IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EMANUEL, of Pond Street, Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Seventh day of August, in the ninth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry
Emanuel, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her, especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry Emanuel, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Emanuel, my exors,
admors, 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 expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Henry Emanuel, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited

page_text: 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 Emanuel, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
The objects of my Invention consist,-
Firstly, in a new manner of constructing and arranging the propelling tube
of atmospheric railways, and also of improvements in the piston and other
parts relating to atmospheric propulsion.
Secondly, in a mode of exhausting the air from the propelling tube, by
means of a new and special apparatus.
9
The tube a may be made of cast iron or any other suitable material. It is
placed in the centre of the rails of a railway. It has a lateral opening closed by
valve b all its length. This opening commences about the horizontal line when
drawn from its centre. This opening is so formed as to receive on the part y
the flat surface n, which is intended to be applied thereto. The upper part of
the continuous opening is flat, and inclined to or against which the upper part
of the band n is intended to be applied. These forms may vary a little in their
size and inclination, and must be constructed with proper regard to the material
employed, so as to obtain a perfect and exact application of the upper surface
of the continuous opening of the propelling tube, and of the band n against
each other. The band n is made of some smooth, pliable, and compressible
material, impermeable to the air. It is screwed, in a manner to be hereafter
described, so as to apply itself the whole length of the continuous opening,
and to be applied in such a manner as when closed to form one entire tube.
Behind this band, and in face of the opening, may be
employed requires strengthening, one or several bands c, made of a metallic
or any other resisting matter, so as the opening shall be closed by some hard
or resisting material. This band n is intended to form a valve, which will
open to about fifteen degrees, and is solidly and hermetically screwed to the
lower part of the continuous opening. The material of which it is composed
may be of any animal, vegetable, or manufactured substance. It is necessary
that its surface be smooth and impermeable; for this purpose it may be covered
with an insoluble varnish, or india rubber or gutta percha. To the point m
are fixed, by a row of small screws sufficiently close to one another to prevent
fixed, it the material

page_text: all passage of air, the lower part of the band n, and a kind of trough, as
shewn in the Drawing. This trough h has three different parts or forms.
First, a flat part, which holds, by means of the screws, the band against the
lower part of the propelling tube y. Secondly, a part, semi-circular, of which
the centre is fixed exactly in front of the opening of the valve n. In this
semi-circular part is placed a cylindrical tube, filled with compressed air, and
made of some flexible material. When this tube is distended with compressed
air, it seeks to assume its natural cylindrical form, and is prevented by the
band n, which, encroaching upon the space necessary for that operation, is
pressed by the tube of compressed air in such a manner as to be compelled
to close hermetically the opening valve of the propelling tube, yet, being
made of elastic material, will permit the necessary passage of the piston. In
consequence of this arrangement of the flexible tube, this pressure is
exercised identically in the same direction on the valve as the pressure
caused by the exhaustion. Thirdly, the upper part of this trough is made
in such a manner as to form a complete protection against the inclemences
of the weather. The whole trough is made in sheet iron; or, in the crossing
levels, as seen in Drawing Figure 2, it may be made of cast iron of suffi-
cient strength. In the sharp curves it may be made of the form t, and
then it is useful to receive small wheels fixed to the carriages to prevent the
effect of the centrifugal force.
The piston I employ in the propelling tube is made in the following manner.
It is composed of two principle parts:-First, its head A, Figure 4, which
has its central part or face of metal, and is covered on the part which, adjusting
itself to the propelling tube, forms the separation between the rarefied air
and the atmosphere, with some impermeable material, such as india rubber
or gutta percha, which may be filled with compressed air. This head is
connected with the body by a rod p. There is an opening in the head of the
piston, which is continued inside the rod, which allows the atmospheric air
to pass in front of the piston, when the openings of the valve s are in com-
munication. Secondly, the body of the piston is formed of a hollow cylinder
t, b, b, which is connected at its centre with a rod by a transverse screw 9,
giving full liberty to play, so as to form a species of universal joint. It is
furnished at its extremities with small wheels, to diminish its friction in the
propelling tube. It has in all its length a metallic hollow piece, which forms
the arm communicating with the train through the valve at the point x.
It is necessary that the length of the body be at least double the distance
from its centre to the point, and also that the hollow part of the arm. leaves.

page_text: .
space equal at least in surface to the propelling tube, and which can be opened
and shut by means of a valve i.
The second part of my Invention consists in a new manner of exhausting
the air from the propelling tube. The construction of the machines by which
I perform these two operations is based on this principle, videlicit, that to
produce an exhaustion requires variable force. This force is exactly represented
by the difference between the atmospheric barometical column and the
column of the exhausted air at the various moments of the exhaustion. The
barometical column diminishing progressively during the operation of the
exhaustion, I employ a succession of power augmenting in proportion of this
diminution, in order to produce the operation of exhaustion. The baro-
metical column being thus maintained at a regular height, for the purpose of
causing traction by means of the air being in a state of rarefaction I employ
a calculated regular power estimated by the height of the column. The
apparatus that I employ for this purpose consists, firstly, in a tank of water
of about forty-two feet deep, and of a diameter varying according to the
diameter (and number of machines such as I shall describe); the size also
of course must depend on the quantity of air to exhaust in the propelling
tube. Secondly, a metallic cylinder B, closed at one end, something similar
to a gasometer, of about thirty-eight to forty-two feet high, and of a diametër
calculated upon the quantity of air to be exhausted. Thirdly, of a second
cylinder C, exactly similar to shape to the first, only so much less in diameter
as to permit it to enter and move with facility in the interior of the first,
but no smaller than is absolutely required for this purpose. The interior
cylinder may have its opening either at the top or at the bottom, as shewn at
Figure 2, and the water is held in when raised by the atmospheric pressure
in the first arrangement, and by its gravity in the second. The two cylinders
should be made of strong metal, strengthened by metal bands in addition,
in the surest manner, so as to perfectly guarantee their capability of supporting
a high pressure on all their parts. The two cylinders are suspended on a
scaffolding or columns, which, having chains or cables attached to them, afford
a perfect facility of raising and lowering them separately from and above the
tank to the required height. The exterior cylinder B is furnished with two
valves placed on its top d, c. One valve, the size of the propelling tube,
places it in communication with this tube, when opened, by means of a
flexible tube, made impermeable to the air; the other valve of a less dimension
opens the communication between the cylinder and the exterior air. The
inner cylinder C has on its upper part a small valve, which can be opened

page_text: at pleasure by means of a communication made for that purpose in the outer
cylinder. The two cylinders being placed one within the other, I lower
them into the tank, so as to be covered by the water contained therein. The
valves having been left open, the air contained in them will escape, and they
will be filled with water. The valves are then closed, and the cylinders are
raised by means of a chain or other suitable means attached to them. They
ought to contain in them a sufficient quantity of water to produce exhaustion
and traction corresponding with the length of the propelling tube required
to be exhausted. The valve which communicates between the propelling
tube and the cylinder B is then opened, and the air of the propelling tube
is allowed to enter into the cylinder B. The cylinder C is then lowered,
leaving all the space open to the air in the propelling tube, which has been
made between the two cylinders. As the force represented by the cylinder C
is much greater than is required to cause that volume of air to occupy a
space equal to that left free by its descent, I employ the surplus of force to
open a second space in causing it by its descent to raise the cylinder B. I
produce these movements by mechanical means, which joining the movements
of the shafts K and L of the cylinders B and C in such a manner that one
descends while the other ascends, in exact proportion to the excess of the
force of the one cylinder compared with the other. These mechanical means
employed by me for this purpose consist of two shafts or spindles, on which
are fixed two cones m, n, on which are wound the chains or cords which
raise and lower the cylinder. These two shafts are made to act in unison
in such a manner as to make always the same number of turns. These
cones are made of such a form, see Drawing, that while by its larger diameter
the one rolls a large length of cable, the corresponding cone, being of a
calculated smaller diameter, unrolls a corresponding small length of cable or
chain. The same effect may be produced by means of levers having at each
extremity a cable representing the two cylinders working upon a moveable
axle, moving from one side to the other, corresponding with the power
required. The exhaustion and the traction being produced, there remains in
the cylinder C a certain quantity of water, represented by its surface
multiplied by the height of the barometical column of exhaustion. In the
cylinder B there remains a certain quantity of air between it and the cylinder
C at the same degree of exhaustion. I employ this air as power, in causing
the shaft of No. 1 to be in communication with the cylinder C, by means
of cones made on such a principle as to represent on one side the resistance
of the cylinder C in raising, and the force exercised on the upper part of

page_text: the cylinder B by the atmospheric pressure. By these means I raise the
cylinder C to a certain height until the air in the cylinder B becomes of
the same density with that of the atmosphere; then I open the valve which
communicates with the atmosphere. I allow the air to escape from the
cylinder B by lowering it so as to touch the upper part of the interior one.
I then close the valves, and can then at pleasure recommence the process of
exhaustion, by again raising the two cylinders.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein given, so long as the character of the Invention
be retained; but what I claim is the arrangements of the propelling tube,
and the method of closing the longitudinal valves, by a flexible tube filled
with compressed air, the pressure of which is exercised on this valve in the
same direction as the pressure of the atmosphere when exhaustion is produced
in the tube, so that the continuous opening is closed by a resistent body,
continually kept and returned to its place, and on which the exhaustion has
no other effect than to close it better.
'
I also claim the apparatus which fastens the valve, and protects it from
accidents and the inclemency of the weather, and the arrangement of the
lateral valve.
I claim the mode of arranging the piston.
I claim the manner of producing exhaustion above a barometical column, as
herein described.
I claim the described apparatus, or similar mechanical means, for opening
to the air of the tube a space under these vessels, by allowing the water or
other compact bodies employed to fall only part of this space proportioned to
the difference of their weight to the weight required to cause them to lower
themselves.
I claim the manner of producing a power to be applied to a new operation
from the rarefied air remaining after the exhaustion traction has been
produced.
I claim all the apparatus before described for this use, whether the
bodies, filling the vessels be raised by ordinary power to them, or by any
other means.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Emanuel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
HENRY (L.S.) EMANUEL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid Henry Emanuel, Esquire, came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.