Improved Means for Discharging Minerals from Exhaust Upcast Shafts of Mines.
Year: 1899

page_text: "Date of Application, 1st June, 1899-Accepted, 1st July, 1899
CUMI LEIE DIEUITICATION.
Improved Means for Discharging Minerals from Exhaust Upcast
Shafts of Mines.
I, WILHELM BENTROP, of Neumuhl, Rheinland, Germany, Manager of Mines,
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..
In those cases where an exhaust upcast shaft of a mine is also employed for
raising minerals, means must be employed for preventing the exhaust from being
interfered with by the discharge of the minerals at the pits-mouth.
Heretofore two arrangements have been employed for this purpose; according
to one arrangement the lift framing is completely enclosed up to the pits mouth,
and is provided with covers which the rising lift cage raises as it passes from the
partial exhaust of the upcast shaft into the atmosphere, the cage being made to
close the shaft by means of its floor while it is being unloaded. According to
another arrangement, the lift framing is completely enclosed up to the rope wheel,
and the filled lift cages are discharged through double side doors provided in the
enclosure.
In both arrangements, when the delivery of minerals is considerable, a substantial
loss of exhaust amounting to from 10 to 15 per cent. takes place.
The present invention has for its object to reduce such loss by the use of special
appliances for the purpose, as I will describe with reference to the accompanying
drawings, which shew by way of example several modified arrangements thereof.
The invention consists mainly in enclosing the lift framing in an air tight
manner up to the rope wheels, inclusive of the building that encloses the discharge
platforms, and in effecting the discharge of the filled cages within the partially
exhausted enclosed space, into storage chambers provided with discharge openings,
which chambers may however in certain cases be replaced by or be combined with
transporting devices for discharging the material."
The discharging doors of the storage receptacle are closed air tight by means
of the layer of minerals lying against them, such layer being maintained of a
sufficient thickness for this purpose. The discharging doors can if desired be
arranged to be actuated mechanically in such manner that they are only opened
during the short time that the lift cages are being discharged.
In those cases where the minerals are not of such a nature as to effect an air-
tight closure of the discharge openings of the storage receptacles, the discharge is
effected under water, or if this be not possible, the material is made to pass through
a channel containing two sliding doors or similar devices situated near together
and opened and closed alternately at short intervals.
Or, according to another arrangement, the material is discharged alternately
into one of two storage receptacles one of which is being filled while the other is
being emptied, the receptacle that has been filled being first closed hermetically
against communication with the shaft by slides or otherwise before it is opened
to the atmosphere for discharging, while the receptacle to be filled is hermetically

page_text: closed against the atmosphere and opened towards the shaft. Or again, the
material may be specially crushed so small before being shot into the storage
receptacles, that it will effect an air tight closure in the first described manner.
On the accompanying drawings are shewn at Figures 1 and 2 four different
arrangements for carrying out the above described invention. A is the exhaust
upcast shaft which at the same time serves for raising the minerals, the shaft
being exhausted by a fan B connected by a branch air flue with the upper end
of the shaft.
The discharge platform D which C surrounds the hermetically enclosed lift
framing C is also hermetically enclosed by the surrounding building E.
By means of a tumbling hopper F Fig. 1 the material is discharged from the
lift trucks into the storage chambers G G, which may, if requisite, be filled with
water and from which the material is delivered on to the chain bucket elevators J
to be transported to wherever required.
The storage chambers are closed by single or double slides H which are
mechanically actuated.
In cases where double mechanically actuated slides are used, they can be
arranged, as previously mentioned, the one at the charging opening of the storage
chamber and the other at the discharging opening. An example of this arrange-
ment is shewn at Fig. 2 on the right hand side, where there are provided two
storage chambers G G¹ for the same kind of material, each having a charging
opening at top closed by a slide H¹ and a discharging opening at bottom provided
with a second slide H. Thus assuming the one chamber G to be filled, its upper
slide His closed and the lower one H is opened, for discharging into the trucks
below, while at the same time the upper slide H¹ of the empty chamber G¹ is
opened so as to allow it to be filled, while the lower one H is closed. Thus both
the filling and the discharging operation can be carried on continuously, while
maintaining the air tight enclosure of the shaft A. The charging slides are
situated directly under the revolving hoppers F which are of the usual arrange-
ment. So long as the left hand hopper is in action, the discharging slide H of the
chamber G is closed so that this chamber can be filled, while at the same time
the chamber G is being discharged, its charging slide H being closed and its
discharging slide H being opened.
It is not necessary that the tumbling hoppers should discharge the material first
into a storage chamber such as GG; the material may also be discharged directly
from them into a transporting device, such for instance as a transporting worm,
endless travelling band, or the like.
In all cases however it is necessary that such transporting device should be
enclosed in an air tight casing, the delivery end of which would be arranged
to be closed air tight either by the material itself or by the transporting device.
In the arrangement shewn at the left hand side of Fig. 2 J is a transporting
worm enclosed airtight by the casing K.
The receiving end of the worm is situated immediately below the tumbling
hopper F while at the discharge end of the worm the casing has a tapering shoot
closed at bottom by a discharging slide L. The parts J and K are in continuous
open communication with the enclosed space at the upper end of the upcast shaft,
which is under partial exhaust. This is also the case with the upper ends of the
storage chambers G G¹ at Fig. 1.
}
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:--
1. In exhaust upeast shafts of mines that also serve for the raising of the
minerals, effecting the discharge of the lift cages at the pits mouth within an
air tight enclosure subject to partial exhaust, the discharge being effected into
torage receptacles whose delivery openings are closed air tight either by a sufficient
layer of mineral, or by moveable slides, or by a supply of water, so that no external

page_text: air can penetrate into the channel leading from the shaft to the exhaust fan,
substantially as described.
2. In an appliance such as is referred to in the first claim, the arrangement
wherein the air tight enclosure at the pits mouth is provided with two storage
receptacles each having its charging and discharging openings closed by slides
so arranged that while the charging slide of the one receptacle is opened and its
discharging slide is closed so as to allow of its being filled, the charging slide
of the other receptacle is closed and its discharging slide is opened so as to
allow of its being emptied, substantially as described.
3. In an appliance such as is referred to in the first claim, the employment in lieu
of or in combination with the storage receptacles, of transporting devices, such as
worms, travelling webs, and the like, enclosed in air tight casings the discharge
ends of which are closed air tight either by the conveying device, or by the
material conveyed, substantially as described.
Dated this 1st day of June 1899.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.