IMPROVEMENTS IN GRAIN ELEVATORS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR THE LOADING AND UNLOADING OF SHIPS AND SIMILAR VESSELS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRAIN ELEVATORS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED
FOR THE LOADING AND UNLOADING OF SHIPS AND SIMILAR VESSELS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Ovid Miner Gould, of Montreal, Canada,
Gentleman.
Sealed the 3rd April 1872, and dated the 6th October 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th October 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRAIN ELEVATORS,
CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR THE LOADING AND UNLOADING OF SHIPS AND SIMILAR VESSELS,"
a communication, to be as follows:-
Elevators have long been much used both for loading and discharging
grain from vessels of small size, and also for transferring the grain from

page_text: barges to the hold of a steamship or large sea-going vessel, but it has
been found impracticable to use them in unloading ships or vessels of
any great depth of hold, as in order to bring the trunk of the elevator in
contact with the grain it would have to be canted at such an angle as to
render it impossible to pass it down a series of hatchways, an absolute
necessity in large steamships and sailing vessels.
To remedy this difficulty and produce an elevator which shall not
only possess all the advantages of those at present in use, but also be
arranged to discharge grain from any vessel whatever may be her depth
of hold is the object of this Invention, which consists mainly in an
arrangement whereby the trunk entering the hold of the vessel can
always be held in a vertical position, and the various modifications and
additions entailed by that arrangement.
•
The hull of the elevator may be of any convenient or ordinary type;
the upright portion is framed as usual with uprights, cross pieces, and
braces. I also use the ordinary vertical shaft which is rotated by any
suitable means. At any height found convenient on the vertical shaft
is placed a short horizontal shaft, carried by brackets and driven by a
pair of gear wheels, and driving in its turn by other gear wheels an
intermediate shaft. This latter shaft is supported on a frame hung by a
hinges to a rod or bar supported by the framing and brackets. To the
outer end of this frame is secured by hinges on another shaft a framed
arm with side braces. On the last mentioned shaft is placed a double
faced gear wheel, arranged by means of single faced gear wheels to
transmit motion from the intermediate shaft to a shaft supported on the
framed arm. On the outer end of this last-mentioned shaft are placed
two gear wheels driving a short transverse shaft, on the end of which is
placed a toothed wheel intermeshing with another wheel driving another
transverse shaft, on which is placed a drum, over which runs a band or
belt. These toothed wheels and the drum are supported from the end of
the framed arm. To this frame are securely attached upright brackets
provided with a flange resting on the top of the bearers, and having a
stay between them to stiffen them. On the casing are formed hubs or
bosses passing through an aperture in the upper part of and resting on
the said brackets, the aperture being of such size as to allow the hub
to move freely in it. Supported by the framed arm is a box with or
without a bottom, in which is placed a double drum or pulley driving a
double belt with canvas or any other substance, loosely connecting the

page_text: belts which pass over any convenient number of smaller pullies. The
belts are kept from sagging by a friction roller. At the end of these
belts is a short belt carried in order to keep it stretched whatever position
the box may assume around three friction rollers. At the inner end of
5 the box is placed a hopper connecting with a spout, the lower end of
which is taken into the hopper of an ordinary elevator placed on the
side of the upright part, provided as usual with a weighing machine.
A spout extends from the end of the elevator to any convenient spot.
From the top of the elevator tackle for the purpose of hoisting or
O lowering may be carried to the end of the outer frame, and from the
junction of the frame and framed arm tackle may be carried across the
frames, then down, and worked from any convenient spot.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th April 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Hur
Letters Patent bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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 GRAIN ELEVATORS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR THE LOADING AND
UNLOADING OF SHIPS AND SIMILAR VESSELS," a communication to me from
abroad by Ovid Miner Gould, of Montreal, Canada, Gentleman, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under

page_text: 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
Grain elevators have long been much used both for loading and
discharging vessels of small size, and also for transferring the grain from
barges to the hold of a steamship or large sea-going vessel, but it has
been found impracticable to use them in unloading ships or vessels of
any great depth of hold, as in order to bring the trunk of the clevator 1
in contact with the grain, it would have to be canted at such an angle as
to render it impossible to pass it down a series of hatchways, an absolute
necessity in largo steamships and sailing vessels.
To remedy this difficulty and produce an elevator which shall not only
possess all the advantages of those at present in use, but may also be :
arranged to discharge grain from any vessel whatever may be her depth
of hold is the object of this Invention, which consists mainly in an
arrangement whereby the trunk entering the hold of the vessel can
always be held in a vertical position, and in the various modifications and
additions entailed by that arrangement.
]

page_text: understood that the same improvements may be used in stationary ones
or those attached to buildings. à shows the hull of the elevator of any
convenient or ordinary construction; b, the upright portion framed with
uprights, cross pieces, and braces; and the ordinary vertical shaft,
3 which is rotated by any suitable means. At any height found con-
venient on the vertical shaft is placed as shown in Figure 2 a short
horizontal shaft d, carried by brackets d³, and driven by a pair of gear
wheels d, and driving in its turn by other gear wheels d³ a shaft e. This
shaft is supported on a frame e², strengthened and braced as shown in
Figure 2, and hung by hinges e³ to a rod or bar e³, supported by the
framing 6 and brackets e. To the outer end of this frame is secured in
the same manner by the hinges f¹ on a shaft ƒ, à framed arm g`with its
side "braces 9'. On the shaft is placed a double faced gear wheel h;
arranged by means of single faced gear wheels 'h', h³, to transmit motion
3 from the shaft ẻ to a shaft i, supported on the frame g. On the outer
end of this shaft i are placed two gear wheels, driving a shaft &, on the
end of which is placed a toothed wheel k, intermeshing with another
wheel k³, driving a shaft on which is placed the drum k³, over the
latter runs the band or belt of the trunk m, the construction and details
) of which are of the ordinary description. The toothed wheels k, k³, and .
the drum ³ are supported from the end of the frame g as follows:—To the
frame gare bolted or otherwise securely attached upright brackets or
supports 2, provided with a flange resting on the top of the bearers and
having a stay between them to stiffen them. On the casing are
5 formed hubs or bosses P, passing through an aperture in the upper part
of and resting on the brackets 2, the aperture being of such size as to ⚫
allow the hub ♬ to move freely in it. Bearings of Babbits' or any
other suitable metal receive the axles". Supported by the frame g and
in the position shewn in the Drawing is a box n, with or without a
bottom, in which is placed a double drum or pulley o, driving a double
belt o' with 'canvass or any other substance loosely connecting the belts,
which pass over any convenient number of smaller pullies p, and are
kept from sagging by a friction roller p'. From the shaft i is driven by
a pair of gear wheels ra shaft r¹, on the end of which is a pulley 73
5 driving a belt carried in order to keep it stretched in whatever
position the box n may assume, around three friction rollers a, the centre
or largest one of which is placed on the shaft of the doublo pulley o,
thus imparting motion to it and the belt o'. The friction roller &¹ serves
to keep the belt, extended. At the inner end of the box n is placed a
...

page_text: hopper t, connecting with a spout ', the lower end of which is taken into
the hopper of an ordinary elevator, placed on the side of the upright
part provided as usual with a weighing machine, to the drum of which
motion is given by means of a shaft u, connecting the vertical shaft c
with that of the drum by gear wheels u¹, u². A spout to extends from
the end of the clevator to any convenient spot. From the point a tackle
for the purpose of hoisting or lowering may be carried to the point.
marked 1 at the outer end of the frame, and from the junction 2 of the
frames e¹ and g tackle may be carried up to the point 3, across to 4, then
down, and worked as well as the other from any convenient spot.
The barge a being brought alongside the vessel to be unloaded, the
points 1 and 2 are raised or depressed as may be required to suit the
breadth of beam and depth of hold of the ship, the trunk m being passed
down through the hatchways into the hold and remaining in a vertical
position with the bottom touching the grain. The shaft o being rotated
by a suitable motive power transmits motion through the different gear
wheels and shafts to the belt of the trunk m, which passing over the
drum ³ throws the grain through the spout into the opening in the box
n, where falling on the rapidly revolving belt it is carried forward and
falls through the hopper and spout into the hopper of the ordinary
elevator placed at the side. In this the grain is raised to the full height
and then carried through the spout or channel w to any required position.
The form of the belt o' with the loose canvass between its parts upon
which the grain falls, ensures its delivery from the head of the trunk m
into the hopper t, even should the points 1 and 2 be on the same level.
By the diagram in Figure 5 it will be seen that while the elevators at
present in use are provided with only one swing arm attaching the trunk
to the framing, a double swing arm (comprising the parts e¹ and g) is
used in my Invention, thus allowing of far greater extension and con-
traction, both horizontally and vertically, of the arm, and at the same 3
time the trunk m may be placed in a vertical or in any other required
position.
It will thus be seen that by my Invention a ship of large tonnage can
be unloaded with as much facility as a barge, and the cargo transferred

page_text: me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The novel combination of the swing arms e³ and 9 with the
trunk m, or equivalent contrivance, arranged and working substantially
in the manner and for the purpose described.
Second. The novel combination and arrangement of the arm g,.box n,
drum o, belt o¹, drums p, p, friction wheel p', pulley, belt, friction
wheels and s³, and hopper t, with the other parts described, con-
structed, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
15 Witness,
EDWARD C. JACKSON.
W“. ROB³, LAKE. (L.S.)