IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FUELRY
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Dickinson Brunton, of No. 6, Leighton
Crescent, Kentish Town, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FUEL
Sealed the 21st August 1866, and dated the 22nd February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Dickinson Brunton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd February 1866.
I, JOHN DICKINSON BRUNTON, of No. 6, Leighton Crescent, Kentish
Town, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PEAT FUEL AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of an apparatus by which peat may be rendered
plastic and homogeneous, be then moulded or formed into pieces of a
convenient size and shape, and afterwards be entirely or partially dried, and
by which the heat employed in drying the peat may be economised. I
take the peat in the state in which it is dug out of the bog and cause
it to pass through the holes of a perforated metal plate by the action of
spreaders which pass over the surface of the plate. The peat that passes,

page_text: through the plate is received on a moving endless band, which is rendered
rigid transversely by slats or bars, and is supported on a firm table or bed.
As the peat is carried forward on this band I form it into a solid slab of a
thickness suitable to be cut into pieces convenient for drying. This I
do by a squeezer actuated by cranks or cams or any other convenient
mechanical means. I make the squeezer somewhat wider than the intended
slab of peat and from four to six feet long, its under surface flat except at
the ends which are curved upwards. Between the squeezer and the peat
I interpose an endless band of woollen or other suitable substance, which
I cause to travel in the same direction and at the same speed as the band
on which the peat is carried. I also give to the squeezer simultaneously
with its act of pressure upon the peat a movement in the same direction
as the said endless bands, and cause it to move back to its original position
during the time when by the cranks or cams or other actuating means it
is lifted from contact with the peat. I give to the cranks or cams or other
actuating means such a speed as shall bring the squeezer down upon the
same quantity of peat several times while it is passing under it, and thus
by a succession of squeezes or pressures press the peat into a close.or
solid slab. I make the space between the squeezer and the endless band
on which the peat is conveyed greater at the entering than at the exit end,
so that as the peat advances its solidity is continually increased, or if it be
already perfectly solid the superfluous quantity is forced back towards the
entering end. The slab or mass of wet peat is next cut into portions
convenient for drying by a knife or cutter formed of separate pieces of
sheet metal, which are placed edge to edge in one plane so as to constitute
a continuous cutter equal in length to the combined widths of the pieces
of metal. If these pieces be supposed to be numbered consecutively as
they stand in their order I attach those figured with the odd numbers to
one frame, and those figured with the even numbers to another frame.
These frames move downward together, so that the knife or cutter formed
as described of the several pieces of metal acts in cutting as though it
were of one piece, but in rising out of the slab or mass of wet peat one of
the frames rises before the other, lifting with it the alternate pieces of
metal, and by this means is avoided the lifting up of the peat which would
be occasioned by the simultaneous withdrawal of all the pieces of metal
which form the cutter. The pieces of peat so cut out of the slab as
described are carried forward upon a series of endless bands, and during
their progress are, for the purpose of being dried, subjected to the action
of a current of air, either of the natural temperature or artificiallly heated.

page_text: I convey the pieces of peat from one band of the series to another, either
upwards or downwards as may be required, and at the same time overturn
them, so that the side which on the previous band had been downwards
shall now be upwards. I accomplish this by means of an endless elastic
band of thin india-rubber or other suitable substance, which I place so as
partly to surround the end roller of the band on which the peat travels
if the pieces of peat are to be delivered on to a lower band, or the end
roller of the band above that on which the peat is travelling if the pieces
of peat are to be delivered on to a higher band, and the pieces of peat are
by the elastic band kept in contact with the travelling band while they are
being carried round the end roller, and are delivered on to either a lower
or a higher travelling band according to the circumstances. The travel-
ling bands I make of a suitable textile fabric, and I stiffen them laterally
by metal wires woven at intervals in the woof of the fabric. To each
selvedge I attach a chain which passes over suitable toothed wheels and
secures the regular and equable onward movement of the bands. If air
artificially heated is employed in the drying process I supply the heated
air to the chamber in which the peat is placed to dry [whether on endless
bands or otherwise] and regulate the degree of heat of such air in the
following manner:-I place a fan of any usual construction in such a.
position that it shall deliver the current of air generated by it into the
drying chamber, and in the case in which the peat is placed on moving.
endless bands I deliver the current of air midway in the series of bands,,
and by this arrangement dispense with circuitous passages and give the air
a straight and direct course over the peat. I cause the supply of air to the
fan to pass in whole or in part through a fire of some smokeless fuel or of
gas burning in a suitable grate or stove, and between the fire and the fan
I construct a chamber of brick or other incombustible material, in which I
place one or more partitions of wire gauze, through which I cause the
heated air and gasses from the fire to pass on their way to the fan. In the
same intermediate chamber I also construct openings or ventilators of the
nature of louvre boards, through which cold air can be admitted to the
fan, and by the opening or closing of which the proportion of cold to
heated air supplied to the fan, and consequently the temperature of the two
combined, can be regulated. Lastly, I condense the vapour proceeding
from the peat in the drying chamber and again utilize the heat liberated
by its condensation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Dickinson Brunton in the Great Seal Patent Office.
on the 21st August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DICKINSON BRUNTON, of Number Six, Leighton Crescent, Kentish Town,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year, of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and I
grant unto me, the said John Dickinson Brunton, Her special licence that
I, the said John Dickinson Brunton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Dickinson Brunton, 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 THE MANUFAC
TURE OF PEAT FUEL AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Dickinson Brunton, my 2
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 2
said Letters Patent.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Dickinson Brunton, 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 Drawing hereunto 3
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon [that is to say]
This Invention consists of an apparatus by which peat may be rendered
plastic and homogeneous, be then moulded or formed into pieces of a con-
venient size and shape, and afterwards be entirely or partially dried; and
by which the heat employed in drying the peat may be economised: I 3
take the peat in the state in which it is dug out of the bog and cause it to
pass through the holes of a perforated metal plate by the action of
spreaders, which pass over the surface of the plate. The machine by

page_text: which I accomplish this I call the spreader mill; Fig. 1 is a side view or
elevation, Fig. 2 an end view, Fig. 3 a plan, of one form of such a mill,
and Fig. 4 is a plane projection of one-half of the cylindrical surface of the
spreader wheel a, shewing the way in which the spreaders b, b, b, are
placed on its circumference; c is the perforated metal plate supported by
ribs of iron d, d; its curvature is circular and concentric with the spreader
wheel, so that the spreaders touch its surface throughout the whole course
of their passage over it. The curve of the face of the spreaders and the
angle at which they are fixed on the surface of the spreader wheel may be
varied to suit the varieties of peat subjected to its action; the objects to
be kept in view being, 1st, that the spreaders shall not merely carry the
peat before. them but force it through the holes; and, 2ndly, that what is
not so forced through shall slip sideways, as indicated in Fig. 4, and come
under the action of the following spreader, and thus, being passed, from
spreader to spreader, all but the strong fibres, twigs, and rooty parts of the
peat shall pass through. the perforations; e is the hopper from which the
peat is fed into the machine, and is the shoot down which, falls that
portion of the peat which has not passed through the perforations, and
which may, if thought expedient, be again. passed through the machine;
g, in Figs. 1, 5, and 6, is. the moving endless band, which I call the
moulding band, on which the milled peat falls. This band is rendered
rigid transversely by slats or bars, as shewn in Fig. 5, and is supported on
firm table h.. Iimpart the required motion to the moulding band by
means of toothed wheels [which are not shewn in the Drawing] fixed on the
shaft i, and acting upon the pins in the ends of the transverse slats or bars.
This shaft, together with the drum or roller k, which is also fixed upon it,
is driven by any convenient power. As the peat is carried forward upon
the moulding band g I. form it into a solid, slab, of a thickness suitable to
be cut into pieces convenient for drying. Fig. 5 is a side view, partly. in
section, and. Fig. 6. an end view of the squeezer by which I effect this
operation.;.is the squeezer.; m,m, the eccentrics or cams by which I bring
the squeezer down forcibly upon the peat P, which lies between its under
surface and the surface of the moulding band; n, n, are the eccentric rods
working in the guides. o,.o. I connect the eccentric rods with the squeezer
by links p, p. which arrangement permits the squeezer to move forward
with the peat while in contact therewith, and to, swing back to its original
position when the contact ceases; q is the endless, band of woollen or other
suitable substance interposed between the peat and the squeezer. This
band. I cause, to travel in the same direction and at the same rate as the
a

page_text: moulding band by the pinching rollers r, r. I give to the cams or eccen-
trics such a rapidity of revolution as shall bring the squeezer down upon
the same quantity of peat several times while it is passing under it, and
thus by a succession of squeezes or pressures press the peat into a close or
solid slab. I make the space between the squeezer and the moulding band
greater at the entering than at the exit end, so that as the peat advances
its solidity is continually increased; or if it be already perfectly solid
the superfluous quantity is forced back towards the entering end. s,
Figs. 5 and 6, is a knife or cutter formed of separate strips of sheet metal
placed edge to edge in one plane, and numbered, in Fig. 6, from 1 to 21 ;
they constitute a continuous cutter, equal in length to the combined
widths of the strips of metal. The strips figured with the odd numbers are
attached to t, and those figured with the even numbers are attached to u.
Both t and slide freely, but separately, up and down in the cutter frame v,
and are both suspended to spiral springs w, w. The cam z in its revolu-
tion depresses both and at the same moment, but is released from
the action of the cam before u, and by the recoil of its spiral springs rises
a moment in advance of u, withdrawing the alternate strips attached to it
out of the peat before those attached to u are withdrawn by the rise of u.
Both t and u are shewn in the Drawing in their position of greatest depres-
sion, the lower edge of the strips of metal just touching the moulding
band; when released from the action of the cam they rise till the lower
edge of the strips comes just within the scrapers y, y, which after every
cut scrape from their surface any adhering peat. By this successive
upward movement of t and u is avoided the lifting up of the peat, which
would be occasioned by their simultaneous rise. The cutter. frame v is
fitted in a slide z, and by means of the system of levers and connecting
links a, b, c, I give to », for every revolution of the cam x, a forward
movement equal in speed to that of the moulding band, and which
forward movement continues during the time and at least as long as while
the cutters are in the peat. By a spring or weight I bring back the cutter
frame to its original position after every such forward movement, By
reference to Fig. 5 it will be seen that as the pins fixed in the ends of the
transverse slabs of the moulding band move forward they come into
contact with the lower end of the suspended lever a. As a' moves forward
by their action it will be evident that by means of the connecting link b¹
it imparts a forward movement to the lever c¹, whose lower end is fixed;
and that the lever c in its turn imparts a forward motion to the cutter
frame v. A roller fixed upon. a' is made to ride upon a curved guide d

page_text: by which a' is gradually lifted and so disengaged from the action of the
pin at the proper moment, and the fixed or upper end of a' is formed with
a slot so as to allow it to rise and fall on its fulcrum pin as required. The
cam x must be of such a figure, and the action of the spiral springs w, w;
so prompt, as to allow time before the cam comes round again for the
sliding back of the cutter frame. v to its original position. I do not
describe the way in which the slab. or mass of peat is cut longitudinally as
it proceeds from the squeezer, as I should adopt for this purpose one of
the ordinary and well-known methods of cutting plastic substances. The
peat after being thus cut transversely and longitudinally into pieces of
convenient size is delivered upon the first of a series of endless moving
bands, and the pieces during their progress are for the purpose of
being dried subjected to a current of air, either of the natural temperature
or artificially heated. I convey the pieces of peat from one band of the
series to another, either upwards or downwards as may be required, and at
the same time, in order to facilitate their drying, overturn them, so that
the side which on the previous band had been downwards shall now be
upwards; I accomplish this by the means shewn in Fig. 7. a is an
endless elastic band of thin india-rubber or woollen or other suitable sub-
stance. If a woollen or other textile fabric be employed I give to it the
necessary elasticity or yieldingness by a roller 6, which acts either by its
own weight or by the action of a spring. If the roller or drum c and the
endless band d be moving in the direction of the straight arrow it will
carry the peat p, p, resting upon the band downward over c, and the band
a will keep the peat in close contact with d, and the peat will be over-
turned and delivered upon the band e, which will be travelling in the
direction indicated by the straight arrow; also, if the roller c and the
bands & and e be moving in the contrary direction, as indicated by the
wavy arrows, the peat will pass from the band e into the space between
d and a, and being held in contact with d around the roller c will be
carried upward and delivered overturned upon the upper band d. The
travelling bands d and e I make of a suitable textile fabric, and I stiffen
them laterally by metal wires woven at intervals of from 3 to 6 inches in
the woof of the fabric; also, to each selvedge I attach a chain which
passes over suitable toothed wheels, and by this means I 'secure the regular
and equable onward movement of the bands. If air artificially heated is
employed in the drying process I supply the heated air to the chamber in.
which the peat is placed to dry [whether on endless bands or otherwise]
and regulate the temperature of such air in the manner shewn in Figs. 8

page_text: arrange-
and 9. a is a fan of any usual construction, 6 is a part of the drying
chamber, into which the air is delivered by the fan, and in the case in
which peat is placed on moving endless bands, I deliver the current of
air midway in the series of bands, as shewn in Fig. 10, and by this
ment dispense with circuitous passages, and give the air an unimpeded
course from the fan and over the peat, in the two opposite directions indi-
cated by the arrows. cyc, Figs. 8 and 9, are the fire-places in which I
burn a smokeless fuel or gas; d is the chamber between the fire and the
fan, in which I placé first and nearest to the fire a brick partition e built
with numerous apertures, and secondly, two partitions of wire gauze f, f,
and the heated air and gases from the fire pass through them, as indicated
by the arrows, on their way to the fan. g, g, are openings in the sides of
the intermediate chamber, in which are fitted moveable ventilators, by the
opening or closing of which the proportion of cold to heated air supplied
to the fan, and consequently the temperature of the two combined, can
be regulated. In the arch over the fire-places I leave several holes h,
through which air can be admitted in any measure needful to effect
the perfect combustion of the gases emanating from the burning fuel
Lastly, I condense.the aqueous vapour, or such part thereof as may be
found practicable, proceeding from the moist peat in the drying chamber,
and again utilize the heat liberated by its condensation. There are two
methods of artificial drying, the one or the other of which, under some
modification, is ordinarily adopted, namely, by means of a current of
heated air, or by the application of heat only, and the condensation of the
vapour generated in drying may be effected in two ways, the one applicable
more particularly to the first method, and the other to the second method
of drying. Fig. 11 represents the general arrangement of the drying
chambers and condenser applicable to the method of drying by means of
a current of heated air. A, B, C, are three drying chambers which I
prefer to be of the same or about the same capacity. A is supplied with
heated air direct from the fan a, Fig. 8, which air having passed over the
peat continues its course through the pipes p, p, p, of the condenser D.
These pipes should be made of tinned plate or other thin sheet metal.
Into the space surrounding the pipes in the condenser I cause a current
of air to enter at 6-[the end farthest from the chamber A] and to pass
along the whole length of the condenser; absorbing on its way not only.
sensible heat from the current of air passing in the contrary direction from
the chamber A, but also the latent heat of the aqueous vapour which has
been abstracted from the peat by that air, and which condenses on. the

page_text: interior of the pipes as the temperature of the air is lowered. The quan-
tity of air per minute entering the condenser at 6 as described, together
with a quantity per minute passing through the fire-places c, c, Fig. 8,
should be three times that which passes through the chamber A in the
same time. Two third parts of this total quantity I cause to pass through the
drying chambers B and C, and the remainder I convey through the open-
ings g, g, Fig. 8 [which under such circumstances are closed against the
entrance of other air], into the chamber d, from whence, mingled with
heated air from the fire, it passes through the fan a.into the chamber A.
The effect of this arrangement is that, first, the quantity of air passing
through the heating stove represented in Figs. 8 and 9 is only one-third
of the whole quantity employed in drying the peat; and, secondly, of this
third a smaller proportion passes through the fire, because the air entering
at g, g, and mingling with that heated by the fire is already heated in
some degree by its passage through the condenser D as described. The
entrance of the air into the condenser at 6 is caused by the action of the
tan a, Figs. 8 and 9, combined with the action of another fan, or other
fans, which exhaust the chambers B and C. Fig. 12 represents the
general arrangement of the drying chamber, and method of condensation,
applicable when the drying is effected by means of the application of heat
only. A is the drying chamber; B and b, b, are the boiler and pipes of
an ordinary hot water apparatus, by which the chamber A and the peat
contained therein are heated. C is a pump by which the aqueous vapour,
generated from the moisture in the peat contained in A is withdrawn from
A through the pipe d, and forced through the pipe e into the boiler B,
and becomes there condensed, imparting its latent heat to the water con-
tained therein. A small fire under the boiler B will suffice to supply the
heat lost by radiation and other unavoidable causes.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention in its several
parts, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself in every particular to the exact
arrangement and construction as shewn, as modifications in these may be
made, and the nature of the Invention be still preserved; but I declare
that I claim as my Invention, in their application to peat,-
First, the action of the spreaders upon a perforated plate as described,
whether curved as shewn in the Drawing or flat.
Secondly, the squeezer and cutter as described.
Thirdly, the overturning of the pieces of peat, and their transference
from one endless band to another, as described.

page_text: Fourthly, the construction of stove, by which the air supplied to the
drying chamber is heated, and its heat regulated as described.
Fifthly, the economising the heat employed in the drying of peat, by
means of the condensation of the aqueous vapour generated in the
process of drying, and utilization of the heat liberated by such conden-
sation.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Dickinson. Brunton, have here-
'unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN DICKINSON BRUNTON. (L.S.)