IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Antoine Germain Lasserre, Chemist, of Bordeaux, in
the Départment of Gironde, in the Empire of France, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH."
aled the 12th July 1861, and dated the 15th January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Antoine Germain Lasserre
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th January 1861.
I, ANTOINE GERMAIN LASSERRE, Chemist, of Bordeaux, in the Départment
of Gironde, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
By my machine I propose to agglomerate and compress into round, oval,.
octagonal, or other shaped masses or lumps, peat, or small or waste coal,
coke, and anthracite. The matters to be agglomerated and compressed will
be first heated in an oven and mixed with a small proportion of pitch, tar,
or resin, the mixing being effected by the aid of a shaft furnished with arms
or bars placed within the oven. The matter will then pass by a hopper into
pistons, which it will leave agglomerated and compressed into the form given

page_text: to the pistons. A pump will be placed so as to inject water into the pistons
to wash their interior, detaching matter that might otherwise remain, and
preventing the balls, lumps, or masses sticking together. When this fuel is
intended to heat apartments, or for domestic purposes, I propose simply to
steep the matter in a bath of argillaceous water, to avoid the disagreeable
smell of the gas contained in the coal tar, pitch, or resin. The agglomeration
will be effected as readily, and in combustion the fuel will be almost smokeless.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Antoine Germain Lasserre in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTOINE
GERMAIN LASSERRE, Chemist, of Bordeaux, in the Department of the Gironde,
in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Antoine Germain Lasserre, Her special licence that I, the said Antoine
Germain Lasserre, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Antoine Germain Lasserre, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Antoino
Germain Lasserre, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said. Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Antoine Germain Lasserre, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being bad, to the several Sheets of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and forming part of this my Specification, and to the letters
of reference placed on the several Diagrams :--
The object of my Invention is to agglomerate peat, or small or waste coal,
coke, and anthracite into round, oval, octagonal, or other, shaped lumps or
blocks of different dimensions: The matters or materials to be agglomerated
are first heated in an oven and mixed with a small proportion of coal tar, or
its residue, pitch or resin, the mixing being effected by the aid of a shaft
carrying arms placed within the oven.. They are then formed into the balls or
blocks required by the apparatus shewn 1, 2, and 3, of the annexed Drawings;
and I will first describe the machine as shown in the Diagrams, Sheets I
and 2, in which A indicates a wheel in which are twenty-eight holes made to
receive twenty-eight, pistons B, so fitted as to play freely. This wheel A
receives its circular motion by means of the toothed gearing C, D, E, F, and
the band G. The material to be agglomerated runs continually through the
hopper H, aided by a butterfly wheel I, and fills the cavity J, where are two
opposite pistons to compress it. The wheel A in its rotation carries with it
the matter or material, and the pistons, which carry at their extremities
rollers K, which, pressing against the inclined planes N, force the pistons to
come in contact, so that the material lodged in the two hollow hemispheres at
the end of the pistons is compressed between them. After the pressure has
been exercised, the axles O of the rollers come against the cams P, when the
pistons retire and the ball or block falls. To avoid adherence of the ball to
the sides of the hemispheres a second piston inside those first-mentioned exerts
(as the pistons begin to separate) a pressure which completely isolates the ball
from the other pistons. The material may be raised to the hopper by any
mechanical means. In Sheet 3, P indicates a reservoir of water; Q, a pump
to inject water into the pistons to remove any matter which might otherwise
adhere and prevent the ball sticking; R, suction pipe; S, conducting pipe,
through which the hemispheres within the pistons are washed; T, flyer, keeping
free the passage into the machine; V, pulleys giving motion to the flyer; X,
guide of the balls as they leave the pistons and cleaner of the bottom of the
wheel. It will be understood that although I herein use the term ball, tho
compressed material will assume whatever shape is given to the pistons, and
that modifications may be made in the details of the apparatus without departure
from-my Invention. When this fuel is intended to heat apartments or for
domestic purposes, I steep the material in a bath of argillaceous water to avoid
the disagreeable smell of the gas contained in the coal tar or pitch. The

page_text: agglomeration is effected as readily, and in combustion the fuel is almost
smokeless.
In witness whereof, I, the said Antoine Germain Lasserre, have hereunto
set my band and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
L. FAGET,
4, Rue d'Orléans à Bordeaux..
A. G. LASSERRE. (L.S.)