IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE REBURNING OF ANIMAL CHARCOAL
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Bryant the younger, of Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, Sugar Refiner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE REBURNING OF ANIMAL CHARCOAL."
Sealed the 23rd May 1856, and dated the 24th March 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Bryant at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th March
1856.
I, JAMES BRYANT the younger, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon,
Sugar Refiner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE REBURNING OF ANIMAL
CHARCOAL," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction and setting of reversing
retorts or apparatus for re-charring or re-burning animal charcoal. The
retort, which may be of cast iron or other suitable material, is enclosed in
brickwork and heated by a suitable furnace beneath communicating with flues
which encircle the retort. A reciprocating or partial rotatory motion is
imparted to the retort during the process of re-burning, whereby the animal
charcoal is kept constantly turned or agitated. For this purpose the retort is
Suspended at the front end by an endless chain passing round an overhead
pulley, whilst its opposite or back end is carried or supported by a trunnion,

page_text: which must be sufficiently strong to bear the weight of the retort when
charged. The gearing for reversing the retort is so arranged, that the motion
will be reversed after each partial rotation of the retort, and may be easily
thrown out of gear when requisite for charging the retort, which is done by
opening the front end cover. A suitable outlet pipe is passed through the
centre of the trunnion to carry off the foul air and vapour arising from the
charcoal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Bryant in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BRYANT the younger, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Sugar Refiner,
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-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Bryant, Her special license that I, the said James Bryant,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Bryant, my executors, administrators, or 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 MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR THE RE-BURNING OF ANIMAL CHARCOAL," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Bryant, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 James Bryant, 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 in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to an improved construction and setting of re-
versing retorts or apparatus for re-charring or re-burning animal charcoal.

page_text: The retort, which may be of cast iron or other suitable material, is inclosed in
brickwork and heated by a suitable furnace beneath, communicating with
flues which encircle the retort. A reciprocating or reversing rotatory motion
on its axis is imparted to the retort during the process of re-burning, whereby
the animal charcoal is kept constantly stirred or agitated, and will therefore
be more efficiently acted upon by the heat of the furnace. For this purpose,
the
retort is suspended by an endless chain or chains passing round an overhead
pulley or pullies, the back end being further supported by a trunnion, which
must be sufficiently strong to bear the weight of the retort when charged.
The gearing for giving the reciprocating rotatory motion to the retort is so
arranged by means of an ordinary mangle wheel that the motion will be
reversed after each partial rotation of tho retort, and may be easily thrown out
of gear by an ordinary clutch, when requisite for charging the retort, which
may be done through an opening in the front end, provided with a moveable
A suitable outlet pipe is passed through the centre of the trunnion to
carry off the foul air and vapor arising from the charcoal.
cover.
And in order that my said Invention may be more clearly understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same; and for that purpose I
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal section of
the setting of the retort and gearing for imparting the reversing motion to the
retort itself.
Figure 2, on Sheet 2, is a front elevation of two series of retorts, shewing
also the steam engine and gearing for actuating the same.
Figure 3, on Sheet 2, is a corresponding back elevation of the retorts
and gearing; and Figure 4, on Sheet 3, is a general plan of the whole
apparatus.
A, A, are the retorts, which may be composed of cast iron; they are sur-
rounded by the brickwork B, a space being left between such brickwork
and the sides and ends of the retort to allow the heat from the furnace C to
circulate freely and pass up to a chimney in communication with the upper
fluo D. These retorts are slung either at the front end only, as shown in the
sories marked A. in Figure 4, by the endless chains E, E, or they may be slung
at both ends by chains E', E', as shewn in the series marked B, and also in
Figuro 1. When slung from the front end only, the retorts are fitted or
formed at the front end with a grooved pulley F, under which is passed the
endless chain E which passes over the overhead grooved pulley G on the inter-

page_text: mediate shaft H, to which an alternating reciprocating or partial rotatory
motion is imparted in the manner herein-after described.
The back end of the retort is fitted with and supported by a trunnion I,
working in a bearing J in the brickwork, as shewn by the dotted lines in
Figure 1. When the retorts are slung at both ends, a second grooved pulley
K (Figure 1) is fixed on to the trunnion, which is extended for that purpose
some short distance beyond the brickwork, and under this pulley is passed the
second endless chain E', which passes over the second overhead pulley L fast
on the shaft H, which in this case is extended back the entire length of the
setting or brickwork of the retort, as shewn clearly in Figure 1. M, M, are
pipes, passing through the centres of the trunnions and bent or turned upwards
inside the retorts for the purpose of carrying off the foul vapors arising from
the animal charcoal contained inside the retorts. This vapor may either be
burnt or it may be condensed, as shewn in my Drawings, by being directed
into a cistern of water N. The shafts H, H, carry each a spur wheel O,
which through the train of gearing 01, 0', imparts the required motion to all
the retorts in cach series, and this motion is obtained by means of an ordinary
mangle wheel and pinion, as shewn at P. The two shafts Q, Q, which carry
the pinions gearing into the mangle wheels, are connected with the spur wheels
R, R, and these latter wheels, which work loose on the studs S, S, receive a
continuous rotatory motion from the spur pinions T, T, fast on one end of the
crank shafts U, U, of the double-acting horizontal steam engine V, supported
on the main standards W. It will thus be obvious to the practical man, that
although a continuous rotatory motion is obtained from the prime mover, this
motion, by means of the mangle wheel and pinion at P, is converted into a
reciprocating or alternating curvilinear motion round the axis of the retort,
which motion is imparted to the retorts for the purpose of turning over or
agitating the contents thereof; and for the more effectually carrying out this
end, the interior of the retorts may be fitted with internal projecting ribs or
ledges X, X, as shewn in the one retort represented in transverse section at
Figure 2; but I do not claim these ribs so applied as new in themselves.
The animal charcoal to be charred or re-burnt is introduced into the retort
through the front end, which is closed by means of a tight fitting lid or door
Y, hung upon hinges at Z, Z.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without

page_text: deviating from the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the application and use of retorts for re-burning animal charcoal,
arranged and actuated so that they are turned on their axes with a recipro-
cating or alternating rotatory motion for the purpose of agitating or stirring
the matter contained therein, as herein-before described.
Second, the peculiar construction, arrangement, and mode of working and
setting retorts having a reciprocating or alternating rotatory motion round
their axes for charring or re-burning animal charcoal, as hercin-before described
and illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Bryant, j', have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
JAMES BRYANT, JR. (L.8.)