IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TRANSIT, AND IN MOVING OR RAISING WEIGHTS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PRICE STRUVE, of Swansea, Engineer, 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 Eighth day of October, One. thousand eight hundred and
forty-seven, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Price Struvé, my exors,
admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Price Struvé, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Price Struvé, 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
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY TRANSIT, AND IN MOVING OR RAISING WEIGHTS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained. a proviso that I, the said William Price
Struvé, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner. the same is to be performed, by an instrument.
in writing under my hand and seal,- 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 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
William Price Struve, do hereby declare: that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully

page_text: being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TRANSIT.
I I propose constructing a tube or shed over a railway, which may be of
any sectional shape, rectangular, square, circular, or elliptical, or any other
geometrical figure or shape; which said shed I propose to construct of timber
framing and planks, or iron plate, or other metals, combined with felts or
canvass, or any material calculated to make it air-tight; and also of glass
or other transparent or translucent material, so as to admit light into the shed
or tube, which said tube will be of such lengths as may be most convenient,
and of such dimensions as will permit railway carriages, waggons, or even
locomotive engines to pass through, if requisite. I also propose that such tube
or shed be supplied with valve doors on the sides or top in order to take
passengers or goods through, as well as to admit the air into the tube, which
may be applied, if necessary, to relieve all pressure from the piston or travelling
partition herein-after described, such valves or doors to slide or move on hinges
as may be found most convenient. I propose that a piston or pistons, partition
or partitions, should be fixed upon a carriage framing constructed with wheels, so
that it may pass to and fro the tube or shed along the railway. I propose that
such piston should be constructed of wood framing or metal framing,, or other
material by which strength is attainable, with glass or other transparent
material to admit light through, so that it may be seen through, or otherwise
with plank, or iron plate, or other material, as may be found most convenient.
I propose that the periphery or outside rim of such piston or travelling parti-
tion should be in pieces, and moveable on springs or balance weights, so that
they should all simultaneously adapt themselves to any inequality in the tube
or shed as the piston passes along through the tube or shed; which said peri-
phery or outside rim will be provided with leather or other yielding material,
so as to prevent the passage of the air between the said outside rim and the
interior surface of the tube or the surface of the railway, in order to render it
as air-tight as possible. I propose that the piston should be provided with
slide valves or doors so that the air may be allowed to pass through if requisite,
in order to relieve the pressure from the piston, as well as for the convenience
of passing through it. I then propose partially exhausting the air from the
said tube, on one side of the said travelling partition or piston, to such an
extent as to create a sufficient pressure of the atmosphere on the other side as
will cause the said travelling partition or piston to move in the direction of the
exhaustion. I propose attaching a carriage or carriages, waggons, or anything

page_text: the desired pressure. The air pumps I employ for such purpose are hollow
chambers or gasometers moving in water, which water forms the hermetical
seal which prevents the air from the inside or outside of the gasometers
passing in any direction to and from the gasometers except through the valves;
the gasometers are confined in cases made of iron, stone, or wood, wholly or in
part; and the gasometers may be made of iron, or wood, or any other material,
and may be worked either with or without the top case. The gasometers are
worked by animal, water, or steam power. The size of the gasometers will be
regulated by the size of the tubes and the velocity at which it is necessary to
move the weight to be raised.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING SHEET 2.
A, a tube or pit. B, a platform or piston. C, a waggon, containing stone
or mine, &c. D, connecting tube with the gasometer pumps. E, hollow
chambers or gasometers. F, outside case. G, water forming hermetical seal.
H, inlet valves. I, outlet valves. K, shaft, cranks, and connecting rods,
moved by steam engine.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention I would remark, that I
am aware that it has before been proposed to cause carriages to move through
a tunnel or close pipe by pressure into vacuity, and that the same is the case in
respect to raising weights up a shaft or pipe; I do not, therefore, claim the
same, but only the mode of obtaining the vacuity, by using large vessels similar
to gasometers, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Price Struvé, have hereunto
sėt my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-seven.