An Improved Storage Apparatus with Conveying Devices for Broken, Granular, or Pulverulent Materials.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 27th May, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 18th Feb., 1898-Accepted, 30th Apr., 1898
An Improved Storage Apparatus with Conveying Devices for Broken,
Granular, or Pulverulent Materials.
I, ALFRED ROTHENBACH, of 1, Tannenstrasse, Zürich, in the Republic of Switzer-
land, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object a storage apparatus with the necessary con-
veying mechanism for broken, granular and pulverulent materials, the preferable
arrangement of the same being more particularly for such industrial purposes
in which the respective materials are treated in large quantities, and in which an
almost constant supply, storing, and conveying away to the places of consumption
must take place, as for instance gas works, coke ovens, cement works and the like.
The storage apparatus and its supplying mechanism are so arranged that they
may work continuously all through without requiring any hand labour, so that
the working is thus rendered stable, and manual labour is economised, whilst by
this elimination of hand or manual labour the capability of delivery of the apparatus
is essentially increased. For this object, in this improved apparatus the storage
vessels are so formed that they may be filled from above and discharged from below,
whilst the feeding devices which feed the materials into these storage receptacles
are arranged over the same, and for discharging purposes the receptacles at a
suitable deepest place in the bed have discharge passages in which work mechani-
cal transporting mechanisms which directly receive the material to be conveyed
automatically from the receptacles and convey it further away.
Such a storage or tipping apparatus is shown in two different forms of construc-
tion in the accompanying drawings,.
Figure 1 being an elevation and vertical cross section;
Figure 2 the same in longitudinal section;
Figure 3, another form of construction in vertical cross section;
Figure 4, the same in longitudinal section;
Figure 5 is a cross section on the line x-x of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is a detail view.
The forms of construction shown are both more particularly designed for gas
works, as may be seen without difficulty from the general arrangement and its
details. For reasons of saving of space and simplification of the transport, the
general arrangement is such that the storage receptacles A¹ A3 A3 are arranged
in direct proximity to the retort houses B, and bordering the same longitudinally.
As regards the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2, the supply of coal takes
place first to the discharging place A by means of railway wagons w running
directly from the line by means of a side track to the discharge place, which wagons
by being tipped up are discharged into sloping passages a arranged underneath
the discharging place. The coal runs from these inclined passages through the
mouth of the passage a and within reach of a bucket elevator or into a large tilting
bucket c which is raised, by means of a suitable elevating device C with a runner

page_text: arrangement c¹, to the level of a track or railway D running longitudinally over
each of the receptacles A1 A2 A3 and is discharged into the transport trolleys d of
this apparatus which stand ready. From the loading chamber D₁ in which the
trolleys d are filled the track or railway 1) runs slopingly downwards over the
vessels in such a way that the trolleys can travel downwards over the receptacles
by the action of their weight without it being necessary to employ power for
drawing them. The discharge takes place at suitable places by means of suitable
automatically acting arrangements, such for instance as tipping devices on the
track D, said arrangements or tipping devices being arranged in such a way that
they may be adjusted on the longitudinal section of the track in order that the
trolleys are not tipped always at the same spot, but that the discharge may be
distributed successively over the entire receptacle. Or the arrangement may be
such that as soon as the trolley finds itself above the commencement of the recep-
tacle a vent in the bottom or on the side of the trolley is opened automatically by
means of a suitable device (contact device or the like at the respective place of the
track); or the bottom or side of the said trolley may be entirely unfastened in such
way that when the car travels further on the track the contents of the same are
discharged successively into the receptacle.
These receptacles A4 A3 A3 which stand in immediate proximity to one another
have bottoms sloping from both sides obliquely to the centre, at the deepest point
of which a discharge passage a¹ a² a³ respectively is arranged, in which a mechani-
cal conveyor, preferably such as work constantly, is provided. In the present case
worm conveyors s¹³ ³ respectively are employed for this object, which in this
manner are fed directly and automatically from the receptacle. The arrangement
may also be adopted of having the passage to the receptacle open along its entire
length in such a way that the supply, of coal to the worm can take place along the
entire length of the worm, or as shown in Figure 2, the passage may be covered
by plates which are successively removed in such a way that the passage is always
open only at the respective discharge place of the coal, the said passage being closed
at those places where the coal is run out by the replacement of the plates which
had been previously removed.
P
The material fed to the worms in the discharge passages, travels into collecting
channels or passages a° which are so arranged that one such collecting passage
or channel communicates simultaneously with several discharge passages. In this
case the collecting passage shown is directed at right angles or vertically to the dis-
charge passages which open into the same on both sides in such a way that it can
receive the material discharged from these storage receptacles. A mechanical
working conveyor is also arranged in this collecting passage, which conveyor carries
the collected material further forward. In the present case a worm conveyor s³
which forwards the material to the retort houses B into a collecting place E situated
there is arranged for this object in the passage a°. From thence the material is
brought upwards into a distributing channel F feeding the devices for supplying
the retorts G, and this is done by means of a mechanical conveyor for vertical
conveying in the present case a bucket device of the kind on an endless chain
(or if preferred an endless conveying belt), the automatic discharge of which into
the channel F takes place at a suitable place in the ordinary manner by means
of contacts or the like there arranged. The further conveyance of the material
conveyed into the channel F, with the object of the same being distributed into
the separate feed devices, is effected in turn by a worm conveyor f working in the
channel. The channel F has openings in its bottom through which the coals fall
into the hoppers F° of the feed device, and the channel is arranged closely over these
hoppers in order that when the hoppers are filled the ingress of material into the
same is automatically interrupted by the heap of coal contained in the hopper,
as this closes the respective openings of the channel as soon as its level reaches
the same (Figure 6). The coal passes from the hoppers Fo into the actual feeding
hoppers Fi F2 F3 respectively which are movably arranged along the furnaces and

page_text: the mouths of which are situated at the level of the retort mouths, closely, connecting
with the respective walls of the furnace.
In the present arrangement there are always three retorts arranged one above
the other in each furnace, so that there thus exist three tiers of retorts, and for
each tier a charging hopper capable of being moved longitudinally along the same
is provided. The coke produced, as well as the refuse from the combustion in the
furnace, ashes, clinkers and the like, may be removed in a similar manner by means
of passages and mechanical conveying or forwarding apparatus and stored or con-
veyed to the charging or discharging places.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 3-5, the storage receptacles are not ar-
ranged longitudinally along the side of the retort house, but in front or behind
the same in such a way that the receptacles and the retort houses lie in the same
line, thus considerably simplifying the charging of the coal from the former to
the latter. Under the discharging place of the wagons W there is again, as in
the previous form of construction, an inclined passage a, in front of the mouth a*
of which there passes a bucket apparatus H, which conveys the coal upwards and
discharges the same into an inclined discharge channel J, from which, passing
through a disintegrating device K it reaches the rocking or shaking channels L
which convey further forward the material supplied and distribute the same suc-
cessively over the entire length of the storage receptacles and distribute the coal
in these latter. The receptacles A1 A2 A3 A4 are arranged in such a way side by
side or in proximity to one another that each shaking channel can serve two
adjacent receptacles in common. The floor of the receptacle is in this case sloped
to the side instead of to the middle in such a way that its deepest point lies in
immediate proximity to a partition, and in each pair of receptacles served by a
common channel as for instance A¹ A2, the floor slopes to the outside, that is to
say in opposite directions in such a way that the discharge passages of each of such
a pair lie in proximity to the outer walls, and in each successive pair the discharge
passage of one pair A¹ Aª is in proximity to the discharge passage a³ of the other
pair A3 A. Shaking channels 1° 13 are also arranged in these passages as mechani-
cal conveying devices, the speed of movement of the said channels being however
only half as great as that of the channel L'L³ which fill the pairs of receptacles A¹A'
and A3 A4 respectively.
The material coming from the receptacles is conveyed through the discharge
passages to a collecting passage or channel M in the retort house B, or directly into
a conveying mechanism N, which conveys the same upwards into the previously
described distributing channels F of the feed mechanisms, which channel F is
provided with worm conveyors F.
In this form of construction the retort furnaces are arranged in two rows in the
retort house so that only two series of feed devices exist, one of which may be
served for instance by the one pair of receptacles A1 A2 and the other by the other
pair of receptacles A3 A4. The arrangement of the feed devices themselves is
otherwise exactly the same as in the previously described form of construction.
From these examples it should be sufficiently clear that, by the arrangement
of storage devices and forwarding mechanisms or conveyors arranged according
to this invention, many advantages considerably increasing the return of the respec-
tive industrial apparatus can be obtained.
The most important of these advantages are: a simplification of the working:
a saving in labour and economy in space: reliability of work, because the storage
and transport takes place by means of mechanical working parts: and an increased
effectiveness or capability of delivery of the whole apparatus, because the arrange-
ment and the forwarding mechanism render continuous work possible.

page_text: An Improved Storage Apparatus with Conveying Devices for Broken,
Granular, or Pulverulent Materials.
I, ALFRED ROTHENBACH, of 1, Tannenstrasse, Zürich, in the Republic of Switzer-
land, Engineer, do'hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
This invention has for its object a storage apparatus with the necessary con-
veying mechanism for coal and the like, the preferable arrangement of the same
being more particularly for such industrial purposes in which the respective
materials are treated in large quantities, and in which an almost constant supply,
storing, and conveying away to the places of consumption must take place, as for
instance, gas works, coke ovens, cement works and the like.
The storage apparatus and its supplying mechanism are so arranged that they
may work continuously all through without requiring any hand labour, so that
the working is thus rendered stable, and manual labour is ecouomised, whilst by
this elimination of hand or manual labour the capability of delivery of the apparatus
is essentially increased. For this object, in this improved apparatus, the storage
vessels are so formed that they may be filled from above and discharged from below;
whilst the feeding devices which feed the materials into these storage receptacles
are arranged over the same, and for discharging purposes the receptacles at a
suitable deepest place in the bed have discharge passages in which work mechani-
cal transporting mechanisms which directly receive the material to be conveyed
automatically from the receptacles and convey it further away.
Such a storage or tipping apparatus is shown in two different forms of construc-
tion in the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification,
Figure 1 being an elevation and vertical cross section;
Figure 2, the same in longitudinal section;
Figure 3, another form of construction in vertical cross section;
Figure 4, the same in longitudinal section;
Figure 5 is a cross section on the line of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is a detail view.
The forms of construction shown are both more particularly designed for gas
works, as may be seen without difficulty from the general arrangement and its
details. For reasons of saving of space and simplification of the transport, the
general arrangement is such that the storage receptacles A¹ A³ A³ are arranged
in direct proximity to the retort houses B and bordering the same longitudinally.
As regards the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2, the supply of coal takes
place first to the discharging place A by means of railway wagons w running
directly from the line by means of a side track to the discharge place, which wagons
by being tipped up are discharged into sloping passages a arranged underneath
the discharging place. The coal runs from these inclined passages through the
mouth of the passage a and within reach of a bucket elevator or into a large tilting
bucket c which is raised, by means of a suitable elevating device C with a runner
arrangement c¹, to the level of a track or railway D running longitudinally over
each of the receptacles A1 A2 A3 and is discharged into the transport trolleys d of
this apparatus which stand ready. From the loading chamber, D' in which the
trolleys d are filled, the track or railway D runs slopingly downwards over the
vessels in such a way that the trolleys can travel downwards over the receptacles
by the action of their weight without it being necessary to employ power for
drawing them. The discharge takes place at suitable places by means of suitable

page_text: automatically acting arrangements such for instance as tipping devices on the
track D, said arrangements or tipping devices being arranged in such a way that
they may be adjusted on the longitudinal section of the track in order that the
trolleys are not tipped always at the same spot, but that the discharge may be
distributed successively over the entire receptacle. Or the arrangement may be
such that as soon as the trolley finds itself above the commencement of the recep-
tacle a vent in the bottom or on the side of the trolley is opened automatically by
means of a suitable device (contact device or the like at the respective place of the
track); or the bottom or side of the said trolley may be entirely unfastened in such
way that when the trolley travels further on the track the contents of the trolley
are discharged successively into the receptacle.
These receptacles A1 A2 A3 which stand in immediate proximity to one another
have bottoms sloping from both sides obliquely to the centre, at the deepest point
of which a discharge passage a¹ a² a³ respectively is arranged, in which a mechani-
cal conveyor, preferably such as works constantly, is provided. In the present case
worm conveyors 51 53 53 respectively are employed for this object, which in this
manner are fed directly and automatically from the receptacle." The arrangement
may also be adopted of having the passage to the receptacle open along its entire
length in such a way that the supply of coal to the worm can take place along the
entire length of the worm, or as shown in Figure 2 the passage may be covered!
by plates which are successively removed in such a way that the passage is always
open only at the respective discharge place of the coal, the said passage being closed
at those places where the coal is run out by the replacement of the plates which
had been previously removed.
P
The material fed to the worms in the discharge passages, travels into collecting
channels or passages a° which are so arranged that one such collecting passage
or channel communicates simultaneously with several discharge passages. In this
case the collecting passage shown is directed at right angles to the discharge
passages which open into the same on both sides in such a way that it can receive
the material discharged from six storage receptacles. A mechanical working
conveyor is also arranged in this collecting passage, which conveyor carries
the collected material further forward. In the present case a worm conveyor s°,
which forwards the material to the retort houses B into a collecting place E situated
there, is arranged for this object in the passage a°. From thence the material is
brought upwards into a distributing channel F feeding the devices for supplying
the retorts G and this is done by means of a mechanical conveyor for vertical
conveying in the present case a bucket device of the kind on an endless chain
(or if preferred an endless conveying belt), the automatic discharge of which into
the channel F takes place at a suitable place in the ordinary manner by means
of contacts or the like there arranged. The further conveyance of the material
conveyed into the channel F, with the object of the same being distributed into
the separate feed devices, is effected in turn by a worm conveyor f working in the
channel. The channel F has openings in its bottom through which the coals fall
into the hoppers F° of the feed device, and the channel is arranged closely over these
hoppers in order that when the hoppers are filled the ingress of material into the
same is automatically interrupted by the heap of coal contained in the hopper,
as this closes the respective openings of the channel as soon as its level reaches
the same (Figure 6). The coal passes from the hoppers F° into the actual feeding
hoppers F F F respectively which are movably arranged along the furnaces and
the mouths of which are situated at the level of the retort mouths, closely connecting
with the respective walls of the furnace.
In the present arrangement there are always three retorts arranged one above
the other in, each furnace, so that there thus exist three tiers of retorts, and for
each tier a charging hopper capable of being moved longitudinally along the same
is provided. The coke produced, as well as the refuse from the combustion in the
furnace, ashes, clinkers and the like, may be removed in a similar manner by means

page_text: of passages and mechanical conveying or forwarding apparatus and stored or con-
veyed to the charging or discharging places.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 3-5, the storage receptacles are not ar-
ranged longitudinally along the side of the retort house, but in front or behind
the same in such a way that the receptacles and the retort houses lie in the same
line, thus considerably simplifying the charging of the coal from the former to
the latter. Under the discharging place of the wagons W there is again, as in
the previous form of construction, an inclined passage a, in front of the mouth a
of which there passes a bucket apparatus H, which conveys the coal upwards and
discharges the same into an inclined discharge channel J, from which, passing
through a disintegrating device K it reaches the rocking or shaking channels L
which convey further forward the material supplied and distribute the same suc-
cessively over the entire length of the storage receptacles and distribute the coal
in these latter. The receptacles A1 A2 A3 A+ are arranged in such a way side by
side or in proximity to one another that each shaking channel can serve two
adjacent receptacles in common. The floor of the receptacle is in this case sloped
to the side instead of to the middle in such a way that its deepest point lies in
immediate proximity to a partition, and in each pair of receptacles served by a
common channel as for instance A¹ A2, the floor slopes to the outside, that is to
say in opposite directions in such a way that the discharge passages of each of such
a pair lie in proximity to the outer walls, and in each successive pair the discharge
passage a of one pair A¹ A is in proximity to the discharge passage a³ of the other
pair A³ A. Shaking channels 1273 are also arranged in these passages as mechani-
cal conveying devices, the speed of movement of the said channels being however
only half as great as that of the channel L' L which fill the pairs of receptacles A¹ A²
and As A* respectively.
The material coming from the receptacles is conveyed through the discharge
passages to a collecting passage or channel M in the retort house B, or directly into
a conveying mechanism N, which conveys the same upwards into the previously
described distributing channels F of the feed mechanisms, which channel F is
provided with worm conveyors f.
In this form of construction the retort furnaces are arranged in two rows in the
retort house so that only two series of feed devices exist, one of which may be
served for instance by the one pair of receptacles A1 A3 and the other by the other
pair of receptacles A³ A*. The arrangement of the feed devices themselves is
otherwise exactly the same as in the previously described form of construction.
From these examples it should be sufficiently clear that, by the arrangement
of storage devices and forwarding mechanisms or conveyors arranged according
to this invention, many advantages considerably increasing the return of the respec-
tive industrial apparatus can be obtained.
The most important of these advantages are: a simplification of the working:
a saving in labour and economy in space: reliability of work, because the storage
and transport takes place by means of mechanical working parts: and an increased
effectiveness or capability of delivery of the whole apparatus, because the arrange-
ment and the forwarding mechanism render continuous work possible.
Having now, particularly described and ascertained. the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A storage apparatus for coal and the like with conveying devices and storage
receptacles adapted to be filled from above and discharged from below, characterised
by the receptacles being provided with discharge passages at a suitable (the lowest
or approximately lowest) point, in which discharge passages, mechanical conveying
devices, (such as s¹³ ³) are arranged in such a way as to receive directly from
the receptacles the coal to be conveyed and carry it forward, and which discharge
passages may be covered by an arrangement of removable cover plates (p) adapted

page_text: to be removed as required to allow the coal to fall into said passages substantially
as described and shown.
2. A storage apparatus for coal and the like with conveying devices and storage
receptacles adapted to be filled from above and discharged from below, characterised
by the receptacles being provided with discharge passages at a suitable (the lowest
or approximately lowest) point, in which discharge passages, mechanical conveying
devices (such as s¹ 523) are arranged in such a way as to receive directly from the
receptacles the coal to be conveyed and carry it to other or more deeply placed
cross collecting passages (a°) which are also provided with mechanical conveying
devices (s), whilst the discharge passages may be covered by an arrangement of
removable cover plates (2), adapted to be removed as required to allow the coal to
fall into said passages substantially as described.
3. A storage apparatus for coal and the like such as described with conveying
devices and storage receptacles adapted to be filled from above and discharged from
below, characterised by the receptacles being provided with discharge passages
at a suitable (the lowest or approximately lowest) point, in which discharge pas-
sages, mechanical conveying devices (such as s¹² 3) are arranged in such a way
as to receive directly from the receptacles the coal to be conveyed and carry it
forward, in combination with funnel shaped feed receptacles which open towards
the places where the coal is to be consumed and which are also fed by means of
suitably acting conveying devices, whilst suitable openings, which are capable
of being closed are arranged in the distributing trough (F) for the distribution of
the coal over the various funnel shaped feed receptacles, the closing of the said
openings preventing the respective working place or consumption place being further
supplied, whilst the material may be conveyed to the next or the next but one
succeeding place, substantially as described and shown.
Dated thia 17th day of February 1898
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.