Improvements in Look-out Glasses for Locomotives, Steamboats, Lighthouses, and for other Look-out Purposes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Jan,
1895
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Nov., 1895-Accepted, 11th Jan.,
1896
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Nov., 1895-Accepted, 11th Jan., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Look-out Glasses for Locomotives, Steamboats,
Lighthouses, and for other Look-out Purposes.
I HENRY JOHNSON of Trindle Road Dudley in the County of Worcester
Mining Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention has for its object so to construct and arrange the parts of look-out
glasses as to afford means for warming the said glasses, whereby snow is prevented
from accumulating an or is immediately dislodged or melted from the weather side
of the said glasses and a clear look-out thus obtained for the engine driver or other
person, during falls of snow or snow storms.
The same object, namely the dislodging of the snow from the look-out glass may
also. be effected by the other arrangements hereinafter described.
My improved look out glasses are particularly applicable to locomotives and I
will describe my invention as applied to a locomotive.
A look-out glass constructed according to one of the arrangements of my
invention consists essentially of two metallic circular, or other frames placed edge
to edge, each frame supporting a circular, or other, pane of glass, the two parallel
panes of glass forming between them a steam tight chamber. One of the said
frames is fixed to the weather shield of the locomotive by snugs and screw-bolts
and the other or outer frame is hinged at one side to the inner or fixed frame so
that the outer or movable frame can be opened from or closed upon the inner fixed
When the
frame on the weather shield after the manner of a clock face frame.
outer movable frame is closed upon the fixed-inner frame the two frames are
secured together at top, bottom and side by thumb screws.
The panes of glass are inserted in grooves or recesses, lined or packed with
india rubber, made in the inner faces of the two frames and each pane is fixed in
its groove or recess by a fixing metallic ring secured by set screws to the outside
edge of each frame.
By means of a packing ring between each of the outside fixed rings, and the
lined or packed recesses or grooves in which the panes are fitted the said panes are
securely fixed in their places and rendered steam tight by the securing of the said
rings.
In the bottom of the inner pane supporting frame or that frame affixed to the
weather shield, two passages are made opening into the steam tight chamber
formed between the two panes of the look-out glass.
By one of these passages dry steam is conducted to the chamber and by the
other passage exhaust steam or water of condensation is removed from the said
chamber. A pipe fitted into the steam passage and provided with a regulator cock
conveys the steam from the boiler, and a pipe fitted into the exhaust passage
also furnished with a regulator cock for discharging the water of condensation.
By supplying steam to the chamber formed between the parallel panes of the
look-out glass, the said panes are maintained at such a temperature that in case of
snow storms the snow is immediately dislodged or melted from or prevented from
accumulating on the weather side of the said glass and a clear look-out for the
engine driver obtained.

page_text: By unfastening and opening the outer or movable pane carrying frame from the
fixed frame on the weather shield access may be obtained to the inside faces of
the two panes for cleaning them.
Or the same object may be obtained by applying to a single or ordinary look-out
glass, the following combination of parts. To the outer or weather side of the
weather shield of the locomotive, a circular and perforated metallic tube is fixed
the said tube having a diameter somewhat larger than that of the look out glass
and being fixed around the outer edge of the look out glass. The perforations are
made in the inner side of the tube and are inclined in the direction of radii to the
axis of the tube. The said circular and perforated tube is connected with the
boiler by a pipe fitted in the branch or coupling box of the said tube, and by
opening a regulator cock on the steam pipe, steam escapes by the series of
inclined jets in the circular pipe and is directed onto the face of the look-out
glass, whereby any snow accumulating on the said glass is immediately melted and
displaced.
Or the snow may be brushed off the look-out glass by the following arrangement
of parts. Immediately below and in the vertical axial line of the look-out glass
and passing through the weather shield, is a horizontal spindle on the outer end of
which a brush is mounted, the motion of which brush is limited by stops on
either side the look-out glass. The inner end of the brush spindle is situated
at the foot board of the locomotive and is provided with a handle. By turning
this handle to the right and left, the brush passes over the outer surface of the
look-out glass and dislodges or brushes off any snow accumulating on the said
glass.
The several arrangements described of the look out glasses for locomotives are
also applicable to steam boats light houses and for other purposes where look out
glasses are required:
Dated this Twenty-ninth day of January 1895.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Look-out Glasses for Locomotives, Steamboats,
Lighthouses, and for other Look-out Purposes.
I HENRY JOHNSON of Trindle Road Dudley in the County of Worcester,
Mining Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
My invention has for its object so to construct and arrange the parts of look-out
glasses as to afford means for warming the said glasses, whereby snow is prevented
from accumulating on or is immediately dislodged or melted from the weather
side of the said glasses and a clear look out thus obtained for the engine driver
or other person during falls of snow or snow storms.
The same object, namely the dislodging of the snow from the look-out glass may
also be effected by the other arrangement hereinafter described.
My improved look-out glasses are particularly applicable to locomotives and I
will describe my invention as applied to a locomotive.
A look out glass constructed according to one of the arrangements of my
invention consists essentially of two metallic circular, or other, frames placed edge
to edge, each frame supporting a circular, or other, pane of glass, the two
parallel panes of glass forming between them a steam tight chamber. One of the
said frames is fixed to the weather shield of the locomotive by snugs and screw
bolts and the other or outer frame is hinged at one side to the inner or fixed frame

page_text: so that the outer or moveable frame can be opened from or closed upon the inner
fixed frame on the weather shield after the manner of a clock face frame. When
the outer moveable frame is closed upon the fixed inner frame the two frames are
secured together at bottom by thumb screws. The panes of glass are inserted in
grooves or recesses, lined or packed with india rubber, made in the inner faces of
the two frames and each pane is fixed in its groove or recess by a fixing metallic
ring secured by set screws to the outside edge of each frame. By means of a
packing ring between each of the outside fixed rings and the lined or packed
recesses or grooves in which the panes are fitted, the said panes are securely fixed
in their places and rendered steam tight by the securing of the said rings. In the
bottom of the supporting frames, two passages are made opening into the steam
tight chamber formed between the two panes of the look-out glass.
By one of
these passages dry steam is conducted to the chamber and by the other passage,
exhaust steam or water of condensation is removed from the said chamber.
By means of the steam heated chamber between the two parallel panes, the said
panes are so heated that any snow accumulating on the weather side of the glass is
immediately dislodged or melted.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in front elevation and
Figure 2 in vertical section, taken on the line A B Figure 1, the look out glass of
a locomotive constructed according to this arrangement of my invention.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in both figures.
a, bare the metallic circular frames of the look out glass, placed edge to edge,
supporting the two parallel panes of glass a³, 62 the said panes forming between
them a steam tight chamber c. The boiler side of the look out glass is marked D.
and the foot plate side is marked E. The metallic inner frame a is fixed to the
weather shield or cab plate d by lugs and screw bolts at f, fl and the other or
outer metallic frame bis hinged at e to the top (or side) of the fixed inner frame a.
In place of lugs for fixing the glass to the shield, a flange may be employed as
seen in the arrangements hereinafter described. Upon the hinge e the outer or
movable carrying frame 6 can be opened from or closed upon the inner fixed
frame a after the manner of the bezel of a clock. The two frames a, b are secured
together by the lugs and screws at f, f. The panes of glass are inserted in grooves
or recesses at g in the two frames a, b, and each pane is fixed in its supporting
frame by the outside fixing metallic ring secured by screw pins i, i to the
principal frame or ring as seen in the section Figure 2. Before the panes are
placed in the recesses 9 and secured by the rings h, h, the said recesses are packed
or lined with the packing rings of india rubber marked k, so that by the securing
of the fixing rings h, h the panes are fixed in the recesses of the supporting frames
and rendered steam tight. I, m are two pipes or passages, at the bottom of the
look out glass frames a, b, opening into the steam tight chamber e between the two
panes a², 6. By the pipe or passage dry steam is conducted to the steam tight
chamber c and by the other pipe or passage m exhaust steam or water of
condensation is removed from the said chamber. A pipe fitted into the steam
passage 1, and provided with a regulator cock, conveys steam from the locomotive
boiler to the chamber c, and a pipe m² fitted into the exbaust passage m, provided
with a regulator cock, discharges the water of condensation.
By supplying steam to the chamber c between the parallel panes of glass a², b,
the said panes are maintained at such a temperature that in case of a snow storm,
the snow is immediately dislodged or melted from or prevented from accumulating
on the weather side of the look-out glass and a clear look-out for the engine driver
obtained. By unfastening and opening the outer or movable pane carrying frame b,
access may be obtained. to the inside faces of the two panes a², 63 for cleaning
them.
'
Although I have represented the exhaust pipe m applied to the movable frame:b
yet. the said exhaust pipe.may be applied to the frame a fixed to the weather
11

page_text: Instead of heating the chamber formed between the two parallel panes of the
look-out glass directly, that is, by admitting dry steam into the said chamber, it
may be heated by a circular tube or coil of copper or by an annular channel at the
circumferential part of the chamber, through which tube or coil or channel dry
steam is made to circulate. In these cases, the metallic frames of the panes of
glass are modified either to receive the heating tube or coil or have formed in
them the annular channel. The said metallic frames may also be constructed as
to permit of both frames being opened towards the driver.
B
One of the last described modifications of the look-out glass is represented in
front elevation in Figure 3 and vertical section in Figure 4. In this modified
look-out glass the outer frame is marked and the inner frame a and the parallel
panes of glass carried by them 2, a². The inside frame a is formed with a
circumferential or annular recess p for receiving the circular copper tube or coil q,
by which the air tight chamber c between the two panes a², 2 is heated. The
lower ends of the heating tube or coil 7, within the chamber c, are connected to
steam passages q³, 9³ in the lower part of the inner frame a, a small hole being
made between the said steam passages q², q³ and opening into the chamber c to
serve as an outlet for moisture from the said chamber. The steam passages q², 9³
are connected with the boiler by the pipes 9, 95 (provided with stopcocks) whereby
steam is made to circulate through the circular pipe or coil 7, the radiated heat
from which heats the chamber c and the panes a², 62, the outer pane or that exposed
to the weather being maintained at a sufficiently high temperature to melt or
dislodge snow or frost from it. By fixing a steam cock to each of the steam
pipes and a complete circulation of steam through the pipe or coil q may be
obtained and by shutting both cocks the pipe or coil may be rendered steamless
during summer or when the heating apparatus is not required to be used. By the
use of a third cock and blow off pipe, and opening the same and closing one of
the steam cocks described, steam may be blown through the coil into the atmosphere
for cleansing the said coil.
In this arrangement the pane carrying frame bis jointed or hinged at e to the
pane carrying frame a and is fastened down by the pin or bolt e²; h, h are the
metallic fixing rings of the panes and i, i the fixing pins.
Instead of fitting a copper tube or coil in the circumferential recess of the look-
out glass frame as last described and illustrated, the copper tube or coil may be
replaced by making in the circumferential part of the frame an annular steam
heating passage.
This modification is represented in front elevation in Figure 5 and vertical
section in Figure 6 where the annular steam heating passage formed in the cir-
cumferential part of the frame is marked r. In this arrangement both of the pane
carrying frames a, b are capable of opening towards the driver, that is, the inner
frame a is hinged at a near the recessed part of the said frame a and is fastened
at bottom by the pin or bolt at. Similarly the outer frame b is hinged at 6ª and is
fastened at bottom by the pin or bolt 6. It will be seen that the inner frame a is
made sufficiently large to admit of the outer frame 12 being lifted through the
opening made to receive the said frame b, thereby affording the means of cleaning
both sides of both panes from the foot plate of the locomotive. The inner pane a²
is secured to its frame by the fixing metal ring and outer metal rim t and the
outer pane 62 is secured to its frame by the metal ring 2 as seen in the sectional
view Figure 6; s are adjusting distance pins and screws for adjusting the distance
between the two frames. The other parts of this look-out glass do not differ in
construction from those of the arrangement Figures 3 and 4.
:
Figure 7 represents in elevation and Figure 8 in vertical section another
modification in which the double hinged arrangement of the frames is represented
in combination with a copper heating tube or coil of the kind shown in
Figures 3 and 4.
· The object I have hereinbefore described and illustrated with respect to double

page_text: pane look-out glasses may also be obtained by applying to a single or ordinary
look-out glass the following combination of parts. To the outer or weather side
of the weather shield of the locomotive a circular and perforated metallic tube is
fixed, the said tube having a diameter somewhat larger than that of the look-out
glass and being fixed around the outer edge of the look-out glass. The perfor-
ations are made in the inner side of the tube and are inclined in the direction of
radii to the axis of the tube. The said circular and perforated tube is connected
with the boiler by a pipe fitted in the branch or coupling box of the said tube and
by opening a regulator cock on the steam pipe, steam escapes by the series of
inclined jets in the circular pipe and is directed on to the face of the look-out
glass, whereby any snow accumulating on the said glass is immediately melted and
displaced. This arrangement of my invention is represented in front elevation in
Figure 9 and vertical section in Figure 10, where 1 is the circular and perforated
copper steam pipe applied to the weather or boiler side of the single or ordinary
look-out glass, the latter being secured to the weather shield or cab plate 2 by the
metal frame of the look out glass. The circular and perforated external steam
tube 1 is connected with the boiler and supported in front of the look-out glass by
the pipe 4 fitted into the junction piece 5 at the ends of the steam pipe 1. It will
be seen by an examination of Figure 9 that the perforations or jets in the steam
tube 1 are made in its inner side and are inclined in the direction of radii so that
by opening the steam pipe 4 from the boiler, steam escapes by the series of inclined
jets in the circular pipe 1 and is directed on to the face of the exposed or weather
side of the look-out glass as indicated by the arrows and inclined lines in the
drawing and any snow accumulating on the look-out glass is immediately melted
and displaced.
The metal frame of the single look-out glass is marked 3 and the pane 6. The
pane fixing metallic ring is marked 7 and the brass rim fixed to the cab plate or
shield 2 is marked 8.
Although I have described and represented my invention in connection with
look-out glasses having a circular figure yet I wish it to be understood that my
improvements may be applied to look-out glasses having other figures, such for
example as square or oblong look-out glasses.
The several arrangements described and represented of the look-out glasses for
locomotives, are also applicable to steam boats, light houses and for other purposes
where look-out glasses are required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I claim
as my invention :-
First. Constructing look-out glasses for locomotives and for other purposes
where look out glasses are required essentially of two metallic frames parallel to
one another, each frame supporting a pane of glass, the parallel panes of glass
forming between them a steam or air tight chamber which is heated either directly
by the introduction of steam into the said chamber or by radiated heat from a
steam heated pipe or coil or passage at the circumferential part of the frame of the
look-out glass, whereby the panes of glass are maintained at such a temperature
that snow or frost is immediately dislodged or melted from or prevented from
accumulating on the weather side of the look-out glass substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 both inclusive of the accompanying
drawings.
Secondly. Hinging one or both of the double pane carrying frames of the look
out glass for permitting access to the inside faces of the said panes for cleaning
them substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Thirdly. The combination with the outer or exposed face of a single look out
glass of a circular (or other) steam pipe perforated with holes or jets in the
direction of radii for the purpose of directing a series of jets of steam onto the

page_text: exposed face of the look out glass and thereby melting or displacing any snow or
frost accumulating thereon, substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in Figures 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated the Nineteenth day of November 1895.
HENRY JOHNSON.