AN IMPROVED CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR FILTERING, DEODORISING, AND OTHER ANALAGOUS PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN ITS MANUFACTURE "
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Weare, Mechanical Engineer, and Samuel
Isherwood, Agent, both of the City of Manchester, for the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVED CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR FILTERING,
DEODORISING, AND OTHER ANALAGOUS PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN ITS MANUFACTURE
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Weare and
Samuel Isherwood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 28th January 1875.
We, ROBERT WEARE, Mechanical Engineer, and SAMUEL ISHERWOOD,
Agent, both of the City of Manchester, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL SUITABLE
FOR FILTERING, DEODORISING, AND OTHER ANALAGOUS PURPOSES, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN ITS MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:―
This Invention relates to the production of a carbonaceous material.
by mixting moist clay with sawdust, clinkers, and cinders, or refuse

page_text: from furnaces, together with tanners' waste or the nuts used by tanners
(which for the purposes of this Invention are ground into powder and
mixed with the other ingredients, the mixture being performed by a pug
mill or other suitable machine, the over-abundant moisture will thus be
absorbed by the sawdust and fire refuse, and by this means a homo-
geneous mass will be obtained. This mixture is then passed through a
charring apparatus, by preference consisting of a number of wrought-
iron cylinders, say, three, five, seven, or more, which are caused to
revolve on their own axes a quarter of a revolution at a time, either by
manual labor or by motive power, inside a suitable furnace or heated
chamber, which may be either stationary or mounted on wheels for the
sake of portalibity.
In the case of three cylinders being used the two upper ones are of
smaller diameter than the lower one, and each of these cylinders is
mounted in an inclined direction, and is fitted internally with longi-
tudinal ribs of T iron, the upper cylinders being supplied with the
mixture requiring to be carbonised through apertures formed at or near
their highest extremities, which revolve in suitable sockets or bearings
fitted with hoppers, into which the material will be thrown. After
passing through these upper cylinders the partially carbonised material
will fall through similar openings formed at their lower extremities into
the lower cylinder, wherein the carbonising process will be continued
and completed, this cylinder being in more immediate and closer contact
with the furnace, and the carbonised material will hence escape into an
air-tight receiver.
This construction of carbonising apparatus permits each end or
extremity of the cylinders to be fitted with a cover, which may be
removed at pleasure for the purpose of cleaning out the interior.
The gases liberated escape through the same openings by which the
material enters, and may be conducted into the furnace to assist com-
bustion and to avoid noxious effluvia.
In the case of more than three cylinders being employed it will be
readily apparent that they may be similarly arranged, for instance, if five
cylinders are required the three upper ones will be proportioned in size
to and will empty themselves into the two lower ones, and so on,
according to the number used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Weare and Samuel Isherwood in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 28th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
WEARE, Mechanical Engineer, and SAMUEL ISHERWOOD, Agent, both
of the City of Manchester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in tho
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Robert Weare and Samuel Isherwood,
Her special licence that we, the said Robert Weare and Samuel
Isherwood, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Robert Weare and Samuel Isherwood, our executors, admin-
istrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED CARBONACEOUS
MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR FILTERING, DEODORISING, AND OTHER ANALAGOUS PURPOSES,
AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN ITS MANUFACTURE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Robert Weare and Samuel Isherwood,
our exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Robert Weare and Samuel
Isherwood, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This Invention relates to the production of a carbonaceous material,
for the purposes mentioned, by mixing moist clay with sawdust, clinkers,

page_text: and cinders, or refuse from furnaces, together with tanners' waste, such
as the "Valonia" nuts or "Myrabolamas" used by tanners (which for
the purposes of this Invention are mixed with the other ingredients),
the mixture being performed by a pug mill or other suitable machine;
the over-abundant moisture will thus be absorbed by the sawdust and
fire refuse, and by this means a homogeneous mass will be obtained.
This mixture is then passed through a charring apparatus, by preference
consisting of a number of wrought-iron cylinders, say, three, five, seven,
or more, which are caused to revolve on their own axes a quarter of a
revolution at a time, either by manual labour or by motive inside
power,
a suitable furnace or heated chamber, which may be either stationary or
mounted on wheels for the sake of portability.
In performing our Invention we wash the cinders and clinkers so as
far as possible to remove all siliceous and other foreign matters, and
then grind the same to the size required, according to the special
filtering or other purpose for which the charcoal is to be used. We take
the moist clay and pass the same through a pug mill perforated with
. small holes, say about 1/8th of an inch in diameter, and as the thin streams
of clay issue from these holes we add sufficient dry sawdust to take up
the superabundant moisture. We then add the other ingredients in a
proportion of two of tanners' waste to about one of fire refuse, and mix
all together with any suitable mixing machine, and in this state the
mixture is ready for being introduced into the carbonising apparatus.
We sometimes add the spent or exhausted charcoal from filtering beds
to our mixture previous to charring the same and so obtain the advantage
of the organic matter contained in such filtering beds, and at the same
time proportionately augment the quantity of the charcoal produced.
And in order that this our said Invention may be the more readily
understood and carried into practical effect we have hereunto annexed a
Drawing illustrating the special description of apparatus we prefer to
employ in the production of our improved carbonaceous material,
similar letters marked on the several views being used to indicate similar
parts.
Tie 1 is a front axterior view and Fio 2 a transverse section of 'a

page_text: larger cylinder illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, both shewn on an enlarged
scale.
In all the views A is the furnace surrounded by brickwork B and
communicating with the chimney C. Supported in this furnace is a
cylindrical iron casing D, which may be either of wrought or cast iron;
if of the latter material we prefer to construct the same in segmental
parts bolted together. The bottom of this casing D is perforated with
holes E to allow the heat from the furnace more readily to enter its
interior. F and F" are a pair of cylinders (herein-after called the upper
cylinders) mounted at the upper part of the casing D, and G is a larger
cylinder (herein-after called the main cylinder) designed to receive the
contents of both the upper cylinders. All these cylinders are mounted
in an inclined direction in the cast-iron plate G₁ at one end, and in
separate sockets G2 at the other end, such plate G¹ and sockets G² being
built in the brickwork B so as to permit the extremities of the cylinders
to project through to the outside, where they are supported upon friction
rollers a, and each of such extremities is provided with a cover H,
which is bolted on, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, and thus is capable of being
removed whenever it is necessary to obtain access to the interior of the
cylinders for cleaning out and other purposes.
The central portions of the upper cylinders are by preference formed
of stout iron wirework F³, say of wire about ½ inch in diameter,
leaving a space of ¼ inch between the wires, and the ends of such
This construction of
upper cylinders are formed of boiler plate.
cylinder permits the finer particles of the material undergoing the drying
or carbonising process to escape through its meshes and to fall on to
the partition plate I, where it lodges until fully carbonised, when it may
be removed by means of a scraper inserted through either of the flue
doors J. K, K, are appertures through which the material to be car-
bonised is admitted from the hoppers L into such upper cylinders F
and F¹, and M, M, are appertures to permit the partially carbonised
material to pass out of such upper cylinders into the intermediate
hopper N, which forms one casting with the plate G¹, and is common to
both upper cylinders (as seen more clearly in dotted lines in Fig. 1).
This hopper N leads into the main cylinder G through the apperture O.
"

page_text: The main cylinder G is further provided near its lower extremity with
an opening P by which the carbonised material escapes through the
shoot Q into a wagon R or other air-tight receptacle placed to receive it.
The wagon R is constructed with a suitable cover, the rim or edge of
which is turned down so as to be imbedded in sand contained in a
groove surrounding the top edge of the wagon (as seen in section at onc
corner), and thus an air-tight joint is secured.
Each of the cylinders F, F, and G is capable of revolving on its axis,
for which purpose it is provided with spur teeth S gearing into a spur
pinion T, which revolves upon a fixed stud U, being actuated by a
winch handle V, or such cylinders may be driven intermittently by
power. All these cyl are strengthened on the inside by longitudinal
pieces of iron W riveted to them, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, but which
are removed in Figs. 2 and 3 for the sake of illustrating the construction
more clearly.
The method of carbonising with this improved construction of
apparatus may be thus described:-The mixture or material to be car-
bonised is first admitted into the hoppers L, from whence it escapes
through the appertures K into the upper cylinders F and F. These
cylinders may now be revolved on their axes, say, a quarter or half a
revolution by means of their respective winch handles V until their
appertures K are closed against the insides of the sockets G³, in which
position such cylinders may remain for a few minutes when another
quarter of a revolution may be imparted by the winch handles.
This intermittent revolving motion, which may be repeated at intervals,
not only permits the finer portion of the material to escape through the
wire network F2 on to the partition plate I, but aided by the longi-
tudinal pieces inside the cylinders, which partially carry the material
round with them, causes the larger portions of the material to gradually
approach towards the lower end of such cylinders, by which time it will
be sufficiently dried to escape into the main cylinder G through the
apperture M and intermediate hopper N. This main cylinder G being
in closer contact with the furnace A will necessarily be at a higher
temperature than the upper cylinders, being at a charring heat, and will
thus rapidly complete the carbonising process (such main cylinder
being turned round periodically a quarter of a revolution at a time by
the winch handle V), when such carbonised material will escape through

page_text: the opening P and shoot Q into the covered wagon R or other suitable
air-tight receptacle placed to receive it.
The gases liberated in this carbonising process escape from the upper
cylinders F and F' through the wirework F2 into the interior of the
casing D above the partition plate I, and thence they pass the ends of
such plate, as denoted by the arrows, until they approach the holes E,
when they become ignited, and so not only assist combustion but
avoid the noxious effluvia which would, arise in case of such gases
escaping unconsumed into the atmosphere.
It will be readily apparent that more than three cylinders may be
employed in accordance with this Invention, for instance, if five cylinders
are required the three upper ones will be proportioned in size to and
will empty themselves into the two lower ones, and so on according to
the number used.
In the case of the smaller sizes of carbonising apparatus we sometimes
mount the same upon wheels so as to render them portable and capable
of being transported from place to place by horse power.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
our said Invention together with the best methods with which we are
acquainted for carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be
understood that we do not necessarily confine ourselves to carbonising
in apparatus constructed as herein-before described and illustrated on
the accompanying Drawing, as any suitable charring apparatus may be
substituted, nor do we limit ourselves to charing mixture, as herein-
before described, in our improved charring apparatus, as such apparatus
is capable of carbonising any suitable material, and we wish it further
to be understood that we lay no claim to carbonising a mixture of clay
and sawdust in the production of a carbonaceous material, except when
previously mixed with fire refuse or in combination with tanners' waste,
as herein-before described, and we claim particularly,-
1st. The production of a carbonaceous material by charring a mixture
of moist clay, sawdust, fire refuse, and tanners' waste, substantially as
and for the purposes herein-before described.
2nd. The method of mounting three or more cylinders in a furnace
when communicating together, fitted up and internally arranged either

page_text: on wheels or stationary, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated on the accompanying Drawing.
3rd. The air-tight wagon for receiving and transporting hot carbonised
materials, as herein-before described and illustrated on the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Weare and Samuel
Isherwood, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-five.