IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOADING OR DISCHARGING GRAIN, SEED, SALT, COAL, BALLAST, OR OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Hulme, of the Borough of Kingston-
upon-Hull, Whitesmith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR LOADING OR DISCHARGING GRAIN, SEED, SALT, COAL, BALLAST,
OR OTHER MATERIALS.”
Sealed the 5th March 1872, and dated the 7th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Hulme at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th September 1871.
. I, EDWARD HULME, of the Borough of Kingston-upon-Hull,
Whitesmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOADING OR DISCHARGING GRAIN, SEED,
SALT, COAL, BALLAST, OR OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
:―
This Invention has for its object the simplification of the modes or
methods of loading or discharging various materials, such as grain,

page_text: seed, salt, coals, ballast, or similar materials, by an open box or other
vessel, by means of which the material operated upon is transferred
to the desired locality with great facility, and if required without
subjecting it to an excessive concussion as is the case when tip waggons
or ballanced tubs are used for a similar purpose.
The instrument used to effect these purposes, shown in the
accompanying Drawings with reference thereto, forming part of this
Provisional Specification, may be constructed of iron, wood, or other
suitable material wholly or in part. It consists of a square or box
open at the top and having a bottom, two ends, and two sides. The
sides curve upwards above the level of the box. and a joint is fixed
in each side at the point where the same is elevated above the level.
The object of the elevated sides and joints is to make a larger area
when the instrument is opened as herein-after mentioned. The
bottom of the box opens across the middle and the sides also open
as far as the joints, but the box remains closed until reversed, as
herein-after described. Each side is supported or connected by a
rod placed within and extending from side to side. Four chains
are used, two being fixed to the top or elevated part of the sides of the
box and extending upwards to the trigger herein-after described, and
the remaining two are fixed to the ends and extend upwards to a bar
across the bottom of the sliding rod, also herein-after described. The
instrument has a sliding rod near the top of which, is a trigger held by a
catch. A lever is also fixed near the top of the sliding rod, to the end
of which lever a rope is attached. The lever remains stationary and acts|
as a stop to the trigger.
The actions of this arrangement is as follows:-When it is desired to
fill the box it is first opened at the bottom and sides by pulling the.
rope attached to the lever and thus unshipping the trigger and allowing
it to fall with the two chains attached to it from the top to the bottom
of the sliding rod. The position of the instrument is by this action
reversed, the two ends of the box now become the top or upper part and
the bottom being opened from the centre into two parts forms the two
ends. In this position the instrument is let down into the ship's hold or
other receptacle by means of a crane or other hoisting apparatus (the
chain from which is attached to the top of the sliding rod) and by its
own gravity sinks into the seed, corn, or other material. The box being.

page_text: thus partially covered is filled by drawing together or closing the
bottom and sides. This is effected by lowering the catch in connection
with the lever to the trigger (which fastens itself) and by the action of
hoisting or drawing up the instrument by means of the crane. The
two halves of the box coming together of their own gravity and
fitting closely into each other prevent the escape of the material.
The box being thus filled and raised is emptied in the required place by
pulling the rope attached to the lever and thus opening or reversing the
box, as herein-before mentioned, upon which the contents fall out and
the instrument is then ready to be lowered and refilled.
The instrument may also be used with great advantage to load or
discharge vessels containing coal, mineral, or other heavy material.
For this purpose it is lowered into the hold with the bottom and
sides closed and then filled by hand. When filled it is drawn up by
means of the crane and the trigger unshipped and the contents
discharged as before described. As the box opens from the bottom it
may be lowered until only just above the spot where it is required to be
placed so that when the material to be discharged is allowed to run
out it is not damaged by falling from a distance, as is the case when
discharged in the ordinary manner.
This apparatus may also be so constructed as to sit or rest upon the
framing of a railway or other truck and thus constitute the body of the
truck. By this contrivance vessels may be loaded with great facility as
follows-The apparatus filled with the reqª material. can be lifted
off the framework by a crane, the chain of which is hooked into the cycs
immediately above the joints on each side. It is then suspended over
the ship's hold and the ends rested on two rollers, one at cach side
of the hatchway, and the middle of the instrument will then open of
its own gravity and discharge its contents. The wagon apparatus may
be advantageously used for loose grain, or other small material, without
using bags.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Hulme, in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 7th March 1872.
. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HULME, of the Borough of Kingston-upon-Hull, Whitesmith, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Hulme, Her special licence
that 1, the said Edward Hulme, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Hulme, 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
APPARATUS FOR LOADING OR DISCHARGING GRAIN, SEED, SALT, COAL, BALLAST,
OR OTHER MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Hulme, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Edward Hulme, 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 following statement:-
-
This Invention has for its object the simplification of the modes or
methods of loading or discharging various materials, such as grain, seed,
salt, coal, ballast, &c., by a box or receptacle and apparatus of the
peculiar construction herein-after described, by means of which the
material operated upon is transferred to the desired locality with great

page_text: and if required without subjecting it to an excessive concussion as is
the case when tip waggons or ballanced tuts are used for a similar
purpose. The apparatus used to effect these purposes may be con-
structed of iron or other suitable material wholly or in part.
And in order that my Invention and the manner in which it is to be.
performed may be fully ascertained and understood I have annexed
a Sheet of Drawings, in each of the Figures of which the same letters.
of reference indicate corresponding parts.
Fig. 1 is an end view of the apparatus when the box or receptacle
is closed; Fig. 2 is an end view when the same is open; Fig. 3 is
a side view of the apparatus when the box or receptacle is closed;
Fig. 4 is a side view representing the box or receptacle open and in
the position in which it is when being lowered into seed, grain, or such
yielding material, or just after the contents have been discharged;
Fig. 5 is a side view of the apparatus representing the box or receptacle
filled with grain, seed, or such material, and being raised from the
hold of the vessel or other place to be emptied; and Fig. 6 is a
side view of the apparatus when used for coal, minerals, or other
unyielding materials, and represents the apparatus at the time the box is
being opened and discharged by the operation of lowering.
The apparatus consists of a square box or receptacle with the chain,
rod, and other parts herein-after described. The box or receptacle is
formed of two parts A and B, capable of separating from each other.
The sides curve upwards above the level of the box or receptacle itself,
and joints C are fixed in each side at the point where the same rises
above.the level. The object of the elevated sides and joints is to make
a larger area when the box or receptacle is opened, as herein-after
mentioned. The clevated joints are supported by two strengthening
plates d, one fixed on the outside and the other on the inside of the
opposite point the outer strengthening piece a being represented on.
the part B of the receptacle shewn in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6. Each side
is supported or connected by a rod D, Fig. 1, placed within and
extending from side to side, the ends of which rod form the bolt on
which the joints C turn. When closed one half of the box fits closely
into the other. Three chains are used, onc E, divided in the contre
by a ring e, is stretched across the box or receptacle from side to side
and rests against two collars f, f, Fig. 1, attached to or welded on at

page_text: each end of tlic aforesaid rod D, within the raised joints, one object of
which chain is to close and keep the box or receptacle closed as long as
the ring e is held in the horn of the trigger g, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5,
the remaining chains H, H, are fixed to hasps i, i, attached to cach
of the moveable parts of the instrument and the other ends of these
chains are attached to the reversed T picce K, thus L, at the bottom
of which piece is a hook forming the lower part of the trigger g,
is attached by a joint on which it is capable of turning to one of the
lower arms of the 1 piece K, and is capable of being held by a lever
and catch h. A small spring ₁ keeps the lever and catch pressed
against the trigger so that the catch may engage with the trigger g
when the trigger is to be held thereby, and a stop 2 is placed behind
the lever and catch h to prevent the lever and catch h being drawn
too far back in the act of disengaging the trigger. A blade spring g' is
placed on the lower side of the 1 piece K and bears against the hook
of the trigger g, to prevent any concussion from releasing the ring e of
the chain E from the hook. The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
When it is desired to fill the box or receptacle it is first opened at the
bottom and sides by pulling a rope attached to the lever / thereby
unshipping the hook e of the trigger 9 from the centre ring of the
aforesaid chain E. This chain being then allowed to drop the chain H
attached to the ends of the moveable parts of the box or receptacle
open the box or receptacle by causing the moveable parts of the
box or receptacle to be drawn asunder at the bottom and towards
cach other at the sides, thus the position of the box or receptacle is.
by this action reversed, as shown in Fig. 4, the two ends of the
box or receptacle now become the top or upper part and the bottom
being opened from the centre into two parts forms the two ends. In
this position the apparatus is let down into the ship's hold or other
place to be unloaded or emptied by means of a crane or other apparatus
(the chain of which is attached to a swivel m, at the top of the 1 piece
K and by its own gravity the box or receptacle sinks into the seed,
grain, or other material. The box or receptacle being thus partially
covered is filled by drawing together or closing the bottom and sides.
This is effected by placing the ring e of the centre chain E upon the
hook of the trigger g at the bottom of the 1 piece and by the action of
heaving or drawing up the box or receptacle is filled and closed as the
apparatus is being drawn up. The box or receptacle of the apparatus
being thus filled and closed and the apparatus having been raised it may

page_text: apparatus is then ready to be again brought to the ship's hold or
other place to be unloaded or emptied and there lowered and refilled as
before.
The above is the mode of using the apparatus for unloading seed,
grain, or other such yielding material into which the box or receptacle
when opened and the apparatus lowered will sink of its own weight, but
for use in coal, mineral, or similar unyielding materials, the mode to be
adopted is as follows:-The apparatus is lowered into the ship's hold or
other place to be emptied with the box or receptacle closed, and the
said box or receptacle is filled by placing the coal or other such material
therein while so closed, either by hand or other means, the ring e of the
centre chain E being in this case placed upon the hook of the crane chain
for the purpose of lowering and drawing up the apparatus and the end
chains H, H, with the 1 piece K being left loose. When the box or
apparatus is filled the apparatus is drawn up and a short rope o, Fig. 6,
fastened to the end of the crane or derrick p having a look at the
lower end, is, when the apparatus is high enough, hooked to the swivel
m at the top of the 1 piece K, the weight is thus partially transferred to
the said rope o when the action of, lowering gently discharges the
contents. The crane chain then hoists the apparatus sufficiently for
the release of the hook of the rope o from the swivel m and then
lowers the apparatus as before ready for re-filling. As the box opens
from the bottom it may be lowered until only just above the spot where
it is required to be placed so that when the material (such as coal, &c.)
is allowed to run out it is not damaged by falling from a distance as is
the case when discharged in the ordinary manner. A vessel may be
loaded with great facility with this apparatus as described.
This apparatus may also be so constructed as to sit or rest upon the
framing of a railway or other truck and when so used the box or
receptacle constituted the body of the truck. By this contrivance
vessels may be loaded with great facility as follows:-The apparatus, full
of the required material, can be lifted off the framework by a crane, the
chain of which is hooked into the ring e of the centre chain E. It is
then suspended over the ship's hold and discharged as in Fig. 6. This

page_text: EDWARD HULME. (L.S.)