Inventions in the centuryDoolittle, William H. (William Henry)
History
Inventions in the century
Doolittle, William H. (William Henry)
Inventions
In connection with pumping it may be said that a great deal has been
discovered and invented during this century concerning the force and
utilisation of jets of water and the force of water flowing through
orifices. In the art of mining, a new system called _hydraulicising_ has
been introduced, by which jets of water at high pressure have been
directed against banks and hills, which have crumbled, been washed away,
and made to reveal any precious ore they have concealed.
To assist this operation _flexible nozzles_ have been invented which
permit the stream to be easily turned in any desired direction.
Returning to the idea of raising weights by hydraulic pressure, mention
must be made of the recent invention of the _hydraulic jack_, a portable
machine for raising loads, and which has displaced the older and less
efficient screw jack. As an example of the practical utility of the
hydraulic jack, about a half century ago it required the aid of 480 men
working at capstans to raise the Luxor Obelisk in Paris, whilst within
30 years thereafter Cleopatra’s Needle, a heavier monument, was raised
to its present position on the Thames embankment by four men each
working one hydraulic jack.
By the high pressures, or stresses given by the hydraulic press it was
learned that cold metals have plasticity and can be moulded or stretched
like other plastic bodies. Thus in one modification a machine is had for
making lead pipes:--A “container” is filled with molten lead and then
allowed to cool. The container is then forced by the pump against an
elongated die of the size of the pipe required. A pressure from one to
two tons per square inch is exerted, the lead is forced up through the
die, and the pipe comes out completed. Wrought iron and cold steel can
be forced like wax into different forms, and a rod of steel may be drawn
through a die to form a piano wire.
By another modification of the hydraulic press pipes and cables are
covered with a coating of lead to prevent deterioration from rust and
other causes.
Not only are cotton and other bulky materials pressed into small compass
by hydraulic machines, but very valuable oils are pressed from cotton
seed and from other materials--the seed being first softened, then made
into cakes, and the cakes pressed.
If it is desired to line tunnels or other channels with a metal lining,
shield or casing, large segments of iron to compose the casing are put
in position, and as fast as the tunnel is excavated the casing is
pressed forward, and when the digging is done the cast-iron tunnel is
complete.
If the iron hoops on great casks are to be tightened the cask is set on
the plate of a hydraulic press, the hoops connected to a series of steel
arms projecting from an overhanging support, and the cask is pressed
upward until the proper degree of tightness is secured.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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