IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPRESSED FUEL, AND IN PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION APPARATUS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Friedrich Hahn, of Bloomsbury Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Professor of Chemistry, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPRESSED FUEL, AND IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Friedrich Hahn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th January 1874.
I, FRIEDRICH HAHN, of Bloomsbury Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Professor of Chemistry, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPRESSED FUEL
AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
1
My said Invention relates chiefly to the manufacture of compressed
fuel from coal dust or other substances of a like nature or capable of
like treatment, but the said Invention is also applicable to the com-
pression and moulding of various materials for other purposes.

page_text: The manufacture of fuel from coal dust and slack is effected by my
Invention in the following manner, that is to say, I use a double
chambered baking or heating oven so constructed that the unabsorbed
heat generated below cannot pass to the chimney without passing over
the baking chambers or compartments, so that the latter absorbs more
units of heat than would otherwise be possible. This construction has
the advantage of imparting to the baking chambers or compartments a
high and uniformly distributed heat at a slight cost, the heat entering
the chambers from both above and below them. The interior of the
said baking oven is of fire-clay and iron covered outside with common
bricks or any other suitable material, and is constructed for the reception
of pans of wrought iron or other suitable material for holding the
materials being treated and mechanism for operating them.
The coal dust or small coal is first mixed with a small per-centage of
ground pitch, resin, asphalt, tar, or other like material, or a mixture of
any of them, and then put into these pans which are arranged to
pass on rollers into the said baking oven or heating furnace, being
exposed therein for about one hour to a temperature sufficiently
high to soften the coal dust and pitch or other material and to fully
develope their adhesive qualities. The sufficient softening of this
mixture of coal dust and pitch will be indicated by the developement
of gas from the mixture; the pans are then caused to pass out of
the oven in the opposite direction to that of their entrance and the
softened and heated mass is shoveled into iron moulds. These moulds
are connected to endless chains which pass over two wheels arranged
one above the other, and in such manner that the weight of the
material in the moulds will cause them to descend and turn the
wheels, and the said moulds are so constructed and fitted together that
each one will enter the next one on the chain as it moves downward and
exert a great pressure upon the pasty mass, which in this manner is
solidified and converted into a concrete block or blocks acquiring great
hardness when cold.
I provide a stop lever or other like mechanism for controling the
action of the moulds. The said stop lever is arranged in combination
with a ratchet wheel connected with one or both pressure wheels, and
when in gear with the said ratchet wheel it holds the pressure wheels
and the moulds and prevents their movement. When this stop lever is

page_text: drawn out of gear with the ratchet wheel the mould just filled descends
its proper distance and an empty mould turns over upon it and each
mould following the others in their downward motion increases the
weight upon its predecessors, thus it will be seen that the soft mass or
compound in each mould is subjected to the gradually increasing weight
due to the moulds and their contents above it in the column and when
it arrives at the bottom the said mould is turned over by a lever or other
device connected with the lower wheel and opened and emptied by an
attendant. The empty moulds return upwards on the reverse side of
the pressure wheels.
The aforesaid moulds open in shear form upon a pivot; each mould is
preferably composed of seven different pieces which when fitted together
form one piece. When closed the foot of each mould forms a cover and
piston for the preceding mould for exerting the required pressure upon
its contents, one mould fitting into the other.
The interior of the mould may be either plain or divided into several
compartments as required. The pivots on which the two parts of the
moulds open are supported on projecting bearings on the links of the
chains, and the said moulds are thereby kept in their proper position.
The said pressure wheels may be situated at about thirty feet apart, tho
one being vertically, or nearly so, above the other, with the endless
chains passed around them as above described. The axes of these wheels
turn in a frame or standard of iron, wood, or other suitable material;
they are regulated in their movements by the said stop lever and turn
in such a manner as to cause the endless chains and the moulds held by
them to travel up and down as required during the process of manu-
facture of the fuel, and it will be seen that an important feature of my
Invention is the obtaining of the power for performing the above
operations, or some of them, from the weight of the coal or other
material in the moulds. I may also make this power available for
the operation of other mechanism or apparatus employed in connection
with the above, I am therefore enabled to dispense with the use of steam,
animal, or manuel power and avoid the expense and inconvenience
attending the same.

page_text: where it is necessary to obtain solid or compressed blocks or pieces from
raw materials in a pulverized condition, or in a condition resembling
small coal, clay, cement, or the like.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Friedrich Hahn in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRIEDRICH
HAHN, of Bloomsbury Street, in the County of Middlesex, Professor of
Chemistry, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Friedrich Hahn, Her
special licence that I, the said Friedrich Hahn, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Friedrich Hahn, 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 COMPRESSED FUEL AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR AND FOR
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Friedrich Hahn, 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 Friedrich Hahn, 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

page_text: in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
My said Invention relates chiefly to the manufacture of compressed
fuel from coal dust or other substances of a like nature or capable of
like treatment, parts of the said Invention being also applicable to the
compression and moulding of various materials for other purposes and to
other uses requiring similar operations.

page_text: the pans c which are arranged to move on rollers d into the said baking
oven or heating furnace, being exposed therein for about one hour to a
temperature sufficiently high, to soften the coal dust and pitch or other
material and to fully develope their adhesive qualities. The sufficient
softening of this mixture of coal dust and pitch in the pans c will
be indicated by the evolution of gas from the apparatus, the said
pans are then caused to pass out of the oven a in the opposite direction
to that of their entrance, and the softened and heated mass is by the
aid of the trucks c¹ shoveled into iron moulds e, shown in detail in
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10. These moulds form part of the apparatus shewn in
Figure 1, and are connected to endless chains f which pass over
wheels g, h, arranged one above the other and in such manner that the
weight of the material in the moulds e will cause them to descend and
turn the wheels g, h, one of which is shewn detached in Figure 6. And
the said moulds are so constructed and fitted together that each one will
enter the next one on the chains f as the moulds move downward, and
each mould will exert a great pressure upon the pasty mass contained
in the next mould, and which in this manner is solidified and converted
into a concrete block or blocks acquiring great hardness when cold.
The aforesaid wheels are fixed on shafts g³, h¹, which turn in suitable
bearings on the framing or standards A. Between the wheels g, h, and
fixed on the said shafts g¹, h³, are intermediate chain wheels; those on
the lower shaft are shewn at h² and these intermediate wheels also carry
chains which are connected to the moulds by the hooks e* on the latter.
The said shafts also carry the ratchet wheels i which form part of the
mechanism shewn in Figure 5 for controlling the action of the said
moulds; is a stop lever, and k, k, are pawls arranged to take into the
said ratchet wheels and thereby hold the wheels g, h, and moulds e and
prevent their moving while they are being filled. When these pawls are
drawn out of gear with the ratchet wheels i the mould just filled
descends its proper distance and an empty mould turns over upon it, and
each mould following the others in their downward motion increases the
weight upon its predecessors. Thus it will be seen that the soft mass
or compound in each mould is subjected to the gradually increasing
weight due to the moulds and their contents above it in the column, and
when it arrives at the bottom of the standards A the said mould is
turned over by a lever or treadle or other device connected with the
lower wheels, and is opened and emptied by an attendant. The empty
-

page_text: The
moulds return upwards on the reverse side of the pressure wheels.
direction in which the moulds travel is indicated by the arrows in
Figure 1.
The aforesaid moulds open like shears upon pivots e¹, each mould is
preferably formed of several pieces, as shewn in the Drawing, that is to
say, each side and each end is a separate piece.
In the apparatus shown in Figure 1 when each mould is closed its
foot c³ forms a cover and piston for the mould preceding or next below
it and exerts the required pressure upon the contents of the said
preceding mould, the foot of each mould fitting into the end of the
other moulds. The interior of the mould may be either plain or divided
into several compartments as required. The pivots e¹ on which the two
sides e, e, of the moulds open are supported in projecting bearings on
the links of the chains and the said moulds are thereby kept in their
proper position on the said chains. The wheels g, h, may be situated
about thirty feet apart, the upper wheels being vertically or nearly so
above the lever wheels, and with the endless chain passed around them
as above described and as shown in Figure 1. The said wheels are
regulated in their movements by the aforesaid stop mechanism and turn
in such manner as to cause the endless chains and the moulds e to
travel up and down as required during the process of manufacture of
the fuel, and it will be seen that an important feature of my Invention
is the obtaining of the power for performing the above operations, or
some of them, by the weight of the coal or other material in the
moulds. I may also make this power available for the operation of
other mechanism or apparatus employed in connection with the above.
I am therefore enabled to dispense with the use of steam, animal, or
manual power, and avoid the expense and inconvenience attending the
same.
It will be obvious that the above described apparatus may be employed
in the manufacture of bricks and artificial stone and for other purposes
where it is necessary to obtain solid or compressed blocks or pieces from
raw materials in a pulverized condition, or in a condition resembling
small coal, clay, cement, or the like, and in other like operations.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be conveniently and advantageously carried into
practise, I wish it understood that I claim,―

page_text: First. In the manufacture of compressed fuel and the like the
obtaining of the power required for the compression of the same from
the weight of the said fuel or other materials being treated.
Second. In manufactures requiring the removal of the materials
being treated from any position to a lower position, the utilization of the 5
weight of such materials as motive power for operating the machinery
or apparatus employed.
Third. The oven and baking chambers constructed for the reception
and removal of the pans containing the material to be treated and in
such a manner that the heat has free access to the top and bottom of 1
the same, as herein set forth.
Fourth. The apparatus consisting of the series of moulds, the endless
chains, the chain wheels, and the locking apparatus mounted in a
frame, and operating as herein set forth, and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. The moulds constructed and operating as herein set forth and 1
for the purpose specified.
Sixth. The apparatus for the manufacture of compressed fuel con-
sisting of the parts shown in Figures 1 and 2, constructed, combined,
and operating as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Friedrich Hahn, have hereunto 2
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
W. ROBT. LAKE.
F. HAHN. (L.S.)