

The Lord Advocate said he had not. The Board of Trade had such a number
of inventions on this subject on hand that he supposed they were already
disgusted. Besides, he was only an amateur, and left the carrying out of
the suggestion to others.

Sir James Douglass said this idea of a lantern did very well for a short
distance, but for a long distance it utterly failed. It was very
difficult to realize a movement from a distance of over a mile out to
sea, and signals were required to be visible for from two to three
miles.

The Lord Advocate said his idea depended not upon the object light, but
upon the sweep of the light on the water.

Sir James Douglass said all those questions were of the utmost
importance to a maritime country. In regard to experiments with oil on
troubled water, he had witnessed them, and he had carefully studied all
the reports, and had come to the conclusion that they were all very well
in a tub of water or a pond, but on the ocean they were utterly
hopeless. He would stake his reputation on that. They had been tried in
the neighborhood of Aberdeen, and he had prophesied the results before
they were commenced. It was utterly hopeless to think that a quantity of
oil had the power of laying a storm--all the world could not produce oil
enough to bring about that result.

There might be something in maritime telegraphy, and he hoped the
experiments of Mr. Graham Bell, in transmitting through two or three
mile distances, would come to something. He did not believe in powerful
lights. Increase the lights to any very great extent, and a dazzling
effect was the result. In regard to sound, he wondered that no more
effective alarm was used than the whistle. It was well known that, as
the whistle instrument was enlarged, the sound became more and more a
roar. He would have ships use all their boiler power in sounding a
siren, so that the sound could be heard at a distance of not less than
two or three miles in any weather. With such a signal as that there
ought to be, not absolute safety, but collisions would be more easily
prevented. He was glad to say that a universal system of buoys had been
practically arranged, thanks to the Duke of Edinburgh and his committee,
so that, as soon as an old system can be changed to a new one, all the
buoys would bear one universal language.

Admiral Pim pointed out that a red light would show four miles, while a
green light was only visible for two miles and a half, so that, if a
green light were seen, it indicated that the two vessels were within two
miles and a half of each other.

Sir James Douglass said there was undoubtedly a weakness in regard to
these lights; and he held that in the manufacture of lights effect
should be given to the difference that existed in the various lights, so
that, by making the green light more powerful, it could penetrate as far
as the red, and in the same way making the red and green lights
proportionately more powerful, so that they would penetrate as far as
the white light.

Sir James Douglass said he had seen a parabolic reflector for sound
tried, but, unfortunately, the reflector so intensified and focused all
the sounds about the vessel and the noise of the sea that the operator
could hear nothing but a chaos of sound.

* * * * *

A PLAN FOR A CARBONIZING HOUSE.

The operation of carbonizing woolen rags for the purpose of obtaining
pure wool, through the destruction of the vegetable substances contained
in the raw material, maybe divided into two parts, viz., the immersion
of the rags in acid, with subsequent washing and drying, and the
carbonization properly so called. The first part is so well known, and
is so simple in its details and apparatus, that it is useless to dwell
upon it in this place. But the second requires more scientific
arrangements than those that seem to be generally adopted, and, as
carbonization is now tending to constitute a special industry, we think
it is of interest to give here a typical plan for a plant of this kind.
It will be remarked that this plan contains all the parts in duplicate.
The object of this arrangement is to permit of a greater production, by
rendering the operation continuous through half of the apparatus being
in operation while the other half is being emptied and filled.

Figs. 4 and 5 give plans of the ground floor and first story, and Figs.
1, 2, and 3 give vertical sections. The second story is arranged like
the first, and serves as a drier. As we have said, there is a double
series of chambers for carbonization, drying, and work generally. These
two series are arranged on each side of a central portion, which
contains the heating and ventilating apparatus and a stone stairway
giving access to the upper stories. The heating apparatus is a hot air
stove provided with a system of piping. The rags to be carbonized or the
wool to be dried are placed upon wire cloth frames.

The carbonization is effected in the following way: When the heating
apparatus has been fired up, and has been operating for about half an
hour, the apertures, i, are opened so as to let the air in, as are also
those, m, which allow the hot air to pass into the chambers. The hot air
then descends from the top of the chamber into the wool or rags, and,
becoming saturated and heavier, descends and makes its exit from the
chamber through an aperture, n, near the floor, whence it flows to the
central chimney. This latter, which is built of brick or stone, contains
in its center a second chimney (formed of cast or forged iron pipes)
that serves to carry off into the atmosphere the products of combustion
from the heating apparatus. The heat that radiates from these pipes
serves at the same time to heat the annular space through which the
vapors derived from the wool are disengaged.

The air, heated to 40 deg. or 50 deg., is made to pass thus for several hours,
until the greater part of the humidity has been removed. The temperature
is then raised to 80 deg. or 90 deg. by gradually closing the apertures that
give access to the ventilating chimney. In order that it may be possible
to further increase the temperature during the last hour, and raise it
to 90 deg. or 120 deg., an arrangement is provided that prevents all entrance of
the external air into the heating apparatus, and that replaces such air
with the hot air of the chamber; so that this hot air circulates in the
pipes of the stove and thus becomes gradually hotter and hotter. The hot
vapors that issue from the lower chamber rise into the upper one, where
they are used for the preliminary drying of another part of the
materials.

The hot air stove should be well lined with refractory clay, in order to
prevent the iron from getting red hot, and the grate should be of
relatively wide surface. All the pipes should be of cast iron, and all
the joints be well turned. Every neglect to see to such matters, with a
view to saving money, will surely lead in the long run to bad results.

[Illustration: PLAN OF WORKS FOR CARBONIZING WOOL. (Scale 1-200.)]

The mode of work indicated here is called the moist process. It
necessitates the use of a solution of sulphuric acid, but, as this
latter destroys most colors, it cannot be used when it is desired to
preserve the tint of the woolen under treatment. In this case recourse
is had to the dry process, which consists in substituting the vapors of
nitric acid heated to 115 deg. or 125 deg. for the sulphuric acid. The
arrangement of the rooms must likewise be different. The chambers, which
may be in duplicate, as in the preceding case, are vaulted, and are
about three yards long by three wide and three high. The rags are put
into wire cages that have six divisions, and that are located in the
middle of the chamber, where they are slowly revolved by means of
gearings. Under the floor are the heating flues, and upon it is a
reservoir for holding the vessel that contains the acid to be vaporized.
The arrangements for the admission of air and carrying along the vapors
are the same as in the other case. Great precaution should be taken to
have the flues so constructed as to prevent fire.--_Bull, de la Musee de
l'Industrie_.

* * * * *

APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING ORGANIC LIQUIDS.

According to Mr. D'A. Bernard, it is especially important, in the dry
distillation of distiller's wash in a closed vessel, for the production
of methyls, ammonia, acetates, and methylamine, that the mass shall be
divided as completely as possible, since it then takes but a relatively
moderate heat to completely destroy the organic coloring matter
contained in the wash. The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is based
upon this observation.

The wash enters, through the hopper, D, and the valve, z, a long boiler,
B, which is heated by the furnace, F, through the intermedium of a
waterbath, w. An agitator, E, moves the mass slowly to the other
extremity of the boiler, from whence it makes its exit in the form of
dust. To the frame, E, are fixed the scrapers, b, and the interrupted
pieces, a, in front of which are the hinged valves, c. In the motion of
the pieces, a, from right to left, these valves free the apertures
thereof and allow the wash to pass, while in the motion from left to
right the apertures are closed and the valves push the mass to be
evaporated before them.

From any motor whatever, the frame, E, receives a double to and fro
motion in a horizontal and vertical direction, the latter of which is
produced by the rods, f, which are provided at their lower, forked
extremity with rollers, e, over which passes the piece, d, that supports
the frame, E. At their upper part the rods, f, pass through the side of
the boiler, through the intermedium of stuffing boxes, and are connected
by their upper extremities, through a link, with levers, g, that revolve
around the point, h. A cam shaft, M, communicates a temporary,
alternately rising and descending motion to the levers, g, and the rods
f. The same shaft, M, opens and closes the valve, z, of the hopper, D,
and thus regulates the entrance of the wash into the boiler. The frame,
E, receives its horizontal to and fro motion from the rod, l, which
traverses a stuffing-box and is moved by a crank on an eccentric, m. The
material in powder derived from the evaporation of the wash is stored at
the extremity of the apparatus into a lixiviating vessel, G, provided
with a stirrer, H. The salts and other analogous matters are dissolved,
and the residuum, which constitutes a carbonaceous mass, is forced out
of the apparatus, while the solution passes directly to the refinery,
where it is evaporated.

[Illustration: APPARATUS FOR THE EVAPORATION OF ORGANIC LIQUIDS.]

In manufactories where no refining is done, the crude potassa in powder
is pushed on to a prolongation of the apparatus which is cooled by means
of water, and is removed from time to time with shovels by the workmen,
so that the orifice of the boiler remains constantly covered externally
by the mass, and that the air cannot re-enter the apparatus.

The gases disengaged during the operation pass into a cooler, where they
condense into a liquid which contains ammonia and methylamine. The
non-condensable part of the gases is burned in the furnace of the
manufactory.

* * * * *

IMPROVED LEVELING MACHINE.

In the American Court of the Inventions Exhibition, London, we find a
leveling machine for sheet metals exhibited by Mr. J.W. Britton, of
Cleveland, Ohio, and which we illustrate.

This apparatus is intended to supersede the cold rolling of plates in
order to take the buckle out of them. The sheets are clamped in the jaws
or grips shown, and the stretch is effected by means of a hydraulic ram
connected directly to the nearest pair of jaws. The power is obtained by
means of a pair of pumps run through spur-gearing by the belt pulleys
shown. The action of the machine puts a strain on those parts of the
plates which are not "bagged" or buckled, and this causes the surface to
extend, the slack parts of the plate not being subject to the same
stretching action. The machine shown is designed to operate on sheet
iron from No. 7 to No. 30 gauge, and up to 36 in. wide, the limit for
length being 120 in. About a dozen sheets can be operated on at once.
The machine appears to have met with considerable success in America,
and has been used for mild steel, iron, galvanized or tinned sheets,
copper, brass, and zinc. The details of this machine are given in Figs.
1 to 8. Figs. 1 and 2 are a plan and side elevation of the bed of the
machine, showing the position of the hydraulic ram. Fig. 3 shows the
bars used for holding the back jaws in position, with the holes for
adjusting to different lengths of the plates. Fig. 4 is a back view and
section of the crosshead and one of the bolts that connect the moving
grip with the hydraulic ram. Fig. 5 gives a plan and cross section of
the back grip, and Fig. 6 is a back elevation of the same, with a front
view and section of the gripping part. Fig. 7 shows the gear by which
the jaws are opened and closed.

[Illustration: BRITTON'S PLATE STRAIGHTENING MACHINE.]

* * * * *

THE SCHOLAR'S COMPASSES.

Among the numerous arrangements that have been devised for drawing
circles in diagrams, sketches, etc., one of the simplest is doubtless
that which is represented in the accompanying figure, and which is known
in England as the "scholar's compasses." It consists of a socket into
which slides a pencil by hard friction, and to which is hinged a
tapering, pointed leg. This latter and the pencil are held at the proper
distance apart by means of a slotted strip of metal and a binding screw.
When the instrument is closed, as shown in the figure to the left, it
takes up but little space, and may be easily carried in the pocket
without the point tearing the clothing, as the binding screw holds the
leg firmly against the pencil.

The mode of using the apparatus is so well shown in the figure to the
right that it is unnecessary to enter into any explanation.--_La
Nature_.

[Illustration: THE SCHOLAR'S COMPASSES.]

* * * * *

THE INTEGRAPH.

In scientific researches in the domain of physics we often meet with the
following problem: Being given any function whatever, y = f(x), to find
a curve whose equation shall be

_
/
|
y = | f(x)dx + C.
|
_/

[TEX: y = \int f(x) dx + C.]

Let us take an example that touches us more closely; let us suppose that
we know an induced current, and that we can represent it by a curve
y=f(x). The question is to find the inductive current, that is to say,
the curve represented by the equation

_
/
|
y = | f(x)dx + C.
|
_/

[TEX: y = \int f(x) dx + C.]

The apparatus called an integraph, constructed by Messrs. Napoli and
Abdank-Abakanowicz, is designed for solving this problem mechanically,
by tracing the curve sought. Let us take another example from the domain
of electricity, in order to better show the utility of the apparatus;
let us suppose that we have a curve representing the discharge of a pile
or of an accumulator. The abscisses represent the times, and the
ordinates the amperes. The question is to know at every moment the
quantity of coulombs produced by the pile. The apparatus traces a curve
whose ordinates give the number of coulombs sought. We might find a
large number of analogous applications.

[Illustration: THE INTEGRAPH.]

The apparatus is represented in the accompanying figure. An iron ruler,
I, parallel with the axis of the X's, is fixed upon a drawing-board, and
is provided with a longitudinal groove in its upper surface. In this
groove move two rollers, which, in the center of the piece that connects
them, carry two brass T-squares that are parallel with each other and at
right angles with the first, or parallel with the axis of the Y's.
Between these two rulers move two carriages, the first of which (nearest
the axis of the X's) carries a point, A, designed to follow the contour
of the curve to be integrated, while the second, which is placed further
away, is provided at the center with a drawing-pen, A', whose point is
guided by two equidistant wheels, R, R', that roll over the paper in
such a way as to have their plane parallel with a given straight line,
and that have always a direction such that the tangent of the point's
angle with the axes of the X's is constantly proportional to the
ordinate of the primitive curve.

The carriages are rendered very movable by substituting rolling for a
sliding friction of the axes. To this effect, the extremities of the
axes of the wheels that support and guide them are made thin, and roll
over the plane surface of recesses formed for the purpose in the lateral
steel surfaces of the carriages, while the circumference of the wheels
rolls in grooves along the two T-squares.

These latter are, on the one hand, carried by rollers that run in the
groove of the iron, I, and, on the other, by a single roller that runs
over the paper. At right angles with one of these bars is fixed a
divided ruler, through one point of which continually passes a third
ruler, whose extremity pivots upon the point, A, of the first carriage.

When the divided ruler is placed upon the axis of the X's, and the
point, A, of this carriage is following the contours of the figure to be
integrated, the tangent of the angle made by the inclined ruler with the
axis of the X's will be proportional to the ordinate of the figure. The
wheels, R and R', of the drawing-pen, A', of the second carriage must
move parallel with this ruler. In order to obtain such parallelism, we
employ a parallelogram formed as follows: Two gear-wheels of the same
diameter are fixed upon the ruler that ends at the point, A, of the
first carriage, and their line of centers is parallel with the latter.
The second carriage likewise carries two drums equal in diameter to
those of the toothed wheels. These are fixed, and their line of centers
must remain constantly parallel with the line of centers of the
gear-wheels, and consequently with the straight line which passes
through the point, A. This parallelism is obtained by means of a weak
steel spring, or of a silken thread passing over the four wheels, the
two first of which (the gear-wheels) hold it taut by means of a barrel
and spring placed in the center of one of them.

The edge of the wheels, R, R', of the second carriage prevents the
latter from giving way to the traction of the threads, permitting it
thus to move only in the direction of their plane.

It will be seen that by this system two of the sides of the
parallelogram are capable of elongating or contracting through the
unwinding and winding of the silken thread on the drums of the two cog
wheels, which latter, gearing with each other, allow of the escape of
but the same length of the two threads.

It will be observed that in this system integration is effected by
forcing the pen to follow a certain direction, and that consequently the
curve does not depend upon the dimensions of the different parts of the
apparatus.--_La_ _Lumiere Electrique_.

* * * * *

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING GASEOUS BEVERAGES.

The apparatus represented in the accompanying cuts is designed for the
manufacture of gaseous beverages, and is of Messrs. Boulet & Co.'s make.
Fig. 1 represents the apparatus complete, with gasometer and bottling
machine. Fig. 2 gives a vertical section of the apparatus properly so
called, including the producer, the purifier, and the saturator, all
grouped upon a cast-iron column.

[Illustration: FIG. 1. APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING GASEOUS BREEZES.]

The producer, A, is designed to receive the sulphuric acid and carbonate
of lime. A mixer, F, revolves in the interior of this, and effects an
intimate admixture of the lime and acid without the necessity of the
former being pulverized beforehand. The carbonate of lime (usually in
the form of chalk) is introduced directly into the producer through the
aperture, K, while the acid contained in the receptacle, B, at the side
of the column and above the producer flows put through a curved pipe in
the bottom. The flow is regulated by the valve, C. The receptacle, B, is
lined with platinum. As soon as the acid comes into contact with the
carbonate, there occurs a disengagement of carbonic acid gas, which
flows directly through the pipe, F, into the purifier at the upper part
of the column. From thence the gas passes into a third washer, D, of
glass. When thoroughly washed, it flows through the pipe, L, into the
gasometer, which is of galvanized iron, and is very carefully balanced.

The saturator, which is the most important part of the apparatus,
comprises a pump, a feed reservoir, and a sphere. The pump, which is of
bronze, is placed at the side of the column, at the lower part (Fig. 1).
This sucks up the gas stored in the gasometer and the water contained in
the reservoir, and forces them into the sphere. This latter is of
bronze, cast in a single piece, and the thickness of its sides prevents
all danger of explosion. It is silvered internally, and provided with a
powerful rotary agitator that favors the admixture of the water and gas.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.]

The apparatus it rendered complete by a bottling machine, which is
placed either on a line with the apparatus or in front of it. This
machine is connected directly with the sphere by a block-tin
pipe.--_Chronique Industrielle_.

* * * * *

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE FORCE OF EXPLOSIVES.

Among the numerous apparatus that have been devised for determining the
power of powder, those designed for military purposes are the ones most
extensively used. Up to the present, very few experimental apparatus
have been constructed for civil uses, although such are no less
necessary than the others. Mr. D'O. Guttman has examined the principal
types of dynamometers with respect to their use for testing explosive
materials, and, after ascertaining wherein they are defective, has
devised an apparatus in which the principle is the same as that employed
by Messrs. Montluisant and Reffye at Meudon, that is to say, one in
which the force of the powder is made to act upon a lead cylinder fixed
in a conical channel. Mr. Desortiaux objects that in this system, when
it is employed with charges for cannons, the action has already begun
when only a portion of the powder is burned. To this, Mr. Guttman
responds that his apparatus operates only with small charges (300
grains), which practically inflame simultaneously in every part when the
igniting is done in a closed space. In order that the force may not be
made to act in one direction only, the inventor uses two leaden
cylinders. His apparatus is shown in the accompanying Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
It consists of a median piece, a, and of two heads, b, of an external
diameter of four inches. These pieces are of tempered Bessemer steel.
The two heads are four inches in length, one inch of which is provided
with a screw thread. Each of them contains an aperture, c, 1.34 inches
wide below, 1.3 inches wide above, and 1.18 inches deep. This aperture
is followed by another and conical one, d, 1.38 inches deep, and 0.4
inch wide at its narrowest end, and finally by another one, e, 0.4 inch
wide, which runs to the exterior. The median piece, a, is 4 inches long.
It is provided at the two sides with nuts, between which there is a
cylindrical space, f, 1.8 inches long, designed to receive the charge.
The inflaming plug, g, is screwed into the exact center of the median
piece, a, which it enters to a depth of one inch. Into the space that
still remains free is screwed a plug, h. The lower surface of the plug,
g, contains a hollow space, 0.6 inch wide and deep. This hollow is
prolonged by another one, 0.24 inch wide, and contains a valve, i, which
has a play of about 0.08 inch. The three parts are connected by a key
which passes into the holes, x, and are rendered tight by copper rings,
y.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9