CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WYLAM, of Gateshead, in the County of Durham, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Seventh day of April (One thousand eight hundred and
forty-five), in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Wylam, my exors,
admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Wylam, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Wylam, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations. abroad, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND IN MACHINERY
FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said William Wylam, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Wylam, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
four sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My improvements in artificial fuel consist in making it, by the means
herein-after described, of a more homogenous, coherent, and firm quality than
the artificial fuel heretofore made, and rendering it thereby the better able to
bear handling and carriage, and to take and retain any form or forms which it
may be desirable to give to it. The principal ingredients I employ are the
small, the duff, the dust, or the slack (or slick) of natural coal, along with
coal tar, pitch, or some other bituminous matter, which coal tar, pitch, or
other bituminous matter is previously reduced to a state of powder; but, so far
as these ingredients are concerned, I make no claim to the exclusive use of
them or any of them ás forming part of my present Invention, all of them
having been used in the manufacture of artificial fuel before the date of the
said Letters Patent. I sometimes add a small portion of chloride of lime, or
chloride of soda, or chloride of potash, for the purpose of rendering innoxious
the vapours given forth by the artificial fuel when in a state of combustion;
and I give to the artificial fuel of my manufacture the superior qualities
aforesaid by mixing, amalgamating, moulding, and compressing the materials
of which it is compounded by means of the machinery for manufacturing
artificial fuel next herein-after described, and which machinery is constructed
according to my improvements in such machinery.
Sheet 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is an end elevation, with some
part in section of so much of the machinery as relates to the mixing of the
materials or ingredients together, and in Sheet 2 are other representations of
parts of the same machinery more in detail.
A1, A2, Figure 1, Sheet 1, are two endless chains of buckets somewhat
similar to those used in dredging machines, by the former of which (A¹) the
small, the duff, the dust, or the slack of natural coal, and by the latter (A2)
the coal tar, pitch, or other bituminous matter, in a state of powder, are
respectively raised to a considerable height, from which they are let fall into a
receiving hopper B. The buckets of the endless chain A¹ are as much larger
than the buckets of the other endless chain as the quantity of the ingredients
supplied by A¹ should be larger than the quantity of ingredients supplied by A2
both the endless chains A¹ and A2 being moved with like velocity. C is a
partition which divides the upper part of the hopper B, and is inclined in the
manner shewn in Figure 1, in order to enable the buckets of the two endless

page_text: chains A¹ and A² to discharge their contents into the hopper B, but without
any interference of the buckets one with the other, and so as that the
materials discharged by the buckets of each endless chain shall be directed
downwards into the middle of the lower part of the hopper B. D is a cylin-
drical case or box formed at the lower part of the hopper B (see also Figure 2,
which is a cross section of the hopper B, and the box D on the dotted line c, d,
Figure 1); and at the central line of the box D there is a horizontal revolving
axis E, having several radial arms or leaves a, a, projecting out from it. The
materials which are brought up by the buckets of the two endless chains
A', A, and let fall into the hopper B, become mixed together therein; and in
descending into the box D the mixed materials are acted upon by the leaves
a, a, of the revolving axis E, and are thereby intermixed to a further extent,
and at the same time they are carried round in the box D to the upper ends
of the two inclined spouts F, F, down which they pass into the interior hollows
of two revolving mixing vessels G, G, which are hollow drums of an hexagonal
form mounted upon the axes II, II, which are a little inclined from the
horizontal, and within each of the mixing vessels G, G there are a set of
radial leaves extending from the hexagonal circumference for about one third
of the radial distance towards the axis H, H, and fastened to the said circum-
ferences of the vessels so as to revolve therewith. The mixed materials fall
on these leaves in descending from the lower ends of the two inclined spouts
F, F, and become thoroughly intermixed and blended together by the motion
given to them within the said revolving mixing vessels G, G; and owing to the
inclining position of the axes H, H, of those vessels, the mixed materials pass
gradually along within all the length of those vessels G, G, during the said
mixing operation, and pass out from the lowest ends thereof into a second
set of hoppers H', H³, whence they are conveyed by the several inclined
spouts I, I, I, I, I, in a thoroughly blended but dry state to the heating and
fusing part of the machinery next to be described, and which is situated at the
lower part of the end elevation Figure 1.
Figure 2, Sheet II., is a like elevation (but partly in section) of the front
end of one portion of the same machinery as is shewn in Figure 1; 1 gure 3
is a longitudinal vertical section thereof; Figure 4, a vertical cross section of
Figure 3, on the dotted line C, D, therein; and Figure 5, a horizontal sectional
plan at the level of the line k, l, Figure 4, and corresponding to Figure 3.
In Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, Sheet II., K is a fire-place with an ash-pit
beneath it. The fire-place K is arched over, as shewn in Figure 4. k², k³, k³,
k, and, are horizontal and vertical flues through which the current of
licated air, gas, and smoke proceeding from the fuel which is burning in the

page_text: fire-place K passes until it reaches the main flue or chimney N. P is a long
metal cylinder which is placed with its axis or central line horizontally, the
lower half of its circumference being set in brick-work immediately over the
fire-place, and the upper half of the same circumference is surrounded by
the flues k,,, k, so that the cylinder P is kept constantly hot. Q is a
long revolving screw formed of a number of separate portions of a screw fas-
tened in due order upon the length of a horizontal central axis, which is
mounted in suitable bearings at the centre of each end of the hot cylinder P,
the screw Q partaking of the same temperature with the said cylinder, and
revolving within it, and filling the interior capacity thereof in so revolving.
9, 9, are oil cups disposed over the bearings for the two ends of the axis of the
screw Q, at the outsides of the two ends of the hot cylinder P. R, Figures
1, 2, and 3, is a hopper which receives the intermixed dry materials from one
of the spouts I in Figure 1, already mentioned, and from the hopper R. They
descend between a pair of revolving feeding rollers S, S, which deliver the
intermixed materials regularly down into another hopper T, beneath the said
rollers, and from thence the said materials descend into the hot cylinder Pat
one end thereof, and are so acted upon by the revolving screw Q as to be
forced gradually but continuously onwards along the length of the cylinder P
towards the other end thereof, and during the progress onward in such course
the intermixed materials become amalgamated by the heat to which they are
exposed, and are brought into a plastic and homogenous mass. From the
upper part of the cylinder P several small vertical pipes m, m, ascend, for
carrying off into the flue all such vapours as may be given out from the
intermixed materials during their said progress through the cylinder P, and
whilst in the plastic state.
Figure 6, Sheet 2, is a cross section, and Figure 7 a horizontal plan
of a hot moulding table, over the upper surface of which the plastic mass
is ejected by the screw Q from the extreme end of the hot cylinder P.. There
is one moulding table, such as Figures 6 and 7, at the end of each of the hot
cylinders P, Figure 8, whereof there are five in a row, side by side, as in
Figure 5 and also in Figure 1, each such hot cylinder as P having its own
furnace K, hopper R, feeding rollers S, S, lower hopper T, and internal
screw Q, with all the other parts already described as belonging to one hot
cylider P, and all the said five hot cylinders act at the same time and in the
same manner as herein-before described, but a greater or less number than
five may be used, as may be convenient. The hot tables, Figures 6 and 7,
which are five in a row, side by side, at the ends of the several hot cylinders P,
are kept heated by the continuation of the flue N, Figure 3, being carried

page_text: beneath the said row of those tables. Figures 8' and 8" are end elevations
(but partly in section) of a pair of endless chains, which are similar to those
represented in the plan, Figure 9. The chains, Figs. 81, 8") pass in horizontal
courses above and return beneath the said row of hot moulding tables,
Figures 6 and 7, and the said upper parts 8' of the said pair of chains serve to
convey a constant succession of empty moulds of a quadrangular form, with
loose lids but no bottoms, so that such moulds and lids for them will be
brought within convenient reach of a man standing at each of the moulding
tables, Figures 6 and 7. And in order to mould the hot material a man takes
an empty mould from off the upper part, Figure 8', of the said pair of endless
chains where they are above the tables, together with a loose lid for such
mould, and he places the said mould upon a flat tray of wrought iron, which
is laid upon the upper surface of one of the hot tables, Figure 7, that tray
serving as a temporary bottom for the mould, and with a shovel the mould is
filled, with the hot material, which is continually issuing from the extreme end
of the hot cylinder P, by action of the revolving screw therein, so as to fall
upon the surface of the moulding table, which being, as already mentioned,
kept hot, the material does not become cool in the time whilst it may be
waiting to be shovelled into the moulds; and as soon as each mould has been
so filled the loose lid of the said mould is placed upon the material wherewith
the same is filled, and that lid struck down with a blow of a mallet so as to
enter the lid correctly into the mould, in readiness for the pressure to be
applied for compressing the material within the mould, which is done by a
suitable press situated opposite to each of the moulding tables, Fig. 7, so that
a man lifting the mould and its contents with its loose lid thereon, by means
of handles at the two sides of the aforesaid tray or temporary bottom for the
mould, can remove the whole from off the surface of the moulding table into
the press wherein the material is to be forcibly compressed. A press suitable
for the said purpose, and which press is to be worked by action of steam, is
represented in Sheet 3, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Figure 2
is an external elevation of the steam press for compressing and stamping the
prepared materials contained in the moulds, whilst the said materials continue
hot. A, A, D, B, Figure 1, is the steam cylinder, with its bottom and cover;
C, the piston; E, the piston rod; F, a moveable table fastened on the
upper end of the piston rod; II, a head plate fixed motionless on the upper
ends of four upright pillars G, which are supported by strong projections
T, T, from the central part of the cover B of the cylinder; I is the
steam box within which the sliding valve N is enclosed; K is the
passage by which the steam is admitted when required into the lower

page_text: part of the cylinder beneath the piston, and the same steam is afterwards
allowed to escape from that lower part by the same passage K; L is the
eduction passage for conveying the steam away from the lower part of the
cylinder when required; M is the steam pipe to convey steam from a suitable
boiler into the steam box I; see also Figure 2: N is the sliding valve, which
by being moved up or down within the box I either opens or shuts the
passage K, or else connects that passage with the other passage L; O is the
vertical rod for moving the slide valve N within the steam box I, the rod O
passing through a stuffing box in the upper part of the box I; P is an opening
through the side of the cylinder A, A, for carrying off any steam or water that
may collect on the top of the piston; S, Figure 2, is the eduction pipe for the
conveyance of steam from the eduction passage L, Figure 1; V is the lever
handle for moving the slide valve N when required, and W a fixed arch, with
stops, for limiting the motion which can be given to the valve. Each mould,
after it has been filled with hot material by a shovel and the loose lid applied, is
removed by its tray or temporary bottom from off the moulding table, Figure 6,
Sheet 2, in the manner already explained, and placed with its said tray on the
moveable table F of the press, with the loose lid of the mould beneath the fixed
head plate H of the press; then the sliding valve N, which had been previously
in the position shewn in the section, Figure 1, is raised by a man giving an
upward movement to the lever handle V, and the valve N then admitting
'steam from the steam box 1 into the lower part of the cylinder A, A, D,
through the lower passage K, that steam will act beneath the piston C so as
to raise the same, together with piston rod E and the moveable table F,
and also the mould which is upon that table, so as to urge the said mould
upwards beneath the fixed head plate H which is over the loose lid of the
mould, and thereby the contents of the mould are very strongly compressed,
and at the same time become stamped with an impression of the name of the
patentee, from letters which are formed on the under side of the lid of the mould.
The lever handle V is then pressed down, so as to move the sliding valve N so
much downwards below the position shewn in Figure 1 as is requisite for open-
ing the communication between the passage K and the eduction passage L
and pipe S, in order that the steam which had raised the piston C may be
permitted to escape from beneath the piston through the course K, N, L,
and S, into the atmosphere, and the piston C then descends, together with the
piston rod E, the moveable table F, and the mould thereon, by their own
weight, to the original position, as in Figure 1. The mould with its com-
pressed contents is then removed from the moveable table F of the press, and
turned over from off the tray or temporary bottom, but with the loose lid down-

page_text: wards, upon a second pair of long endless carrying chains, Figure 9, Sheet 2,
also Figure 1, in Sheet 4, by which it is moved outwards until it has been
carried near to one or other of the two hydraulic discharging presses, of which
Figure 5 and Figure 5¹, Sheet 4, are horizontal plans, shewing the positions
of the said presses in respect to the long pair of endless carrying chains,
Figure 1, Sheet 4. As the moulds arrive opposite to the said discharging
presses they are placed therein, and the compressed material, which in passing
along through the air will have become sufficiently cooled and hard for being
forced out of the moulds by action of the press. Figure 6, Sheet 4, is a
vertical section on the dotted line A, B, Figure 5, and Figure. 7 is* an
exernal elevation. The ram and follower Z, Figures 6 and 7, of the said press,.
raises a series of small pistons E, E, which are fastened in a row upon a
moving frame I, I, which is part of the follower Z, and moves up and down
therewith, and is guided between vertical guides F, H, Figure 6, and by
means of the said pistons E, E, the said blocks of fuel are ejected from the
moulds, which are placed in cells G in a suitable fixed frame above the
said pistons E, E. The ram and follower Z, I, I, of the discharging press,
with the row of pistons E, E, being let down, as represented in Figure 6, then
as many moulds, having the loose lids that are within them downwards, and
the compressed material uppermost, are removed from off the long carrying
chain, Figure 1, Sheet 4, and are slided laterally into each one of the cells G,
the fixed sides of which have over-hanging ledges in order to catch over the
edges of the mould so as to prevent it from rising when the ram and follower
Z, I, I, with the row of pistons E, E, thereon, are raised up by action of
water injected or pumped into the cylinder, wherein the ram is fitted with a
collar of leather in the usual manner of hydrostatic presses, and the pistons
E, E, in so rising act beneath the loose lids in the several moulds, so as to
force the same upwards therein, and expel the masses of compressed material
from the interiors of the moulds, the loose lids following after the said masses.
The length of the pair of the long endless carrying chains represented at
Figure 9, Sheet II, and the continuation of the same at Figure 1, in Sheet 4,
is such, that when the moulds have arrived at the discharging presses, Figure
5, the compressed material within each mould will have become so much
consolidated and cooled as to be in a condition for being pushed out without
breaking. The masses of compressed materials which are expelled from the
moulds in manner aforesaid are blocks of artificial fuel completed, ready
for sale or use; and the said blocks or masses of artificial fuel are removed from
off their respective loose lids, and are placed upon another pair of long endless
carrying chains, Figure 3, Sheet 4, which proceed.in a transverse direction,

page_text: and convey the said blocks or masses to a convenient place of deposit or
stowage. The loose lids and the empty moulds which are withdrawn from the
cells G of the discharging press are placed upon the pair of long endless
carrying chains, Figure 2, Sheet 4, which conveys them back again to the hot
moulding tables, Figures 6 and 7, Sheet II.; Figure 81, in Sheet 2, being the
continuation of the said pair of chains, Figure 2, Sheet 4. The long endless
carrying chains are composed of long links, as shewn in Figure 9, Sheet 2, or
Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheet 4, jointed together to form chaius, whercof two are
disposed side by side, parallel one to the other, to form a pair of revolving
endless chains, and they are connected by horizontal cross bars, the ends of
which serve as pivots for small trucks or rollers which run along fixed sup-
porting rails. And iron plates are extended across from one of the said chains
of each pair to the other, and fastened to both, in order to form surfaces
suitable for receiving the articles which are to be conveyed by the pair of
chains in each case; that is to say, in the case of the pair of long endless
carrying chains, Figures 81 and 8", Sheet 2, and Figure 2, Sheet 4, for
receiving the empty moulds and their loose lids, as already mentioned; or in
the case of the pair of endless chains, Figure 9, Sheet 2, and Figure 1,
Sheet 4, for receiving the moulds filled with compressed material, and with
their loose lids therein as they come from the press, Sheet 3; or in the case of
the pair of endless chains, Figure 3, Sheet 4, for receiving the blocks of
artificial fuel, as already mentioned. Each such pair of long endless chains is
caused to circulate over two revolving drums, over and between which the two
chains are extended in the usual manner of endless chains, one of those drums
being turned round by the mill work so as to give the required progressive
motion to the chains and to the iron plates which are fastened to them,
and to the articles laid on those plates. The small trucks or wheels
which run along the fixed supporting rails as aforesaid prevent the chains
sagging down by the weight. The drums for one end of each of the pairs of
endless chains, Figures 1 and 2, are shewn in Sheet 4.
The Drawings only represent in part the various cog wheels, pinions, pullies,
bands, and other parts requisite for communicating motion to the several
revolving axes which have been herein-before described as being kept in a
state of constant and regular rotation, because the means by which such
motions can be communicated from any first mover are common and well
known, and may be varied very greatly to suit local circumstances, and also
because I do not lay claim to any novelty in respect thereof, each of the said
revolving axes being turned with a suitable rapidity of motion for enabling
that part of the machinery which is actuated by such axis to receive the

page_text: materials, and to operate thereon, and to pass the same onwards as fast as
other preceding or succeeding parts of the machinery require, that such.
material should be received, operated upon, and passed onwards, but no faster:.
For instance, the two endless chains of buckets A1, A2, Sheet 1, are to be
moved with a suitable rapidity of motion for elevating and supplying the
materials as fast as they are wanted for manufacturing into artificial fuel
by all the succeeding parts of the machinery. The revolving axis E, within
the box D, and the revolving mixing vessels G, G, are to be moved with:
suitable rapidities for receiving, mixing, and passing onwards the materials
so elevated and supplied as aforesaid by the two endless chains of buckets.
A¹, A².
The pairs of feeding rollers S, S, are to be moved. with suitable-
rupidity for feeding the several hot cylinders P with mixed materials as fast:
as the revolving screws Q therein will carry the material which is so fed
onward through the said hot cylinders, and how fast that ought to be will
depend upon the heat which is applied to each cylinder by the fire beneath
and around it, so that the materials will become properly heated and stirred
whilst heating during the progress thereof through all the length of the hot
cylinder. And note-One of the feeding rollers S. of each pair can be set
nearer to or farther from its fellow roller of the same pair by means of suitable
setting screws, so as to leave a narrower or wider space between their
moving circumferences for the passage of the mixed material downwards.
between those circumferences; and according to the wideness or narrowness
of such space so a greater or a lesser quantity of the material will be passed.
downwards or fed by cach pair of the said feeding rollers S, S, and therefore
by means of such setting screws the feeding can be regulated as may be
required. As there are several of the said pairs of feeding rollers S, S, and
revolving screws Q, to operate upon the material supplied by the two chains
of buckets A', A2, the motion of the said feeding rollers, and particularly of
the screws Q, will require to be slow motions, compared with the motions of
the preceding parts A', A, E, E, and G, G, and for that purpose the feeding
rollers S, S, are turned round by intervention of small pinions actuating large
spur wheels, and the screws Q are turned round by endless screws actuating
worm wheels, as is represented in Figure 1, Sheet 1. And as to the pairs
of endless chains, Figure 9, Sheet 1, and Figure 4, Sheet 4, also Figure 8¹,
and 8, Sheet 2, and Figure 2, Sheet 4, likewise Figure 3, Sheet 4, those
pairs of endless chains are to be moved with suitable rapidity of motion for
conveying the moulds, or the empty moulds, or the blocks of artificial fuel,
as fast as the same are wanted, at the respective places from which and to
which they are to be conveyed by such pairs of endless chains. And note-

page_text: respecting the press represented in Sheet 3, and herein-before described as
being worked by steam, the compressing of the prepared material into the
moulds may, if. preferred, be performed in the same manner as herein-before
explained, but by means of what is called a hydrostatic press, which is worked
by water, or by any other kind of press which is usually worked by power
of mill work or machinery, or is capable of being so worked.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I, the said William Wylam, do hereby
declare that what I claim respecting improvements in artificial fuel is the
improving the quality of the same by mixing, amalgamating, moulding, and
compressing the materials of which it is compounded in the manner hercin-
before described, and also adding to the carbonaceous and bituminous
máterials whereof such artificial fuel is compounded, chlorides of lime, or of
soda, or of potash, for the purpose of rendering innoxious the vapours which
will arise from the combustion of the said artificial fuel.
T
And what I claim respecting improvements in machinery for manufacturing
artificial fuel is,―
First, the general arrangement and combination of the whole of the machi-
nery represented in Sheets 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and herein-béfore described, the same being a new combination for the
purpose of manufacturing artificial fuel, and as a whole entirely different
from all other combinations of machinery heretofore employed for the said
purpose. And whereas the said combination of machinery may be considered as
containing or comprising other smaller and subordinate combinations, which
are of themselves new improvements in machinery for manufacturing artificial
fuel, I claim the following of such subordinate combinations separately, as well
as when they are all combined into one general combination, that is to say :-
The machinery for mixing the materials in a dry state forms one such
subordinate combination, consisting of the two endless chains of buckets A¹, A²,
Sheet I., the hopper B, the box D, with the revolving axis E within it, the
spouts F, F, and revolving mixing vessels G, G. The machinery for heating
and amalgamating the mixed materials, and stirring them whilst heating, and
delivering them with regularity in a plastic state, ready for moulding forms
another such subordinate combination, consisting of the hopper H2, Sheet 2,
the troughs I, I; and lioppers R, R, pairs of feeding rollers S, S, Sheet 2,
hoppers T, the hot cylinder P, with its furnace K, and flues for heating it,
with the long revolving screw Q within it, and the hot moulding table, Figures
6 and 7: The machinery for compressing the material into moulds forms
another such subordinate combination, consisting of the press represented in

page_text: Sheet 3. The machinery for discharging the compressed material from the
moulds forms another such subordinate combination, consisting of the dis-
charging press, Figures 5, 6, and 7, Sheet 4.
I claim each of the said subordinate combinations by itself as an improve-
ment in machinery for manufacturing artificial fuel, however each one or
more of such subordinate combinations may be combined with any other
machinery for manufacturing artificial fuel. But note-I make no claim to
any of the machinery or combinations of machinery herein-before described,
except as to the application thereof to the purpose of manufacturing artificial
fuel.
In witness whoroof I have hereunto cot mu hond and cool
IAM.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of October, in
the
year of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid William Wylam came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.