A Machine for Making Peat Blocks or Briquettes to be used as Fire Lighters.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1899 -Accepted, 8th Apr., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Machine for Making Peat Blocks or Briquettes to be used as
Fire Lighters.
I, JOSEPH AHRENS, of 41, Bremerstrasse, Berlin, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, 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 relates to a machine for making peat blocks or briquettes which
differs from machines such as hitherto constructed in as much as the peat blocks
or pieces which were subjected to different treatments during a given time are
not as heretofore guided along a uniform rectangular and horizontal path, but
after having been cut in their breadth and width they are fed into the recesses,
notches, or openings of an intermittently rotating drum in order to be fed onward
by the latter during the remaining intervals of work; after which they are, not
provided with a perforator for the purpose of boring holes throughout the surface
of the peat as was hitherto practised, but the perforators are now formed into
two groups alternately set in motion one group opposite the other.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 shows such a machine partly in side view
and partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a vertical
section on line A, A, of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the drum taking
up the pieces or blocks of peat and of the tools operating thereon.
The pieces or blocks of peat to be operated upon are placed or piled in super-
posed order in a hopper in order to be introduced into the machine in such a
manner as to rest on a slide or drawer b, the forward motion of which brings the
blocks successively on to the left hand side to a pair of circular saws. A to and fro
motion is imparted to this sliding drawer b by a lever e fulcrumed at d and the
upper free end of which is connected at y with the drawer b by a connecting rod f.
In the slotted part of the lever e is arranged a pin i mounted on a draw rod k
carried in any suitable manner by the frame of the machine and shifted to the
right hand side by a tappet m fixed to the shaft for the purpose of shifting the
lever e from the position shown in Fig. 1 on to the right hand side and conse-
quently of shifting likewise to the same side the said sliding drawer b. The
motion of this drawer in order to bring the same into the position shown in Fig. 1
is due to the action of another tappet o fixed on the shaft n and bearing against
a pin or roller p so as to cause the lever e to oscillate towards the left hand side.
As soon therefore as the drawer has moved on to the left hand side into the
position shown in Fig. 1 it arrives with the peat block which it carries between
the pair of circular saws c. These saws are mounted on a common axis set in
motion by means of bevel gearr driven by a driving pulley s mounted on the
shaft t.
After the above mentioned peat block has arrived against this pair of circular
saws c it is cut along its width when the drawer b is shifted on to its right hand
position by the mechanism aforesaid in such a manner that the opening of the
drawer 6 arrives under the hopper a and receives the second peat block wherewith

page_text: it is now moved again to the left hand side between the pair of circular saws c
aforesaid and the first peat block is fed forward until it arrives between a pair
of band saws u wherein a piece is cut off out of the thickness of the first peat
block. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this pair of band saws u consists of two straight
saw blades to which a to and fro motion is imparted by the dove-tailed sliding
bars V. Both the latter are connected to a rod causing a motion to be imparted
to the pair of saws u by means of an eccentric a¹ mounted on the shaft t¹. It is
obvious that these straight saws could be replaced as in the example aforesaid by
two circular saws." While a piece of the thickness of the first peat block is thus
shorn off between this pair of saws u, the same block gradually reaches a drum 6¹
which as shown in Fig. 4 is provided with a number of notches or recesses c¹ (six
or eight of these notches being provided by way of example) the thickness of which
corresponds to that of the peat blocks. This drum 6' is mounted on the shaft d¹
which is carried by suitable bearings secured to the frame of the machine. As
soon as the peat block has arrived at the opening cl of the drum-suitably adjusted
for this purpose it is placed under the group of vertical perforators set in rotation
in any suitable manner by the driving pulley e¹. These perforators f¹ are carried
by a common bearing piece or rack upon which bears a double lever i fulcrumed
at h¹ and connected-by its free end-to a lever arm m¹ fulcrumed at l¹ by means
of a connecting or draw rod . The arm m¹ is actuated by a tappet n¹ mounted
on the shaft and which when rotating in a. suitable direction raises the lever m¹
and thereby shifts by means of the rod the lever ¹ in such a manner as to
cause its other end to depress the rack gl with the perforators fl and drive the
latter through the peat block placed thereunder, thus providing them with
vertical perforations. As soon as the perforators fi have pierced the peat block
the double lever o¹ is shifted by a suitable tappet n mounted on the shaft --in the
same manner as the lever had been shifted previously-thus causing the plate p
to sink. This plate is provided with a number of rods guided within the hollow
cylindrical perforators f¹ and the descent of which--as they follow the plate p¹-
drive the pieces of peat out of the perforators so as to leave the latter free, i.e. un-
clogged. To prevent clogging of the holes thus formed in the peat block it is
advisable to so perforate the rum 61 that the refuse from the boring operation
shall fall inside the said dá in order to be removed or discharged from the
side thereof. After the pe orators have been brought back into their upward
original position in consequence of the further rotation of the tappet n³, the
drum is rotated round a portion of a revolution further on in such a manner
that a free opening c¹ comes in the way of the peat block and the opening c¹ pro-
vided with the perforated peat block arrives in front of another group of
perforators which are horizontal. For this purpose motion is imparted to the
drum by a pawl q' which moves in any suitable manner and is raised by an arm
or tappet mounted on the shaft s¹ whereby the tension spring 3 compels the
pawl to remain in constant gear with the toothed wheel u¹. Of the horizontal
perforators v¹, and which are in a straight line opposite one another-the left
hand group of perforators travelling from the left to the right hand
side move first in such a manner that their points enter the peat block
a distance equal to half its length, this motion being carried out by
the shaft carrying eccentrically a draw rod a², the front end of
which engages with a lever fulcrumed at d. This lever 62 is con-
nected by a link to the carrier f2 of the group of perforators in such a
manner that the lever 62 oscillates forward and backward on the fulcrum d2 and
thus drives the perforators q-set in rotation by the pulley 92 keyed on the
shaft into the peat block or out of the same.
After the peat block has been bored in the manner above described, over the
half portion situated between the left and the right hand side of the travel, the
perforators recede while the perforators w move forward. Similarly to the
perforators, the latter are caused to oscillate forward and backward by a lever 62-
connected by a link e to the said perforators w¹; this oscillation has for its purpose

page_text: to complete the horizontal perforations commenced by the perforators ¹. The
Fever 62 is not caused to oscillate by an eccentric but by a cam path 22 formed in
the cylinder mounted on the shaft s¹.
After the perforators ¹ and we have left the perforations formed by them and
have returned to their normal position a forward impulse is imparted by the
pawl to the drum b¹, so that the peat block treated in the manner above
described is now conveyed on to an arrangement or set of saws, this set of saws
consists of six circular saws, the two outermost 12 of which serve to cut the peat
block in the direction of its length while the shortest m² serve to cut up the peat
block and to permit the ready severance of the various parts thereof. For this
purpose the drum b¹ is provided upon its periphery with corresponding grooves n².
As the drum b still continues to rotate onward, the peat blocks dropped succes-
sively from the hopper a on to the drawer 6 are subjected in successive order to
the treatment above set forth while the peat block first treated is prevented from
falling out by the guard or apron 03, Fig. 4, but is conveyed to a discharge opening
out of which it is allowed to fall as soon as the corresponding openings c of the
drum arrives below the axis d in a vertical plane therewith; the shaft s
driving the perforators w₁ is set in motion by bevel gearing p² one of the bevel
wheels of which is keyed on the shaft set in rotation by the shaft s-driven
by the pulley by means of a helicoidal or worm gear 2.
It is not absolutely necessary that motion should be imparted to the various
working parts by the lever mechanism above described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, as any other lever mechanism may be used for this
purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. A machine for treating peat blocks or briquettes characterized by the feeding
into the notches of a drum b', rotating by successive stages, of a number of peat
blocks cut along their breadth and thickness, in order to be further conveyed by
the said drum to vertical perforators f', to horizontal perforators and w and
finally to a set of saws and m² which cut these peat blocks lengthwise and pre-
pare them for the ready severance of their various parts.
2. In machines such as above claimed, the arrangement in two groups and w¹
of the horizontal perforators used to perforate the peat blocks throughout their
length, arranged one opposite to the other and set alternately in motion.
Dated this 24th day of February 1899.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agents for the Applicant.