IMPROVEMENTS IN COAL SHIPPING APPLIANCES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st October 1883.
PERCY GRAHAM BUCHANAN WESTMACOTT of the Elswick Works. Newcastle-upon-
Tyne Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN COAL SHIPPING APPLIANCES"
This Invention has reference to the shipment of coal from a permanent high
level or from a low level by the addition of a hoist. The object of the invention is
to obtain a gradual and uninterrupted flow of coal from the time when the coal is
discharged from a truck until it is delivered into a Vessel so as to avoid breakage
For this purpose I employ a tubular shoot down which the coal is conducted from
a hopper at the top-this shoot I keep filled with Coals that coal discharged
into the hopper from trucks is received on to the top of coal already in the hopper
At the bottom of the shoot I provide a valve by which the exit from the shoot
can be closed and also provide means for enabling a man placed near the hopper
to control the opening or closing of this valve A wire rope or chain nay for this
purpose be led up from the valve to lifting or winding apparatus near the hopper
at the top the lifting or winding apparatus may be worked by hydraulic or other
power to give the attendant quick control over the valve.
The shoot is also made telescopic at any desired part of its length so that the
lower portion of the shoot may be drawn up or lowered into a vessel's hold aud
the mouth at the bottom of the shoot be brought to any level desired and be raised
from time to time as a cone of coal accumulates below it
By these means the attendant placed near the hopper can always keep the shoot
filled with coal and can so regulate the flow that a cushion of coal shall always be
remaining in the hopper for each succeeding truck load to be discharged on to.
I also provide means to permit men on the deck of the vessel to stop the flow of
coal from the shoot whenever they desire to do so-this I do in such a way as not
to interfere with the attendant at the top always having perfect control to keep
the shoot filled with coal-In the construction of the tubular shoot I also avoid all
abrupt angular bends so that coal may the better slide downwards through it
The shoot with its valve and valve closing mechanism I prefer to carry from the
frame of a travelling crane or hoist which can be traversed to and fro along the
edge of a duck or quay and by means of which a truck of coals can be raised and
emptied into the shoot but the shoot may if desired be made separately and so

page_text: that it can by itself be traversed along the edge of the dock or quay and be then
used in conjunction with a moveable crane or hoist.
Or the shoot may be fixed permanently at any desired point along a dock or quay
wall. The under side of any convenient part of the shoot may be formed as a
screen and doors may be provided for putting the screen out of action when not
required
The portion of the shoot which extends out from the dock or quay wall may be
made to swivel like a crane arm around a vertical joint near the wall so that the
lower end of the shoot may readily be brought over the hatchway of a vessel and
so that it may also be moved from time to time along the hatchway to assist in
the trimming of the coal and prevent the hatchway being closed by a single cone
of coal.
The lower part of the shoot might also be hinged so that its lower end might be
moved inwards or outwards as desired
In the shoot just above the telescopic portion a valve is placed which can be
closed at the time when the telescopic portion is being drawn up to clear it from a
vessel's hatchway The valve may be in two halves on two parallel spindla which
pass across the central line of the shoot at a short distance from one another--the
two spindles may be geared together so that they may be turned simultaneously.
When commencing to load a vessel with coal the shoot has first to be filled with
coal this may readily be done by introducing into the upper end of the shoot
a loosely fitting piston with a chain attached then filling coal into the hopper and
gradually lowering the piston by means of the chain until the shoot is filled the
pist n then comes out from the bottom of the shoot and can readily be removed.