IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES, AND IN KILNS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE- WITH FOR DRYING AND CHARRING PEAT, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Leander Wolcott Boynton, of the City and State
of New York, United States of America, now of No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, London, Engineer, and Joseph Ellicott Holmes, of Vowler
Street, Walworth Road, in the County of Surrey, Civil and
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES, AND IN KILNS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH FOR DRYING AND CHARRING PEAT, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
caled the 4th July 1873, and dated the 9th January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Leander Wolcott
Boynton and Joseph Ellicott Holmes at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 9th January
1873.
We, LEANDER WOLCOTT BOYNTON, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings,
London, Engineer, and JOSEPH ELLICOTT HOLMES, of Vowler Street,
Walworth Road, in the County of Surrey, Civil and Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES AND IN KILNS, AND APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR DRYING AND CHARRING PEAT, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention rclates first to a centrifugal drying machine in which
the peat or other substance to be treated is placed to be deprived of the
liquid contained in it, or the greater portion of such liquid. The said
Invention relates secondly to kilns or ovens, and apparatus connected
therewith in which the peat or other substance after being dried or
partially dried in the said machine and made up in blocks or cakes is
charred or baked, and thereby rendered suitable for fuel or for other
desired purposes.
The said centrifugal machine is constructed as follows:-Upon strong
uprights or standards we form or fix bearings for two drums, one of
which is placed inside the other. The outer drum is made of perforated
metal or similar material, one end being open for the reception of the
peat from a hopper, the peat being brought from a grinder and deposited
in the said hopper by a travelling apron, or by other suitable means.
Below the centre the open end of the said drum or cylinder is closed by a
fixed load. The said drum is fast on a hollow shaft which receives
Inside the outer
motion from a driving shaft through gear wheels.
drum or cylinder we place the other cylinder formed of strips or bars of
thin metal or other suitable material with spaces between them. This
inner cylinder is fast on a sleeve which receives motion from the said
driving shaft through suitable gear wheels, the motion of this inner
cylinder is quicker than that of the outer cylinder; one of its ends is
bevelled to prevent its offering any obstruction to the entrance of the
peat to the outer cylinder. Around the said inner cylinder we form a
spiral blade or worm which is preferably constructed of a number of
separato pieces. The functions of this spiral blade arc to carry the peat
at a proper speed through the outer drum, and to expel it from the said
drum into a discharge passage. To prevent injury to the case of the
outer drum by the said spiral blade wo provide the extremity of the
pieces composing the said blade with tips of india-rubber or other suitable
substance. Heated air is forced into the hollow shaft and escapes there-
from through holes in the shaft, and interstices in the inner cylinder
into the outer cylinder, and by its action on the peat therein accelerates
the operation of the machine. A travelling belt or apron may be
arranged in connection with this machine to receive the peat or other

page_text: substance, and to carry it to a press or compressing machine by which it
is formed into blocks or pieces, and from which it is taken to the kilns
or ovens. The said kilns have a base or bed of cast iron or other suitable
material lined with bricks or other suitable substance. These kilns are
in some cases mounted on wheels whereby they are easily moved upon a
floor or upon rails which extend from each side of a belt or apron,
whereby the peat is brought to the kilns upon the base or bed of the
kilns; the blocks of peat are stacked and dried. We sometimes erect
platforms one above the other. The peat is then dried on the upper
platform, and by means of a crane or other apparatus the kiln is lowered
from the upper to the lower platform and a cover is placed over the said
kiln. The said covers are provided with inspection holes fitted with mica
or other suitable transparent fire-resisting substance. After the cover is
placed on the kiln the fire is lighted and the peat is charred and will then
be ready for use. We prefer to dry the peat in the kilns on the upper
platform by means of the waste heat from the kilns in which the process
of charring is being effected. For this purpose we place the covers on the
kilns in which the peat has been stacked and arrange them over those on
the lower platform; then we connect the upper and lower kilns by a flue
piece, small holes are formed in the bottom of the kilns and the top of
the cover, and the heat from the lower kiln passes through the holes in
the cover through the said fluc piece to the upper kiln; the peat being
thereby properly dried. The upper kiln is disconnected with the flue
piece, and with its cover in place is moved on the floor or the rails to a
position under the crane, and is thereby lowered upon the under plat-
form, it is then moved thereon to the proper position to be in its turn
connected to a kiln on the upper platform, and the charring and drying
are effected in these two kilns as above described.
We employ carbonic acid gas or other gas or steam to regulate or
extinguish the fires in the kiln, the gas or steam is injected into the
kiln through the cover by a tube connected with the said cover and the

page_text: of America, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Engineer
and JOSEPH ELLICOTT HOLMES, of Vowler Street, Walworth Road, in the
County of Surrey, Civil and Mechanical Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing dato the Ninth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Leander Wolcott Boynton and Joseph
Ellicott Holmes, Her special licence that we, the said Leander Wolcott
Boynton and Joseph Ellicott Holmes, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Leander Wolcott Boynton
and Joseph Ellicott Holmes, our 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 tlie United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES AND IN KILNS,
AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR DRYING AND CHARRING PEAT, AND FOR
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Leander Wolcott Boynton and Joseph Ellicott Holmes, our exccutors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, 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 we, the said Leander Wolcott Boynton and
Joseph Ellicott Holmes, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, 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 forming a part of this Specifi-
cation:-
.
Our Invention relates first to a centrifugal drying machine in which
the peat or other substance to be treated is placed to be deprived of the
liquid contained in it or the greater portion of such liquid, and whereby a
we obtain a continuous feed and discharge of the said peat or other
substance. The said Invention relates secondly to kilns or ovens and

page_text: apparatus connected therewith in which the peat or other substance
after being dried or partially dried in the said machine and made into
blocks or cakes is charred or baked, and thereby rendered suitable for
fuel or for other desired purposes.
witer being unch of
blocks or cakes is charred or baked, and thereby rendered suitable for
fuel or for other desired
purposes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of our improved centrifugal
machine.
Figure 2 is a similar section illustrating a modified form of the said
machine.
Figure 3 is an elevation of our improved arrangement of kilns or oven
and apparatus connected therewith.
The centrifugal machine shown in Figure 1 is constructed as follows:-
Upon strong uprights or standards a we form or fix bearings for two
cylinders or drums b, c, one of which is placed inside the other. The
shell of the outer or drying cylinder or drum is constructed with a screen
and framework liko those of the ordinary construction, except that it is
proportionally much longer and is provided with curved arms at the
end where the material enters the cylinder, as shown at d, and at the
outer or discharging end as shown at d', and we prefer to set this cylinder
horizontally instead of vertically. The two heads or ends of this cylinder
are connected with hubs, bosses, or sleeves, which turn loosely or
independently on the main central shaft e forming the bearing for this
cylinder, as shewn at f; one of the said hubs, bosses, or sleeves projects
beyond the lead d* of the cylinder sufficiently to receive a pinion g.
The inner cylinder or drum c is of a smaller diameter than the outer
cylinder a and is provided on its periphery with a series of blades h set
in the form of a screw, and projecting so as to nearly touch the inside
lining or screen of the outer cylinder b, as shewn; the pitch of these
blades inclines in a direction towards the back or discharging end of the
cylinder. This inner cylinder is firmly keyed or secured to the main
driving shaft c. The latter rests in bearings on the main frame and is
provided with a pinion with a greater or lesser number of teeth than the
pinion on the hub of the outer cylinder, or the main driving gear
wheels i must have this differential element, or it may exist in both the
drivers and pinions; the object being the driving of the two cylinders at
different speeds. This object may be attained by the operation of the
main driving gear wheels, or the wheels and pinions may be simple
'

page_text: intermediate gearing to produce a differential motion of the two cylinders,
the whole being driven by a pulley on the main shaft.
The action of the said machine will be readily understood by supposing
the machine to have the proper motion to discharge the water or other
liquid contained in the peat or other substance to be dried, such
substance being constantly fed to the front or first end of the machine
through the hopper j. The inner cylinder carrying the blades or
detached sections of the screw is preferably driven at a greater speed
than the screen or drying cylinder, and the said screw tends to change
the position of the material and move it gradually toward the outer or
discharging end of the machine, where through the openings between
the arms d' of the head d of the cylinder it is constantly thrown off by
centrifugal action, more or less freed from the fluid it contained,
according to the speed of the cylinder and the time the material remains
in the cylinder.
The particular form of the frame and the curb or shell surrounding
the cylinder to catch and carry off the fluid is not very important, but
we prefer to use a slowly revolving cylindrical trough around the
openings in the discharging end d². This trough receives the material
as it is thrown out of the cylinder, and by its motion against a curved
spout or scraper the said material is constantly deposited on a travelling
apron or other receptacle so that there is a continuous action, and the
delay of stopping the motion of the cylinders during the working of the
same is avoided.
The machine shown in Figure 2 differs from that above described only
in some of the details of its construction. The end of the outer
drum 6 is open for the reception of the peat or other substance from the
hopper; the lower part of this open end is covered by a fixed head b₁;
the end of the inner cylinder c is bevelled to prevent its offering any
obstruction to the entrance of the material into the outer cylinder. The
spiral blades in this machine and also in the one first described may be
tipped with india-rubber to prevent their injuring the case of the outer
drum b. The discharging trough and scoop are dispensed with in this
modification of our Invention, and the peat or other substance is dis-
charged through the shoot or passage 1.
If desired the peat may be passed through rollers running at different
.
thangs it negand through the contuifinal duszan

page_text: or is placed on a drying bed formed of iron or other material, and heated
by hot air, steam, gas, or otherwise. The peat is thus partially dried by
centrifugal action and partially by passing over the drying bed, whence it
is conducted to the press. A travelling belt or apron may be arranged
in connection with the centrifugal machine to receive the peat or other
substance and carry it to the press or compressing machine, by which
it is formed into blocks or pieces, and from which it is taken to the kilns
The said kilns have a base or bed m of cast iron or other
suitable material lined with bricks m' or other substances. These kilns
are in some cases mounted on wheels n, whereby they are easily moved
upon a floor or upon rails o which extend from each side of the bell or
apron whereby the poat is brought to the kilns. Upon the base or bed
of the kilns the blocks of peat are stacked and dried.
or ovens.
We sometimes erect two platforms s, t, one above the other, as shown,
the peat is then dried on the upper platform, and by means of a crane or
other apparatus either of the kilns is lowered from the upper to the
lower platform, and a cover p is placed over tho said kiln. The said
covers are provided with inspection holes filled with mica or other
suitable transparent fire-resisting substance, then the fire is lighted and
thic peat is charred and will be ready for usc. We prefer to dry the peat
in the kilns on the upper platform by means of the waste heat from the
kilns in which the process of charring is being effected. For this
purpose we place the cover on the kiln in which the peat has been
stacked, and arrange them over those on the lower platform; then we
connect the upper and lower kilns by a flue piece q; small holes arc
formed in the bottom of the kilns and the top of the cover, and the heat
from the lower kiln passes through the holes in the cover through the
said fluo piece to the upper kiln, the peat being thereby properly dried.
The upper kiln is disconnected with the said flue piece and with its
cover in place is moved on the floor or the rails to a position under the
cranc, and is thereby lowered upon the under platform 8; it is then
moved thereon to the proper position to be in its turn connected to a
kiln on the upper platform t, and the charring and burning are effected
in these two kilns as above described.
We employ carbonic acid gas or other gas or steam to regulate or
extinguish the fires in the kiln; this gas or steam is injected into the
kiln through a tube connected with the cover, and the reservoir or vessel
containing the gas or steam.

page_text: Having thus fully described our said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we wish it understood that we claim,-
First. The construction of the centrifugal machine with two revolving
cylinders or drums combined and operating as described, and the inner
one of which is provided with a sectional spiral blade whereby the
gradual and continuous advance of the peat or other material through.
the machine is insured as hercin set forth.
Second. The combination with the said revolving cylinders of the
contrivances for discharging the dried peat or other substance therefrom,
as herein set forth.
Third. The employment of portable beds or trucks as a base for the
kilns or ovens, and the combination with the latter of the removable
covers, and the appliances for utilizing the waste heat as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes, for myself
and on behalf of the said Leander Wolcott Boynton, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Eighth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
JOSEPH ELLICOTT HOLMES.
(L.S.)
Witness,
W. RODT. LAKE.