Compartments of Rauway Carriages.
Year: 1886

page_text: Compartments of Rauway
Carriages.
I RALPH ASHTON of Holly House Heaton Mersey in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturing Chemist do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF WARMING & VENTILLATING THE COMPARTMENTS OF RAILWAY
CARRIAGES to be as follows:-
A tube is run along the train with branches from it to the Carriage Compartments.
Through these tubes, from the fore part of the train, a current of air is driven
either by a fan or by the onward movement of the train. Pipes are passed for a
short distance inside the main tube. These pipes are heated either by the engine
furnace or by steam from the engine boiler, & the air in the main tube is heated in
its passage over these hot pipes to the Carriage Compartments. By turning off the
taps on the heating pipes, & thus shutting off the heating medium, a current of
simply fresh air, for ventillating purposes is supplied to the Compartments. By
this arrangement the Compartments of the Carriages forming the train can be
warmed or simply ventillated as required.
An efficient method is needed for warming & ventillating the Compartments of
Railway Carriages, & for supplying them with warm or fresh air, whilst securing
at the same time freedom from cold drafts of air, liability to fire, & other dangers
& nuisances, arising from the use of foot warmers, stoves, & other appliances. To
meet this want I have devised & invented a method of warming & ventillating the
Compartments of Railway Carriages, the essential principle of which is the
supplying of warm or fresh air to the various Compartments of the Carriages,
through tubes running along the train, & from which tubes branch tubes are taken
into the Compartments. The mouth piece (which may be funnel or trumpet
shaped) of these tubes is fixed horizontally at some convenient part in the front of
the train, as for instance on the outside of the smoke box in the front of the engine,
& facing the direction in which the train is moving. The air collected in the mouth
piece is forced through the tubes by the onward movement of the train. The
velocity of the current thus established is in proportion to the speed of the train.
By means of this current a large supply of fresh air is secured, to be utilized in
warming and ventillating the Compartments of the Carriages forming the train.
For express & long distance trains, this is a very economical method of obtaining
a current of air, but though preferring it as being the most economical, & quite

page_text: sufficient for most occassions, I use, either in conjunction with or independently of
it, an alternative method & get a current of air by means of a fan placed in con-
nection with the tubes & driven by steam in the usual & well known way. It is
evident the latter is a useful alternative method as it may be put in action when
the train is at rest.
In order to heat the current of air a tube, called the heating tube, similar to
those used to heat locomotive boilers, is fixed and extends from the inside of the
engine fire box to the inside of the smoke box. Between these two points this
tube enters the air tube, or tube through which the current of air passes, at or
near the fire box, & thence runs along the inside of the air tube to the smoke box
into which it enters after again leaving the air tube. The heated air & products
of combustion pass from the internal fire box through the heating tube into the
smoke box. I also use the following as an alternative method of heating the
heating tube. The arrangement of this tube remains the same as in the other
method with the exception of the end connected to the fire box-this end instead
of being so connected is joined to a steam pipe from the engine boiler, & the heating
tube is thus charged with a current of steam which acts as a heating medium in
place of the heated air & products of combustion as in the first method. But
when the tube heated by steam is used to heat the air tube it may be entered & led
out of the air tube at points which may be found most convenient, instead of the
particular points just described. If necessary more than one heating tube is fixed
& passed through the air tube as previously described. By these arrangements the
air passing along the inside of the outer or air tube becomes heated in its passage
over the surface of the heating tubes. I prefer these particular methods of heating
the air although it is evident other methods may be used, such as passing tubes
through the smoke box & the ash pan of the engine & thus utilizing the waste
heat there, or passing a tube through the engine boiler, or using a spiral furnace
for the purpose.
:
Valves or taps are placed in the heating tube for the purpose of shutting off or
regulating the supply of heat. To supply the Compartments of the Carriages
with a current of simply fresh air it is only necessary to shut off the beating
medium by closing the said valves or taps. Valves acting automatically are placed
in convenient & suitable positions in the air tubes to regulate the heat of the air.
These valves, made of two different kinds of metal of unequal expansion rivetted
together, are placed over apertures in the 'tubes. When the heat of the current of
air passing in the tubes over these valves is too great the valves bend by reason of
the unequal expansion of the two metals, & so uncover the aperture & let into the
tube a supply of colder air-this colder air mixing with that in the tube will
moderate the temperature. From the main air tube, running along the train,
branch tubes are taken into each Compartment & they there discharge the warmed
or fresh air, either directly into the body of the Compartment, or by preference
into a chamber formed under the Carriage seat by closing the arm there with a
partition formed of a textile material, or fine wire gauze, of a sufficiently porous
nature to allow of the free passage through it of the air without causing a sensible
draft. The warm or fresh air is thus imperceptibly passed into the body of the
Compartment of the Carriage to warm or ventillate it.
Diated this twenty seventh day of January 1886.
area

page_text: An improved method or warming and ventilating the
Compartments of Railway Carriages.
i
I RALPH ASHTON of Holly House, Heaton Mersey, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturing Chemist do. hereby declare the nature of my invention. for
AN IMPROVED METHOD OF WARMING & VENTILLATING THE COMPARTMENTS OF RAIL-
WAY CARRIAGES and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :---
An efficient method is needed of warming & ventillating the Compartments of
Railway Carriages & of supplying them with warm or fresh air & at the same
time securing freedom from the dangers & nuisances arising from the use of stoves.
and footwarmers.
To meet this want I have devised & invented a method of warming and
ventillating the Compartments of Railway Carriages, the essential principle of
which is the supplying of warm or fresh air to the various Compartments of the
Carriages through tubes running along the train, and from which branch tubes
bend into the Compartments. Between the carriages composing a train there are
flexible sections of tubing provided with screw-junctions to permit of readily
connecting & disconnecting. The mouth piece (which may be funnel or trumpet
shaped) of the air tube is fixed horizontally in any suitable and convenient place
in the front part of the train, as for instance on the side of the engine, or the
outside of the smokebox in the front of the engine & facing the direction in which
the engine is moving, so that the onward movement of the train forces air through
the mouthpiece & thence through the tubes to the Compartments of the Carriages.
The velocity of the current of air thus established is in proportion to the speed
of the train-By means of this current a large supply of fresh air is secured to be
utilized in warming & ventillating the Compartments of the Carriages forming the
train.
For express & long distance trains this is a very economical method of obtaining
a current of air, but though preferring it, as being economical & sufficient for most
occassions, I use either in connection with or independently of it an alternative
method & get a current of air by means of a fan or other air propeller placed in
connection with the tubes & driven by power derived from the engine & boiler.
It is evident that the latter is a useful alternative method as it may be put into
action when the train is at rest.
In order to heat the current of air established by either of these methods, a tube
called the heating tube, Figure 2, H, similar to those used to heat the water in
locomotive boilers, is fixed & extends from the inside of the engine fire box to
the inside of the smoke box. Between these two points this tube enters the air
tube, Figure 2 B, (or tube through which the current of air passes) at or near the
fire box, & thence runs along the inside of the air tube to the smoke box into
which it enters after leaving the air tube. The heated air & products of com-
bustion pass from the internal fire box through the heating tube into the smoke
box. If necessary more than one heating tube may be used.

page_text: I use the following as an alternative method of heating the current of air passing
through the tubes to the Compartments of the Carriages,-I make a tube which
I call the large steam tube, Figure 1 C, & 3 C, with smaller tubes of copper passing
through it longitudinally similar to a locomotive boiler. It is closed at each end
where the copper tubes enter & leave, Figures 3 & 4. The copper tubes are
arranged at sufficient distances apart to allow the free circulation of steam about
them. The large steam tube, Figure 3, is connected with the boiler by a steam
pipe, Figure 3 H, & by this means is charged with steam-it has also a pipe
attached to it to carry off the condensed steam, Fig. 30. Each end of this large
steam tube is connected up, by means of flanges, in line with the air tube, of which
it may be said to form a section, Figures 3 & 4, so that the current of air passing
through the air tube also passes through the copper tubes and thereby becomes
heated.
The large steam tube may be placed in any suitable & convenient place on the
engine or tender, by preference at the side or end of the tender.
Taps are placed in the heating tube, Figure 2 T, and steam pipe, Figure 3 T, for
the purpose of shutting off or regulating the supply of heat.
I prefer these particular methods of heating the air, although it is evident other
methods may be used, such as passing tubes through the smoke box & the ash pan
of the engine & thus utilizing the waste heat there, or passing a tube through the
engine boiler.
.
To supply the Compartments of the Carriages with simply fresh air it is only
necessary to shut off the heating medium by closing the taps, Figures 2T, & 3 T,
& then the current of air passes to the Compartments without being heated.
From the main tube running along the train, Figure 1B, branch tubes are taken
into each Compartment, Figure 1 D, & they there discharge the heated, or simply
fresh air either directly into the Compartments or by preference into chambers
formed under the seats, Figure 1 E, by enclosing the there, with partitions
Fig. 1 F formed of a textile material, or fine wire gauze of a sufficiently porous
nature to allow of the free passage through it of the air without causing a sensible
draught. The heated or fresh air is thus imperceptibly passed into the body of
each compartment of the carriages to warm and ventillate them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
An improved method of Warming & Ventillating the Compartments of Railway
Carriages
1. By connecting a tube with the train & running it along from the fore part of
the train to the various Compartments of the Carriages, and
2. Passing through this tube either heated or simply fresh air from the fore part
of the train to the various Compartments of the Carriages, in the manner & for the
purposes hereinbefore more particularly set forth and represented in the drawings
annexed.
Dated this 26th day of October 1886.