IMPROVED MEANS OF LOADING SHIPS OR VESSELS WITH COAL, AND OF SEPARATING AND REMOVING SMALL COAL THEREFROM
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Southern Clark, of Aberdare, in the County
of Glamorgan, Mining Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS
OF LOADING SHIPS OR VESSELS WITH COAL, AND OF SEPARATING AND REMOVING
SMALL COAL THEREFROM."
Sealed the 7th October 1859, and dated the 11th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Southern Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th April 1859.
I, WILLIAM SOUTHERN CLARK, of Aberdare, in the County of Glamorgan,
Mining Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MEANS OF LOADING SHIPS OR VESSELS WITH COAL, AND OF SEPARATING
AND REMOVING SMALL COAL THEREFROM," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improved means of loading ships or vessels with coal, and
of separating and removing small coal therefrom, has for its object, in the
first place, the prevention of breakage of coal in the loading of vessels, and,
secondly, the separation and removal of small coal from the large by means of
a screen or screens placed in the shute employed or used in conveying the
coal from the waggons to the hatchways of vessels.
In reference to the first head of the Invention, relating to improved means
of loading ships with coal, the breakage of the coal is lessened by lowering it
down from the hatchway or deck of the vessel, and from the outer end of the.

page_text: shute, in a box or tub (suspended by a chain or rope attached to a drum).
The box or tub is filled with coal, which then is made to descend by its own
gravity into the hold of the vessel, where it is discharged or emptied. The
descent of the tub or box is controlled by means of suitable break machinery,
and the ascent of the empty box or tub from the hold to the deck or mouth
of the shute is effected by means of a counterbalance weight, the ascent of
the box or tub being also controlled by break machinery. The chain or
rope whereby the tub or box is suspended passes over a sheave or pulley at
or near the outer extremity of a jib, and from thence passes round a drum
mounted on a shaft, which forms part of or is connected with the break
machinery before mentioned. The jib moves vertically, and may be regulated
according to the distance necessary for the convenient loading of vessels by
means of the box or tub.
The second part of the Invention relates to the removal or separation of
the small coal from the large. This is effected by means of a screen or screens
placed in the shute, which conveys the coal from the waggons to the hatch-
ways of vessels, or to the tubs or boxes in which the coal is lowered into the
hold. The screen or screens which are adapted to the shutes are composed
of bars, placed at suitable distances from each other in the bottom of the
shute, so that the small coal will be separated from the large coal during its
passage from the waggons to the ship or the lowering tubs or boxes. Another
shute is placed under the screen or screens, and receives the small coal that
passes through the screen or screens of the main shute. By this under shute
the small coal is conducted on to the quay or other suitable place of deposit,
while the large coal is deposited in the ship or vessel, or in the tubs or boxes
in which it is lowered into the hold.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Southern Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SOUTHERN CLARK, of Aberdare, in the County of Glamorgan, Mining Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,

page_text: the said William Southern Clark, Her special license that I, the said
William Southern Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Southern Clark, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OF LOADING SHIPS OR VESSELS WITH
COAL, AND OF SEPARATING AND REMOVING SMALL COAL THEREFROM," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Southern Clark, 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 William Southern Clark, 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 annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked (thereon (that is to say):
:-
My Invention of "Improved Means of Loading Ships or Vessels with Coal,.
and of Separating and Removing Small Coal therefrom," has for its object,
in the first place, the prevention of breakage of coal in the loading of vessels,.
and, secondly, the separation and removal of small coal from the large by
means of a screen or screens placed in the shute employed or used in conveying
the coal from the waggons to the hatchways of vessels.
In reference to the first head of the Invention, relating to improved means
of loading ships with coal, the breakage of the coal is lessened by lowering it
down from the hatchway or deck of the vessel, and from the outer end of
the shute in a box or tub (suspended by a chain or rope attached to a
drum).
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in front elevation, and Fig. 2
in side view, an arrangement of apparatus for carrying out the object of my.
Invention as fitted up at the Bute Docks, Cardiff. The vessel to be loaded
with coal is seen at a, a, Fig. 2. It is brought alongside the quay b, on which
is constructed a stage platform or framing c, c, c, for supporting the loading
apparatus. The railway truck d, containing the coal, is run from the railway
on to ways made on the stage or platform c; until it is brought to the tipping
place; the truck is then tipped in the ordinary way, and the coal is discharged

page_text: therefrom on to the inclined shute e, the upper part of which is fitted with a
screen formed of iron bars, set at any suitable distance apart. The coal passes
down the shute or incline into a box, tub, or other suitable receptacle f
suspended by a rope or chain g from a drum or pulley h, mounted on the
stage or platform c on the quay. When the box or tub f is filled with coal, it
is made to descend by its own gravity into the hold of the vessel, as shewn by
dots in Fig. 2, where it is discharged or emptied either by tipping or by
opening a door at the side. The descent of the tub or box f is controlled
by means of a rope and lever k acting on a suitable break, as shewn at k
whereby the box may be prevented from running down too fast. The ascent
of the empty box or tub from the hold to the deck of the vessel or to the
mouth of the shute is effected by means of a counterbalance weight i, which
is suspended from a cord or chain j, attached by one end to a drum or pulley l
on the same shaft as the drum or pulley h. The other end of this chain is
attached to a crab winch o (Fig. 1), fixed on the quay, so that the working
length of the chain or rope j'may be lengthened or shortened by means of the
crab winch, as may be required. The descent of the counterbalance weight i,
and consequently the ascent of the empty box or tub f, is also controlled by
another cord p, acting on the break wheel k in the opposite direction, as shewn
in the Drawing. The chain or rope g, whereby the tub or box f is suspended,
passes over a sheave or pulley m, at or near the outer extremity of a jib n,
and from thence after passing round another sheave or pulley m', it passes
round the drum h, mounted on the shaft h', which is provided with the break
machinery before mentioned. The jib n is capable of being moved vertically,
and its position may therefore be regulated according to the distance necessary
for the convenient loading of vessels by means of the box or tub f.
The second part of the Invention relates to the removal or separation of the
small coal from the large. This is effected by means of a screen or screens
placed in or adapted to the shute e, which conveys the coal from the trucks or
waggons d to the hatchways of vessels, or to the tubs or boxes f in which the
coal is lowered into the hold. The screen or screens, which are adapted to the
shutes, are by preference composed of iron bars placed at suitable distances
from each other in the bottom of the shute, so that the small coal will be
separated from the large coal during its passage from the waggons to the ship
or the lowering tubs or boxes.
Another shute 9 (Fig. 2) is placed under the
screen or screens, and receives the small coal that passes through the screen
or screens of the main shute e. By this under shute 9 the small coal is
conducted into a waggon or truck r, or to the quay or other suitable place of
deposit, while the large coal is allowed to run down the shute or incline e into

page_text: the ship or vessel, or into the tubs or boxes f, in which it is lowered into the
hold, as above mentioned.
It will be understood by the foregoing description, and by inspecting. the
Drawing, that my two improvements are used in combination, but as coals of
very hard texture, and that have been screened at the colliery, do not always
require a second screening while being transferred from the railway trucks or
waggons to the hold of the ship, I sometimes make use of the loading
machinery, (that is, the tub or box f, with its accessories,) without employing
the screening or separating apparatus. I intend therefore to use the loading
apparatus, either with or without the separating apparatus, and I would
observe that I am aware that screens have heretofore been adapted to inclined
shutes for separating the small coal from the large as the coal is tipped from
the colliery trams into the waggons or trucks that convey it away from the pit.
I do not therefore claim such or any analogous contrivance, except when used
in the manner and for the purpose above shewn and described.
Having now described my Invention of "Improved Means of Loading
Ships or Vessels with Coal, and of Separating and Removing Small Coal
therefrom," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, loading
ships or vessels with coal by means of boxes, tubs, or other suitable receptacles
into which the coal is delivered from the shute or incline, and by which it is
lowered through the hatchways into the hold where it is deposited; I claim
also forming the shutes or inclines with screens through which the small coal
will pass, and falling on to lower shutes will be conducted back to the quay,
or discharged into any suitable receptacle instead of being allowed to pass
into the ship.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Southern Clark, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
W. S. CLARK. (L.S.)