Improvements in Apparatus for Loading Vessels with Coal, Coke, or other Material.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Oct., 1886.
Complete Left, 6th Ju.y, 1887]
Complete Accepted, 9th Aug., 1887.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Loading Vessels with Coal, Coke,
or other Material.
We Sir WILLIAM THOMAS LEWIS of the Mardy Aberdare in the County of
Glamorgan Civil Engineer and CHARLES LAFAYETTE HUNTER of 205 Newport Road,
Roath, Cardiff Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of the Invention is to provide improved means for loading coal coke or
other material into vessels from railway wagons.
For this purpose the railway wagon conveying the material is after being brought
over an ordinary turntable on to a tip up machine caused by the tip up machine to
discharge the material into a box or hopper in which it can be raised or lowered to
any desired height.
When the box or hopper has been brought to the desired level its contents are
discharged into a long horizontal trough or hopper the floor of which is formed of an
endless travelling chain.
By the movement of the floor the material is conveyed along the hopper and can be
discharged from it at any desired point in its length by the opening of a door in the
side of the hopper and by placing an inclined stop or switch across the hopper to
direct the material through the opening so made. The material can thus be directed
in a continuous stream on to an inclined shoot down which it slides into the vessel to
be loaded. There may be a series of shoots at distances apart say of 20 feet or more
or less as may be deemed advisable on to any one or other of which the material may
be simultaneously discharged from the trough or hopper.
A shoot also is provided down which the material may be discharged direct from
the elevating box without being conveyed along the trough or hopper.
The carrying trough or hopper is arranged to be raised or lowered by hydraulic or
other power to bring it to any desired level. The shoots also into which it discharges
are likewise arranged to be raised or lowered.
Hydraulic or other power can also be used for raising the elevating box.

page_text: The elevating box may be formed with an inclined back on to which the material
is discharged from the railway wagon so that the material may be allowed to descend
into the box with an easy flow to avoid breakage.
The door or other opening through which the material is discharged from the box
into the long trough or hopper may be at the front of the box opposite to this inclined
back or at the bottom of the box.
Below the bottom of the carrying trough or hopper, a trough may be placed into
which any small coal or dust dropping through the interstices of the travelling floor
may be received and by an Archimedean screw or otherwise be discharged at any
desired point or points and conveyed away into wagons or otherwise.
By the means above described coal can be loaded into a vessel in practically a
continuous stream simultaneously at several points thereby avoiding breakage and
allowing of the shoots being made narrower and lighter than is now practicable.
By avoiding also the lifting of the heavy railway trucks bringing the material less
weight has to be lifted than is now the case and time also is saved as the truck when
emptied can be at once run back on to the turntable and conveyed away and another
full one brought into position ready to be emptied into the elevating box so soon as
the box has been lowered into position to receive a fresh load.
In place however of the coal or material being first tipped from the wagon into an
elevating box and then raised into this box-the wagon might be itself lifted by the
elevating machinery and the coal or material tipped from it direct into the carrying-
hopper.
In place also of using fixed shoots to convey the coat or material from this hopper
the shoots may be moveable to and fro horizontally so that the coal may be delivered
at any desired point.
1000
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Loading Vessels with Coal, Coke,
or other Material.
We, Sir WILLIAM THOMAS LEWIS of the Mardy Aberdare in the County of
Glamorgan Civil Engineer and CHARLES LAFAYETTE HUNTER of 205 Newport Road
Roath, Cardiff, 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 invention is to provide improved means for loading coal coke or
other material into vessels fron railway wagons.
For this purpose the railway wagon conveying the material is after being brought
over an ordinary turntable on to a tip up machine caused by the tip up machine to
discharge the material into a box or hopper in which it can be raised or lowered to
any desired height.
When the box or hopper has been brought to the desired level its contents are
discharged into a long horizontal trough or hopper the floor of which is formed of an
endless travelling chain.
By the movement of the floor the material is conveyed along the hopper and can be
discharged from it at any desired point in its length by the opening of a door in the
side of the hopper and by placing an inclined stop or switch across the hopper to
direct the material through the opening so made. The material can thus be directed
in a continuous stream on to an inclined shoot down which it slides into the vessel to
he loaded. There may be a series of shoots at distances apart say of 20 feet or more
or less as may be deemed advisable on to any one or other of which the material may
be simultaneously discharged from the trough or hopper.
A shoot also is provided down which the material may be discharged direct from
the elevating box without being conveyed along the trough or hopper.
The carrying trough or hopper is arranged to be raised or lowered by hydraulic or
other power to bring it to any desired level. The shoots also into which it discharges
are likewise arranged to be raised or lowered.
Hydraulic or other power can also be used for raising the elevating box.
The elevating box may be formed with an inclined back on to which the material is
discharged from the railway wagon so that the material may be allowed to descend
into the box with an easy flow to avoid breakage.
The door or other opening through which the material is discharged from the box
into the long trough or hopper may be at the front of the box opposite to this inclined
back or at the bottom of the box.
Below the bottom of the carrying trough or hopper, a trough may be placed into
which any small coal or dust dropping through the interstices of the travelling floor
may be received and by an Archimedean screw or otherwise be discharged at any
desired point or points and conveyed away into wagons or otherwise.
By the means above described coal can be loaded into a vessel in practically a
continuous stream simultaneously at several points thereby avoiding breakage and
allowing of the shoots being made narrower and lighter than is now practicable.

page_text: By avoiding also the lifting of the heavy railway trucks bringing the material less
weight has to be lifted than is now the case and time also is saved as the truck when
emptied can be at once run back on to the turntable and conveyed away and another
full one brought into position ready to be emptied into the elevating box so soon as
the box has been lowered into position to receive a fresh load.
In place however of the coal or material being first tipped from the wagon into an
elevating box and then raised into this box the wagon might be itself lifted by the
elevating machinery and the coal or material tipped from it direct into the carrying
hopper.
In place also of using fixed shoots to convey the coal or material away from this
hopper the shoots may be moveable to and fro horizontally so that the coal may be
delivered at any desired point.
Figure 1 is a plan view of apparatus arranged as above described.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the carrying trough.
Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line A, B Figure 1 and Figure 4 a vertical
section on the line CD.
A is a turntable by means of which the trucks can be turned end for end so that
whichever end of the truck may be foremost when it is brought up to the apparatus
to be emptied the truck can always be brought into proper position for emptying with
its door end foremost. B is an ordinary hydraulic tip up machine. C is a box or
hopper into which the coal or material is tipped from the truck. D is a lifting chain
by which the box can be raised and lowered.
E is the long horizontal trough within which is an endless travelling chain forming
a travelling floor.
The trough can he raised or lowered between vertical pillars F either by lifting
chains as shewn or in other suitable way and can be retained at any desired elevation.
Suitable provision is made for giving a continuous movement to the travelling floor
at whatever height the trough may be held. G are shoots hinged to short shoots G¹
which project at intervals from the side of the trough-the outer ends of the shoots G
can be raised or lowered by chains as shewn to bring them to any desired slope.
The short shoots G' can be permanently fixed to the trough or can be moveable so
that they may be secured to it at any point of its length.
When the box C is to be filled it is lowered into the position shewn at Figure 4 and
a truck is then tilted by the tip up mechanism to discharge its contents into the box.
Afterwards the box is raised and the coal discharged from it into the trough E and is
conveyed along the trough by the travelling bottom. The door of the box is hinged
and retained by a lever catch which can be released by an attendant or the release of
the catch might be effected automatically. When desired some or all of the coal as it
is discharged from the box C may by opening a door in the side of the trough be
allowed to pass direct down one of the shoots G which is immediately opposite to the
box. This way of delivering coal into a vessel night be used alone without the
trough and travelling bottom but we prefer to use it in conjunction therewith as shewn
in the drawing.
The coal carried onwards along the trough by the travelling bottom can be dis-
charged into any of the shoots G by opening doors in the sides of the trough just at
the top of any of the shoots down which coal is to be discharged. By inclining the
doors more or less inwards into the shoots the doors may be made to sweep more or
less coal into each shoot.
The first door would only require to be opened to a slight extent-the next to a
greater extent and so on.
Or in place of making the doors in the sides of the hopper also act as deflecting
plates or switches as above described deflecting plates or switches which may be
somewhat curved as shewn by the dotted lines K Figure 1 may be made to clip over
the top of the trough or be carried above the top of the trough in such a manner that
they can be raised or lowered as required by screws.
His a fixed trough below the travelling floor of the trough E-any small coal
dropping through the travelling floor is caught in this fixed trough and is conveyed

page_text: along it by a revolving screw I and discharged at either end of the trough as may be
convenient.
In the first place the wagon is tipped on the level of the railway upon which it was
conveyed and is there discharged immediately into the box C, this dispenses entirely
with having to lift the weight of the wagon and a heavy cradle upon which it stands
in addition to the load which is a very considerable item of several tons, against
which only the weight of the light wrought iron or steel box has to be considered
this means a great saving when it is considered that this weight is dealt with often
considerably over 200 times in 24 hours which would mean probably nearly
1500 tons lifted through an average space of from 20 to 30 feet each lift-there is
also a considerable saving in time nearly 100 per cent consequently a proportionately
quick despatch is obtained in loading as the moment the wagon is tipped into the
box C the wagon can be hauled back by the same means mechanical or otherwise to
the empty road and a full one brought on ready by the time the said box has
descended to receive the load-whereas in the present mode in practice the wagon
would only have descended to the level of the rails at that moment.
In the second place there will be less breakage of the materials put on board the
vessels than in the old method when the whole contents of the wagon is tipped into a
large and lengthy shoot say up to over 20 feet long at an acute angle, whereas by this
invention the load is tipped into the box (where it dwells to receive the whole load
deposited and every particle emptied into it reduces the fall of the remainder which is
to follow and when the coal is discharged from the box into the carrying hopper it
can be regulated to any extent it may be desired by the opening of the box door the
coal or other material to be shipped is then conveyed by the travelling floor and
passed down as already stated through any one or more shoots at an easy pace as the
feed can be continuous when in work and these shoots may be very much narrower
than the ones now generally adopted.
In the third place the great difficulty and drawback experienced by shippers when
loading with fixed tips or cranes is overcome. With fixed tips or cranes a serious
loss of time is entailed owing to the vessels having to be shifted to the tip to suit each
hatchway as owing to the great variation in distances between the hatches it is hardly
on record that two of the fixed tips can be brought to load the same vessel at the
same time but by this invention the loading can readily be applied to either hatch by
merely dropping a switch into the carrying hopper whilst the position of the hoist and
box C etc. is not in any way interfered with."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :-
1. In apparatus for loading vessels with coal coke or other material the use of a
trough with travelling bottom parallel with quay wall or pier or jetty and with shoots
inclining downwards from such trough to convey coal from it to the hold of a vessel
substantially as described.
2. The combination of the turntable-the tip up, the box or hopper, the trough
with travelling bottom, mechanism for lifting the box and discharging into the trough
and shoots for conveying the coal downwards from the trough to the holds of vessels.
3. The combination of the turntable the tip up the box or hopper and lifting
mechanism for raising the box and discharging its contents into a hopper at the top
of an inclined shoot.
DAL 1
CT11007