IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FOR CHARCOAL, PEAT FUEL, AND FIRE LIGHTS, AND PURPOSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Edlmann, of Palmerston Buildings;
Bishopsgate Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF PEAT FOR CHARCOAL, PEAT FUEL, AND FIRE LIGHTS, AND
PURPOSES."
Scaled the 29th October 1869, and dated the 27th May 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alfred Edlmann at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 27th May 1869, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Alfred
EDLMANN, of Palmerston Buildings, Bishopsgate Street, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FOR CHARCOAL. PEAT
FUEL AND FIRE LIGHTS. AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," and have petitioned Her
[Price Sd.]

page_text: Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration
that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Edlanu, do hereby declate
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and scal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
which forms part of this Specification.
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery and
apparatus for the manufacture of peat for charcoal, peat fuel, and lire
lights, and for other purposes, and consists in machinery and apparatus
to be herein-after described.
In converting the peat into charcoal or fuel the peat when dug or
raised is placed in a vertical cylinder of suitable size, in which a shaft
armed with knives or blades rotates, the cylinder being also provided
with similar knives or blades placed laterally, and in passing between or
through which the fibre of the peat is thoroughly broken. The bottom
of the cylinder is a spiral incline of from five to ten degrees of pitch,
having at the lowest point a port hole or opening through which in a
state of semi-pulp the peat passes on to a pair of corrugated, fluted, or
toothed rollers b, b, in the top of the machine, Fig. 1, in the accom-
panying Drawing, which rollers are placed at a suitable distance apart,
and thence passes to a second pair of rollers c, c, of a similar kind but
of finer pitch, and which are placed closer together. Each roller is
furnished with a scraper or cleaning bar, and motion is given to the
machine by spur gear, the pitch lines of which are shown by the
circles h, k,,, or other suitable means. The peat being now reduced
to a homogeneous pulp falls into a chamber, through which it is pro-
pelled by means of an endless screw g, attached to a rotating shaft, into
a lower chamber h, where it receives the extra pressure necessary to give
it the required density, and to force it into the moulding boxes m, m,
by means of plunging rods or arms attached by one end to the flap
piece or compressor i, and having its other end attached to a revolving
crank, which is actuated by the pinion j, driven by the partially
toothed wheels and v', and thereby giving the desired backward and
forward motion to the flap piece or compressor i. The before-mentioned
moulding boxes m, m, immediately they are filled, and the blocks of peat

page_text: perforated by means of rods or pins o, o, attached to the back end of
each of the moulding boxes m, m, for rendering greater facility in
drying, are caused to come in contact with a scraper n, by which means
an even surface is produced. The blocks of peat are forced out of
the moulding boxes m, m, by means of rods p, p, attached to falsc
bottoms w, w, in the before-mentioned moulding boxes coming in con-
tact with a cylindrical grooved or toothed roller on to an endless
band or web s, s, which is driven by the pullies u, u, and which carrics
them forward to the drying house. As the moulding boxes m, m, revolve
on a fixed shaft t the end of each of the rods p, p, attached to the false
bottoms w, w, come in contact with a fixed eccentric piece y, and at the
moment that the surface of the moulding box m is covered by being in
contact with the peat, it draws the false bottom w gradually back and
allows the peat to fill the moulding box as it is forced on by the rotating
endless screw g. The perforated block of prepared peat shows the
manner in which it leaves the machine.
(Fig. 2) and (Fig. 3) are sections through the corrugated, fluted, or
toothed rollers b, b, and c, c, in (Fig. 1.) The kilns into which the blocks
of prepared peat pass after leaving the machine (Fig. 1) may be of any
suitable size, and either vertical or horizontal. They are constructed of
cast-iron plates in sections, on each of which tubes or passages for the
steam are formed, each plate having corresponding tubes and sockets, so
that when jointed together one continuous tube is formed throughout,
and perforation are made at suitable intervals for the diffusion in an
equable manner of superheated steam. The plates may be fastened
together by bolts and nuts passed through lugs on the exterior, or in any
other convenient manner. The steam is generated in the usual manner,
and is passed through a coil of pipes or tubes, and from thence into
the perforated pipe or tube within the kiln, and exudes through the
perforations with electric rapidity. The entrance and exit are each
fitted with doors to open and shut by back balance weights or other
suitable contrivance.
The dipping machine shewn at (Fig. 4) in the accompanying Drawing
is for the purpose of dipping the heavy blocks of peat through the
oleaginous liquid, and consists of a trough a, a, for holding the liquid,
in which a wheel i for carrying the prepared peat revolves, being carried
by the axle b. The wheel i is so arranged that it consists of fixed arms
or blades c, c, c, and of the moveable arms or blades d, d, d, which move

page_text: on the pins or joints e, e, e, and are attached to the periphery of the
wheel. The moveable arms or blades d, d, d, are extended somewhat
towards the axle b, although not in a direct line, and are cranked over
so as to move in the grooves g, g, g, as is shewn at (Fig. 5), and by
which means the peat s, s, is held securely whilst dipping, and pre-
sented so as to allow of its free removal on its emerging from the liquid,
substantially as shewn by the accompanying Drawing.
(Fig. 5) is a section through the wheel i and the trough a of (Fig. 4).
When fire lights, which can be dipped in a mass, are under this opera-
tion employ a pitch chain or band carrying traveling plates, on
which the prepared blocks of peat are placed, which pass over rollers at
each end of the vessel, and a spiked roller is placed in the centre of the
vessel near the bottom to give motion to the pitch chain or band, which
roller can be actuated in any convenient manner. The dipping liquid
is kept at the required temperature by means of a coil or series of pipes
immersed therein, through which superheated or ordinary steam is
passed, and by this method the liquid is also purified.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same
is to be worked, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied without
affecting the principle of the machines and apparatus, substantially as
described and shewn by the accompanying Specification and Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Edlmann, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-ninc.
Witness,
CHA. F. T. YOUNG, C. E.,
Consulting Engineer for Patents,
7, Duke Street,
Adelphi, W.C.
A. EDLMANN. (L.S.)