Improvements in Apparatus for Charging Gas and other Retorts.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Aug., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 17th June, 1812-Accepted, 20th Aug., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Charging Gas and other Retorts.
We, WILLIAM ARROL, of Dalmarnock Iron Works, Engineer and WILLIAM
FOULIS of 45 Jolu Street, Civil Engineer, both of Glasgow in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention which relates to improvements in apparatus for charging gas and
other retorts has for its object to construct an apparatus which will put a charge of
coal or other material in an even layer into a retort, and the apparatus is in general
respects an addition to, or a modification of the apparatus for drawing retorts, as
described in the Specification of William Foulis' Patent No. 12,016, dated
31st July 1890.
.
In carrying out our said invention the apparatus is so constructed that in lieu of
the rake and rake rod being raised when going into the retort, it is depressed, and
is raised while being withdrawn from the retort, the action of the said apparatus
when used for charging being as follows:-A quantity of coal or other material is
allowed to fall from a hopper or chamber, which may or may not be fixed to the
maclune or apparatus, on to a plate or shoot, one end of which is secured to the
machine and the other end is caused to rest on the retort mouthpiece. The rake is
moved inwards and being at the same time depressed slides along the bottom of the
retort pushing the coal before it; the rake is then moved outwards and elevated, so
as to allow the said rake to pass over any coal that may have been left in the
bottom of the retort. Another portion of coal is then allowed to fall on to the
plate or shoot and the operation repeated until the retort is charged. In order to
preveut the coal from being pushed too much towards the back of the retort, the
length of the strokes of the rake are automatically regulated, so that in charging a
retort the first stroke is nearly the whole length of the retort, the second is shorter
to an extent depending on the amount of coal to be pushed in, and the third still
shorter and so on, the last stroke just reaching to the back of the mouthpiece. The
said alteration of the length of the strokes is effected by means of suitable stops
provided in the slides which carry the ends of the rams, these stops being
successively brought into action preferably by the same lever which actuates the
valve and raises and depresses the rake rod. When the hopper or chamber is
attached to the machine, it is preferably fixed to a suitable frame which is 80
suspended that it may be raised or lowered as to fit the different levels of the
various retorts, the hopper being always retained in a horizontal position. The said
frame also carries the rake and rake rod with the I bar or beam on which they
work (as described in William Foulis' Specification as aforesaid) the I bar or beam
being attached to the frame near the centre of its length by means of a joint which,
owing to its construction, leaves the bar free to move within the frame.
The coal is allowed to drop from the hopper or chamber preferably by means
of revolving blades provided near the hoppers outlet, the said blades being
actuated by a lever which may or may not be the same as that which actuates the
valve of the rake, or by means of the movement of the rake rod. By altering the
travel of the revolving blades a greater or less amount of coal may be deposited
on the plate or shoot and the weight of the charge varied accordingly. The said
plate or shoot is preferably made movable so as to permit of it being withdrawn
from the retort by means of a suitable lever after the retort has been charged.
Our said invention also relates to an easy and efficient means of connecting or
disconnecting the water supply pipe, and consists of forming on or attaching to the

page_text: end of the machine's pipe a cup shaped mouthpiece into which the end of the
supply pipe is fitted, a cup leather and brass gland being provided for keeping
the joint tight, with a pivoted lever for holding said parts in position.
Dated this 25th day of August 1891.
JOHNSONS,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Petitioners' Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Charging Gas and other Retorts.
We, WILLIAM ARROL of Dalmarnock Iron Works, Engineer, and' WILLIAM
FOULIS of 45 Jolin Street Civil Engineer, both in Glasgow in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be perforined, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention which relates to improvements in apparatus for charging gas and
other retorts has for its object to provide an apparatus which will put a charge of
coal or other material into a retort in an even layer. The apparatus constructed
according to the present invention may in certain respects be regarded as being
based upon the apparatus for stirring and drawing the charge of retorts described
in the Specification of Letters Patent No. 12,016 granted to one of us (viz.,
William Foulis) and dated 31st July 1890 but according to our present invention.
the apparatus is so constructed that in lieu of the rake rod being raised when going
into the retort and depressed when coming out therefrom the rod is depressed
when going into the retort and raised when being withdrawn-the action of
the apparatus constructed according to our present invention being as follows:-
A quantity of coal or other material is allowed to fall from a hopper or chamber
(which may or may not be fixed to the machine or apparatus) on to a plate or shoot
one end of which is secured to the machine the outor end being caused to rest upon
the retort mouthpiece whilst the retort is being charged. The rake (or as we will
call it the pusher as it acts rather as a pusher than a rake) is moved inwards and
being then in its depressed position slides along the aforesaid plate or shoot and
afterwards along the bottom of the retort, pushing the coal or other material
before it. The pusher is then elevated and moved outwards it being elevated so
that it may pass over any coal or other material that there may be in the
retort at the rear of the pusher. Another portion of coal or other material is
then allowed to fall onto the plate or shoot and the operation is repeated until
the retort is sufficiently charged.
In order to effect the charging so that the charge is properly distributed
throughout the length of the retort, the strokes of the pusher are regulated to
decrease in length at cach successive stroke in charging a retort, the first stroke
being say sufficient to move the pusher near to the back of the retort, the next.
stroke is shorter, the next shorter still' and so on, the last stroke being only
sufficient to cause the pusher to reach to the back of the mouth piece of the retort.
The difference in the amount of the lengths of the strokes is of course in accordance
with the amount of coal or material fed in at each stroke. The alteration in the
length of stroke we prefer to effect automatically and this can be conveniently
effected by, means of stops provided in the slide which carries the end of one of the
rams, these stops being successively brought into action preferably by the same
lever which actuates the valve which admits the motive fluid to actuate the rams.
and which lever also raises and depresses the rod which carries the pusher.
When the hopper or chamber from which the coal or material is fed is attached
to the machine, it is preferably fixed to a frame so, suspended that it can,, be raised.

page_text: or lowered to suit different levels of retorts; the said hopper or chamber being
always retained in a horizontal position; the said frame may also carry the bar or
beam (supporting the pusher rod) which bar or beam is jointed or centered near the
centre of its length to the said frame.
The supply of coal or material from the hopper or chamber may be regulated
so as to be supplied in front of the pusher at the proper times by means of a wheel
carrying blades or boxes the said wheel being rotated by means of the movement
of the pusher rod or by a lever which may be separate from or the same as that
which actuates the valve which operates the pusher. By altering the amount of
movement of the said wheel a greater or lesser amount of coal or other material
may be deposited on the plate or shoot and the weight of the total charge put into
the retort be varied accordingly. The said plate or shoot is preferably made
moveable so as to permit of its being brought forward for charging and withdrawn
from the retort after the retort has been charged, the movements being effected by
a lever or in other convenient way. We also provide means whereby the supply
pipe by which water or other fluid for operating the apparatus can be readily
connected to and disconnected from the machine and a good joint obtained. With
this object we make the part of the connection attached to the machine in the forin
of a cup-shaped mouth-piece into which the end of the water supply pipe is fitted a
cup leather and brass gland being provided for keeping the joint tight and a
pivotted forked lever being employed for holding the parts in position.
And in order that our said invention may be fully understood we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
: Figure 1 is a side elevation, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a transverse section
taken on line A. A. Figure 1 of the apparatus or machine constructed according
to our invention.
Figures 4. 5. 6 & 7 are enlargened detail views showing the shaft and stops for
regulating the lengths of the successive strokes of the pusher;
Figures 8 and 9 are sectional and end elevations, drawn to an enlargened scale;
of the connection between the main water supply pipe and the machine.
In the drawings we have shown the feed hopper W fixed to the front end of the
apparatus but if desired it may be separate from the apparatus. The main frame,
or as we will now call it, the slide bar A, is preferably constructed of an I iron or
steel bar, as shown more particularly in transverse section Figure 3, and in enlarged
section Figure 6, the said bar is hung or supported near its centre in an angle iron
or steel frame A¹ which is suspended at both ends of the carriage C, as hereinafter
more particularly described; the said carriage being moved from one retort to another
by any suitable means,, such as by hand or powor gearing D. Upon the said slide
bar A, a slipper or carriage E is so mounted that it can be moved backwards and
forwards by means of the rams of two hydraulic cylinders F, F, which are fixed to
the slide bar A. The necessary travel may be given to the slipper or carriage E
by means of chains or ropes 1, each of which is connected at its one end to the
front end of one of the cylinders F, F, thence passed around the pulleys, f
which are mounted on the front ends of the cylinder rams F. F, the other end of
the chain or rope being connected to the slipper or carriage E. The rams F, F
are provided near their front ends with guide blocks fo, as shown in Fig. 3, which
work in corresponding guide plates G, G', secured to the slide bar A. To the said
slipper or carriage E, the back end of the pusher rod H is jointed' by the pin h
the said rod carrying at its forward end the pusher consisting of the plate J,
Figures 1 and 2.
The frame A¹ is suspended by means of the carriers K and Q. The top end k of
the carrier K is secured to the one end of a raising and lowering wire rope or
chain L which is passed around the guide pulley L mounted on the upright
framing 'B, and around the guide pulley L, mounted on the lower end of thie

page_text: ram N of the hydraulic raising and lowering cylinder M, and is secured by means
of an adjusting screw to a snug or projection m on the cylinder M, in such a
mauner that the frame, slide bar and their connections can be raised or lowered by
actuating the valve P by means of the lever P. The carrier Q is connected to the
ends of two wire ropes or chains R, which after passing over the guide pulleys R',
are attached to the cross piece or yoke R which is connected at its centre to
another rope or chain R³ which, after passing around the guide pulley R* mounted
on the upright framing B and around the guide pulley R mounted on the ram N,
is attached by means of an adjusting screw as at m' to the snug m of the cylinder M,
so that the frame, slide bar, hopper and connections are raised or lowered at the
same time by the one cylinder M. The frame A' is also provided with a balancing
chain or rope R which, after being secured at its one end to the top end of the
carrier Q1, (which is secured near the front end of the frame A') passes around the
guide pulleys R', R and R and is sccured to the cross piece or yoke R10, which is
connected at its ends to the underside of the frame A', preferably near its centre as
shown in Figure 3 so as always to keep the various parts in their relative positions
to each other. The slide bar A is connected to the frame A', near its centre, by
means of the carrier A (Figure 1.) in such a manner as to permit of the slide
bar A with tho pusher rod H and pusher J, being raised and lowered at its ends by
means of the operating handle S, which is secured to a cross shaft s carried by the
top ends of an inverted saddle bracket S', (shown more particularly in Figures 3
and 6) secured near the rear end of the slide bar A. The said cross shafts, has
mounted on it a lever or arm T whose lower end is 'connected to the regulating or
reversing valve U by means of a rod or liuk t, the said valve U being fixed to the
cylinder and connected by means of a pipe V to the cylinder F actuating
the pusher J, and supplied with water under pressure by means of the pipe V₁,
à branch V from which also supplies the raising aud lowering valve P which is
connected to the cylinder M by piping Vs. The said pipe V is provided with a
flexible, tube which is connected at either end to the metallic joints v¹ of the
pipes V, so as to allow for the raising and lowering of the frame A' and its
connections. The said shaft s has also levers or arms 2 mounted on it, the end's
of which are connected to pivotted links s³, the lower ends of which are pivotted
to the frame A so that when the lever S is moved the valve U is operated and the
slide bar raised or lowered as required.
To the front end of the frame A' the hopper W is fixed, having an adjustable
hinged agitator w, which can be adjusted by means of the lever w', hand screw w³
and nuts to. Underneath the said agitator ir, are mounted blades W' constituting
a wheel or circular series of boxes on a cross shaft carried in bearings in the
lower framework of the hopper. The said shaft wo' has a continuous rotury motion
imparted to it from the reciprocating motion of the rams of the two liydraulic
cylinders X, X by means of the ratchet aud pawl arrangement, the said cylinders
being mounted on the framework of the hopper W and supplied with water by
means of the valveel, which is actuated by the lever, and is kept in its normal
position by means of the spring &³.
When the valve c' is in this position the supply of water is shut off from the
cylinder X, which is then open to the exhaust. The lever is so mounted that
the slipper or carriage E, comes in contact with it when near the end of its back-
ward stroke thereby opening the cylinder X to the water pressure and so causes the
ram to rise up and so turn the blades W' by means of the rack ', which is on the
top end of the rain guided by the roller; the said rack engaging with a spur
segment. mounted loosely on the shaft w', of the blades W; the said segment a
being connected by means of the liuk with the upper end of the ram of the
cylinder X as shown. In cylinder X', which is of smaller diameter than
cylinder X, the water pressure is constant so that when the water is free to
exhaust from cylinder X the ram in cylinder X' forces up the lever or segment.
with the pawl, and so causes, the ram of the cylinder X to be forced back into

page_text: position for the next stroke, so that when the raak ascends, the wheel W' is
turned through a part of a revolution and therefore a portion of coal or other
material in the box W' is discharged on to the plate beneath. The distance of
travel of the said rack a is adjusted by means of the screw . The revolving
wheel of blades W1, is also provided with a brake pulley, strap and weighted
lever W so as to prevent the wheel from turning too far.
In order to receive the charge of coal or other material from the wheel W', we
mount on the front end of the frame A, and underneath the blades W'a plate Y
npon which the pusher J travels. The said plate has a backwards and forwards
movement given to it by the handle or hand lover y, and rod y' so as to enable the
plate to be introduced into the mouth of the retort when the retort is to be charged
and to be withdrawn therefrom after the retort has been charged.
In order to automatically regulate the travel or length of stroke given to the
pusher rod H and pusher J, we mount underneath the slide bar A, a revolving
shaft Z, (showu in detail Figures 4, 5; 6, & 7,) having a number of stops or
projections z, which are at different distances along the said shaft Z and radially
out of line with each other, so that on the shaft Z being partly turned, through
the medium of the ratchet and pawl arrangement 7' (shown in detail Figures 6
and 7) which are brought into play through the raising and depressing of the rear
end of the slide bar A, the various stops z come into the path of the ram Fin
succession and so regulate or alter the stroke given to the pusher J, as the ram will
be stopped in its charging stroke at a distance which is dependent upon which of
the stops is in its path. The pawl Z' is returned to its normal position on the
reverse movement of the slide bar A. The said stops work through openings g
(shown more particularly in Figures 2 & 7) formed in the guide plate G₁ and may
be actuated by hand when desired by means of the band wheel Z³ provided on the
rear end of the said shaft Z.
For connecting or disconnecting the water supply pipe, we form on or attach to
the main pipe VI of the machine a cup shaped mouth piece V4, shown in section
and end elevation Figures 8 and 9, in which is contained a cup leather v² and brass
gland so as to receive the end of the main supply pipe V and so form a tight
joint the said parts being locked in position or unlocked by means of the pivotted
lever v¹.
The action of the machine is as follows:-
When it is required to charge a retort the operator moves the machine (along
the rails laid for the apparatus to travel upon) by means of the gearing D until it
is opposite the retort to be charged, he then operates the lever Pi and so raises or
lowers the frames until the plate Y is on a level with the mouth of the retort. He
then operates the lever y which causes the plate Y to enter the mouth of the retort
and rest thereon. He then operates the lever S which by a single operation
causes a quantity of coal to be delivered from the revolving wheel of blades W¹
on to the plate Y, the slide bar to be depressed at its front end, and the rams F
and F to act so as to move the pusher J forward carrying the charge before it into
the retort well towards the back thereof. After the pusher J has reached the end
of this stroke which is determined by the outermost of the series of stops the
operator reverses the lever S and by so doing raises the pusher and withdraws it
from the retort. After the pusher rod reaches the end of its backward movement
the operator repeats the operations, and the shaft Z is partially revolved so as to
bring the next stop z into position for terminating the next forward stroke of the
pusher J as herein before described the stops being successively brought into
position causing the pusher to travel a less distance into the retort at each
successive stroke so that the successive charges (which are deposited by the
wheel W¹ before the pusher prior to each stroke) are pushed to a less and less
distance into the retort and so evenly spread therein. When the retort has been
fully charged the operator again actuates the lover y and withdraws the plate Y
from the retort when the machine is ready to be moved to another retort.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that
what we claim is :-
1. The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting a retort
charging apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
2. In retort charging apparatus, the combination with a rake or pusher, and
means.for reciprocating it, of a device operated so as to deliver a regulated quantity
of coal or material preparatory to each forward stroke of the pusher or rake so as
to he pushed into the retort on each such forward stroke substantially as herein-
before described.
3. In a retort charging apparatus the combination with a pusher or rake, by
which the coal or other material is pushed into the retorts, of means for varying the
lengths of successive strokes of the said rake or pusher whilst a retort is being
charged substantially as & and for the purpose herein before described.
4. In retort charging apparatus the combination with a pusher or rake of means
for operating it, by a succession of strokes of varying length and means for
supplying coals or other material to be charged into the retort in proper quantity
preparatory to each forward stroke of the pusher or rake substantially as herein-
before described.
5. In, a retort charging apparatus an arrangement of stops which are successively.
brought into position at or before each charging stroke of a charging rake or
pusher to vary the lengths of successive strokes of the said rake or pusher
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.
6. In a retort charging apparatus a pusher or rake & means for imparting a
reciprocating movement and means for lowering and elevating it so that it is
lowered to make or in making the charging stroke and elevated when about to be
withdrawn substantially as hereinbeforo described.
7. In retort charging apparatus the device for making connection between tubes
through which the motive fluid is supplied, substantially as hereinbefore described
and shown more particularly in Figures 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 9th day of June 1899
JOHNSONS,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicants' Agents.