IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RE-BURNING ANIMAL CHARCOAL
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Carey and William Morgan Pierce, of the
Animal Charcoal Works, East Ham, in the County of Essex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RE-BURNING ANIMAL
CHARCOAL,"
Sealed the 4th February 1862, and dated the 15th August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Carey and
William Morgan Pierce at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 15th August 1861.
We, STEPHEN CAREY and WILLIAM MORGAN PIERCE, of the Animal Charcoal
Works, East Ham, in the County of Essex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RE-BURNING ANIMAL
CHARCOAL," to be as follows:-
The nature of our said Invention consists in making a revolving cylinder or
retort for receiving the charcoal required to be re-burnt of an octagon or other
many sided form, and casting or forming on each of the several longitudinal
inner angles a bevilled fillet or rib, whereby the contents of the cylinder or retort
when in motion may be more readily agitated or spread and more uniformly
burnt than in the ordinary circular cylinder. We also fit or hang a door in or
upon the front plate of the cylinder or retort, so as to facilitate the charging
or discharging the contents; and we sometimes add a hopper at one or both
ends of the cylinder for feeding the said cylinder or retort with the charcoal
required to be re-burnt.

page_text: In order to carry out the object of our Invention we construct a long
cylinder of an octagon or other polygonal form, with ribs bevilled on each side
and formed or cast upon the inner longitudinal angles of the said cylinder or
retort. These ribs run nearly the whole length of the cylinder or retort,
stopping short within a little distance of the ends, in order to receive the inner
plates and door of the front and back ends of the cylinder or retort, and the
said cylinder or retort is built in brickwork and heated by a furnace in the
ordinary way.. A plate is fitted or screwed on or into the front edge of the
cylinder or retort, with an aperture formed therein a little distance from the
outer edge at the top, and down to the inner edge of the cylinder or retort at
the bottom, and a double door or flap hung or fitted therein, a sight hole
being made over the door or flap to give a view of the contents when burning.
A plate is also fitted or screwed on or into the back edge of the cylinder or
retort, and another plate fitted a short distance within, the space between
being filled up with brickwork. A hollow trunion or spindle is cast or fitted
on the inner plate of the cylinder or retort, through which a pipe is passed
and turned up inside the cylinder to carry off the gas, vapour, or steam
generated during the process of re-burning; the pipe is carried into flues to the
back of the furnace, or conveyed away and connected with the main flue into
the chimney or under the stoke hole of the furnace. At each end of the
cylinder or retort a ring or pulley wheel is fitted or keyed on to the outside to
receive an endless chain running round the same, and over an upper and
smaller pulley wheel fixed at the top. These pulley wheels carry the cylinder
and give it motion. The two upper pulleys are connected together by a shaft
running from front to back over the top, and are set in motion by bands or
other ordinary means worked by the steam or other power used. A large
iron plate with circular hole in the centre, made large enough to allow the
cylinder or retort to revolve therein, is fixed in front of the brickwork, and
another at the back; these plates are tied together with nut and screw rods or
bolts and back plates, and carry the plummer blocks at the top for receiving
and bearing the ends of the upper shaft. Instead of suspending the cylinder
or retort by chains and pulleys, as herein described, we would sometimes cast
or fit a trunion or spindle on to the inner plate at each end of the cylinder or
retort, and pass a pipe through it, as before described, to carry off the gas,
vapour, or steam generated therein. The said trunion or spindle may be,
supported in any ordinary manner, and set in motion by a toothed or serated
wheel keyed or fitted thereon, and worked by a pall or lever attached to an
eccentric fixed on the shaft conveying the power.
The pipe or pipes for conveying away the gas, vapour, or steam from the

page_text: inside of the cylinder or retort may sometimes be constructed to dip into a
cistern or reservoir of water, and carried away from thence through flues or
into the stoke hole, as before described.
Another of our improvements consists in forming a hopper to supply the
cylinder or retort with the charcoal to be re-burnt at one or both ends of the
cylinder or retort, with a pipe connected therewith to pass through the centre
hole or trunion, with a valve or slide therein to open or shut when required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Stephen Carey and William Morgan Pierce in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, STEPHEN
CAREY and WILLIAM MORGAN PIERCE, of the Animal Charcoal Works, East
Ham, in the County of Essex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by IIer Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Stephen Carey and William Morgan Pierce, Her special licence
that we, the said Stephen Carey and William Morgan Pierce, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Stephen Carey
and William Morgan Pierce, our 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 RE-BURNING ANIMAL CHARCOAL,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Stephen Carey and William
Morgan Pierce, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 we, the said Stephen Carey and William Morgan
Pierce, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
The nature of our said Invention consists in making a revolving cylinder or
retort for receiving the charcoal required to be re-burnt of an octagon or other
many sided form, and casting or forming on each of the several longitudinal
angles a bevilled fillet or rib, whereby the contents of the cylinder or retort
when in motion may be readily agitated or spread, and more uniformly burnt
than in the ordinary circular cylinder. We also fit or hang the front end of
the said cylinder or retort, or we sometimes hang or fit a door in or upon the
front plate of the said cylinder or retort, so as to facilitate the charging or
discharging of the contents.
In order that our Invention may be fully understood we have hereunto
annexed the several Figures shown in the Drawings, with figures and letters
of reference, the same letters indicating corresponding parts throughout the
several Figures.
The following is a description of the several Figures:-
Fig. 1, front elevation of one set of the apparatus as set in brick and iron-
work;
2, back elevation of the same;
"
""
3, transverse section of the same;
"
4, longitudinal section of the same.
(These Drawings show one set of several sets of apparatus set side by side.)
DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL PARTS.
A, A', brickwork to enclose and support the apparatus; B, tile floor over
the top; C, C, iron breast plates; D, D', buck staves; E, E', bolt heads and
nut and screw bolt rods to tie in iron breast plates; F, F, the revolving
cylinder or retort; I, sight hole; J, inner plate stopping against angle fillets;
K, K', double door or flap hinged to front plate; L, fastenings to secure door
when closed; M, nut and screw bolts, enclosed in tubing, to connect inner and
outer plates of door; N, link to receive hook at end of chain used to raise and
lower the lid or door; O, back plate screwed or fitted over back end of retort;
P, inner plate stopping against fillets; Q, Q', space between inner and outer
plates; R, pipe or tube at back of retort, with aperture R¹ near the top for
carrying off the foul gas, steam, or vapour; S, outside pipe connected with
ditto to carry the said gas, steam, or vapour into the chest and flues under;
S, brick chest covered with iron plate; T, T', revolving rims fitted or keyed
on to ends of the retort to form pulley wheels; U, U', upper pulley wheels;
V, V, endless chains passing over and around upper and lower pulley wheels;

page_text: W, W', grooves on edges of pulley wheels molded or formed to bed or receive
the endless chains; Y, Y', loose sheet iron plates or shields fitted round retort
and made to revolve with same; Z, furnace. a, furnace bars; b, dead plate;
c, fire-brick lump; d, furnace door and frame; e, perforations through door;
f, fire-brick arch with perforations f¹ over furnace (shown by dotted lines in
transverse section Fig. 3); g, ash-pit made to hold water; h, transverse shaft
to connect and work the upper pulleys; i, cog wheel keyed or fitted on to
ditto, plummer blocks to carry shaft; k, k, ledges and brackets top of
breast plates to carry plummer blocks; 1, longitudinal shaft; m, plummer
blocks to support ditto; n, longitudinal iron strap and bolts to hold down and
steady the plummer blocks and shaft; o, iron straps round plummer blocks;
.P, endless worm or screw fitted on longitudinal shaft to work cog wheel;
q, clutch and lever to put machinery in and out of gear; r, brickwork to
enclose and support machinery; s, level of pavement; t, t', centre lines
between each set of apparatus.
In order to carry out the object of our Invention we construct a long
cylinder or retort F, of an octagon or other polygonal form, with ribs or fillets
G bevilled on each side, and formed or cast upon the inner longitudinal angles
of the said cylinder or retort; these ribs run nearly the whole length of the
cylinder or retort, stopping short within a little distance of the ends of the
same in order to receive the inner plates J and P of the front and back ends
of the cylinder or retort, and the two lower ribs are made shorter in front
near the door to facilitate the discharge of the contents. The said cylinder
or retort is built in brickwork and heated by a furnace Z, as shown in
Drawings, or by any other ordinary means. A plate H is fitted or screwed on
or into the front edge of the cylinder or retort, or hinged at the top, and
sometimes with an aperture K' formed therein a little distance from the top
and down to the bottom of the same, and a double door or flap K. is fitted or
hung thereon, a sight hole I being made in the outer plate to view the
contents whilst burning. An iron plate o is also fitted on or into the back
edge of the cylinder or retort, and another plate P is fitted a short distance
within the same. A hollow trunion or spindle P. is formed or cast on the
inner plate P, through which a pipe or tube R is passed and turned up inside
the cylinder, with an aperture R' near the top, for the purpose of carrying off
the gas, steam, or vapour generated in the cylinder into the box s below, and
by flues into the main chimney. At each end of the cylinder or retort a ring
or pulley wheel T, T¹, is fitted or keyed on to the outside of the same, and
formed with grooves W, W¹, to receive an endless chain V, V; the said chain
passes round the same and over an upper and smaller pulley wheel U, U¹,

page_text: fixed over each; these pulley wheels carry the cylinder or retort and give it
motion. The two upper pulleys are connected together by a transverse shaft h
running from front to back over the top, and are set in motion by an endless
worm or screw p keyed or fitted on to the longitudinal shaft 7, and made to
work into the cog wheel i fitted or keyed on to the said transverse shaft; a
clutch q with lever handle q' is fitted by the said of the worm to put the
machinery in and out of gear. The machinery is set in motion by cog wheels,
bands, or other ordinary means worked by steam or other ordinary power.
The whole of the apparatus is set in brickwork A, with arch over and
furnace Zunder, as shown in the Drawings, or in any other ordinary manner.
An iron breast plate C with circular hole in centre made large enough to
allow the cylinder or retort to revolve therein, is fixed in front of the brick-
work, and another C¹ at the back; these plates are secured together by
vertical buck staves D, D', with nut and screw rods E, E, running all through
to connect the same. A shelf or ledge supported by brackets K is cast or
formed at the top of each breast plate, turning inwards to support the plummer
blocks j, j, of the transverse shaft h.
Instead of suspending the cylinder or retort by chains and pulleys, as herein
described, we would sometimes cast-or-fit a trunion or spindle to one or both
of the inner plates of the cylinder or retort, and carry the same thereby; the
said trunion or spindle would be sometimes used at the back of the cylinder,
and sometimes at the front, and sometimes to both back and front. The said
trunion or spindle would run through the outer plates and be carried by a
journal outside, and supported by a bearer or other ordinary means. When
the said trunion or spindle is fitted at the back end of the cylinder only, the
cylinder would be worked by the pulleys and chain attached to the front end
of the cylinder, as herein-before described, or it would sometimes be worked
by a serated or ratchet wheel fitted or keyed on to the said trunion or spindle,
and worked by palls and levers, or in any other ordinary manner; and the
said trunion or spindle when used at the back end of the cylinder would be
made hollow for the pipe R to pass through and carry away the gas, vapour,
or steam generated in the cylinder, and the pipe s would be fitted or socketted
on to the said pipe in the usual manner. When the said trundle or spindle is
used at the back end we would rebate the edge of the outer plate, so as to fit
or house the same into the cylinder, and thereby take off the strain or bearing
from the screws that fasten the said plate to the end of the cylinder, and in
order to retain the heats at the back end of the said cylinder when used with
the trunion or spindle, we would sometimes fit or form a plate, cap, or
covering, secured by screws or buttons to the breast plate to cover over the

page_text: whole end of the cylinder, leaving a hole where necessary for the pipe s to pass
through.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we would have it understood that we
make no claim to the several parts above described when taken separately;
but what we claim is,-
First, the general arrangement and combination of parts forming the appa-
ratus, and the manner of setting and working the same, as herein set forth and
described.
Second, the general arrangement and combination of parts forming the
octangular or other polygonal cylinder or retort, as herein set forth and
described.
Third, the general arrangement and combination of parts forming the
bevilled longitudinal ribs or fillets cast or formed on the inuer angles of the
said cylinder or retort, as herein set forth and described.
Fourth, the general arrangement and combination of parts forming the
method of working the longitudinal shaft fixed over the top of the said cylinder
or retort, as herein set forth and described.
Sixth, the general arrangement and combination of parts forming the
method of bearing and working the back end of the cylinder by means of a
trunion or spindle, and of the plate, cap, or covering to keep in the heats over
the back end of the said cylinder or retort, as herein set forth and described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Stephen Carey and William Morgan
Pierce, have hereunto set their hands and seals, this Fourteenth day
of February One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
STEPHEN CAREY.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM MORGAN PIERCE. (L.S.)
HENRY LAXTON, Patent Agent,
19, Arundel Street, Strand.