IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ADOLPHE DUBERN, of Paris, in the Kingdom of France, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixteenth day of January, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Adolphe Dubern, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Henry Adolphe Dubern, my executors, adiiors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Henry Adolphe Dubern, my exors,
adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS," being
a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Henry Adolphe Dubern,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Adolphe Dubern, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon), that is to say:
The Invention for which I have obtained Her Majesty's Letters Patent, as
aforesaid, consists of an improved mode of constructing the longitudinal valve
of the propelling tube of atmospheric railways, along which passes the rod
which connects the piston inside the tube to the carriage outside the tube.
The tubes are placed in the middle of the road, as in the ordinary plans of
constructing atmospheric railways. The longitudinal opening o, Fig. A, in the
propelling tube 1, Fig. A, is closed, according to this improved plan, by two
plates of steel or springs 2, 2, Fig. A. Theso plates of steel, which are from
four and a half to five inches in breadth, and very thin, but are of an equal
thickness throughout, are bent in the form of segments of a circle, and are
placed with their convex sides towards cach other, and meet at their upper
ends, the parts which are in contact being very small, as shewn at 3, 3, Fig. A.
These springs 2, 2, Fig. A, are fixed upon the propelling tube 1, Fig. A; a
concave bed or seat to receive the said springs being mado on the upper
surface thereof for that purpose, as seen at 4, 4, Fig. A. The springs 2, 2,
project a distance of an inch and a half or two inches only above the longitu-
dinal opening o, and they are fastened to the tube at their lower extremities by
means of screws 5, 5, Fig. A, and iron bars 6, 6, which press equally upon
them throughout their lengths. These springs, thus fastened to the tube at
some distance from the longitudinal opening, are so placed as only to press
very slightly against each other at the point of contact 3, 3, which pressure
may be done away with altogether if required, as the pressure of the atmo-
sphere would suflice (when the vacuum is being produced in the propelling
tube) to close the opening hermetically. In order further to perfect this plan,
and prevent the air from entering the propelling tube, a space 7, 7, Fig. A, to
be filled with soft grease, is formed along the upper side of the tube, and rises
about a quarter of an iuch above the metal plates or springs on each side of
them, so as perfectly to enclose them. To avoid the necessity of using too much
grease, the size of the space is contracted, by adding a wooden support or
block 8, 8, Fig. A, fastened by screws 9, 9, to projecting pieces 10, 10, cast
on the propelling tube. These wooden blocks or supports 8, 8, may be fur-

page_text: nished with partitions or barriers at certain distances to prevent the grease
from finding its level on inclines. In order to render the joint continuous, the
plates of steel 2, 2, Fig. E, are joined transversely; and the joint 3, 3, is
covered with a band of steel 4, which is pressed down upon the surface of the
plates 2, 2, by means of two springs 5, 6, fixed at right angles for that purpose.
The connecting rod 1, Fig. B, is flat, and about two thirds of an inch in thick-
ness. In order that the air may enter immediately behind the piston, the
connecting rod 1, Figs. B and C, is placed in the centre of a hollow appa-
ratus 2, 2, Figs. B and C, formed of thin sheet iron, or other convenient
material, by means of which the air is allowed to enter the propelling tube.
This apparatus 2, 2, is firmly attached to the connecting rod I, and forms part
thereof, being of the shape of a shuttle. The front edge of this apparatus,
which opens the springs 2, 2, is inclined, which renders its passage more easy
than if it were vertical. This connecting rod 1, 2, Figs. B and C, and also
the apparatus which accompanies it, pass through the grease space or cham-
ber 7, 7, Fig. A; and the opening which they make, both before and behind,
allows a small portion of grease to flow over the edges of the springs into the
tube, which makes the piston work more casily, and serves at the same time
to lubricate the whole apparatus. A small pipe, leading from the interior of
the first carriage, supplies a continous flow of grease on to the back of the
connecting apparatus sufficient to compensate for what flows into the tube
when the apparatus is passing. The form of the plates or springs may be
modified, as shewn at 1, 2, Fig. D, so as to form a kind of hopper or funnel,
in which the grease flowing from the above-mentioned pipe will deposit itself,
and render the joint air-tight as effectually as by the other plan.
In conclusion, I do not intend to claim among the constituent parts of this
new mode of closing the longitudinal valve of the propelling tube, the employ-
ment of straight metallic plates, or metallic plates bent at any angle, any more
than any other portions of atmospheric railways already known or previously
patented. But that which I claim under the above in part recited Letters
part is,
First, plates of steel, curved in the are or segment of a circle, and fitting
accurately upon a concave portion of the propelling tube, pressing against cach
other, and placed in such a manner as to have very small portions in contact;
also the manner of attaching them to the propelling tube.
Second, the manner of joining longitudinally the plates of steel for closing
the longitudinal opening.
Third, the methods of forming grease reservoirs, chambers, or spaces, shewn
at 7, 7, Fig. A, and 3, Fig. D, surrounding the springs or at the top, by

page_text: Inrolled the same Sixteenth day of July, in the year above written.