Improvements in Machines or Presses for Use in the Manufacture of Artificial Fuel or Briquettes.
Year: 1895

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-PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines or Presses for Use in the Manufacture
of Artificial Fuel or Briquettes.
I GEORGE HAYCRAFT of Pontardulais, in the County of Glamorgan, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of the present invention is to produce a briquette machine, or press,
of an inexpensive kind, suitable for making briquettes, at a comparatively small
outlay for plant, and at a high rate of speed.
According to my invention, I employ, for compressing the briquettes, percussion
derived from the blow of a falling weight, or of a steam hammer, which is guided
in its descent by a frame preferably composed of three vertical pillars standing on
a bed plate of suitable strength. The principal of these pillars constitutes the
centre of axis of an intermittently rotating table containing any suitable number
of moulds or dies, of which the base plate forms the bottom. The two other
pillars of the tripod are outside the circumference of the rotating table.
A hopper is provided covering one portion of the rotating table, for feeding coal
dust, previously mixed with binding agent, into the dies.
When the compression of the mixture is effected by the blow of a weight,
guided by the pillars of the tripod, the weight is raised and allowed to fall
successively upon the filled moulds as they come round in rotation in the following
manner:-
The weight is held by a rope attached to a pulley, which is alternately driven,
so as to wind up the rope, and released, so as to drop the weight, by a wheel,
which is continuously driven, and which, for a portion of each revolution, is in
frictional contact with a friction surface carried by the rope pulley.
Any suitable means may be adopted for intermittently rotating the die table,
but the rise and fall of the weight must be so timed with regard to the said
intermittent rotation, that the table is always at a stand-still when the filled dies
are in the position to receive the descending weight. The said weight is provided,
on its underside, with two blocks, which simultaneously enter contiguous dies.
One block compresses the fuel against the bed plate; the other, which is some-
what longer, thrusts the already pressed briquette through the die, and also through
the bed plate, which is cut away at that point, onto a travelling apron, by which
the briquette is carried away.
It may be remarked that it will be convenient to work some three of such
presses from one motor, so that the frictional wheel, having raised and released the
weight of one machine, may immediately begin to act on the second, and then the
third, likewise again on the first, so that racing of the engine is avoided. This
may be readily effected by arranging on the circumference of three several wheels
on the same driving shaft, three friction segments, which in turn engage with the
frictional surfaces carried by the rope pulleys of the three machines.
If only one machine is used, some other device for avoiding racing, while the
weight is not being raised, should be employed.
When the compression of the briquettes is effected by the blow of a steam
hammer, the latter is placed above the rotating die table, and blocks on the

page_text: underside of the hammer enter the dies, exactly as described with reference to
the falling weight.
Dated this 5th day of June 1895.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
.
Improvements in Machines or Presses for Use in the Manufacture
of Artificial Fuel or Briquettes.
I GEORGE HAYCRAFT of Pontardulais in the County of Glamorgan, Civil
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 :-
The object of the present invention is to produce a briquette machine or press
at a comparatively small outlay, suitable for making briquettes at a high rate of
speed.
According to my invention, I employ, for compressing the fuel in briquettes,
percussion derived from the blow of a falling weight, or of a steam hammer.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown only the former arrangement,
wherein the compression of the fuel is effected solely by means of a weight let go
and allowed to fall upon the fuel to be compressed; the employment, however, of a
positively actuated hammer, instead of the weight falling by its own weight, does
not, as will be hereafter seen, involve any departure from the principle of this
invention.
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 shews the machine in side elevation, partly in section ;
Fig. 2 is a back view;
Fig. 3 a front view ;
Fig. 4 shews in plan view the table of briquette moulds; and
Figs. 5 and 6 shew in plan and side views the weight or hammer detached.
A is the base of the machine; B is a circular table containing any suitable
number of radially arranged moulds for the materials to be compressed. This
table B is mounted on a central pivot, and rotates thereon intermittently, actuated
by the friction wheel C, as will be presently explained.
d, d', d², are three vertical guide rods, one of which, d, forms the pivot of the
table B; the other two rods stand outside the table. Upon these rods, slides
the weight or hammer E which gives the blow for compressing the materials of
the briquettes. The weight or hammer is provided, on its under side, with pro-
jections e e¹ of different lengths. These projections are so arranged as to enter two
of the moulds, the projection e to compress the materials against the base A of
the machine, and e', which is the longer, to thrust the already compressed block
through the base out of the machine.
F is a hopper which is immediately over the rotating table B, and delivers its
contents into the moulds as they are moved round.
The means I have selected for illustration, for lifting the weight E and allowing
it to fall again, consist of a rope g attached to a pulley G, and driven frictional
wheel H, having a gap in its frictional surface at h. While the frictional wheel H
is in engagement with the pulley G, the latter rotates, and lifts the weight E by
means of the rope, but when the portion of the friction wheel is reached, the
pulley G is released, and the weight falls.
I may here mention that it is desirable to provide means to prevent over-running
of the friction wheel, when it releases the weight, and this may be effected by
having several friction wheels on the same shaft, driving different machines in turn,

page_text: so that as one weight is released, another is raised, and in that manner the shaft of
the friction wheel is never over-driven.
To rotate the table B, so as to bring the moulds in turn beneath the falling
weight or hammer, the following means is adopted :-
In the upward path of the weight or hammer is a projecting arm i, attached to a
rock shaft I, at the other end of which is another arm it. This arm is connected
by the rod to the weighted lever arm c fast on the shaft of the friction wheel C,
which rotates the table B. The rising weight striking the arm i, rocks the shaft I,
and lifts the lever c by means of the arm i¹ and rod 2, thus partly rotating the
table B in a forward direction, to bring a fresh mould in position to receive the
next-blow of the hammer. bare ratchet teeth on the table B, into which takes
the spring pawl b', whereby backward rotation is prevented, and a true position for
the moulds or dies is ensured.
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It is obvious that instead of the loose weight suspended and operated as explained,
a steam hammer operated in the usual manner may be employed. The upward
stroke will effect the rotation of the table, and the downward blow will effect the
compression and expulsion of the briquettes, as already explained.
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 machine for use in the manufacture of fuel blocks, wherein the pressure
is derived by means of a blow of a falling weight or hammer in the manner
explained.
2. A machine for manufacturing fuel blocks, comprising an intermittently
rotating table containing radial moulds or dies for the material to be compressed,
and a hammer or weight for giving the compressing blow in a downward direction,
and for actuating the table, as described with reference to the drawings.
3. The machine hereinbefore described and shewn in the drawings, consisting of
a rotating table containing moulds or dies for the fuel to be compressed, a hopper
for supplying the same, means for rotating the said table, and a rising and falling
weight operating as explained, for compressing the fuel and setting in action the
table rotating mechanism.
Dated this 31st day of March 1896.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.