IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVING AND RAISING COAL AND OTHER GRANULAR MATERIAL, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVING AND RAISING COAL AND OTHER GRANULAR
MATERIAL, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." -A
communication from abroad by Alfred Lawton, of Elizabeth, Union
County, New Jersey, and Henry Hutton Gordon, of the City,
County, and State of New York, both in the United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th June 1873.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVING AND RAISING COAL AND OTHER
GRANULAR MATERIAL, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,"
a communication to me from abroad by Alfred Lawton, of Elizabeth,

page_text: Union County, New Jersey, and Henry Hutton Gordon, of the City,
County, and State of New York, both in the United States of America,
to be as follows :-
The object of this Invention is to save the tedious and costly labor
demanded in the moving and raising of coal and other granular material
by the aid of shovels and wheelbarrows and the usual hoisting apparatus.
The first part of the Invention consists in raising coal and other
granular material by means of a bucket or other suitable vessel arranged
to slide in a shaft or its equivalent, which extends so far below the
ground or platform on which is deposited the coal or other material to
be raised that the latter will of itself pass into the bucket.
In the present instance the shaft is of an oblong sectional form, and
in the front side of the shaft there is an opening, the lower edge of
which is continued in the form of an inclined plane to the surface of the
ground or platform. It is not essential however that there should be
but one of these openings and inclined planes, as they may also be
arranged at the back, or, if desired, upon all four sides of the shaft.
On the inside of the shaft a sliding door is so arranged that it can be
made to close or uncover the opening, the door occupying a position
close to the inside of the front wall, and being operated in the present ?
instance by a rod extending upward to or above the top of the shaft, but
the said door may in some instances be operated from below the shaft
without departing from the Invention.
A bucket conforming in shape to but somewhat less as regards length
and breadth than the interior of the shaft is arranged to slide in guides
in the latter, the bucket being suspended by a rope or chain, and being
raised and lowered by any suitable system of gearing under the control
of an attendant.
In using the above described apparatus the bucket is first lowered to
the bottom of the shaft; the door is then elevated so as to uncover the
whole or part of the opening, when coal from the mass upon the ground
or platform and surrounding the shaft will rush down the inclined plane
and into the bucket. When the bucket is full the attendant depresses
the door, thereby closing the opening and preventing the further passage
of coal through the same; he then by a proper system of signals com-
municates with a second attendant, who so manipulates the gearing that

page_text: it shall raise the bucket to the top of the shaft, where the latter may be
tilted or its contents otherwise disposed of in any desired manner.
The importance of the Invention as a labor saving apparatus will be
understood if it is supposed to be erected at any place where large masses
of coal are stored to be removed from time to time; for instance, at the
coal depôt of a railroad or canal, where it has been the practice to remove
the coal from heaps there deposited by wheelbarrows and shovels,
demanding the services of a number of laborers, who conveyed the coal
in the wheelbarrows up inclined planes and tilted them into cars or other
vehicles, or into chutes communicating therewith. All this tedious and
costly labor may be dispensed with by the erection of the above described
simple apparatus, as the coal will of itself fall into the bucket, and the
latter may be raised to any desired height and its contents tilted into a
chute, or directly into a car or other suitable receptacle.
The apparatus may also be employed for raising grain or other granular
material.
The object of the second part of the Invention is to avoid the necessity
of surrounding the elevating shaft or its equivalent with the masses of
coal or other granular material to be raised, and to enable the latter to
be conveyed to the said shaft from points more or less remote, and to be
raised in the same without any of the usual tedious and costly labor
which would be demanded in removing the same material by means of
shovels and wheelbarrows.
In carrying out this part of the Invention a platform which may be
either wholly or in part of open trestlework is erected on a level with
or at such convenient height above the surface of the ground as will
enable cars to be conducted on to or from the said platform upon rails or
tracks. Beneath this platform or trestlework is a second platform, upon
which is deposited the coal or other material to be moved and raised, as
hereafter explained, the latter platform being usually on a level or there-
abouts with the surface of the ground, although this is not important.
Extending under the entire second platform is a space or chamber,
the bottom of which should be at a sufficient distance beneath the
platform to permit the passage to all parts of the said chamber of a
small car or other conveying vessel, the wheels of which run upon
rails or tracks laid upon the bottom of the chamber, the said tracks
merging into a single track at a point beneath a shaft or elevator.

page_text: A number of openings are formed in the second platform at points
directly above the lowest tracks, and each of these openings is in the
present instance furnished on the under side of the platform with a
sliding door, but it should be understood that these doors may be level
with or on the top of the platform, and that they may be hinged or
arranged in any manner which will best answer the purpose. It is
essential however that the openings or traps should be somewhat less
in size than the top of the car or conveyor, or, if larger, that they
should form the mouths of funnels or chutes.
The shaft or elevator before referred to is built of any suitable
material and to any required height, and may be continuous and
entirely closed, or it may be constructed in two sections; the lower-
most extending between the first and second platforms, and being
entirely closed, while the uppermost section may be nothing more than
a light open framework, which can if desired be mounted upon wheels
arranged to run upon a track; this latter arrangement, when tho
apparatus is constructed upon so extended a scale as to require a
number of shafts, effecting considerable economy, as the lower section
only need be permanent, while the upper movable section can be shifted
from point to point and fitted over any of the lower sections as it is
required for use.
It is intended that the shaft or elevating tube shall be furnished with
hoisting tackle operated by any suitable gearing under the control of
an attendant, and that this tackle shall be employed to raise or lower
the car or conveyer which is arranged to slide in the shaft.
It will be evident that the devices embodied in the second part of
the Invention could be applied with advantage to canal boats and other
vessels especially constructed for the transportation and loading and
unloading of granular material.
The third part of the Invention consists in the employment of endless
band conveyers, so arranged in the chamber or passages beneath the
platform of deposit that the coal or other material may be conveyed
from the latter to the elevating devices both automatically and
continuously, while the chamber itself need not be of so great a height
as would be required for the passage of a car or wheeled truck.
One method of carrying this part of the Invention into effect consists
in the use of endless bands of stout canvass, leather, linked plates, or

page_text: other suitable material, and of any desired length, which converge
toward each other at one end and terminate at a point directly over
an inclined plane or hopper, which communicates with a space beneath
a chain of buckets; the latter being arranged within a vertical or
inclined shaft or frame and being turned by chain wheels in the usual
manner. Each endless band turns upon rollers hung to any suitable
frame, and is supported at intervals throughout its entire length by
other smaller rollers, which also turn in the frame. At the outer
extremities of the band and at right angles to the same may be
arranged other endless bands, but these latter should be somewhat
higher, so as to slightly overhang the same.
For the purpose of economising power all the endless bands may be
turned simultaneously by means of shafts and bevel gear, or equivalent
mechanism, deriving their motion from the same driving shaft which
opcrates the chain wheels and chain of buckets.
When it is desirable that the height of the chamber beneath the
platform of deposit should be as limited as possible it is preferred to
use the platform of deposit having openings in the same, through which
the material is permitted to fall on to the endless band conveyers,
situate by preference one at cach side of the chain of buckets and
placed close to the floor of the chamber, and a closed shaft is used, but
it may be open if desired.
The endless bands arranged beneath the platform of deposit, as before
described, might also be used to a limited extent, independently of the
elevating mechanism, for the purpose of conveying coal or other
material to a point remote from the said platform prior to discharging
it to a lower elevation, as, for instance, into the hold of a vessel.
The above system of moving masses of granular material might be
arranged within a collier or other vessel, but it is intented to be used
principally at the extensive coal wharves and depots of railroad or canal
companies, as described in the second part of the Invention, with the
view of dispensing with the usual tedious and costly labor of shifting
masses of coal by means of shovels and wheel barrows.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the 36th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 MOVING AND
RAISING COAL AND OTHER GRANULAR MATERIAL, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by
Alfred Lawton, of Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey, and Henry
Hutton Gordon, of the City, County, and State of New York, both in
the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
The object of this Invention is to save the tedious and costly labor

page_text: material by the aid of shovels and wheelbarrows, and the usual hoisting
apparatus.
The first part of the Invention is illustrated in the vertical sections,
Figures 1 and 2, and sectional plan view, Figure 3, of the accompanying
Drawing, and consists in raising coal and other granular material by
means of a bucket or other suitable vessel arranged to slide in a shaft, or
its equivalent, which extends as far below the ground or platform on
which is deposited the coal or other material to be raised that the
latter will of itself pass into the bucket, all substantially as described
hereafter.
A represents the surface of the ground or platform on which the coal
is deposited, and B is a shaft built of wood, iron, or other suitable
material, to such a height above the ground as circumstances may
demand, the shaft being continued below the surface of the ground or
platform, as shown in the Drawing.
In the present instance the shaft is of the oblong sectional form,
illustrated in Figure 3, and in the front side of the shaft there is an
opening e, the lower edge of which is continued in the form of an
inclined plane f to the surface of the ground or platform. It is not
essential, however, that there should be but one of these openings and
inclined planes, as they may be also arranged at the back, or if desired
upon all four sides of the shaft.
On the inside of the shaft a sliding door h is so arranged that it can
be made to close or uncover the opening e, the door occupying a position
close to the inside of the front wall b, and being operated in the present
instance by a rod 7 extending upward to or above the top of the shaft,
but the said door may in some instances be operated from below the
shaft without departing from the Invention.
A bucket D conforming in shape to but somewhat less as regards
length and breadth than the interior of the shaft is arranged to slide in
guides in the latter, the bucket being suspended by a rope or chain g,
and being raised and lowered by any suitable system of gearing under
the control of an attendant.
In using the above-described apparatus the bucket is first lowered to
the bottom of the shaft, as shewn in Figure 1; the door h is then
elevated so as to uncover the whole, or part of the opening e, when coal

page_text: from the mass upon the ground or platform A and surrounding the shaft
will rush down the inclined plane f and into the bucket D. When the
bucket is full the attendant depresses the door 7, thereby closing the
opening e and preventing the further passage of coal through the same.
He then by a proper system of signals communicates with a second
attendant, who so manipulates the gearing that it shall raise the bucket
to the top of the shaft where the latter may be tilted, or its contents
otherwise disposed of in any desired manner.
The importance of the Invention as a labor saving apparatus will be
understood if it is supposed to be erected at any place where large
masses of coal are stored to be removed from time to time, for instance,
at the coal depot of a railroad or canal, where it has been the practice to
remove the coal from heaps there deposited, by wheel barrows and
shovels, demanding the services of a number of laborers, who conveyed
the coal in the wheelbarrows up inclined planes, and tilted them into
cars or other vehicles, or into chutes communicating therewith. All
this tedious and costly labor may be dispensed with by the erection of
the above-described simple apparatus, as the coal will of itself fall into
the bucket, and the latter may be raised to any desired height, and its
contents tilted into a chute, or directly into a car or other suitable
receptacle.
The apparatus may be used to advantage in many other localities, as,
for instance, at coal mines, or where vessels have to be loaded with coal,
and in unloading vessels. The apparatus may be either temporarily or
permanently erected upon the same, the shaft taking the form of an
enclosed hatchway.
The apparatus may also be employed for raising grain or other
granular material.
In some instances, where it is not desirable that the coal should be
piled entirely around the apparatus, as illustrated in the first two Figures
of the Drawing, and where there is but one opening e and inclined
plane f, it may be of advantage to provide walls x, x, shown by dotted
lines, Figure 3, for the purpose of confining the coal to one side of the
shaft only. In this case it is not essential that the entire shaft should
be an enclosed structure. All that portion above the ground or platform,
with the exception of the the front 7, against which the mass of coal bears,
may consist of a skeleton frame, sufficiently substantial to guide the

page_text: bucket and to support the necessary hoisting gear, and other appliances.
Where the coal surrounds the apparatus, however, it is essential that the
shaft should be entirely closed to a height at least greater than that of
the mass.
When the shaft, instead of being permanently fixed to the ground, is
secured to and arranged to project below the surface of a platform the
latter can be mounted upon wheels, and can be provided with a suitable
turntable, so that the apparatus may be moved to any desired position
and caused to face in any direction. The shaft can also without
departing from the Invention be so inclined that a car operated by the
hoisting gear and running upon one side of the said shaft may be
substituted for the suspended bucket. It will be seen that the main
feature of this part of the Invention is the sinking of the shaft so far
below the surface of the ground or platform that the coal will of itself
pass into a bucket or hoisting vessel D. It is by this simple contrivance
that the removal of the coal or other granular material is facilitated,
and the labor heretofore expended in that operation saved.
The object of the second part of the Invention is to avoid the necessity
of surrounding the elevating shaft or its equivalent with the masses of
coal or other granular material to be raised, and to enable the latter to
be conveyed to the said shaft from points more or less remote, and to be
raised in the same without any of the usual tedious and costly labor
which would be demanded in removing the same material by means of
shovels and wheelbarrows.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of apparatus, which may be used in
carrying out this part of the Invention; Figure 5 is a plan view of the
same; Figure 6 is a vertical section on the line 1, 2, Figure 4; Figure 7
is a sectional plan on the line 3, 4, Figure 4; and Figure 8 is a per-
spective view of the upper portion of the elevating shaft.
A represents a platform, which may be either wholly or in part of
open trestlework, and on a level with or at such convenient height
above the surface of the ground as will enable cars to be conducted on
to or from the said platform upon tracks a. Beneath this platform or
trestlework is a second platform B, upon which is deposited the coal or
other material to be moved and raised as hereafter explained, the latter
platform being usually on a level or thereabouts with the surface of the
ground, although this is not important. Extending under the entire

page_text: platform B is a space or chamber C, the bottom D of which should be
at a sufficient distance beneath the platform to permit the passage to all
parts of the said chamber of a small car or other conveying vessel F, the
wheels of which run upon tracks b, b, b, laid upon the bottom D of the
chamber, the said tracks merging into a single track 6¹ at a point beneath
a shaft or elevator H (see Figure 7).
A number of openings i are formed in the platform B at points directly
above the tracks b, and each of these openings is in the present instance
furnished on the under side of the platform with a sliding door j, but it
should be understood that these doors may be level with or on the top
of the platform, and that they may be hinged or arranged in any
manner which will best answer the purpose.
It is essential however that the openings or traps i should be somewhat
less in size than the top of the car or conveyer F, or if larger that they
should form the mouths of funnels or chutes.
The shaft or, elevator H before referred to is built of any suitable
material and to any required height, and may be continuous and entirely
closed, as shewn in Figure 4, or it may be constructed in two sections,
the lowermost extending between the platforms A and B and being
entirely closed, while the uppermost section may be nothing more than
a light open framework, which can if desired be mounted upon wheels
arranged to run upon a track k, as seen in Figures 5 and 8, this latter
arrangement, when the apparatus is constructed upon so extended a
scale as to require a number of shafts effecting considerable economy,
as the lower section only need be permanent, while the upper moveable
section can be shifted from point to point, and fitted over any of the
lower sections as it is required for use.
It is intended that the shaft or elevating tube shall be furnished with
hoisting tackle, operated by any suitable gearing, under the control of
an attendant, and that this tackle shall be employed to raise or lower the
car or conveyer F, which is arranged to slide in the shaft.
Although it is preferred that the bottom of the shaft should not be
sunk below the platform of deposit B as described in the first part of
the Invention, for the reason that the chamber C takes the place of the
sunken portion of the shaft, and is in fact nothing more than an
extension of the same, yet the shaft or a portion of it may, if desired,
be extended below the platform, but this will only be rendered necessary

page_text: when the shaft takes the form of an inclined plane having a track upon
its lower side to receive the wheels of the car F.
It should be understood that the conveyer F may consist of a car such
as shewn in the Drawing, or of a bucket adapted to the interior of the
shaft, and arranged to be conveyed about the chamber upon a wheeled
truck, or of any other convenient form and construction that circum-
stances may suggest.
It should also be understood that in some cases the platform A can be
dispensed with, and the tracks laid directly upon the platform B, but it
is preferable in most cases that the several platforms should be arranged
as shown in the Drawing.
In using the above described apparatus the mass of coal or other
granular material to be moved and elevated is first deposited upon the
platform B by cars running upon the tracks a of the upper platform A.
The car or conveyer F is then moved upon one of the tracks b to a
point beneath one of the openings i, the door j of which is so moved as
to uncover the whole or a portion of the said opening, when coal from
the mass upon the platform will of itself rush down into the car until
the latter is filled, the door j being then closed. The loaded car is next
run upon the track b³ to a point directly beneath the lower open end of
the shaft, and is raised to the top of the latter by means of the afore-
mentioned gearing under the control of an attendant, the car after
reaching the top of the shaft being tilted, or its contents otherwise
disposed of. The car when lowered is again run upon one of the tracks b
to a point beneath any one of the openings i, whether adjacent to or
remote from the shaft and is filled as before, and so on until the desired
quantity of coal or other material has been moved and raised.
It will be observed from the above that the main feature of the first
part of the Invention, namely, so arranging the shaft or rather the
hoisting vessel in respect to the mass of coal or other material to be
raised that the latter will of itself pass into the said vessel, is adhered to
in the present instance. In the former case, however, it was necessary
to sink the shaft below the surface of the ground or platform in order to
permit the hoisting vessel to be lowered to a sufficient extent, and also to
wholly or in part surround the shaft with the material to be elevated,
this necessarily confining the operation of the apparatus to a com-
paratively limited space. In the present case, however, which is merely

page_text: an extension of the same principle, it is not necessary that the mass
should surround the shaft, or even that it should be in close proximity
to the same, the only requirement being the providing of sufficient space
beneath the shaft and beneath the material to be elevated, as to permit
the passage of the hoisting vessel or car as before described.
The importance of the Invention will be understood if it be supposed
that it is erected at any place where large masses of coal are deposited
to be removed from time to time, as, for instance, at the coal wharves or
depot of a railroad or canal.
In consequence of the tedious and costly labor demanded in piling
up and removing these masses of coal by the aid of shovels and wheel-
barrows alone it has been customary, in order to economise this labor,
to deposit the masses as close as possible to the point of shipment, so
that the wharves and depots, in order to sustain the great weight to
which they are subjected must necessarily be massive and expensive
structures, and it oftentimes happens that valuable space at the ends of
the wharves is entirely occupied by the masses of coal awaiting shipment,
and which cannot be economically placed elsewhere. All of these
difficulties are at once overcome by the use of the Invention, for the
coal which is not to be shipped immediately can be deposited from the
cars as it arrives directly upon a platform placed at any convenient point
at the rear of the wharves or depot, from which platform it can be raised
in the manner before described in the quantities and at the times.
required. The wharves also not having to sustain the heavy masses of
coal can be light and inexpensive structures of sufficient strength only
to sustain the weight of the tracks and of the cars in which the coal is
carried to the points of shipment.
It will be evident that the devices embodied in the second part of the
Invention could be applied with advantage to canal boats and other
vessels especially constructed for the transportation and loading and
unloading of granular material.
The third part of this Invention consists in the employment of endless
band conveyers so arranged in the chamber or passages beneath the
platform of deposit that the coal or other material may be conveyed
from the latter to the elevating devices both automatically and con-
tinuously, while the chamber itself need not be of so great a height as

page_text: Figure 9 is a plan view of one form of apparatus by which this part
of the Invention may be carried into effect; Figure 10 is a vertical
section of part of the same drawn to an enlarged scale.
Figure 11 is a view of part of the apparatus slightly modified.
And Figures 12 and 13 are views representing other modifications.
One method of carrying this part of the Invention into effect is
shown in Figures 9 and 10, where A, A¹, and A², represent three
endless bands of stout canvass, leather linked plates, or other suitable
material, and of any desired length, which converge towards each other
at one end and terminate at a point directly over an inclined plane or
hopper a, which communicates with the space 6 beneath a chain of
buckets B, the latter being arranged within a vertical or inclined shaft
or frame G, and being turned by chain wheels D and D¹ in the usual
manner. Each endless band turns upon rollers F, F', hung to any
suitable frame G, and is supported at intervals throughout its entire
length by other smaller rollers c, which also turn in the frame (see
Figure 10). At the outer extremities of the bands A³, A³, and at right
angles to the same may be arranged other endless bands A³, A*, but these
latter should be somewhat higher than the bands A² and A³, so as to
slightly overhang the same, as shewn in Figure 9.
For the purpose of economizing power all the endless bands may be
turned simultaneously and in the direction of their respective arrows by
means of shafts and bevel gear d, or equivalent mechanism connected
with the rollers F, and deriving their motion from the same driving shaft
H, which operates the chain wheels and chain of buckets.
The operation of the above mechanism is as follows:-The several
bands, which are properly protected at the sides so that they may retain
the material upon them, receive the latter in continuous streams from
the platform of deposit above, and convey the same immediately towards
the inclined plane or hopper a, into which it is discharged. The bands
A³, A*, however, first discharge their loads on to the bands A¹ and A²,
which in turn convey the material to the shaft.
The coal or other material when discharged from the bands falls by
its own gravity into the hopper a, it being picked up as fast as discharged
by, the chain of buckets elevated by the same to any desired height and

page_text: dumped into a chute or on to other conveyers, or into any suitable
receptacle prepared to receive it.
The bands A3 and A* arranged to discharge on to other bands instead
of directly into the hopper can only be employed in cases where it is
not essential to limit the height of the chamber beneath the platform of
deposit.
When it is desirable that the height of this chamber should be as
limited as possible it is preferred to use the arrangement shown in
Figure 11, where I represents a portion of the platform of deposit,
and fan opening in the same, through which the material is permitted
to fall on to one of the endless band conveyers, the latter of which,
there are two in the present instance, one at each side of the chain of
buckets, is placed close to the floor of the chamber, and a closed shaft C₁
is used, but it may be open if desired.
Although it is preferred to use the chain of buckets in combination
with the bands as before described they may be dispensed with, and
other elevating devices substituted for the same without departing from
the main features of the Invention.
A single bucket or other hoisting vessel arranged to move in a shaft
or its equivalent might for instance be employed in connection with tho
conveyers, as shewn in Figure 12, or the latter might be arranged to
discharge their loads on to other bands placed at an angle so as to serve
the purpose of elevators, as illustrated in Figure 13.
The endless bands arranged beneath the platform of deposit as before
described might also be used to a limited extent independently of the
clevating mechanism for the purpose of conveying coal or other material
to a point remote from the said platform, prior to discharging it to a
lower elevation, as for instance into the hold of a vessel.
The above system of moving masses of granular material might be
arranged within a collier or other vessel, but it is intended to be used
principally at the extensive coal wharves and depots of railroad or canal
companies as described in the second part of the Invention, with the
view of dispensing with the usual tedious and costly labor of shifting
masses of coal by means of shovels and wheelbarrows.
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

page_text: carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that 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 raising of coal or other granular material by means of a
bucket or other suitable vessel arranged to slide in a shaft or its
equivalent, which extends so far below the ground or platform on which
is deposited a mass of the coal or other material to be raised, that the
latter will of itself pass into the bucket, all substantially as herein set
forth.
Second. In combination with the said 'shaft or its equivalent, the
opening e in the same, the inclined plane f and moveable door h arranged
in respect to the ground or platform on which the coal is deposited,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and
illustrated by Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the Drawings annexed.
Third. The moving and raising of coal or other granular material by
means of a car or suitable vessel arranged to move in a chamber which
extends beneath the platform upon which is deposited the coal or other
material to be raised, and beneath a shaft or its equivalent so that the
said material will of itself pass into the vessel, and so that the latter
when filled may be raised in the said shaft or its equivalent, all sub-
stantially as herein set forth.
Fourth. In combination with the said chamber extending beneath the
platform of deposit, the openings i in the latter, cach furnished with a
suitable door j, as herein-before described and illustrated by Figures 4
and 6 of the Drawings annexed.
Fifth. The arrangement at the bottom of the chamber G of the
tracks and b, or any equivalent arrangement of tracks whereby the
car or conveyer F can be conducted from the elevating shaft to any of
the openings i in the platform of deposit, or vice versa, as herein-before
described and illustrated by Figures 6 and 7 of the Drawings annexed.
Sixth. An elevating shaft consisting of a lower permament portion
and of an upper moveable portion, substantially as herein-before described
and as represented in Figures 5 and 8 of the Drawings annexed.
Seventh. The peculiar combination and arrangement of the chamber G,
the elevating shaft and the platforms A and B, as herein-before described
and illustrated by Figure 4 of the Drawings annexed.

page_text: Eighth. The combination of a bucket or buckets or any equivalent to
the same by which granular or other material can be hoisted with an
endless traversing band or bands, by which the said material is conveyed
to or within range of the said buckets or their equivalent, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated by Figures 9 to 13 of the
Drawings annexed.
Ninth. Endless band conveyers when arranged in a passage or
chamber extending beneath the platform on which is deposited the
material to be moved, or moved and raised, all substantially as described
and illustrated by Figures 9 to 13 of the Drawings annexed.
Tenth. The combination of the elevating mechanism, the endless
bands arranged to convey the material to the elevator, and the gearing
described or its equivalent, whereby the elevating mechanism and the
endless bands are operated simultaneously and from the same driving
shaft, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by ]
Figures 9 to 13 of the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.