Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century

pressure of the water. There is also a self-acting arrangement by which, when these plungers have moved to the extent of 335their range in either direction, the valves are closed. The chain of the crane rests on guide pulleys, and passing over the pulley u, goes down the centre of the crane-post to the pulley v, and thence passes backwards and forwards over a series of three pulleys at w and two at x, and is fastened at its end to the cylinder, y. As there are thus six lines of chain, when the plunger of the lifting cylinder comes 1 ft. out, 6 ft. of chain pass over the guide pulley, u. The plunger, when near the end of its stroke in either direction, is made to move a bar—not shown—which closes the valve. When the crane is loaded, the load is lowered by simply opening the exhaust-valve, when the lift-plunger will be forced back into its cylinder by the pull on the chain. But as the chain may require to be lowered when there is no load upon it, although a bob is provided at z to draw the 336chain down, it would be disadvantageous to increase the weight of this to the extent required for forcing back the lifting plunger. A return cylinder is therefore made use of, the plunger of which has but a small diameter, and is connected with the head of the lift-plunger, so that it forces the latter back when the lift-cylinder is put in communication with the exhaust-pipe. The water is admitted to the lifting cylinder from the accumulator by a valve worked by a lever, which, when moved the other way, closes the communication and opens the exhaust-pipe, and then the pressure in the return cylinder, which is constant, drives in the plunger of the lifting cylinder. The principle of the accumulator may plainly be used with great advantage even when manual labour is employed, for a less number of men will be required for working the pumps to produce the effect than if their efforts had to be applied to the machine only at the time it is in actual operation, for in the intervals they would, in the last case, be standing idle. Apparatus on the same plan has been used with advantage for opening and shutting dock gates, moving swing bridges, turn-tables, and for other purposes where a considerable power has to be occasionally applied. Fig. 169.—Sir W. Armstrong’s Hydraulic Crane. Fig. 170.—Raising Tubes of the Britannia Bridge. Fig. 171.—Press for Raising the Tubes. Fig. 172.—Head of Link-Bars. A famous example of the application of hydraulic power was the raising of the great tubes of the Britannia Bridge. As already stated, the tubes were built on the shore, and were floated to the towers. This was done by introducing beneath the tubes a number of pontoons, provided with valves in the bottom, so as to admit the water to regulate the height of the tube according to the tide. The great tubes were so skilfully guided into their position that they appeared to spectators to be handled with as much ease as small boats. The mode in which they were raised by the hydraulic presses wall be understood from Fig. 170, where A is one of the presses and C the tube, supported by the chains, B. The tubes were suspended in this manner at each end, and as the great tubes weighed 1,800 tons, each press had, therefore, to lift half this weight, or 900 tons. The ram or plunger of the pump was 1 ft. 8 in. in diameter, and the cylinder in which it worked was 11 in. thick. Two steam engines, each 40 horse-power, were used to force the water into the cylinders. These cylinders were themselves remarkable castings, for each contained no less than 22 tons of iron. Notwithstanding the great thickness of the metal, an unfortunate accident 337occurred while the plungers were making their fourth ascent, for the bottom of one of the cylinders gave way—a piece of iron weighing nearly a ton and a half having been forced out, which, after killing a man who was ascending a rope ladder to the press, fell on the top of the tube 80 ft. below, and made in it a deep indentation. The accident occasioned a considerable delay in the progress of the work, for a new cylinder had to be cast and fitted. Such an accident would assuredly have caused the destruction of the tube itself but for the foresight and prudence of the engineer in placing beneath the ends of the vast tube as it ascended slabs of wood 1 in. thick, so that it was impossible for the tube to fall more than 1 in. It must be stated that as the tube was lifted each step, the masonry was built up from below, and then as the next lift proceeded inch by inch, a slab of wood was placed under the ends. Although by the giving way of the cylinder of the hydraulic press the end of the tube fell through no greater space than 1 in., the momentum was such that beams calculated to bear enormous weights were broken. At the time of the accident the pressure in the cylinder did not exceed that which it was calculated to bear or that which is frequently applied in hydraulic presses for other purposes. Some scientific observers attributed the failure of the cylinder to the oscillating of the tube. It had 338been found when the similar tubes of the bridge over the Conway were being raised, that when the engines at each end made their strokes simultaneously, a dangerous undulation was set up in the tube, and it was therefore necessary to cause the strokes of the engines to take place alternately. The chains by which the tubes were suspended were made of flat bars 7 in. wide and about 1 in. thick, being rolled in one piece, with expanded portions about the “eye,” through which the connecting-bolts pass. The links of the chain consisted of nine and eight of these bars alternately—the bars of the eight-fold links being made a little thicker than those of the nine-fold, so as to have the same aggregate strength. The mode in which the hydraulic presses were made to raise the tubes is very clearly described by Sir William Fairbairn in his interesting work on the Conway and Britannia Bridges, and his account of the mode of raising the tubes is here given in his own words, but with letters referring to Fig. 171: “Another great difficulty was to be overcome, and it was one which presented itself to my mind with great force, viz., in what manner the enormous weight of the tube was to be kept suspended when lifted to the height of 6 ft., the proposed travel of the pump, whilst the ram was lowered and again attached for the purpose of making another lift. Much time was occupied in scheming means for accomplishing this object, and after examining several projects, more or less satisfactory, it at last occurred to me that, by a particular formation of the links (of the chain by which the tubes were to be suspended) we might make the chains themselves support the tube. I proposed that the lower part of the top of each link, immediately below the eye, should be formed with square shoulders cut at right angles to the body of the link (Fig. 172). When the several links forming the chain E were put together, these shoulders formed a bearing surface, or “hold,” for the crosshead B attached to the top of the ram A of the hydraulic pump. But the upper part of this crosshead, C C, was movable, or formed of clips, which fitted the shoulders of the chain, and were worked by means of right- and left-handed screws, and could be made either to clip the chain immediately under the shoulders when the ram of the pump was down and a lift about to be made, or be withdrawn at pleasure. Attached to the large girders F were a corresponding set of clips, D D, which were so placed and adjusted as to height that when the ram of the pump was at the top there was distance between the two sets of clips equal to twice the length of the travel of the pump, or the length of the two sets of the links of the chain. To 339render the action of the apparatus more clear, suppose the tube resting on the shelf of masonry in the position that it was left in after the operation of floating was completed, and the chains attached, and everything ready for the first lift, the ram of the pump being necessarily down. The upper set of clips attached to the crosshead are forced under the shoulders of the links, and the lower set of clips attached to the frames resting upon the girders are drawn back, so as to be quite clear of the chain; the pumps are put into action simultaneously at both ends of the tube, and the whole mass is slowly raised until it has reached a height of 6 ft. from its original resting-place. The clips attached to the crosshead, B, have so far been sustaining the weight, but it will be observed that by the time the pump has ascended to its full travel, the square shoulders of another set of links have come opposite to the lower clips on the girders, D, and these clips are advanced under the shoulders of the links, and the rams being allowed to descend a little, they in their turn sustain the load and relieve the pumps. The upper clips being withdrawn, the rams are allowed to descend, and after another attachment, a further lift of 6 ft. is accomplished; and thus, by a series of lifts, any height may be attained. The fitness of this apparatus for its work was admirable, and the action of the presses was, as Mr. Stephenson termed it, delightful.” Fig. 173.—Apparatus to prove Transmission of Pressure in all directions. 340 Fig. 174.—Pneumatic Tubes and Carriages.