MENTS IN MEANS FOR WARMING, VENTILATING AND DRAINING RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th February 1880.
A communication from abroad by Messieurs Cazella, Dalidet, and Nicolau, of
Lyons, in the Republic of France.
BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of
23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent. " IMPROVE
MENTS IN MEANS FOR WARMING, VENTILATING AND DRAINING RAILWAY CARRIAGES."
A communication from abroad by Messieurs Cazella, Dalidet, and Nicolau, of Lyons,
in the Republic of France.
The Invention has for its object improvements in means for warming, ventilating,
and draining railway carriages.
The Invention has for its basis the employment of heaters permanently fixed in
each compartment under the feet of the passengers, and in which can circulate
either hot air, steam, or hot water.
The construction of the heater being the same for the various modes of heating,
I will now describe it in detail.
It is formed of a rectangular box of cast iron, the edges of which are arranged
to receive two covers, the first of which is solid and hermetically closes the box
upon which it is screwed, and the second is a simple grating employed to prevent
the feet coming in contact with the heated part.
At the centre of the solid cover is fixed a small tube which passes through the
heater and the flooring of the carriage, and. which is for the purpose of carrying off
the water from the umbrellas, boots, and clothing of the passengers.
The heating agent employed enters below the heater by a tube connected to a
collector tube uniting all the heaters of the same carriage.
This collector tube is enclosed within a second tube which serves as principal
conduit, and which is fixed below or within the thickness of the flooring; the
collector tube is open at the part where the fluid enters and closed at the other end;
its opening can be regulated by a valve which determines the amount of heat to be
admitted to each carriage.
The conduits of each carriage are terminated by portions of flexible tubing
furnished with couplings similar to those of fire hose; to detach the carriage, it is
only necessary to disconnect the couplings. A cock placed also outside serves to
retain the heat during the shifting of the carriages.
I will now describe the production of the heating agents.

page_text: The first means consists in placing at the head of the train a special carriage for
heating the air to be used. For this purpose the carriago is formed with a closed
hot chamber, in which are arranged a furnace and circulating tubes leading to a
chimney; the furnace is stoked from a special compartment separated from the hot
chamber by a double wall. A ventilator put in motion by one of the axles by means of
any suitable transmitting mechanism draws the air from the hot chamber, and forces
it into the heaters by a tube which is connected to the conduit of the first carriage.
In this case the heaters should be pierced with openings to allow the heated air
to enter the compartments, thereby obtaining ventilation at the same time as
warmth. In summer the heating is dispensed with, and the same apparatus is
arranged for ventilation. These openings are made in the longitudinal sides of the
box, and are covered by a sliding register, which can be worked by the employés
from the exterior of the carriage. For heating by hot water thero is placed above
the furnace a boiler full of water, and a constant circulation is maintained through
the heaters by a pump also worked by one of the axles. The heaters will in such
case be hermetically sealed, and the cooled water will return to the boiler.
Lastly, there could be used simply the steam produced by the same boilor by
causing it to circulate in the apparatus.
The boiler will then be fed by a pump or injector with the water of condensation
of the heaters. This system presents numerous advantages, as much for the com-
panies as for the passengers. It obviates the troublesome maintenance of boilers,
and the inconveniences which result from them to the passengers, it provides a
constant warming which can be regulated at will according to the temperature and
the number of passengers, and does not necessitate establishments at fixed posts.
Nevertheless for small journeys by short trains the heating carriage can be
replaced by portable apparatus remaining at the station, and which would fill at
each journey all the heaters of a train and a special reservoir if required. It
reduces the risks of fire, the bad smell, makes the compartiments healthy by a good
circulation, and by the flowing away of the water therefrom which is discharged
outside.