Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Artificial or Patent Fuel,
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Mar., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 28th Jan., 1997-Accepted, 27th Mar., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Artificial or
Patent Fuel,
I, HERBERT CHARLES BATH FORESTER of Penybryn, Sketty, near Swansea,
South Wales, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its object to provide apparatus of a novel and special
character for use in the manufacture of artificial fuel or so-called patent fuel.
My present invention is as follows:-
I use a suitable retort or chamber adapted to be heatel and capable of bearing
heat (and also if required capable of resisting internal pressure) advantageously a
cylindrical chamber (to which the fuel material is fed in any suitable manner) and
mounted or supported either horizontally vertically or in any other suitable position
but for the sake of example I will describe my invention as carried out with such
chamber horizontally mounted on suitable supports.
Within this chamber (which I will term the "heated chamber," I arrange a
suitable conveyor for instance in the form of an Archimedean screw or screws or
worm or equivalent so that the material or materials (for forming the artificial fuel)
fed into said chamber at or near one end thereof will be gradually "conveyed" or
caused to travel to the outlet or outlets from said chamber which outlet or outlets
may advantageously be at or near the opposite end of said chamber.
This "conveyor" (Archimedean screw etc.) is caused to revolve by any suitable
mechanism for instance by a shaft fixed thereon passing through the end of the
chamber (advantageously through a stuffing box or other suitable arrangement for
making a tight joint where it is desired to keep the aforesaid chamber closed
tightly) and said shaft revolved by a pulley and belt thereon operated from any
convenient source of power or in any other suitable manner at any suitable speed to
deliver the material at the outlet from said chamber.
Instead of the conveyor being formed of au Archimedean screw as aforesaid any
other suitable conveyor or means may be employed for causing the material
(which it is desired to treat in this chamber) to be passed along said heated
chamber from the inlet to the outlet aforesaid.
In a convenient position advantageously adjacent to the outlet or outlets from
said heated chamber and in connection with said outlet I arrange or mount a
suitable briquette press or apparatus for pressing artificial or so-called patent fuel
into a solid form that is either into blocks cubes or other suitable shape.
For instance I may advantageously combine and arrange with my aforesaid
heated chamber & conveyor therein a press or pressing machine of the character
for which I am concurrently herewith making separate Application for Patent viz.:
No. 6852 of 1896.
Where it is desired that no escape of gases or volatile matter shall take place
from said chamber or pressing apparatus from the time when the material is fed to
the aforesaid heated chamber to the time when it exudes or is forced out of the press
pressed in the solid form I arrange and construct the apparatus according to my
present invention as follows:-
The arrangement for feeding into the heated chamber the material to form the

page_text: artificial fuel is such that escape of the gases or volatile matters is very small or
altogether prevented.
For this purpose I may use any suitable means for instance a circular valve
adapted to be revolved or reciprocated and having a cavity or recess therein which
cavity alternately coincides with the outlet from the feed hopper or other suitable
source of supply of the material and with the inlet or inlets into the aforesaid
heated chamber in such manner that while coinciding with the former and during
its movement it cuts off all connection with the interior of the said heated.chamber
until said cavity has been moved round into coincidence with the aforesaid inlet or
inlets into said chamber at which moment it has then cut off all communication
with the hopper or exterior atmosphere so that the material can thus be fed
(in regulated quantities) into the interior of the said heated chamber for instance
this valve may be caused to revolve by a spur wheel on the shaft on which this
valve is mounted the said spur wheel gearing with another toothed wheel fixed on
the aforesaid shaft which rotates the conveyor-the relative speeds of the valve
and the conveyor respectively being such that the former cannot feed the material
to the conveyor quicker than the latter is capable of carrying it away.
Instead of the foregoing rotary valve a slide valve with a cavity therein may be
arranged to act in a similar manner or if desired two or more of the aforesaid
valves or equivalents may be arranged to feed the material into the heated
chamber.
The outlet or outlets from the heated chamber communicate only with the inlet or
inlets leading into the compressing apparatus and the piston rod or piston rods or ram
or rams of the latter being arranged to pass through suitable stuffing boxes or
equivalent and as the outlet from said compressing apparatus is blocked or completely
closed in a gas-tight manner (or approximately so) by the compressed mass of artificial
fuel in the passage way leading to said ontlet (as described in my aforesaid
concurrent Application for Patent herewith No. 6852 of 1896) consequently it will
be seen that escape of gases or volatile matter from the heated chamber and the
compressing apparatus is prevented (or approximately so) the communication
between the heated chamber and the compressing apparatus being made in any
suitable manner so as to prevent any escape at such point also.
I have found it a convenient arrangement (though I do not limit myself thereto)
to arrange duplicate compressing apparatus in which the plungers or rams are each
actuated by any suitable means such as a two throw crank ou a crank shaft driven
at a suitable speed either directly or indirectly by the same motor or source of
power which operates the conveyor and feeding valve as aforesaid that is to say
the main power is required for the compression and forcing out of the fuel as
aforesaid only moderate power being required (and taken in any convenient manner
from said driving power or from an independent source) for operating the said
conveyor and feeding valve or valves.
The various parts of the apparatus are thus arranged to work relatively to one
another in such manner that a continuous supply of the material is passed into the
heated chamber and delivered thence (for instance by falling by its own gravity or
under the action of the conveyor-or both) into the pressing machine where same
is pressed up and forced out in a convenient core er lengths which may be divided
up into blocks or briquettes of any suitable size.
The desired amount of heat may be applied to the aforesaid heated chamber in
any suitable manner for instance by a steam or hot water jacket or by a furnace or
a Hue or annulus round or partly around said heated chamber through which heat
is conducted from any suitable furnace or the heat may be applied internally in
any suitable manner, or both.
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Artificial or
Patent Fuel.
I, HERBERT CHARLES BATH FORESTER, of Penybryn, Sketty, near Swansea,
South Wales. 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 to provide apparatus of a novel and special
character for use in the manufacture of artificial fuel or so-called "Patent" fuel.
My present invention is as follows:-
I use a suitable retort or chamber adapted to be heated and capable of bearing
heat (and also if required capable of resisting internal pressure) advantageously a
cylindrical chamber (to which the fuel material is fed in any suitable manner) and
mounted or supported either horizontally vertically or in any other suitable
position but for the sake of example I will describe my invention as carried out
with such chamber horizontally mounted on suitable supports.
Within this chamber (which I will term the "heated chamber") I arrange a
suitable conveyor for instance in the form of an Archimedean screw or screws or
worm or series of arms arranged spirally around a shaft or equivalent so that the
material or materials (for forming the artificial fuel) fed into said chamber at or
Dear one end thereof will be gradually "conveyed" or caused to travel to the outlet
or outlets from said chamber which outlet or outlets may advantageously be at or
near the opposite end of said chamber.
This "conveyor" (Archimedean screw etc.) is caused to revolve by any suitable
mechanism for instance by a shaft fixed thereon passing through the end of the
chamber (advantageously through a stuffing box or other suitable arrangement for
making a tight joint where it is desired to keep the aforesaid chamber closed tightly)
and said shaft revolved by a pulley and belt thereon operated from any convenient
source of power or in any other suitable manner at any suitable speed to deliver the
material at the outlet from said chamber.
Instead of the convey or being formed of an Archimedean screw as aforesaid
any other suitable conveyor or means may be employed for causing the material
(which it is desired to treat in this chamber) to be passed along said lieated chamber
from the inlet to the outlet as aforesaid.
In a convenient position in connection with the outlet or outlets from said
heated chamber I arrange or mount a suitable briquette press or apparatus for
pressing artificial or so-called patent fuel into a solid form that is either into blocks,
cubes, or other suitable shape.
For instance I may advantageously combine and arrange with my aforesaid
heated chamber and conveyor therein a press or pressing machine or several presses
of the character for which I am concurrently making another Application for
Patent viz. No. 6852 of 1896 in which a piston or plunger works in a cylinder to
compress the fuel and force same out of an opening at the end of said cylinder
finished and ready for use.
For making artificial fuel where it is desirable that no escape of gases or volatile
matter shall take place from said chamber or pressing apparatus from the time when
the material is fed into the aforesaid heated chamber until it exudes from or leaves
the apparatus or is forced out of the press pressed into the solid form for this
purpose the arrangement for feeding into the heated chamber the material to form
the artificial fuel is such that escape of the gases or volatile matter is very small
or altogether prevented for instance this may be effected by the fuel material being
filled into a V-shaped hopper or other suitable feeding device to such a depth that

page_text: the mass of entering fuel will itself make its own seal to prevent escape of the
volatiles at the feed inlet to said heated chamber or I may use any suitable means
fer effecting this object for instance suitable feeding valve.
I will now proceed to describe my present invention with reference to the
accompanying drawings:-
Fig. 1 is a plan,
Fig. 2 a longitudinal sectional view on line 2-2 Fig. 1, and
Fig. 3 a cross section on line 3-3 Fig. 2 (looking in the direction of the arrow a)
of my said combined retort and press.
a is the heated chamber into which is fed the material to form the artificial fuel.
For the purpose of such feeding I may use any suitable means for instance a
circular valve adapted to be revolved by the toothed wheel c on the spindle of
said valve and having a cavity or recess d therein which cavity alternately coincides
with the bottom opening e' of the feed hopper e or other suitable source of supply
of the material and with the inlet or inlets a¹ into the aforesaid heated
chamber a in such manner that while coinciding with the former and during its
movement it cuts off all connection with the interior of the said heated
chamber a until said cavity has been moved round into coincidence with the
aforesaid inlet or inlets a¹ into said chamber a at which moment it has then cut
off all communication with the hopper e or exterior atmosphere so that the material
enn thus be fed (in regulated quantities) into the interior of the said heated
chamber a for instance this valve b may be caused to revolve by the spur wheel c
on the spindle & on which this valve is mounted the said spur wheel e
gearing with another toothed wheel fixed on the shaft g which rotates the
conveyor which in the case illustrated is an Archimedean screw -the relative
speeds of the valve b and the conveyor à respectively being such that the former
cannot feed the material to the conveyor à quicker than the latter is capable of
carrying it away or quicker than the fuel material can be removed from the heated
chamber a.
Instead of the foregoing rotary valve b a slide valve with a cavity therein
may be arranged to act in a similar manner or if desired two or more of the
aforesaid valves or equivalents may be arranged to feed the material into the
heated chamber a. Or all such valves may be dispensed with and the fuel simply
fed in a mass into the hopper e and thus form its own seal as aforesaid.
The outlet or outlets a from the heated chamber a communicate only with the
inlet or inlets i leading into the respective cylinders j of the compressing apparatus
and the piston rod or ram k of the press (in the case illustrated two such presses are
shown) being arranged to pass through suitable stuffing boxes or equivalent and
as the outlet from each said compressing apparatus is blocked or completely
closed in a gas-tight mauner (or approximately so) by the mass of artificial fuel
compressed in the respective passage-ways leading to said outlet. consequently it
will be seen that escape of gases or volatile matter from the heated chamber
and the compressing apparatus is prevented (or approximately so) the communication
at a' and between the heated chamber a and the compressing apparatus being made
in any suitable mauner so as to prevent any escape of volatiles at such point.
The heated material as it enters the cylinder, is-by the reciprocation of the
ram or plunger k-compressed into a solid mass the end of the cylinder j at the
start being temporarily closed in any suitable manner (as described in my said
Patent No. 6852 of 1896) to cause the mass to be tightly compressed against the
sides of the cylinder and thereafter such closure is removed and the now com-
pressed mass is at each successive strcke of the ram or plunger k thereby caused
to advance along the cylinder and part of said compressed mass thereby exuded or
forced out of the outlet c¹ while at the same time the resistance offered by said
compressed mass (by reason of the friction of same against the inside of said
cylinder) is such as to cause the compression between same and the ram head or
plunger of the fresh material received into the cylinder at each reciprocation of
said plunger k.

page_text: The amount of such resistance may be regulated in any desired manner for
instance same may be increased by prolonging the length of the cylinder or tube i to
any desired extent beyond the limit of movement of the ram or plunger or by
forming the part beyond the ram slightly conical or tapered in any desired
manner or same may be made adjustable or expansible either in section or
otherwise.
9 is a belt pulley on the end of the conveyor shaft g by which the latter is
revolved.
I have found it a convenient arrangement (though I do not limit myself thereto)
to arrange duplicate compressing apparatus such as illustrated in which the plungers
or rams are each actuated by any suitable means such as a two-throw crank on a crank
shaft (not shown) driven at a suitable speed either directly or indirectly by the same
motor or source of power which operates the conveyor h and feeding valve bas
aforesaid or independent power may be used for operating the und einveyor and
feeding valve or valve-.
The various parts of the apparatus are thus arranged to work relatively to one
another in such manner that a continuous supply of the fuel material is passe
into and through the heated chamber a and delivered thence (for instance by
falling by its own gravity or under the action of the conveyor A or both, into the
pressing machine where same is pressed up and forced out in a core or lengths
which may be divided up into blocks or briquettes of any suitable size.
The desired amount of heat may be applied to the aforesaid heated chamber in
any suitable manner for instance by a steam or hot water jacket or by a furnace
or a flue or annulus m round or partly around said heated chamber a as shown
through which heat is conducted from any suitable furnace (not shown) or the
heat may be applied internally (for instance by making the Archimedean screw
hollow and passing steam therethrough) in any suitable mauner, or both.
In the drawings hereunto annexed I have shown the cylinder (or that part of
same in which the ram operates) located in the flue m so as to thereby keep the
said cylinder heated at the point where the fuel material is first compressed but
I do not confine myself to thus heating said cylinder j as I may heat same at such
point if desired in any other suitable manner or if desired I may dispense with
such auxiliary heating altogether and not heat said press at all.
Furthermore I find it very advantageous to arrange a water jacket or coil or
other suitable means (not shown) around the cylinder j at or near the outlet ¹
therefrom or anywhere between the latter and the point where the ram operates
through which (jacket, coil, etc.) cold water is caused to flow or other suitable
means may be employed to keep that part of the cylinder j above referred to
sufficiently cold or coul to thereby cool the fuel before it finally issues from the
Said outlet
The made fuel as it issues from said outlet i¹ may be received or removed in any
other suitable manner.
Fig. 4 shows a modified arrangement in which the fuel material after name has been
heated and passed through the chamber a is then received into a closed intermediate
chamber e (by passing through the outlet a and inlet o into said chamber) in
which. latter stirring arms p radiate from the vertical shaft g driven by the bevel
gear wheel g* on the conveyor shaft 7 gearing with the bevel gear wheel q* on the
said shaft
9.
Two separate pressing cylinders j (and rams k therein respectively) are shown
into which the fuel material is fed through the respective outlets o from said
chamber o leading direct into snid presses-au especial object of this intermediate
vessel o (which may be heated or not as desired) being to obviate any tendency to
irregular feeding of the material into the press while a further object is to provide
a receptacle into which the material can continuously and freely pass from the
heating chamber a and thus prevent the latter becoming blocked or choked with
the fuel material therein.
When using an apparatus entirely closed in or sealed or when a sealed retort.

page_text: only is used according to my present invention I find it advantageous as well as
desirable to provide a safety valve (.e. pressure valve) in connection with said
retoit or apparatus (or more than one such safety valve may be usel) to thus
relieve any undue pressure in said retort or apparatus and thereby obviate any
chance of explosion of or damage to sail appaiatus from any possible excessive
internal pressure arising therein.
As described in my other said Patent No. 6852 of 1896-the press may be
jacketed or otherwise provided with means to heat the sume or otherwise arranged
to be heated at or near the point where the first compression of the fuel takes
place the press may be arranged in any suitable manner to be cooled at or
near the outlet therefrom or other wise suitably arranged to cool the pressed fuel
before same leaves the press or while so doing.
and
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 :-
In the manufacture of artificial or patent fuel :-
1. A closed retort or pug-mill provided with means to heat same and mechanism
in the interior thereof to agitate and pass the fuel material through said retort in
combination and acting in conjunction with a closed-in press adjacent to and in
direct and closed connection with said retort the whole apparatus being so closed
at all points and connections as to prevent any escape of volatiles or vapours even
when under considerable pressure substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described and illustrated.
2. A closed retort or pug-mill adapted to be heated in any suitable manner
provided with means to continuously introduce the fuel material into-and means
to continuously pass same out again from-said retort without permitting escape
of volatiles or vapours from said retort even when under considerable pressure in
combination with mechanism such as hereinbefore specified operating in the
interior of said closed retort to pass the said fuel material through said retort
and simultaneously mix said material substantially as and for the purposes
herein before described.
3. The improved apparatus combined and arranged to act substantially in the
manner and for the purposes herein before described and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3
of the drawings hereunto annexed.
Dated this noth ton of Lan1907
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.