Im- PROVEMENTS IN the ManufactuRE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Lodge, of Whitecroft, near Lydney, in
the County of Gloucester, Machinist, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN the ManufactuRE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL.”
Sealed the 9th May 1871, and dated the 9th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Lodge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1871.
I, JOSEPH LODGE, of Whitecroft, near Lydney, in the County of
Gloucester, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL," to
be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
artificial fuel.
In the manufacture of artificial fuel small coal has in some cases
been caused to colere by means of mucilage or paste made from farina
or other like substances, and that paste or mucilage prevented from

page_text: fermentation or decay by the admixture of carbolic acid or other similar
substances.
According to my Invention I use a mucilage or paste made from
farina or other similar substance in the ordinary and common way
(without the addition of carbolic acid or any similar substance), and
prevent the fermentation or decay by mixing with the coal a certain
proportion of pitch, asphalte, or such like bituminous substance. The
whole after being well mixed and pressed into moulds by the usual
well-known machinery for such purposes is exposed to heat in ovens or
drying kilns, which softens firstly with the heat, fills the interstices,
and cements the particles one to the other, rendering the cohesion
perfect, prevents the decay or fermentation of the mucilage or paste
used, and produces a perfectly waterproof fuel.
The following proportions are suitable :-coal 1 ton, pitch 100 pounds,
mucilage consisting of 10 pounds farina and 20 gallons of water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Lodge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
LODGE, of Whitecroft, near Lydney, in the County of Gloucester,
Machinist, send greeting.
:1
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Lodge, Her special license
that I," the said Josephí Lodge, my. executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Lodge, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL," upon the condition (amongst others)

page_text: that I, the said Joseph Lodge, my executors or administrators, by' an
instrument in writing under my, 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 I, the said Joseph Lodge, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
artificial fuel.
In the manufacture of artificial fuel small coal has in some cases
been caused to cohere by means of mucilage or paste made from
farina or other like substances, and that paste or mucilage prevented
from fermentation or decay by the admixture of carbolic acid or other
similar substances.
According to my Invention I use a mucilage or paste made from
farina or any similar substance in the ordinary and common way
(without the addition of carbolic acid or any similar substance), and
prevent the fermentation or decay by mixing with the coal a certain
proportion of pitch, asphalte, or such like bituminous substance. The
whole after being well mixed and pressed into moulds by the usual
well-known machinery for such purposes is exposed to heat in ovens or
drying kilns, which softens firstly with the heat, fills the interstices, and
cements the particles one to the other, rendering the cohesion perfect,
prevents the decay or fermentation of the mucilage or paste used, and
produces a perfectly waterproof fuel. The coal and pitch, asphalte, or
any such similar substance are either ground fine together and intimately
mixed or are ground separately and afterwards well mixed together in
a dry state. The grinding and mixing is performed by any well-known
machinery. The coal so treated is passed to a pug or mixing mill, when
a mucilage made from farina, corn, rice, or any similar substance made
in the ordinary common way without the addition of carbolic acid
or similar substance is then added, the whole is then by passing through
the pug or mixing mill thoroughly incorporated together, and is passed
to any of the ordinary brick-making machines, which mould the material

page_text: into any size, brick, or block that may be required. The blocks are
then removed to ovens or kilns and thoroughly dried at a heat of about
300 degrees, more or less, as the case may require, during which process,
as before stated, the pitch or other bituminous substance softens and
fills the interstices and together with the other substances cements the
particles one to the other, rendering the cohesion perfect, and prevents
the decay or fermentation of the mucilage or paste used, and also
produces a perfectly waterproof fuel:
The following are the proportions in which I prefer to mix the
materials, the proportions in which the materials are mixed may however
be varied-coal 1 ton, pitch 100 lbs., mucilage consisting of 7 lbs. farina
and 16 gallons of water.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which I prefer to perform the same, I would have it understood that
what I claim as my improvements in the manufacture of artificial fuel
is, the combining together and moulding into blocks ground or small
coal and pitch, asphalte, or such like bituminous substances, and
muci age or paste made from farina or other like substance, and
subsequently exposing such blocks to heat, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Lodge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the said Joseph Lodge, in the
presence of
FREDERICK F. CARD,
Accountant,
Coleford,
Gloucestershire.
•
JOSEPH LODGE. · (L.S.)