IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND TRANSPORTING THE SLAG FROM IRON FURNACES, AND OTHER HEAVY WEIGHTS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles James Appleby, of Cannon Street, in the City of
London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS
FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND TRANSPORTING THE SLAG FROM IRON FURNACES,
AND OTHER HEAVY WEIGHTS,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles James Appleby at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th January 1880.
CHARLES JAMES APPLEBY, of Cannon Street, in the City of London, "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND TRANSPORTING
THE SLAG FROM IRON FURNACES, AND OTHER HEAVY WEIGHTS."
My Invention relates especially to machinery and apparatus used where blocks
or balls of slag from iron furnaces are delivered upon waggons or bogies running
upon rails to a pier or jetty, whence the waggons or bogies so loaded are lifted to a
sufficient height, and are then carried out until they overhang the river or canal
where the pier or jetty is built, and are finally lowered and deposited upon suitable
transverse lines of rails fitted upon the deck or platform of a barge or lighter which
receives them and conveys them to any desired place where the waggons or bogies
can be removed and the slag discharged from them, the empty waggons or bogies
being taken back upon the barge or lighter and lifted and replaced upon the pier
or jetty by the same machinery which lowers the full ônes, and preferably
simultaneously with the latter.
My Invention has for its objects improved methods of constructing and arranging
the parts of such machinery and apparatus and of the waggons or bogies described,
so that the several processes of lifting, transporting, and lowering the waggons or
bogies, both when full and empty, may be very simply, easily, and expeditiously
accomplished, and with little labour and cost.
In order to carry out my Invention I prepare a jetty or wall of suitable size and
strength, alongside which a barge or lighter to receive the slag can conveniently
lie, and upon the jetty at right angles to its face I arrange two parallel lines of rail
to receive the waggons or bogies upon which the slag is brought.

page_text: Outside these rails I arrange upon each side for a sufficient distance back from the
face of the jetty another parallel rail upon which run the wheels of a travelling gantry
or carriage carrying two or more longitudinal frames or girders, preferably of wrought
iron, firmly braced together at their ends. These girders are of such length that
when the carriage which supports them is in its proper position at or near the edge
of the jetty, their outer ends project and hang over the barge or lighter whilst their
inner ends are continued inward where they are supported by additional wheels
running upon the rails on the jetty.
The upper edge of each of the girders carries a rail, and upon these rails run the
wheels of a travelling platform or frame, upon which are fitted side by side two
lifting crabs or winches of the kind hereinafter described, the centre of each of
which is exactly over the centre of one of the lines of rail upon the jetty.
When the travelling frame carrying the lifting crabs is in its outer position it
overhangs the barge or lighter, and when in its inner position each of the crabs is
exactly over the outer end of one of the lines of rail upon the jetty, and I make the
height of the girders above the jetty sufficiently great to allow the lifting crabs
or winches to pass freely above loaded waggons or bogies upon the rails on the
jetty.
Upon the inner ends of the girders I make a platform which carries a steam.
engine of any suitable kind and a boiler capable of actuating it, and the girders are
also provided at this end with a balance weight sufficiently heavy to balance any
weight which may be suspended to their outer ends.
The wheels of the travelling gantry or carriage which carries the girders, as
already described, are capable of being connected when desired to the engine by
means of endless chains, toothed wheels, and shafts or endless screws, so that the
travelling gantry together with the girders and the lifting crabs or winches upon
the latter can either be run out when in use so as to overhang the barge or lighter,
or when not in use can be run in so as to leave the water-way clear. In order to
actuate the lifting crabs or winches when desired for the purpose of raising or
lowering weights, or the travelling frame which carries them in order to bring them
either over the rails upon the jetty or those upon the barge or lighter, I connect the
engine already described to a longitudinal revolving shaft supported by suitable
bearings upon one of the girders, and I connect this revolving shaft to the lifting
and brake gear of the two crabs, and to gear by which the frame which carries them
is made to travel in either direction as required. This may be done by means of
devices of any of the kinds well known and used, but I prefer to use the novel
apparatus for which I have applied for Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent on the
22nd day of December 1879, No. 5226, for "Improvements in Apparatus for
Driving, Retarding, or Stopping, and Supporting Revolving Shafts," by which the
bearings in which the longitudinal shaft revolves are made moveable, and one lever
to each crab or winch controls the motions of lifting, lowering, and holding the load
in any position by means of novel arrangements of friction clutch and brake gear,
whilst a third lever controls the movement in either direction of the travelling
frame which carries the lifting crabs.
These three levers are all arranged in a position close together and. work in the
same direction, whilst the attendant who uses them stands directly above his work
and can clearly see each operation.
The action of the entire apparatus constructed and arranged so far as already
described is as follows:-A train of waggons or bogies laden with slag being upon
one of the lines of rails upon the jetty or pier, and the barge or lighter loaded with
empty waggons or bogies upon its transverse sets of rails being in position, one of
the crabs lifts the first empty waggon from the barge, and the travelling frame
with its crabs is then brought to its inner. position where the empty waggon is
deposited whilst the other crab is made to lift the first loaded waggon from its rails.
The frame is then made to travel to the outer end of the girders and the crab then
deposits the loaded waggon in its place upon the barge. Whilst it is doing so the
other crab is made to pick up another empty waggon from the barge, which is

page_text: carried in and deposited upon the second line of rails upon the jetty whilst the first
crab is picking up a second loaded waggon, and so on as long as may be required.
Where blocks or balls of slag are to be lifted, together with the iron waggons or
bogies upon which they have been placed for removal, I use the following novel
arrangments of apparatus for the purpose of readily connecting and disconnecting
such iron waggons or bogies to or from the lifting crabs :-
I fit each of these lifting crabs with two hoisting drums or barrels, each of which
receives a flat rope, preferably of steel wire, the two ropes being parallel and raising
or lowering simultaneously. The waggons or bogies are constructed uniform or
nearly so in size and shape and having the metal platform upon which the slag
rests or packing plates or pieces connected with the said platform projecting
laterally at each side of the latter.
To the two parallel wire ropes from the crab, as already described, is suspended
a rigid frame preferably of wrought iron, consisting of a cross bar or frame to which
the ropes are attached, and from each end of which depends a double bar or frame,
the lower ends of which spread out or separate, so that the bar resembles an
inverted V, the lower ends of which are turned for a sufficient distance inward.or
toward the frame at the opposite end of the crossbar.
These four lower turned-in
ends of the V shaped frames serve as supports by which the platform or packing
plates connected with it of the waggon or bogey can be lifted. When the lifting
ropes are slackened and the frame carrying the two crabs is made to travel until it
is above a waggon, the turned-in ends of the bars described pass freely under the
platform or plates, and the waggon is readily lifted. In the same way when
it has been deposited in its place, the lifting frame is easily disengaged by
Blackening the lifting ropes and causing the frame and crabs to travel from above
the waggon. In another novel arrangement for the same purpose I arrange a cross
bar similar to that already described, but I hinge to each of its extremities a lifting
frame of an inverted V shape and having its lower ends turned in in the same way
and for the same purpose as those already described. The two frames being hinged
to the cross bar, their lower ends can separate from each other to a sufficient
extent to free them when desired from the waggon or bogey, and I form at their
lower extremities inclined plates or guides which when they are lowered press
against the edge of the platform or packing plates, and separate them until their
turned in ends have passed the latter. I connect the lifting ropes to plates
projecting inward from the upper ends of the side hinged frames, so that when the
lifting ropes are raised they have a tendency to draw the lower ends of the two
frames together, and the turned in ends of the latter are thus kept underneath the
platforms or plates upon the waggons or bogies. In this method of arrangement.
it is not necessary that the frame with its lifting crabs should be made to travel
for the purpose of attaching or disconnecting the lifting apparatus from the waggons
or bogies.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles James Appleby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th July
1880.
CHARLES JAMES APPLEBY, of Cannon Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND TRANSPORTING
THE SLAG FROM IRON FURNACES AND OTHER HEAVY WEIGHTS."
My Invention relates especially to machinery and apparatus used where blocks
or balls of slag from iron furnaces are delivered upon waggons or bogies running
upon rails to a pier or jetty, whence the waggons or bogies so loaded are lifted to a
sufficient height and are then carried out until they overhang the river or canal
where the pier or jetty is built, and are finally lowered and deposited upon suitable
transverse lines of rails fitted upon the deck or platform of a barge or lighter which
receives them and conveys them to any desired place where the waggons or bogies can
be removed and the slag discharged from them, the empty waggons or bogies being
taken back upon the barge or lighter and lifted and replaced upon the pier or jetty
by the same machinery which lowers the full ones, and preferably simultaneously
with the latter. My Invention has for its objects improved methods of constructing
and arranging the parts of such machinery and apparatus, and of the waggons or
bogies described, so that the several processes of lifting, transporting, and lowering
the waggons or bogies both when full and empty may be very easily, simply, and
expeditiously accomplished, and with little labour and cost.
In order to carry out my Invention, I prepare a jetty or wall of suitable size and
strength, alongside which a barge or lighter to receive the slag can conveniently lie,
and upon the jetty at right angles to its face I arrange two parallel lines of rail to
receive the waggons or bogies upon which the slag is brought; outside these rails I
arrange upon each side for a sufficient distance back from the face of the jetty
another parallel rail upon which run the wheels of a travelling gantry or carriage
carrying two or more longitudinal frames or girders, preferably of wrought iron,
firmly braced together at their ends. These girders are of such length that when
the carriage which supports them is in its proper position at or near the edge of the
jetty their outer ends project and hang over the barge or lighter, whilst their inner
ends are continued inward where they are supported by additional wheels running
upon the rails on the jetty. The upper edges of each of the girders carries a rail,
and upon these rails run the wheels of a travelling platform or frame upon which
are fitted side by side two lifting crabs or winches of the kind hereinafter described,
the centre of each of which is exactly over the centre of one of the lines of rail
upon the jetty. When the travelling frame carrying the lifting crabs is in its outer
position it overhangs the barge or lighter, and when in its inner position each of
the crabs is exactly over the outer end of one of the lines of rail upon the jetty, and
I make the height of the girders above the rails upon the jetty sufficiently great to
allow the lifting crabs or winches to pass freely above loaded waggons or bogies
upon the rails on the jetty. Upon the inner ends of the girders I make a platform
which carries a steam engine of any suitable kind and a boiler capable of actuating
it, and the girders are also provided at this end with a balance weight sufficiently
heavy to balance any weight which may be suspended to their outer ends. The
wheels of the travelling gantry or carriage which carries the girders, as already
described, are capable of being connected when desired to the engine by means of
endless chains, toothed wheels and shafts, or endless screws, so that the travelling
gantry together with the girders and the lifting crabs or winches upon the latter
can either be run out when in use so as to overhang the barge or lighter, or when
not in use can be run in so as to leave the water-way clear. In order to actuate
the lifting crabs or winches when desired for the purpose of raising or lowering
weights, or the travelling frame which carries them in order to bring them either

page_text: over the rails upon the jetty or those upon the barge or lighter, I connect the
engine, already described, to a longitudinal revolving shaft supported by suitable
bearings upon one of the girders, and I connect this revolving shaft to the lifting
and brake gear of the two crabs, and to gear by which the frame which carries them
is made to travel in either direction as required. This may be done by means of
devices of any of the kinds well known and used, but I prefer to use the novel
apparatus for which I have obtained Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent, dated the
22nd day of December 1879, numbered 5226, for "Improvements in Apparatus for
Driving, Retarding, or Stopping and Supporting Revolving Shafts," by which the
bearings in which the longitudinal shaft revolves are made moveable, and one lever
to each crab or winch controls the motions of lifting, lowering, and holding the load
in any desired position by means of novel arrangements of friction clutch and brake
gear, whilst a third lever controls the movement in either direction of the travelling
frame which carries the lifting crab.
These three levers are all arranged in a position close together and work in the
same direction, whilst the attendant who uses them stands directly above his work
and can clearly see each operation.
In the accompanying Drawings, which are in illustration of my Invention,
Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 a plan of the arrangement of machinery and
apparatus described. a is a transverse section of the jetty or wall, the face of which
at b is parallel with the river in which the barge or lighter c floats. Two parallel
lines of railway are laid at d and e to receive the waggons or bogies upon which
the slag is brought. Rails ƒ and g are laid outside these and support the wheels h¹
and h of the travelling carriage or gantry h which carries the longitudinal frames
or girders i, the outer ends of which at i project over the barge c, whilst the inner
ends at are supported by additional wheels at k.
The upper edges of the frames i are provided with rails 1, 2, upon which run the
wheels m, m, m, m, of the travelling platform n, upon which are fitted the two
lifting crabs o, o¹. The inner ends of the frames i support the platform p which
carries a steam engine r and boiler 8, and if necessary a balance weight sufficient to
balance any weight at the outer end of the frames.
The wheels h¹ or h¹ are connected by endless chains t with a shaft u driven by
the engine r in either direction when required, so that the entire apparatus can be
run in or out upon the rails and g. A shaft is shewn at v driven by the engine r
and supported in hanging bearings at w, and this shaft vis connected by means of
bevilled and other toothed wheels and shafts with the lifting crabs or cranes o, o¹.
At x, x¹, are shewn handles or levers by which the motions of lifting, lowering, and
holding the load in any position are regulated in each of the cranes o, o',
respectively, by means of the novel arrangements of clutches and brake gear
described in the Specification of my former Letters Patent already hereinbefore
referred to. x is a third lever by which, in the same way, the platform n with the
winches o, o¹, can be made to travel in either direction upon the rails l, l'.
The action of the entire apparatus constructed and arranged so far as already
described is as follows:-A train of waggons or bogies laden with slag being upon
one of the lines of rails e, d, upon the jetty or pier a, and the barge or lighter c
loaded with empty waggons or bogies upon its transverse sets of rails being in
position, one of the crabs o, o¹, lifts this first empty waggon from the barge, and
the travelling frame n with its crabs 0, 0¹, is then brought to its inner position
where the empty waggon is deposited, whilst the other crab is made to lift the first
loaded waggon from its rails. The frame n is then made to travel to the outer end
of the girders i, and the crab then deposits the loaded waggon in its place upon the
barge c. Whilst it is doing so the other crab is made to pick up another empty
waggon from the barge c which is carried in and deposited upon the second line of
rails upon the jetty, whilst the first crab is picking up a second loaded waggon, and
so on as long as may be required. Other weights may be lifted and lowered as
well as slag. Where blocks or balls of slag are to be lifted together with the iron
waggons or bogies.upon which they have been placed for removal, I use the novel

page_text: arrangements of apparatus shewn in Figuris 3, 4, 5, and 6, for the purpose of readily
connecting and disconnecting such iron waggons or bogies to or from the lifting
crabs. I fit each of of these lifting crabs with two hoisting drums or barrels as
shown at y, y, y, y, in Figure 2, each of which receives a flat rope, preferably of
steel wire, the two ropes being parallel and raising or lowering simultaneously.
The waggons or bogies are constructed uniform or nearly so in size and shape,
and in Figure 3, which is a side view, and Figure 4 an end view, a is the metal
platform upon which the block or ball of slag b rests, packing plates or pieces
connected with the said platform projecting laterally at each side of the latter, as
shewn at c. To the two parallel wire ropes from the crab, as already described, is
suspended a rigid frame preferably of wrought iron, consisting of a cross bar or
framed to which the ropes are attached, and from each end of which depends a
double bar or frame e, e¹, the lower ends of which spread out or separate so that
the bar resembles an inverted V, the lower ends of which are turned for a
sufficient distance inwards, as shewn at f, f.
These four lower turned-in ends of the V shaped frame serve as supports, by
which the platform a or packing plates c connected with it of the waggon or bogey.
can be lifted. When the lifting ropes are slackened, and the frame carrying the
two crabs is made to travel until it is above a waggon, the turned in ends f,f, of
the bars e, e', described pass freely under the platform or plates, and the waggon is
readily lifted. In the same way when it has been deposited in its place the lifting
frame is easily disengaged by slackening the lifting ropes and causing the frame
and crabs to travel from above the waggon. Another novel arrangement for the
same purpose is shewn in side view at Figure 5, and in end view at Figure 6, in
which I arrange a cross bar d similar to that already described, but I hinge to each
of its extremities a lifting frame e, e¹, of an inverted V shape, and having its lower
ends ff, turned in in the same way and for the same purpose as those already
described. The two frames being hinged to the cross bar at h, h¹, their lower ends
can separate from each other to a sufficient extent to free them when desired from
the waggon or bogie at c, and I form at their lower extremities inclined plates or
guides g, g, which when they are lowered press against the edge of the platform or
packing plates at c, and separate them until their turned in ends have passed the
latter. I connect the lifting ropes to plates i, i¹, projecting inward from the upper
ends of the side hinged frames e, e¹, so that when the lifting ropes are raised they
have a tendency to draw the lower ends of the two frames together, and the turned
in ends of the latter are thus kept underneath the platform or plates c upon the
waggons or bogies. In this method of arrangement it is not necessary that the
frame with its lifting crabs should be made to travel for the purpose of attaching or
disconnecting the lifting apparatus from the waggons or bogies.
Having now described my Invention and the manner in which it is to be
performed, I claim,―
First. The moveable framework supported upon wheels running upon rails at
right angles to the wharf or wall from which the slag or other weights are to be
removed.
Second. The combination with such moveable framework of the frame supported
upon wheels running upon the framework, and provided with hoisting winches or
crabs, all substantially as described and shewn in the Drawing.
Third. The combination with the said moveable framework and the frame
supported upon it, and provided with winches and crabs of a driving shaft actuated
by a steam engine or other power, and driving either of the winches or crabs or
propelling the frame which carries them in either direction upon the moveable
framework as desired, substantially as described and shewn.
Fourth. The combination with the moveable framework of endless chains and
driving gear connected to the engine or other power, so that the machine may be
propelled in or out upon its rails as desired.
Fifth. The method of connecting the hoisting chains or ropes to the waggons or
bogies upon
which slag balls or other weights are to be raised or lowered, by means

page_text: of rigid suspended lifting frames having projections directed laterally inward in
combination with corresponding plates upon the frames of the waggons or bogies,
substantially as described and shewn in Figures 3 and 4.
Sixth. The method of connecting the said waggons or bogies to the hoisting
chains or ropes by means of suspended hinged lifting frames having projections
directed laterally inward, but provided with inclined guides by which the frames
open out whilst passing corresponding plates upon the frames of the waggons or
bogies, substantially as described and shewn in Figures 5 and 6.
Seventh. The general method of arrangement of the moveable framework
supported upon wheels running upon rails, and having rails upon which a frame
travels provided with hoisting winches or crabs actuated by a revolving shaft, the
barge or vessel provided with rails to receive the waggons or bogies, the rails upon
which the moveable framework runs having between them the double line of rails
upon which the full and empty waggons respectively run, and the engine carried at
the inner end of the moveable framework and actuating the entire apparatus,
substantially as described and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles James Appleby have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.
C. J. APPLEBY. (L.S.)