AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR COMPRESSING COAL, OTHER FUEL, AND SUBSTANCES REQUIRING PRESSURE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Vanden Hielakker, Engineer, of Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR
COMPRESSING COAL, OTHER FUEL, AND SUBSTANCES REQUIRING PRESSURE."
Sealed the 22nd September 1858, and dated the 24th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Vanden Hielakker
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th March 1858.
I, JEAN VANDEN HIELAKKER, Engineer, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR COMPRESSING COAL, OTHER FUEL, AND SUBSTANCES REQUIRING PRES-
SURE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of new and improved mechanical arrangements for
compressing fuel and other substances. For this purpose I employ a circular
turn-table resting on rollers, which traverse a circular tramway, the said table
having on its under side a circular rack and also a pinion working in the same,
by which the table is made to revolve. Round the edge of the table are fixed
a number of blocks, and over each block is placed (free to rise or fall as
required) a mould supported by two guide bars placed on rollers, and passing
round and secured to the outside of the machine are two curved conduc-
tors between which the rollers on the guide bars pass for the purpose of

page_text: elevating or lowering and also discharging the contents of the aforesaid moulds.
The top of each mould is fitted with a slide acting as a cover, the machine
being provided with a semicircular bar for opening aad closing the moulds as
they revolve. The substance in the moulds is compressed by a beam beneath
which the moulds revolve, and a lever is connected to the beam for regulating
the amount of pressure as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Vanden Hielakker in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
VANDEU HIELAKKER, Engineer, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jean Vanden Hielakker, Her special licence that I, the said Jean Vanden
Hielakker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Jean Vanden Hielakker, 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 "AN
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR COMPRESSING COAL, OTHER FUEL, AND SUBSTANCES RE-
QUIRING PRESSURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jean
Vanden Hielakker, 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 Jean Vanden Hielakker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-

page_text: My Invention consists of certain new and improved mechanical arrangements
for compressing fuel and other substances.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked
thereon respectively, as follows:-
same; similar letters of reference are placed upon and denote corresponding
parts, in so far as such parts appear or can be seen at each of such said Figures
respectively.
Upon reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, it will be seen that
a, a, are moulds or matrices for moulding the coal or other substance into
brick-shaped cakes; b, the bed of the machine bearing the moulds a, a; c is a
hopper, through which the small coal is introduced successively into each
mould a; d, d, are slides moving on rollers which close the moulds a, a, after
they have been filled through the hopper c; e is a semicircular bar which
shuts the moulds a as they pass it; f, f, a series of blocks securely fixed to the
bed of the machine on which the moulds a, a, descend and fit; 9, 9, are two
guide bars upon rollers which regulate the advance of the moulds; h, h, aro
two conductors fixed to the brickwork of the machine by bearings, and serving
to raise or lower the moulds a by means of the bars g; i is the press beam; j, its
framework; is an opening through which the brick-shaped cakes are dis-
charged from the moulds a by their descent upon the blocks f; l, l, are strong
rollers on which the bed of the machine b (bearing the moulds a), turns hori-
zontally on a line of rails let into brickwork; m is a horizontal cog wheel
attached to the bed b, and causing it to turn on the rollers 1, 1; n is a pinion
working in a larger wheel, and acting on the wheel m; o is a lever crank
attached to the press beam i to regulate its pressure.
MODE OF OPERATING.
The machine being set in motion by means of the wheel n, the conductors h
cause the moulds a to rise successively to their highest points to receive the
coal through the hopper c. The moulds then advance along a straight portion
of the conducting bars h to allow of the slide & being shut by the curved rod e;
they then traverse a portion of the conducting bars h, which is curved or
inclined downwards to allow them to receive the pressure of the beam i. The

page_text: pressure being given, they traverse another straight portion of the conducting
bars h, while the slide d is opened by means of the bar e, and finally are
brought downwards by means of the rods g upon the blocks f, by which the
coal formed into brick-shaped cakes is expelled from the moulds a, each
consecutive mould being similarly treated.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention of "An Improved Machine for Compressing Coal, other Fuel, and
Substances requiring Pressure," together with the best means I am acquainted
with for carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion,
that although in the accompanying illustrative Sheet of Drawings, the series
of moulds consists of ten only, I do not confine myself to that particular
number, as more or less may be applied if found necessary; neither do I
confine myself to precise details herein described, and shown by the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, as slight modifications may be made without in
any way departing from the principle of my Invention; but what I do claim
under the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination of
parts herein described and set forth for the purpose above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Vanden Hielakker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JOHN PIDDINGTON,
Brussels.
JEAN VANDEN HIELAKKER. (L.S.)