CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COOLING AND PREPARATION OF CHARCOAL TO BE USED FOR REFINING SUGAR, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Paterson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on 'the 30th May
1864.
I, JAMES PATERSON, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COOLING AND PREPARATION OF CHARCOAL TO BE
USED FOR REFINING SUGAR, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, OR MEANS
EMPLOYED THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the cooling and pre-
paration of charcoal to be used for refining sugar, and consists mainly in the
application of a cold blast or current made to impinge against or on the
coolers by means of a fan or other convenient apparatus, or the cooling may
also be effected by drawing or forcing air through or amongst the charcoal.
By the adoption of either of these systems the present injurious and wasteful
operation of spreading the charcoal by manual labour on a cooling floor is
entirely obviated.
The second part of this Invention relates to the application of machinery
driven by steain or other power for the purpose of drawing the slides of the
coolers. The slides consist of two parallel flat bars or plates perforated with
holes of sufficient size to enable the charcoal to fall through when any one of
them is placed in connection with any of the coolers containing it, and are
arranged one above the other, one end of each being connected to a vibrating rod,
bar, or quadrant in such a manner that whilst the holes in the upper slide are

page_text: in communication with the coolers the lower ones close their ends, thus
allowing the lower part of the coolers to be filled with charcoal which, when
the position of the slides is altered, falls out; in this manner the coolers are
successively emptied of their contents after they have been filled for a
sufficient length of time The vibrating motion of the rod or quadrant is
obtained by connecting it by linkwork to one eccentric or crank on an
adjoining revolving shaft, or it may be produced in any other convenient
manner.
The third part of this Invention consists in substituting a travelling or
moving table or tables in lieu of the band barrows at present employed for
conveying the charcoal from the coolers as they are emptied, and it is pre-
ferred to place these tables below the coolers, so that their contents may be
immediately emptied upon the tables as they move. This travelling action of
the tables is obtained by any of the arrangements of mechanism at present
employed for imparting such motion to travelling or moving platforms. These
tables are arranged in such manner that they are caused to deposit the
charcoal at any place that may be desired. By this arrangement the liability
of spilling and rendering the charcoal useless by the grinding and crushing
action of the wheel-barrows and workmen's feet passing over it is entirely
avoided, and a proportioned saving is also effected.
The fourth part of this Invention consists in imparting a vibratory or
oscillating motion to the travelling tables, which is obtained by causing the
rollers, barrels, or supports over which the tables pass to move in their
bearings horizontally as they revolve, thus causing the tables to act as a
riddle, thereby enabling the dust to be separated from the larger pieces of
charcoal. This motion may be imparted to the rollers by means of a rod
attached to their ends, and connected to a revolving crank, cam, eccentric,
or any convenient mechanism.