Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Regulating the Passage of Coals for Screening, Sorting, Picking, or Cleaning, and for like purposes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 17th Feb., 1898--Accepted, 23rd Apr., 1898
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Regulating the Passage of
Coals for Screening, Sorting, Picking, or Cleaning, and for like
purposes.
I, THOMAS ARCHER, of 11, Regent Terrace, Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County
of Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
My invention has for its object to provide simple and efficient means for
regulating the passage of coals for screening, sorting, picking or cleaning, and for
other analogous purposes; the said means being based upon the principle of the
apparatus forming the subject matter of Letters Patent No. 16924, dated the
5th October 1891, granted to me, wherein there is used, in combination with
the tipping cage, or kickup, or revolving tippler, or the like, (I will refer to it as the
cage for brevity), by which the coals, or other materials, are discharged down a
screen, shoot or passage, a door, shutter or the like, (I will refer to it as a door),
which is closed and opened at the requisite times by the movements of the
said cage, so as to regulate the passage of the coal or other material.
According to my present invention I attach to the cage, one end of a
connecting rod, the other end of which is connected to a lever turning upon
a centre above the door which works in suitable guides at either side of the screen,
shoot, or the like, down which the coals, or other materials, pass, when they are
tipped over. The said lever is connected to the said door preferably by a chain,
or flexible connection, secured to a curved surface, or partial wheel, by which
the pull upon the door, is kept as nearly vertical as possible during the movement
of the lever. Or the curved surface or partial wheel may be toothed and gear
with a rack in connection with the door. When the cage is upset the connect-
ing rod acts on the lever so as to allow the door to close, and, when the cage is
returned to its original position, the said connecting rod acts upon the said lever
in the reverse direction to raise the door, to allow the coal or the like to pass
beneath it. Or I may provide a pinion always in motion with which a rack on
the door is in gear when the door is to be opened and which is kept open as long as
the rack is in its engaged position but which falls when the rack is moved from the
pinion by the movement of the cage. Or I may make the pinion loose on the
constantly running shaft and engage and disengage it by a clutch operated by
the movements of the cage. In connection with the door I may use a counter-
balance, or a spring, or a dash-pot or equivalent arrangement to prevent the too
sudden drop of the door when released. The relative movement of the cage with
the door as described, may be reversed, so as to cause the door to close with the
motion of the gear and to gradually open when out of gear by the use of a counter
balance or the equivalent. The invention may be applied to either cages which tip
down and are then turned up again to their original position, or to revolving cages
which return to their original position by a continuation in the same direction of
the rotatory movement by which they were upset. In the latter case where it

page_text: is necessary for the connecting rod to pass the rails in the cage onto which the
trolleys or trucks are run this may be done by providing a gap in the rails, or
by making a portion or portions of the rails moveable upon a hinge so that they
move to allow the connecting rod to pass and then return to their original position
after the connecting rod has passed. A connecting rod may be provided at one
end, or at both ends of the cage they, in the latter case, being connected with a
single, or a double arrangement of the lever and lifting arrangement as desired.
Dated this 17th day of May 1897.
JOHNSONS & WILLOOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Regulating the Passage of
Coals for Screening, Sorting, Picking, or Cleaning, and for like
purposes.
I, THOMAS ARCHER, of 11, Regent Terrace, Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County
of Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
My invention has for its object to provide simple and efficient means for
regulating the passage of coals for screening, sorting, picking, or cleaning and for
other analogous purposes; the said means being based upon the principle of the
apparatus forming the subject matter of Letters Patent No. 16924, dated the
5th October, 1891, granted to me, wherein there is used, in combination with
the tipping cage, or kickup, or revolving tippler, or the like, (I will refer to it as the
cage for brevity), by which the coals or other materials, are discharged down a
screen, shoot or passage, a door, shutter, or the like, (1 will refer to it as a door),
which is closed and opened at the requisite times by the movements of the
said cage, so as to regulate the passage of the coal, or other material.
In describing my present invention I will refer to the accompanying drawings
which illustrate arrangements in accordance therewith. In the arrangement
illustrated in side elevation in Figure 1 and iront elevation in Figure 21 attach
to each side of the cage A one end of a connecting rod a the other end of which
is connected to a lever 6 turning upon a centre above the door B which is shewn
in the drawing as being effected by securing the levers to a shaft 6 turning in
bearings in standards b. The door B works in suitable guides 6 at either side
of the screen, shoot or the like, C, down which the coals, or other materials, pass,
when they are tipped over. The said levers are put in connection with the said
door preferably by a chain, or flexible connection, secured to a curved surface,
or partial wheel, by which the pull upon the door, is kept as nearly vertical as
possible during the movement of the lever. This is shewn as being effected by
keying the semicircular pieces ] to the shaft to which the levers 6 are keyed,
one end of a chain or rope d being secured at one end to the upper end of the
pieces D and at the other end to the door. Or the curved surfaces or partial
wheels may be toothed and gear with a rack in connection with the door. When
the cage A and the truck therein are upset the connecting rods a act on the levers b
so as to allow the door B, to close, and, when the cage A and truck are returned to
their original position, the said connecting rods a act upon the said levers in the
reverse direction to raise the door B to allow the coal or the like to pass beneath
it. I have shewn a double arrangement of levers and adjuncts but a single arrange-

page_text: The
ment may be used if desired. In cases wherein I employ an arrangement consisting
of a pinion always in motion with which a rack on the door is in gear when the
door is to be opened and which is kept open as long as the rack is in its engaged
position but which falls when the rack is moved from the pinion by the movement
of the cage, I may arrange it as shewn in elevation and plan in Figures 3 and 4.
I mount the pinion E which gears with the rack on the door B loose on the
constantly running shaft e and engage and disengage it by a clutch Foperated
by the movements of the cage. This can be readily done by providing the cage
with a cam a to act on a bell crank lever a turning on a centre a³ and acting on
another bell-crank lever g turning on a centre 92 one arm of which latter bell
crank engages with the groove in the clutch to act as a clutch shifter by moving
the clutch along the shaft e on the usual groove and feather arrangement.
clutch shifter may be single armed or double armed or pronged. In connection with tne
door BI may use a counterbalance, or a spring, or a dash-pot, as indicated at H, or
equivalent arrangement, to prevent the too sudden drop of the door when released.
The relative movement of the cage with the door as described may be reversed, so
as to cause the door to close with the motion of the gear and to gradually open
when out of gear by the use of a counterbalance or the equivalent. The invention
may be applied to either cages which tip down and are then turned up again to
their original position, or to revolving cages which return to their original position
by a continuation in the same direction of the rotatory movement by which they
were upset. In the latter case where it is necessary for the connecting rod or rods a
to pass the rails in the cage onto which the trolleys, or trucks, are run this may be
done by providing a gap in the rails, or by making a portion, or portions, of the
rails moveable upon a hinge so that they move to allow the connecting rod to pass
and then return to their original position after the connecting rod has passed. In
either case a connecting rod or the like may be provided at one end, or at both ends,
of the cage they, in the latter case, being connected with a single, or a double,
arrangement of the lever and lifting arrangement as desired.
Figure 5 represents an arrangement wherein the plate or plates I break the fall of
the coal or other material. The door B in this case is shown as turning on a centro
at b5 so that it assists in laying the coal or other material evenly upon the travelling
belt, arranged beneath the shoot C, where it is sorted picked or cleaned. The door
is operated by a lever a centered at a and acted upon by a pin a on the cage A
the said rod a being connected to the door by the rod b. The rod a instead of riding
on the pin a may be slotted and the pin engage in the slot so that the pin may help
to bring the rod a down.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In apparatus for regulating the passage of coals for screening, sorting, pick-
ing or cleaning or for like purposes a connecting rod attached at one end to the
cage and at the other end to a lever connected to the door by a chain passing
over a curved surface or a rack engaging with a toothed quadrant, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
2. In apparatus for regulating the passage of coals for screening, sorting, picking
or cleaning, or for like purposes, a pinion mounted loosely upon a running shaft
and a clutch operated by the cage to connect the pinion with the shaft or disconnect
it therefrom so that it operates the door by means of a rack substantially as
hereinbefore described.
3. In apparatus for regulating the passage of coals for screening, sorting, picking,
or cleaning, or for like purposes the combination with the cage and door of
mechanism which causes the door to close when the cage is tipped and to afterwards
gradually rise, substantially as hereinbefore described.
4. In apparatus for regulating the passage of coals for screening, sorting, picking

page_text: or cleaning or for like purposes the arrangement substantially as described with
reference to Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 17th day of February 1898.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.