MACHINERY FOR SOLIDIFYING PEAT, COAL, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES OF A LIKE NATURE
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christopher Kingsford, of No. 18, Bucking-
ham Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, fcr
the Invention of "MACHINERY FOR SOLIDIFYING PEAT, COAL, AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES OF A LIKE NATURE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher Kings-
ford at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st October 1852.
I, CHRISTOPHER KINGSFORD, of No. 18, Buckingham Street, Adelphi,
5 in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "MACHINERY FOR SOLIDIFYING PEAT, COAL, AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES OF A LIKE NATURE," to be as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF GRINDING APPARATUSES.
The mill or mills are constructed with a cone, revolving in a fixed
cylinder, having teeth on the surfaces of both cone and cylinder, and
formed of certain curves, whereby the substance to be ground is gra-
dually reduced to a fine powder, with the least amount of friction, and

page_text: at the same time drawn downwards towards the bottom or largest
diametre of the cone, where it is delivered into proper spouts for con-
ducting it to the drying apparatus, hereafter specified, or otherwise; or
the mills are constructed with concentric and eccentric plates, formed
of certain parabolic and other curves, made to revolve in opposite
directions, or with one stationary and the other revolving; and fitted
with teeth, so arranged that the cutting or grinding surfaces shall be at
all times inclined at certain angles to the motion, and fixed at certain
pitched curves, according to the substance to be treated.
DESCRIPTION OF DRYING APPARATUSES.
The apparatus or apparatuses for drying are formed with trays, placed
at a proper incline, and fixed, one over another, in a kiln or chamber
constructed for the purpose, and heated from the bottom with air, gas,
or other means, as shall be found convenient, and inade to shake or
joggle, by means of proper machinery, or of circular plates, constructed
either flat, curved, or conical on the surface, and made to revolve either
concentric or eccentric, in a given direction, or to shake with an eccen-
tric movement, whereby the substance to be dried is continually
traversing over the heated trays or plates, and is conducted, by proper
channels, from tray to tray, or plate to plate, as the case may be;
commencing at the top of the chamber, being that part most remote
from the heating medium, and thus travelling in its gradual descent
into a higher temperature, until dry enough for the purposes required,
where it is delivered ready for stamping, as hereafter described. The
roof or roofs of such drying house or kiln, or the roofs of other buildings
required to be fire-proof, I construct with certain tiles, made in shape
somewhat similar to the bouissoirs of an arch; the top of each tile
to be flat, curved, or moulded, according to fancy, and the under
side to be made, hollow, with ribs, for the purpose of strength, in the
direction of the thrust, and each of the tiles to be constructed in such
form as to fit into each other, forming a water-tight joint, with cement
or otherwise, and the whole to be put together with iron struts and
ties, designed according to the form or description of building to
which it is applied.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF COMPRESSING APPARATUS.
The stamping or compressing machine is constructed with a moveable
table, made to revolve at intervals on a proper bed or frame, and con-
structed with moulds formed in the perifery of certain dimensions,
according to the shape or pattern of the blocks to be made; each
mould is fitted with a piston, which, at intermediate movements of the
table, is forced into the moulds, by which means the substance
contained therein is compressed into the consistency required. The
apparatus for forcing forward the pistons is constructed either with a
combination of levers worked by cranks, with a weighted arm or arms,
or with a fly-wheel attached to the centre of motion, whereby a certain
amount of power is exerted on the levers at each revolution of the
principal crank, which is worked in the ordinary way by means of
gearing or otherwise; or the pistons are forced into the moulds by
means of air cylinders, fitted with proper pistons or plungers, and sup-
plied with compressed air or other compressible fluid from reservoirs,
and worked by self-acting valves, constructed to give the pressure at the
proper times, namely, between each movement of the revolving table,
whereby the substances contained in two or more opposite moulds are
alternately compressed, while the adjacent moulds are in the act of being
filled; and at the return stroke of the levers or pistons the table is
turned a part of a revolution, sufficient to cause the succeeding mould
to take the place of that just stamped, while the latter is moved into
connection with apparatus for forcing out the compressed substance
and delivering it on to travelling vans, or other suitable arrangements
for carrying it away, ready for consumption.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Christopher Kingsford in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 30th March 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHRISTOPHER KINGSFORD, of No. 18, Buckingham Street, Strand, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her

page_text: Letters Patent bearing date the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her Reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant uunto me. the said Christopher Kingsford, Her special licence,
that I, the said Christopher Kingsford, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Christopher Kingsford, my
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
MACHINERY FOR SOLIDIPYING PEAT, COAL, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES OF A
LIKE NATURE" upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Christopher Kingsford, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 I, the said Christopher Kingsford, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):
Various processes have been employed for making solidified or com-
pressed peat; of these I consider the following most effective, and to
which the machinery and apparatus after described is applicable:-
First, the dried peat is ground into a very fine powder; secondly, the
powder is heated by some gradual process, so as to develop the oils
or fatty matter; and, thirdly, the powder, while in this state, is con-
ducted into suitable recepticles, and submitted to a sudden concussive
pressure, by which the mass is suddenly formed into a solid block.
The first part of my Invention relates to a method of grinding the
dried peat into a powder. Figure 1, is a vertical section of a double
mill, for grinding peat or other substance to be operated upon. The
peat or substance to be ground is first passed between rollers constructed
of one or more pairs, each lower roller being plain or grooved, to cor-
respond with the joints in an endless chain band, which travels between

page_text: the upper and lower rollers, carrying with it the peat or substance
operated upon, and drawing it between them. The upper rollers are
made with teeth, and are made to revolve with those below by means
of cog wheels or other mechanical contrivance, with adjusting screws,
for setting several pairs of rollers at successive distances apart until the
substance is sufficiently crushed to enter the upper or lower mill, as the
case may be. The upper mill a, is a cone, with teeth or grooves on the
exterior, and fixed to and revolving with the vertical shaft b, within the
cylinder c, also made with teeth or grooves on the inside, and placed at
opposite angles to those on the cone. d, is a hopper, for the purpose of
feeding the mill.
e, is a wire screen, fixed beneath the mill, which
separates the coarse particles, and conducts them into the eye f, of the
second or lower mill. g, is a runner, constructed of cast iron or other
suitable material, with eccentric curved grooves or teeth on the concave
surface, and fitted over a bed h, with similar grooves or teeth on its
convex surface, set with curves in an opposite direction, and fitting
closest at or near the periphery: the runner is balanced on a universal
clutch, fixed to the shaft b, and running with it, or constructed to run
at a greater or less speed, as the case requires. The material to be
treated, after passing through the first or upper mill, where it is broken
up to whatever consistency it is required, which is regulated by raising
or lowering the cone by means of the adjusting screw ?, passes over the
screen, whereby the dust falls into the outer chamber k, and the coarser
particles are conducted into the lower mill, where it is rolled or ground
to the required consistency, and is delivered also into the chamber k,
and from thence down the spout 7, to be raised to the upper part of the
drying apparatus.
The second part of my Invention relates to an improved appa-
ratus for drying and heating the material taken from the grinding
mill. Figure II. is a vertical section of drying and heating appa-
ratus. a, a, is a kiln or shaft, heated by means of proper furnaces,
placed below, in the ordinary way. b, b, b, b, are trays, constructed
partly of sheet or thin plate iron or zinc, and partly of wire gauze,
and perforated and suspended by chains, wire rope, or other suitable
fire-proof material, and set at a proper angle at certain distances one
over the other, and arranged so. that the dust to be dried and heated,

page_text: after passing over the top tray, falls on to the upper part of the next,
passing over that, and so on until it has reached the bottom, when it is
delivered into the spout c, heated sufficiently for stamping, as hereafter
explained. d, is a vertical shaft, with excentrics fixed thereon at proper
distances, and corresponding with the distance of each tray from the
other; each excentric passes through an eye fixed in the centre of the
trays, whereby a joggling or excentric motion is imparted thereto.
e, e, e, e, are sloping shelves, for the purpose of conducting the dust
into the trays, and for the proper distribution of the heating medium.
Figure III, is another vertical section of a kiln, with the trays and
shelves or shoots constructed circular, and worked by similar means.
The goggling motion may be imparted by any convenient force, and
the kiln is fed from near the top. I prefer using the ordinary endless
band, as shewn in Figure II.
The third part of the Invention relates to the process of solidifaction
or compression. Figure IV. is a plan, half in horizontal section, and
Figure V. a vertical section of machine for stamping or compressing
the peat dust, or other like materials, for the purpose of making a
solidified fuel. a, a, are plates, circular or any other form, and con-
nected together by the standards b, b. c, is a table, constructed with
moulds or boxes d, d, d, arranged round the outer edge. Each
box is fitted with a piston e, and piston rod f, around which is a
spiral spring for drawing the piston, and keeping the box open
when unemployed. The table revolves freely round the centre shaft
9, and is worked at proper intervals of each revolution of the said
shaft by means of the crank h, and crank levers i, i, which catch
the studs k, k, k, placed between each box, and move the table the
distance but one box is from the other at every stroke. 1, 1, are eccen-
trics, fixed on the verticle shaft, on a level with the pistons and boxes in
the table, and fitted with hoops and connecting pieces which work into
slides m, m, sliding in grooves on the under side of straining piece n,
carrying the upper bearing for the vertical shaft in its centre at o.
pp, are segmental pieces, bolted to the upper plate a, and to the strain-
ing piece 'n, with adjusting cotters to take the strain or pressure off the
bolts. In large machines, and when the power is great, I construct
the segmental pieces p, p, free to move or slide in the direction of the

page_text: moving table, with friction rollers or rockers placed at the back, and
working between the back surface of the segmental pieces and an end
block, connected to the upper plate a, and straining piece n, so that
when the table is started, the segmental pieces, which form a covering
to the box containing the compressed material, are free to move round
with the box until the pressure is released, when they return to their
original positions by the force of springs or weights attached thereto.
g, g, are the hoppers for feeding the boxes as they are brought into the
proper positions; and r, r, are inclined planes for forcing up the pistons
and delivering the blocks of fuel when compressed. Motion is given
to the machine by means of the shaft and pinion s, working into the
bevel wheel t, fixed upon the fly-wheel u, which is keyed on the vertical
shaft, and gives motion to the eccentrics, or other means employed, for
forcing up two opposite pistons at each revolution. The dust entries
through the hoppers into the box which is underneath at the time; the
table then moves a portion of a revolution, conveying the charged box
into the position to be acted upon by the pistons; at the same time
bringing in empty box under the hopper, and forcing the stamped
material out, by means of the inclined plane, into proper receives, ready
for consumption.
Having thus described the several processes for grinding, heating,
and solidifying the peat or other substance to be operated upon, I wish
it to be understood that I do not bind myself to the exact construction
here set out, or the various parts of each apparatus unconnected; nor, in
the first process, herein-before described, do I bind myself to use all
the methods described, but either of them may be used separately as
may be required; and in the second process, herein-before described,
several modifications can be made, nor do I limit myself to the number
of trays or shoots employed, or the particular forms described; and the
process thirdly herein-before described, do I bind myself to employ any
particular weight of rim on the fly wheel, nor do I fix the position of
the same either below or above the table in particular, nor do I limit
the diameter of the table or the number of boxes, nor do I wish to
adhere strictly to the manner described of forcing up the pistons with
eccentrics, but cranks or cylinders charged with steam, or other

page_text: compressible fluids for the purpose, may be employed. But what I
claim is,―
First, a mill for grinding peat or other substance to be operated
upon, where the process of breaking is the first operation; and, in the
second place, rolling or grinding the coarser particles, after the finer
portions have been extracted and conducted under one operation, as
herein-before described.
Second, a kiln for heating peat dust, and other similar substances,
prior to the process of solidifying the same for fuel, composed of a
certain arrangement of trays made to revolve or joggle in a heated
chamber, and placed one above the other, as herein-before described.
Third, a machine, with a table fitted with moulds or boxes, and
worked from the centre, whereby all the laternal strains are greatly
diminished; the whole force being sustained by the plate and straining
piece, as herein-before described, for solidifying or compressing the
material to be operated upon.
In witness whereof, I, Christopher Kingsford, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
CHRISTOPHER KINGSFORD. (L.S.)
Taken and acknowledged by
Christopher Kingsford, party
hereto, at Cahirciveen, in the
County of Kerry, this Twenty-
first day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three, before me,
JAMES BARRY,
J. P. for County Kerry.