Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-16
MAKES BRIQUETTES
OUT OF SAWDUST
Local Man PerfeCtS Invention
Which Will Provide New
Fuel for Nation
GOVERNMENT GRANTS PATENT
Fuel Is CIeanIy, Durable, mex
penSive and Burns Consider
ably Longer Than Coal
GOVERNMENT GRANTS PATENT

A new fuel, especially designed fo
the relief of householders, who witt
blackened hands and soot-smudge
faces have sought to construct chee
full fire in the CRATE with coal at $50
ton, has been invented by Los Ane
Ian, David C. McCan, proprietor
the McCan Mechanical works on Lc
Beach avenue, one of the largest pla
of its kind in the city.
The fuel is wood briquettes, made
FROM the refuse OF planning and saw
mills, and is the result of two years of
hard study by Mr.. McCan of means
of COMPRISING wood shavings into a
block of size convenient for use in
stoves and CRATES, without the use of a
core or inhammable cement as a means
of holding the substance together.
The claim of discovery allowed to
MIR, McCan by the United States pat
ent office on March IL reads: AS an
article of manufacture, compressed,
elongated, cylindrical briquette, having
rounded ends and composed of wood
shavings and the like" There are now
pending twelve patents. on the auto
matte machinery designed to produce
the blocks. each covering many sepa-
rate claims.
For many years inventors have en-
deavored to produce a block of COM
pressed wood shavings which would
stand the handling necessary to trans
fer it from the factory to the point of
consumption" said Mr.. McCan yes
terday, but they all have failed TO
produce a commercially successful artl-
Gle because, either using block having
square corners or a cylinder with
square ends, they could not prevent
them from crumbling when handled
either by using core or an 1nf1amma-
BILE cement as a binder.
1.-THE success of my discovery hinges
on the law of physics which provides
that when a loose mass is compressed
in a cylinder along lines concentrating
on the central point, the mass Will CO.
here without the use of any foreign
substance as binder.
WILL STOP BIG WASTE
"Tt has been estimated that $2,O00,-
000. 900 has been lost from the resources
of the United States by the destruction
of the waste products of the saWmllls
and wood working factories during the
past forty years. Aside from Woou
waste, the briquettes can be made from
any carbonaceous material SUCH as
weeds, roots and straw.
The machine with which Mr.. McCan
manufactured the briquettes on when
he secured his patent is masslVe We
| group of cast metal, Weighing 4o,ooV
hounds. 1t can well be imagined tha'
| such weight and strength are necessa-
| ry. as the loose shaVings FED INTO tue
pressure chamber are eleven tunes In .he
| b,Ilx of the completed briquette. The
pressure used is $4,000 pounds TO the
| square inch, The briquette being three
| inches in diameter, makes it necessary
fo. the machinery to be constructed
'suficiently massive to Withstand
nressure of more than quarter of a
million pounds. In spite of its weight
the press is we'll balanced ana Is ope-
rated by a 20-horsepoWer motor.
The machine is entirely automatic
and will run without attention for an
indefinite period, turning out a ton
of hriouettes per hour. The supply ol
the plants installed will be by means
of a belt conVeyor from the macnlhes
to a bin. from which the shaVlngs OF
sawdust will be removed by SUCTION
fan. which will allow all foreign mat
ter. such as nails, rocks or sollu pieces
of wood to drop to one slde' An aulo.
natic measuring device on the press
allows a certain quantity of the shaV-
inps TO. fall into the supply chamber
| where a plunger forces it into the mar
| prassure cylinder the supply plungel
forming part of the wall of the mar
pressure chamber, dropping PACK OF
The return stroke and allowing the
hriouette to fall out of the cylinder
Two plungers operate in the main pres
| sure cylinder, the rear plunger penn
| reinforced by heavy springs, whlcl
take up any overcharge of shavings ol
provide an escape if any foreign ma
terial finds it's way into the chamber.
WILL SELL AT 81 A TON
Mr.. McCan expects to be able to sci
| the briuuette at retail at ~ per ton
zach one is seven inches long by thre'
| inches in diameter, with rounded ends
| and weighs a pound and half NOR
than lignum vitae, the most dense
natural woods. The inventor claims
that it will burn for an hour, steadll!
and brightly, gradually dlsintegratlhi
from the expansion of the air lnclose'
| in the fiber of the wood.
"The invention is past the expert
mental stage" said Mr.. McCan
hundreds of the blocks have beei
turned out by the machine, not one o
which has shown a tendency to crumbs
when handled. They burn brightl.
with less smell and smoke than natura
wood and burn equally we'll in air
| tight heaters or open CRATES. They ar
a absolutely clean and can be handed
without soiling the most delicate hands
"The blocks have stood very rougl
handling without crumbling and evel
when sawed into quarters have helt
their shape"
-