IM- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Ramsay, of Sherburn Tower, Gateshead,
in the County of Durham, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS."
Sealed the 1st January 1870, and dated the 31st July 1869.

page_text: In the manufacture of gas it is usual to charge the retorts at the ends,
the covers being removed and the charges thrown in with shovels or
scoops or machinery.
According to my Invention I form apertures in the tops of the retorts,
and from these apertures tubes or passages lead up to the top of the
furnace, and are there closed with suitable stoppers, which are removed
when charging. I prefer that the retorts should be formed with short
charging tubes branching out from them; and I form the end of such
tubes with flanges, to which other tubes leading up to the top of the
furnace may be connected. Railways or tramways are provided over the
furnaces, on which trucks with hopper-like bottoms run. The charges
of coal or other gas-making-material are placed in these trucks, and are
carried by them over the charging tubes or passages of the retort; the
coal or material is then discharged through a slide trap at the bottom of
the truck, and falls into the retort. It is levelled and spread by tools
introduced from the end of the retort. The gas may be conducted off by
the charging tubes or passages.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Ramsay in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st January 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RAMSAY, of Sherburn Tower, Gateshead, in the County of Durham,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Ramsay, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Ramsay, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Thomas Ramsay, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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,

page_text: within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said. Thomas Ramsay, 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 Thomas Ramsay, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for the
manufacture of gas.
In the manufacture of gas it is usual to charge the retorts at the ends
or retort mouth, the door being removed, and the charges thrown in with
shovels, or scoops, or machinery.
According to my Invention I form apertures in the retorts, and from
these apertures tubes or passages lead up to the top of the retort arch or
furnace, and are there closed with suitable stoppers, which are removed
when charging. Railways or tramways are provided over the retort arch
or furnaces, on which trucks with hopper-like bottoms run. The charges
of coal or other gas-making material are placed in these trucks, and are
carried by them over the charging tubes or passages of the retort; the
coal or material is then discharged by drawing out a slide or trap at the
bottom of the truck and falls into the retort; the coal or gaseous matter
is then levelled and spread by tools introduced at the retort mouth or
door or end of the retort. The gas may be conducted off by the charging.
tubes or passages.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention I will proceed to.
describe more fully the manner of performing the same.
The retorts may be of fire-clay, or of iron, or other suitable material,
and
may be square, round, oval, or of D, or other shape, and are set in
the fire-brick arch in the usual way. The retort can either be an end
retort or a through retort.

page_text: Figure 1 shews a perspective view of a through retort of fire-clay
formed with two charging tubes at its top. The tubes branching out
from the top of the retort are of short length, so as merely to form a
neck or socket to receive the ends of other tubes which lead to the top
of the arch or furnace. Figure 1 shews a through retort with three
charging tubes; a flange may be formed around cach tube or socket, as
shewn, both to strengthen it and to facilitate the affixing a pipe to it; it
is not essential that the tubular sockets should be formed on the top of
the retort, as the retort might similarly be formed with sockets branching
out from its sides to receive the ends of tubes leading up to the top of
the furnace. At Figure 2 is shewn the end portion of a D-shaped retort
formed with a tubular socket at its top. Figure 3 shews the end of a
similar retort with the short branch tube leading from its top, differently
formed to receive the end of the tube which leads to the top of the
furnace. Figure 4 shews an end retort formed with a charging aperture
at its top; and Figure 4* shews a similar retort with a junction pipe or
socket near its end for gas to escape into the hydraulic main.
The manner of forming the retorts with charging apertures may be
varied, but the arrangements above described and shewn by the Drawings
will be found to answer well.
The retorts are set horizontally within the brick arch which forms the
furnace as is usual, and as is shewn at Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10. At A,
Figure 6, is shewn the plan at present in use; at B, Figure 6, is shewn
a method of fixing the upright charging pipe or shaft to the hydraulic
main; at C, Figure 6, is shewn another method for effecting the same
object; this method is specially applicable for a nine foot end retort.
Figures 7 and 8 are sectional views shewing the charging tubes to the
retorts and the way of charging from a truck or waggon P. In these
Figures the retorts are marked a, and the pipes which pass to the top
of the furnace or arch are marked b; these pipes may be of metal or fire-
clay or other material. Within the arch and around each upright pipe
solid masonwork is to be built of circular bricks or guards from the
top of the retort up through the brick arch in order to protect the neck
and pipe from the heat generated in the retort arch. The way in which
I effect this is shewn at Figures 7 and 8.
I prefer to place the retorts in sets of five in each arch, as shewn at
Figures 5, 6, and 7. The retorts are there shown at work (except as

page_text: in D, where the retort door or mouth is open, the others being closed,
and supposed at work) and charged; there it will be seen that from
the junction the upright pipe is shown to rise above the fire-brick arch
and is there joined to the hydraulic main, as at B or C, Figure 6. A
single or double main is employed as usual according to the nature of
the retort in use whether an end or a through retort.
As the Drawings shew a tramway is constructed above the top of the
furnace or arch, so that a waggon holding the requisite quantity of coal
to charge the retort may be moved over the line of upright shafts,
chimneys, or pipes. I prefer to form the waggon or truck in the manner
shewn at Figures 9; each truck being divided into compartments, each
capable of holding the required charge for one retort. If for a through
retort a compartment holds only half the requisite quantity. When
these through retorts are used a double way and double sets of waggons
will be needed, and with them the retorts are changed in two places as
shown at Figure 8. When the waggon has been moved into position to
bring one of its compartments over the top of one of the pipes b, the
stopper or door is removed from the top of the pipe and the compart-
ment of the truck is emptied of its contents by means of a slide at
its bottom, the said charge falls down the upright pipe into the retort
to be charged, and is thus introduced into the body of it; the coal is
then levelled in the retort by tools introduced at its end or ends and the
door or stopper is again fastened down and the mouth of the retort
closed. The retort is then fired in the usual way and the coke is
afterwards also withdrawn from the mouth of the retort in the
ordinary manner.
At Figure 10 is shown a sketch representing how by the mode above
described of feeding the retorts the coal may be lifted directly from a
ship by a steam crane or hoist, and be deposited into the waggons by
which it is supplied to the retorts.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood, that what I claim
is, the providing gas retorts with charging openings, and with passages
leading to such openings from the top of the furnace substantially as
herein described, such retorts having also at one or both ends a cover
or covers which can be removed, to allow of the retort being emptied
of coke through its end or ends.

page_text: I also claim the general combination or arrangement of apparatus
herein described, whereby the coal can be dropped directly from trucks
or waggons into pipes leading to the retorts.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Ramsay, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, in the 5
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
THOMAS RAMSAY. (L.S.)