AN IMPROVED COAL STAITH OR TIP FOR LOADING OCEAN-GOING STEAMERS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Taylor of Penarth in the County of Glamorgan
for an
Invention of AN IMPROVED COAL STAITH OR TIP FOR LOADING
OCEAN-GOING STEAMERS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Taylor at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st June 1883.
GEORGE TAYLOR of Penarth in the County of Glamorgan "AN IMPROVED
COAL STAITH OR TIP FOR LOADING OCEAN GOING STEAMERS
17
My Invention has for its object to provide a movable coal staith or tip whereby
ocean going steamers may be loaded with coal from railway waggons at various
hatchways or places of each steamer simultaneously in order to secure more
rapid dispatch Under the present system of loading such steamers with coal from
a staith or tip they can seldom be loaded at more than one hatchway at once owing
to the staiths or tips being fixed and incapable of being moved, to suit the
steamers' hatch ways
steamers.
In a movable staith or tip it is necessary that the construction be such as to
bear the strain arising from moving the structure and this is the more indispensablo
in staiths or tips of the great height requisite for the loading of ocean going
It is moreover necessary in a movable staith or tip that the hydraulic
and other machinery and the guides of and for the hoisting and tipping platform be
so arranged and kept above the ground as to present no obstacle to the moving of
the staith and further that the structure and machinery be so arranged that the
whole apparatus shall be stable and not overturn in moving or owing to the
weight of the shoot and coal at the front part of the staith in tipping.
In my Invention the framework of the staith is constructed of four or more
strutted frames or legs suitably secured together by cross frames and braces in
order to meet the requirements alluded to. When the waggons come to the staith
on a railway at a low level the hoisting of the waggons is effected preferably by
hydraulic cylinders and rams so placed at the back part of the staith either at the
base or between or near to the rear uprights and struts as to help in counter-
poising the weight of the shoot and coal at the front part.

page_text: The tipping of the waggons also is preferably effected by hydraulic cylinders
and rams placed in or near to the back part of the staith for the counterpoising
before referred to. The tipping is effected by either causing these tipping rams to
operate on the rear hoisting chains or by having separate tipping chains connected
with the tipping rams and tipping platform. To secure the necessary horizontal
position of the hoisting platform may provide a guide framing to work up and
down at the back of the staith and connected with the chain gear or with the
tipping platform.
For rendering the staith or tip movable I affix to the base framing at each of
four or more places a carriage containing a strong wheel which may have a flat
tread to travel on a slightly curved rail or a slightly rounded tread to assist in the
turning of the wheel as hereinafter referred to. To this wheel there is no flange
but I furnish the carriage with guides to work against the sides of the rail on
which the staith travels. I may instead of such wheels and guides employ wheels
having adjustable flanges or circular plates loose on the wheel axles and either
placed loose by or attached to one or both of the flat sides of the wheels and
capable of being raised so as to clear or pass over the rails provided for the staith
to travel on or of being so secured to the wheels as to form a guide for keeping
the wheels on the staith rails. The carriages in which the wheels are placed will
be capable of being rotated on vertical axes that the wheels may be turned to alter
the direction of the staith. In addition to being moved in a straight line the
staith may thus be moved from place to place in other than a straight line or from
one set of staith rails to another situated at a right or other angle For the latter
purpose I may use temporary rails or ways for the staith to travel on capable of
being laid upon railway lines across which it may be desired to pass the staith.
These rails for temporary use may be hinged to or carried by the staith and I
design to furnish the staith with a separate set of wheels placed at a suitable
height or level to enable the temporary rails or ways to be placed under them and
the staith to travel thereupon
Instead of hydraulic power I may use counterbalance weights to effect the
lowering and tipping of the waggon when they come upon a high level railway

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Taylor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st December
1883.
GEORGE TAYLOR of Penarth in the County of Glamorgan
COAL STAITH OR TIP FOR LOADING OCEAN GOING STEAMERS
"AN IMPROVED
My Invention consists in a movable or portable coal staith or tip whereby ocean
going steamers may be loaded with coal from railway waggons at various
hatchways or places of each steamer simultaneously in order to secure more rapid
despatch.
Ünder the system of loading such steamers with coal from a staith or tip as
heretofore practised they can seldom be loaded at more than one hatch way at
once owing to the varying distances between the hatch ways of different steamers
and to the fact that the staiths or tips are permanent fixtures and therefore
incapable of being moved to suit the hatchways.
It is necessary that the construction of a movable staith be such as to bear the
strains arising from moving the structure which both on that account, and on
account of the greater difficulty of moving a high staith must be kept as low as
possible regard being had to the height at which the loading of large ocean going
steamers is necessarily carried on. It is moreover necessary in a movable staith
or tip that the hydraulic and other machinery and the guides of and for the
hoisting and tipping platform be so arranged and kept above the ground as to
present no obstacle to the moving of the staith and further that the structure and
machinery be so arranged that the whole apparatus shall be stable and not liable
to be overturned in moving or by the weight of the shoot and coal at the front
part of the staith in tipping
The accompanying drawings represent by way of example only, a portable or
movable staith or tip which meets the requirements above alluded to, but I would
have it understood that I do not limit myself to the construction and arrangement
of the staith herein described as the same may be varied according to particular
circumstances the invention consisting essentially in a portable staith or tip
capable of loading large ocean going steamers.
Figure 1 is a side elevation (the platform being up and tilted in dotted lines)
Figure 2 is a rear elevation (the platform being down) and Figure 3 a top plan of
a portable staith or tip. The frame work of the staith consists of four strutted
legs A A A A¹ secured together by cross frames and diagonal braces substantially
as shown and so arranged as to leave a clear opening for the passage of the
waggons at the sides and back. When the staith stands over a line of rails these
side openings allow of traffic through the staith when not in use. The legs A A¹
are constructed of iron plates and are each composed of two parallel members
placed at a sufficient distance apart to receive the hoisting and lowering gear
between the two members which are of box section and are left open at their
adjacent sides.
The legs rise from base frames or girders B B¹ which respectively
counect the front legs A. A and the back legs A¹ A¹ together in pairs. The back
girder B' is so constructed as to allow the passage over it of the waggon entering
on or leaving the platform of the staith. In addition to the side struts shown in
figures 1 and 2 the front legs A are provided with forwardly projecting struts A³
(figure 1) to stay the staith at the forward side in tipping. These struts have
adjustable screw foot plates A³ which take a bearing on the ground. The girders
B B are supported on travelling wheels C running on rails D and each mounted
in a swivelling carriage hereafter described and illustrated in figures 4, 5, 6 &c.
In addition to these travelling wheels both girders are provided either with

page_text: packing screws b screwing into sockets beneath the girders and taking a bearing
on the rails D when the staith is in use or with hydraulic jacks hereinafter
described and illustrated. Each packing screw has a capstan head at its lower
end and a loose shoe which embraces the rail head. The top of the staith is
framed together by four girders of which the one at the front is bowed and
projects forwards sufficiently to allow the coal to pass inside of it when the
waggon is tipped at the top of the staith.
The platform of the staith is constructed of two longitudinal girders E framed
together by transoms beneath them in such position that they can come below the
rail level in order to allow the level of the platform rails to come as low as
possible. F are the platform rails laid in open box girders G resting on and
attached to the transoms of the platform. The front cross bar E' of the frame E is
guided in its vertical motion by guides e the ends of the bar E' being formed with
journals received in slide blocks moving in said guides, the frame pivoting on said
journals in the act of tilting. When the waggons come to the staith on a railway
at a low level the hoisting is effected preferably by hydraulic cylinders and rams
placed within the members composing the back legs and as low down as possible
in order to help in counterpoising the weight of the shoot and coal at the front of
the staith in tipping. K are the hydraulic cylinders and h h and k k are the front
and back pairs of chains respectively. The course of the chains will be readily
understood. Following either of the front chains, the end of the chain h is attached
to the front of the platform, passes up thence over a sheave under a guide
sheave h² under a guide sheave h³ over a sheave h* on the ram of the hoisting
cylinder under guide sheaves h³ & h° over a sheave h7 on the other hoisting ram, to
the cylinder of which its other end is attached. Following now either of the back
chains, the end of the chain K is attached to the rear of the platform passes up
over a sheave k¹ down beneath a sheave on the ram of one of the tilting
cylinders P up over a sheave on the ram of one of the hoisting cylinders under
guide sheaves e over sheave 16 on the ram of the other hoisting cylinder under
a sheave k on the other tilting cylinder P and then to a fixed point By thus
passing each chain over the rams of both hoisting cylinders the platform is kept
horizontal in hoisting and lowering notwithstanding inequality in the action of the
rams and by passing the two back chains k over the rams of both the tilting
cylinders the tilting may be effected at any point of the lift and unequal action of
the tilting cylinders is compensated.
To enable the staith to be moved back from the face of the loading berth the
travelling wheels C instead of being capable of running in one line, only would be
made to swivel as next described and the rear girder B¹ is constructed so that its
middle portion (which is bent downwards as shown and which is of open box
section and embraces the rail D) may be raised to disengage it from the rail D when
the staith is required. to be moved backwards 62 63 being screws for lifting it. The
staith would be furnished with an ordinary shoot and appliances connected therewith
and the platform would have the usual stops for keeping the waggon in position
thereon. When hydraulic machinery is used as above described connection would
be made with the hydraulic mains by ordinary pipe connections.
The loaded waggons may enter the staith from portable turntables or traversers
from either a low or a high level. When they enter at a high level counterweights
may be used instead of hydraulic machinery for lowering and tilting the waggon;
but with counterweights the tilting is effected by lowering the front of the platform
instead of raising the back and for this reason the staith framing should be
correspondingly higher when counterweights are used. Figure 4 is an elevation
Figure 5 a plan and figure 6 a vertical section of one of the travelling wheels of
the portable staith mounted in a swivelling carriage for the purpose of enabling the
staith to be moved in any desired direction. C is the travelling wheel for ordinary
motion along the loading berth. It has a detachable flange c secured to it by bolts
which when the bolts are released inay be raised above the tread of the wheel so as
not to interfere the swivelling motion of the wheel. C* is a smaller grooved wheel

page_text: on the same axis as wheel C which when wheel C is swivelled so as to stand at an
angle to rail D, can travel on temporary ways laid across the permanent ways upon
the wharf and resting upon those ways and intermediate packing pieces. By this
means the staith can be moved back from the face of the loading berth at any
point when not required for loading. The axle of the double wheel C C turns in
bearings in a swivelling carriage R capable of rotating about a vertical axis and
for this purpose placed beneath a horizontal ring S fixed to the underside of the
girder B. The carriage R revolves about ring S, a circle of antifriction balls t
placed in a live ring T being interposed between the bearing surfaces of the two.
The carriage may be turned by a worm Z gearing with a ring of teeth Z' around
it. Only two of these wheels night be used beneath each girder B instead of four
as represented in figure 2.
Figure 7 is a vertical section and figure 8 an elevation at right angles thereto of
a hydraulic jack for slightly raising the staith to remove the weight from wheels C
and enable them to be turned which jack may also serve purpose of the packing
screws b in figure 2. U is the cylinder fixed to the underside of the base frame or
girder and V is the ram fitted therein having on its lower part a strong screw
thread which can work freely in the lower part of the cylinder and has a nut W
upon it.
The lower end of the ram is formed with a shoe to bear on the rail D.
In order to relieve and swivel the travelling wheels water is forced into the upper
end of the ram cylinder, and the rising motion of the latter is followed up by
turning the nut W so that the latter will take the weight when the hydraulic
pressure is released. V' is a spiral spring surrounding the rain to raise it and free
the shoe from the rail in travelling.
Figure 9 is a rear elevation of a portable staith to which the waggons are
brought at a high level, counterweights being used instead of hydraulic cylinders.
h are the chains from the front of the platform E on which the waggons are
received and k are the chains from the back end of the platform. The chains h
are attached to counterweights H and pass over sheaves at the top of the staith
the sheaves being cupped to receive the chain links and keyed in pairs each on its
own shaft to ensure their simultaneous action
The chains are attached to counterweights K and pass freely through counter-
weights H and over sheaves and chain wheels keyed on a shaft at the top of the
staith and thence down to the platform. The counterweights H are heavier than K
to prevent the forward tilting of the platform by being unequally loaded., the
action being controlled by friction brakes and the whole system being similar
to that described in the specification of another Patent dated May 30th 1883
No. 2696.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is :
A staith or tip capable of loading ocean going steamers and which is so con-
structed and has its machinery so arranged that the staith is transportable from
place to place to suit the hatchways of the steamer.
In winess whereof I the said George Taylor have hereunto set my hand and
seal this First day of December A.D. 1883.