IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPRESSING PEAT
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, the Right
Honorable PETER ROBERT DRUMMOND, Lord WILLOUGHBY DE ERESBY, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twentieth day of July, in the third year of Her reign, did;
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Peter Robert Drummond, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Her especial full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Peter Robert Drummond,
Lord Willoughby de Eresby, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Peter Robert Drummond, Lord Willoughby de Eresby,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMPRESSING PEAT;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Peter Robert Drummond, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
annear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Peter Robert Drummond, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, do hereby declare
the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The first part of my Invention relates to a mode of using two drawers, frames,
or vessels, into which the peat to be pressed is put; such drawers being so con-
nected that the act of moving one from under the press shall place the other
under the press; at the same time each drawer, frame, or vessel is capable of
independent movement on its axes, in order to discharge its contents after
pressure, and to be turned back to receive a fresh supply, as will be hereafter
fully described.
Secondly, the Invention relates to a mode of employing wood as a means of
allowing the passage of water upwards from the peat when under compression.
And in order to give the best information in my power, I will proceed to
describe the Drawing hereunto annexed. I would, however, first remark,
that such is the nature of peat, that in submitting it to pressure in order
to express the water therefrom, that unless great care is observed in the con-
structing of the apparatus employed, the peat as well as the water will be
expressed through even very small openings. And it may be useful to state
that the description of peat which should by preference be selected, when it is
to be submitted to pressure, is that description which is free from fibres and
black, having somewhat the appearance of blackened butter.
The peat
should be dug as usual, about eight inches by three, and three inches thick,
and these blocks of peat are to be placed to dry for four or five days, and
by preference under sheds, and again after pressure they should be further
dried.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1, a is the steam-engine boiler; b, steam engine; c, main shaft of
engine; d, compressing pump; e, exhausting pump; f, hand gear for reversing
the motion of the sliding drawers which contain the peats; g, air vessel; and h,

page_text: or frames
m,
of which there are two to the machine, one of them being under.
compression, while the other is being filled. This frame m contains about one
hundred square pieces of peat, as represented in the Drawing; but this size
may be varied.
The parallel frame o, o, upon which the frame m has been run out, having.
been withdrawn, and left the frame or drawer supported by its axis or necks
at the ends only, it is now to be turned over upon these axes or necks, and
the compressed peats will be emptied into a railway carriage below to receive
them; the sliding frame or drawer m is to be turned back, and the handle n
to be pushed in, as represented at the other end of the machine; this having
been done, the small rollers, which move on their axes, and are carried by the
frame o, o, will be below and support the frame or drawer. It may then be
refilled with as much expedition as possible.
I shall now proceed to describe the mode of raising the pistons and com-
pressing plate which have been forced down by the introduction of water into
the hydraulic cylinders 1, 1, 1, 1, by the pump d. The cocks h are to be
reversed, and the exhausting pump e will withdraw the water from the cylinders
1,1,1, 1, and return it to the supply well, as represented in the Drawing. This
will offer a vacuum to the pistons or rams of the hydraulic cylinder; at the
same time the pump d will continue storing up its power into an air vessel g;
by pumping back the withdrawn water, and be ready for a second operation:
If we suppose the four pistons in the cylinders 1, 1, 1, 1, are each ten inches in
diameter, and the water thus withdrawn and the atmosphere at liberty to act
upon the under surface of the compressing plate to which the pistons are
attached, there would be sufficient power to raise the whole mass were it not
for the adhesion which takes place between the under side of the compressing
plate and the upper surface of the peat; a very considerable power is requisite
to separate them. To effect this object, the compressing plate has eight regu-
lating screws, which, when down, come in contact with eight steel bars, four on
each side of the machine, marked p, p, p, p, in the elevation, Figure 2. The
elasticity of these bars is to overcome the adhesion; and the exhausting
pump e will return the pistons and compressing plate to their original position
on the admission of air through a valve in the compressing plate; the handle f
of the hand gear is now to be reversed, which will bring out the sliding frame
containing the peats, which are shewn under compression, and the other
sliding frame m, already described, being refilled, will pass under the compress-
ing plate. This having being done, the cocks h will be returned, and the
highly compressed air in the air vessel g will force the water that has been
pumped into it by the pump d to the cylinders 1, 1, 1, 1, and thus exert not

page_text: only force enough to compress the peat, but to bend the springs or steel bars,
that they in their reaction, when the machine is reversed, may overcome the
adhesion between the compressing plate and the peat.
The second sliding frame m being now out, the handle n is to be withdrawn,
the frame will then swing upon its centres, the railway carriage being in the
position to receive the compressed peats, the sliding frame will be emptied as
before. Figure 3 is a plan of the sliding frames or drawers, shewing the
manner of connecting them together by a centre piece q, which admits of the
one frame or drawer being turned over while the other is at rest, and thereby
offering great facility to the operation of compressing the peat.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 show the parts on a larger scale; but in this case the
compressing plate is only worked by two hydraulic cylinders in place of four,
as is the case in the other Figures; but whatever be the number, the same
The drawers or
system of construction of the parts is to be observed.
frames which receive the peat are of a quadrangular form, and of iron, and
they slide easily yet fit closely at the sides in the frame of the hydraulic
machine; and the bed of the bydraulic press is perforated with fine or very
small holes; the bottom of the drawers or frames being closed with a layer
of horsehair cloth, and there is a layer of close linen or cotton fabric between
the hair cloth and the peat in the frames; by this arrangement the peat
will be prevented filtering away with the water which is pressed out
therefrom in a downward direction; and in order to prevent the peat passing
upwards through the preesing plate, and yet have the advantage of allowing
the water to run off in an upward direction, the pressing plate has a series of
holes, as is very clearly shown in the enlarged sectional views, Figures 4 and 5,
and the under plan view, Figure 6; and these holes are filled up with wood,
by preference with beach wood, with the grain vertical; by this arangement
the water can pass up through the wood and run off in grooves formed between
the different plates or surfaces which compose the pressing plate, and the
water is run off beyond the frames by projecting gutters, as is shown in the
Drawing. The pressing plate consists of two surfaces of iron and one of
wood, which are bound to each other; and there is a valve which allows air to
pass between the under side of the pressing plate and the peat at the time the
pressing plate is being raised; the valve being closed when the peat is under
pressure.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I lay no claim to any of
the parts herein described, other than is hereafter, particularly pointed out,
neither do I confine myself to the means shown and described of obtaining

page_text: the requisite pressure, so long as my Invention be retained; and what I
claim is,-
First, the mode of combining two frames, drawers, or vessels, as above.
described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of applying wood to the pressing plate as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Robert Drummond, Lord Wil-
loughby de Eresby, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seven-
teenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and forty