IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING PEAT OR TURF
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer & Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR TREATING PEAT OR TURF."-A communication from abroad
by Auguste Marcelin, Count de Lara et du Ren, of Paris, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 14th August 1860; and dated the 7th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
April 1860.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer & Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING PEAT OR TURP," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an apparatus for reducing peat, which consists of
a combination of several similar horizontal mills. Each of these mills is com-
posed, 1st, of a cylinder fixed to a suitable framing having grooves on its
interior either straight, inclined, or helical; at the upper lateral convex part
of said cylinder is placed a hopper for conducting the peat to be broken up
into the interior of the crushing cylinder. The cylinder is open at one end to
allow of the peat when reduced to a paste to pass into a channel, which is

page_text: common to several apparatus. 2ndly, of a crusher mounted in the interior of
a cylinder; this crusher has exterior grooves either straight, inclined, or
helical inversely to those of the fixed cylinder. This crusher is conical & is
mounted on a shaft, which imparts a rotating motion to it at variable speeds.
Any number of crushers, each in the interior of a cylinder, are mounted on the
same horizontal shaft, and receive the same rotating motion; this arrange-
ment forms a distinctive feature of the apparatus. The crusher being conical
its exterior grooved surface may more or less approach the grooves of the fixed
cylinder, so that the peat may be more or less perfectly ground in order to
obtain a fine or coarse paste. The fixing of the crusher in the interior of the
cylinder is effected by means of a nut on a screw thread carried by a coupling
on the horizontal shaft common to the several apparatus. Between this nut
and the cone are interposed washers of india-rubber, which give by their
elasticity if a stone or root, piece of wood, or other hard matter should enter
the crusher.
In the complete apparatus I couple together several similar crushers in
longitudinal and transverse directions; for example, I arrange three rows of
ten crushers, each row of ten being mounted on one horizontal shaft. The
upper hoppers converge into a capacity forming a kind of vat, in which is
placed the peat to be ground as obtained from the bog. The exit pipes for
the peat when ground also terminate in a channel, from which it is conducted
to the depots where the draining and other manufacturing processes takes
place. The water necessary to reduce the peat to a paste is supplied from the
upper hopper or vat. The three horizontal shafts receive motion simulta-
neously from straps or gearing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I; the said William
Clark, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
TREATING PEAT OR TURF," a communication from abroad by Auguste Marcelin,
Count de Lara et du Ren, of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, 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 William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an apparatus for reducing peat, whereby it is
rendered a homogeneous paste or plastic mass by crushing all the detritus,
fibres, and matters it contains; it consists of a combination of several similar
horizontal mills. Each of these mills is composed, 1st, of a cylinder fixed to
a suitable framing, having grooves on its interior either straight, inclined, or
helical; at the upper lateral convex part of said cylinder is placed a hopper for
conducting the peat to be broken up into the interior of the crushing cylinder.
The cylinder is open at one end, which allows the peat when reduced to a
homogeneous paste to pass into a channel, which is common to several appa-
ratus. 2ndly, of a crusher mounted in the interior of a cylinder; this crusher
has external grooves either straight, inclined, or helical inversely to those of
the fixed cylinder. This crusher is conical and is mounted on a shaft, which
imparts a rotating movement to it at variable speeds. Any number of
crushers, each in the interior of a cylinder, are mounted on the same hori-
zontal shaft, and receive the same rotating movement; this arrangement forms
a distinctive feature of the apparatus.. The crusher being conical its exterior
grooved surface may more or less approach the grooves of the fixed cylinder,
so that the peat may be more or less perfectly ground, in order. to obtain a fine
or coarse paste. The adjusting of the crusher in the interior of the cylinder
is effected by means of a nut on a screw thread carried by a coupling keyed

page_text: on the horizontal shaft common to the several apparatus. Between this nut
and the cone are interposed rings of india-rubber, which give by their
elasticity if a stone or root, piece of wood, or other hard matter should enter
the crusher between the crusher and the cylinder.
In the complete apparatus I couple together several similar crushers in
longitudinal and transverse directions; for example, I arrange three rows each
of ten crushers in such manner that I have three longitudinal shafts, each
giving motion to ten apparatus. The upper hoppers, each converge to a
capacity forming a kind of vat, in which is placed the peat to be ground as
obtained from the bog. The exit pipes for the peat when ground, also all
terminate in the common channel, from which it is conducted to the depots
where the draining and other manipulations or preparations take place con-
stituting the manufacture. The water necessary for reducing the peat to a
paste is supplied from the upper hopper or vat. The three horizontal shafts
receive motion simultaneously from straps or gearing.
I have represented in the annexed Drawings the apparatus above described.
Fig. 1 shows a vertical longitudinal section through the centre of one of the
three horizontal shafts; Fig. 2 shows a plan or horizontal view of the upper
part; Fig. 3 shows a transverse vertical section, through the axis of the three
crushers coupled transversely. In these three Figures the same letters represent
the same parts.
A, trough or vessel of cast or sheet iron or other material, for receiving the
peat to be worked up as discharged from the waggons or otherwise; B, upper
hopper, in connection with each cylinder; C, tubes, communicating with the
hopper B; D, crushing cone, furnished on its surface with ribs or grooves of
any kind; E, receptacle, receiving the comminuted peat to be deposited in the
depots; G, ring, serving to regulate the position of cone D, in the interior of
cylinder; II, rings of india-rubber, acting as springs in case any hard sub-
stances accidentally get into the apparatus; the said rings permit of the
crusher D receding, in order to allow the hard substances to pass through; I,
screw nut, for regulating the elasticity of the india-rubber rings; J, motive
pulley, on which the driving strap engages; K, sheet metal rings, preventing
the rings H from bearing on the shaft; L, man-hole, for giving access to the
interior of the apparatus; M, screw of man-hole; O, gearing; P, support for
the main shafts; Q, frame supporting the apparatus; R, claws, for fixing the
cylinder to the frame; S, cover, closing one extremity of the cylinder; T,
crushing cylinder, grooved in an inverse way to that of the crushing cone;
this cylinder is cast in two parts to facilitate the construction of the apparatus.
The whole apparatus should be mounted on a frame of wood.

page_text: Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of perform-
ing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement of crushing
apparatus, herein-before described and represented in the annexed Drawing,
characterized by the coupling of several crushing mills on the same horizontal
shaft, as applicable to grinding and reducing peat and turf.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
W. G. E. SWINNOCK,
53, Chancery Lane.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)