THE PATENT ELECTRICAL COMBINATION MACHINERY PLANT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9131, 13 August 1888, Page 3

THE PATENT ELECTRICAL COMBINATION MACHINERY PLANT.

TO TILE EDITOR.

Sir,— have much pleasure in introducing to the public at large a full explanation of the workable parts of my patent electrical combination machinery plant for fire-ex-tinguishing and ventilation purposes, lighting, etc; and a means of producing hot air or cold air with the ventilation system, so as to regulate the temperature of the air, if found necessary, in changeable climates. The invention relates to a new system of going to work as a means of providing a safe and ready method of protecting the public and valuable goods, by land or by sea, against the effects of fires, bad ventilation, etc.

The patent right covers the undermentioned places, the invention being well adapted for the same —Opera houses, theatres, churches, chapels, underground railways, carriages, etc ; tramcars, coal and gold mines, public and private buildings, steam and sailing vessels of all descriptions, sewers and drains, wells and shafts, ouarries, breweries, slaughter houses, chemical works, factories, flour mills, schools, agricultural shedding and stabling, gum stores, and all confined spaces, etc. The electrical combination machinery plant consists of the undermentioned parts of machinery fixed on to one straight lino of shafting, with suitable couplings, flanges, joints, with quadrants, levers, clutch gear for throwing out and into gear any of the undermentioned machines at the will of the operator. (2) Situated on the line of shaft is oue or more dynamo machines, one or more centrifugal exhaust fans, one or more centrifugal pumps or fire engines. (3) Power : Rotary or other steam engine, gas, water, wind, or any other power, flywheels, &c. (1) Opera House : The electrical combination machinery plant is invaluable for fire extinguishing purposes, and proper ventilation with hot or cold air, hot or cold water, and lighting up by electricity. The whole plant is under the control of the operator. The main ventilating trunks are conveyed to and from the operator compartments. The trunks are carried around the buildings with apertures, slide doors, and throttle vaives for regulating the supply of ventilation in or out as the case may be. In case of fire on the stage, the apertures in the body of the house are closed, allowing suction into the main trunks over stage to draw from the body of the house all smoke, gases, &c, lessening the risk of suffocation to those most exposed. At the same time chemicals can be exploded by electricity or by hand apparatus, and by fuse attachments, as a night nre alarm, over the seat of the fire. (2) Main water pipes are conveyed along tho body of the house along and into stage compartments, where pipes are carried at right angles or in parallel lines with the scenery on the stage, and situated over the ton. The pipes over stage are perforated with holes, so as to allow the force of the water to strike at a given angle on to the burning scenery. (3) In the case of failure of city water supply, the supply of water can be taken from suitable tanks situated in the operator compartments, and forced by centrifugal action into the pipes over stage, as a means of putting out the fire. (4) At convenient places in the body of the house can be fixed one or more water hoses on each side of the house, for extinguishing a fire that may occur in the body of the house. (5) The ventilation in the body of house and stage is so arranged as to extract all foul gases derived from smokers and non-smokers in the pit and stalls, so that gases may not ascend and become inhaled by the upper circle. (6) Wire netting is provided for catching the broken chemical bottles, which is operated upon by currents of electricity, or by the hand apparatus. (7) The whole plant being under the control of the operator, each part can be worked separately, or the whole plant can be put in motion at once by quadrants, levers, and clutch gear, &c. (8) Dynamo electric machine for lighting up by electricity, or otherwise for charging accumulators—currents of electricity may be switched off direct from dynamo or accumulators, or street wires, for lighting, heating, . and fire extinguishing purposes, &c. (9) Hot or cold air, hot or cold water, &c., can be produced by a very simple process in connection with the plant,- &C, water piping to I i used for ventilation purposes. For steamships and all classes of sailing vessels this simple machinery plant is of paramount importance. For fire extinguishing and ventilation purposes, lighting, and a means of producing any of the requirements as notified above, &c. 1. The whole machinery plant is under the charge of the engineer in his compartments. 2. All piping and stop valve connections outside of engine room comes under the full control of the officers of the ship. 3. Inasmuch as the stop valve connections for turning the water to any section of the ship for putting out fires, &C, can be worked from the upper deck by an ordinary box spanner or wheel kept on deck for the purpose. 4. In case of fire orders can be given to the deck hands to open the stop valve connections leading to the section of the ship on fire. 5. The engineer getting by telegraph due orders to put the centrifugal pump or fire engines in motion, the pumps or pump at once in a few minutes begins to discharge tons of salt or fresh water on to the raging tire. 6. The fire being subdued or put out, suitable pipes as suction pipes can be laid alongside of keels in ship's bottom, for the purpose of extracting the water that was used for putting out tho fire by the same pumps in connection with the plant. 7. The centrifugal pump being ready as a stand-by in case of hie or leak at sea. 8. Taking due precaution to close all valve connections when the fire is put out. 9. One or more straight lines of main discharge pipes direct from pump, with suitable stop-valve connections at each bulk-head water-tight compartment for the purpose of turning the water from main water-pipes into perforated branch pipes fixed at right angles to main water-supply pipes; all piping secured underneath the decking both on starboard and port sides of main water-supply pipes, with a view of flooding one or both siaes of ship at the same time. 10. Can be utilised for washing decks if found necessary. 11. The same water-pipes can be used for ventilation purposes ; all gases to be burnt in the furnaces or otherwise carried up the inside of ship's masts and discharged at top. 12. The exhaust-fans can be utilised for ventilating purposes, for extracting all impure air, gases, and smoke out of the cabins and ship's holds, etc., and supplying in return cold or hot air, as the case may be. 13. Dynamos, electric machines can be used for lighting up, etc., the ship, for extinguishing fires with chemicals, etc. How railways can light up by electricity, charging accumulators, giving proper ventilation of cold or hot air, hot water, and a means- of providing hot plates, and foot plates to suit. Coal and gold mines, the missing link for the safe protection of working men in mines and all confined spaces, dynamo for lighting up the mines by electricity, and for producing a safe and ready means of recharging miners' electric headlamps, for telegraphing to headquarters by electricity, and by hand apparatus, &c; and a system of producing a proper means of ventilation of the mines by centrifugal exhaust fans or fan, and main air and branch suction pipes or trunks, with suitable throttle valve and slide doors, &c.; as a means of drawing away by suction all accumulation of smoke, gases, &C., from blasting explosions, and for other unforeseen cases, &c, and for taking away at once the foul gases from over the miners' heads while at work, and lessening the risk of suffocation in the mines, shafts, wells, and all confined spaces, cylinder-sinking for bridges, &c. City Corporation works : 1. For lighting up by electricity city and suburbs. &c., extracting all sewer gases and destroying the same, either by electricity, or otherwise by circulating fire blast pipes as a means of destroying the gases from sewers and water traps before being discharged into the atmosphere, or otherwise a means of storing the gases in suitable gasometers to be burnt at will. 2. My new system of going to work for the extraction of the gases that may arise from the water-traps on the sides of the streets will be seen at a glance—that is, piping should be carried underneath the streets on the extreme edge of the water-traps, and kept low enough to allow of a free suction into the pipe, so that all gases ascending from the trap are at once drawn into the piping by suction, and conveyed underneath the street to a high elevation, where it can be destroyed as above notified. Apertures on side of water-traps to be regulated by throttle valves and slide doors, one for each trap, as a means of regulating the supply of suction at will, so that no escape of gas will take place, allowing the public to inhale it day after day as they do at the present time, this being "the only true possiole scheme of overcoming the difficulty. The main sewer gases give annoyance to those folks inside of buildings, being exposed inside by having ordinary pipe connections leading to or from main sewer. The public outside receive the nuisance from the gases arising from the water-traps in the streets, the same being highly charged or impregnated with foreign substance which is highly deleterious to the public health. Inasmuch as the side walls and discharge pines of the water-traps become day after day coated with a thin film of sediment, due to the surface drainage and sweeping of the streets, so that the public can see at a glance that it is not the main sewer gases which give the annoyance to passersby, but the gases which are emitted from the water-traps, the main sewer gases being kept back by the column of water in the trap, which prevents the

outlet of main sewer gases from escaping,. The gases in the main sewer then find vent at the higher elavation in buildings which are exposed by open-drainage branch pipes, &c, to main sewer. Every building having pipe connections to main sewer supplies the means of escape for the main sewer gases, to be drifted from budding to building. You. may have vertical pipes, &c, to buildings, with valve or door, but they will not keep back the gases in pipes leading to and from the main sewer. Making due allowance for the column of water discharged down the pipes, no plumber work in the world car overcome the difficulties of keeping back tho gases of the main sewers in cities, simply on these grounds, that every time the valve is opened to allow the water to escape, in rushes the foul air or gases into the roomsand stop the gases if you can. The remedy for overcoming the nuisance complained of by the public is simply this— displacement of air in the main sewer and water traps ; then, if you close the discharge end of the sewer with a swing door to the water edge, it wtands to common sense and reason that your service piping from the building must supply the necessary air to fill up the vacancy in the main sewer, so that, instead of the foul air escaping, it will be drawn into the main sewer by suction, and discharged as above notified. To exhaust effectively the gases in main, sewer and water traps, apply the patent electrical combination machinery plant, or otherwise by flue circulating connections. In the future any one part of the patent electrical combination machinery plant may be taken advantage of, or the plant as a> whole, to suit the future patronisers of the invention for fire-extinguishing, ventilation purposes, etc. ISow, Mr. Editor, I hope I have been the means of solving the problem whether the public at large shall have safe protection by land or sea, against Hies, bad ventilation, etc.; we may well ask the question, is it not a disgrace to us as engineers and mechanics to allow time after time great sacrifice of life to take place in this our nineteenth century, with so much science and skill at our disposal to boast of ; and yet it lies as a dead stone at our feet. When one takes up a newspaper and sees a report of a great fire at Exeter, England, and other places, by land and by sea, and great loss of life, I say show me the engineer or mechanic to-day that is mean enough to lock his ideas up and carry them to the grave as a dead stone ? Shame of them, and the patent laws which. keeps the poor man out, on the grounds that he has not in his possession that well-known dollar or excessive fees, as are charged in England, to break the bonds of the patent office in Great Britain, with a view of giving the inventors a chance to bring their ideas forward for the welfare of the public at large. I do trust and hope to see before long that the present patent laws of England have kissed the flames, and substituted by a new patent law that will come within the reach of all; one set of simple patent laws, and one flag to cover the lot, at home or abroad. England will not be under the painful necessity of going into the enemy's camp for ideas ; the secrets of warfare must remain here for the present, but at the same time having an eye to business as an inventor, with a view of counteracting any invention that's deterrent to the British nation as a whole. If my ideas speak right, the time is not far distant when warfare will be a thing of the past.— am» &c, D. B. Bate. Engineer and Millwright (Auckland). Brighton Road, Pa.rnell, August 7,1888.