IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THIS MANUFACTURE.
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lee Norton, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate
Hill, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THIS
MANUFACTURE.'
Sealed the 8th September 1864, and dated the 9th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lee Norton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1864.
I, JAMES LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City
of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THIS
MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
manure. For this purpose I take shoddy or woollen rags, or woollen waste,
such as drops from scribbling, carding engines, and other machines, and after
separating from it the grease by processes now commonly employed for this
purpose, I pass the fibre through a dusting machine, and shake out from it
the dust and very small particles. I also separate any long fibre the shoddy
may contain; this long fibre I do not use for making manure, as it will fetch
a good price for the manufacture of flock, or other purposes. The short fibre
freed from dust I immerse in or treat with sulphuric acid diluted to such an
extent that it will not dissolve or destroy the fibre when used cold as I employ

page_text: it. Afterwards the moisture is either drained or squeezed out as far as
practicable, or the fibre is passed through a centrifugal machine, so as to
receive as much of the acid liquor as possible, and it is then passed through a
drying or heating chamber with apparatus so arranged as constantly to turn
the fibre over and expose every part equally to the heat, so that the heat
acting in conjunction with the acid may char the fibre to such an extent that
it may readily be pulverized. A convenient way of conducting the operation
is as follows:-I pass the fibre through the acid liquor on an endless apron,
and then when thoroughly saturated through squeezing rollers to press out the
superfluous liquor, and afterwards the fibre passes directly on to the feed sheet
of the drying or heating chamber. The drying apparatus or machine I prefer
to use for this purpose consists of a series of endless aprons arranged in steps,
and enclosed in a chamber of iron, brickwork, or other suitable material, and
outside of the chamber I arrange feed and delivery aprons to take the material
in a damp state into the chamber and out of the chamber when dried.
Suitable ventilators are arranged for carrying off the vapors formed in the
drying chamber, which I prefer to heat by means of gas, so that I can more
easily control the temperature in the drying chamber, and at the same time
obtain any desired amount of heat. Under the endless aprops' I arrange, a
series of metal plates or inverted cup-like vessels with gas burners beneath
them. Atmospheric air may be admitted as required into the lower part of
the chamber, and caused to pass between the heated plates or cups, and in
order to facilitate the drying of the material I use an exhaust fan to draw off
the vapours in the chamber, or a jet of steam to form a blast for the same
purpose. I also arrange the drying chamber in such a manner that it may be
divided into compartments varying in temperature, so that the material' may
be subjected to a gradual process of drying. Or in place of using gas for the
purpose of heating the. chamber, fire-boxes or flues which are heated in the
usual way may be arranged under the endless sheets. The arrangement of
the endless aprons, 'as described, will be found to have great advantages,
inasmuch as the aprons not being directly the one over the other, the moisture
or vapours will be free to pass away as thrown off by the heat, and the drying
is thus facilitated. When the material is dried it passes from the chamber to
a machine with crushing, pulverizing, or breaking-up rollers fixed to it, and
it is delivered from the rollers into a box or machine in which a cylinder is
arranged containing blades or teeth set in the form of a screw. This machine
or box has a perforated or trelliswork bottom fixed under the cylinder, so as
to allow fine powdered material to pass through it, and as the material is taken
in at the feed end where the pulverizing or breaking rollers are fixed, it is

page_text: tossed about, and the powdered parts carried through the wire or perforations
in the bottom of the box or casing, and those parts not converted to powder
are thrown out at the delivery end of the machine, so that they may be again
operated upon as found most desirable. Lastly, I add to the powder obtained
as above described the dust previously shaken out from the shoddy or woollen
waste, and the manure is complete; or should it be desired, the acid in the
compound may be neutralized by the addition of ground bones, or coprolite,
or other matters may be mixed with the manure. Or in place of separating
the fibre into three qualities after the oil has been extracted from the shoddy,
the whole of the fibre may be taken together and treated as described. I
prefer, however, to separate first the dust and long fibre.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Lee Norton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Lee Norton, Her special licence that I, the said James
Lee Norton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Lee Norton, my executors, administrators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Lee Norton, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lee Norton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
it
I take shoddy, woollen rags, or woollen waste, such as drops from scribbling
or carding engines, and other machines, and separate from it the grease or oil
by pressing, as is done with screw presses, similar to Magna presses, or better,
by bydraulic pressure, or by chemical means; or the substance may be
purchased in the above-mentioned state as it is sold for manure or other
purposes. I pass the fibre through a dusting machine or willey, so as to
shake out from it the dust and very small particles. It is then passed through
another machine with a wider grating, so as to separate the long fibre which
may contain if it is desired to use this more profitably for flock or other
purposes. I take the short fibre thus separated (or the whole) freed from
dust, and treat it with sulphuric acid diluted to such an extent (with from 80
to 90 per cent. of water, by preference heated to 180° to 200°,) as will not
apparently alter the fibre at this stage of the process. This may be done on
an endless sheet travelling through the liquor, but I prefer the use of a
revolving shaft with vanes, as hereafter described. The moisture is then
expelled by pressure, or centrifugal action, so as to recover as much as
possible of the acid liquor for use again, and the steeped fibre is next to be
dried and heated; and in order that this may be conveniently done without
subjecting the chamber containing it to frequent opening for the
purpose of
mixing or turning the fibre in an atmosphere of high temperature, I use a
continuous or intermittent drying apparatus and pulverizer, and afterwards a
machine which separates the finer portions, and thus I produce the manure in
a. fit state for the drilling machines used in agriculture.
The accompanying Drawing represents the saturating machine, the drying
machine, and the screening machine (used successively) in vertical sections.
A is the trough, into which the acid solution is fed, the fibre (after the dust is
separated) being put in is turned and shaken by oblique vanes B, B, B,
turning on a shaft, and which gradually forces the substance to the
endless sheet C, turning on two rollers, and so inclined as to deliver the
substance towards D, a roller which squeezes it as it passes to a chamber,
where it is dried. A revolving shaft or fan with projecting arms is fixed to
the back part or delivery side of the pressing rollers for the purpose of opening
the material and distributing it upon the endless apron E. In this chamber
it falls on the horizontal endless apron E turning on two rollers, and from
thence on to similar aprons G and H successively, and if the quantity is large,

page_text: and speed is required, the number of such aprons may be increased. The
aprons may be of copper or other.suitable metal made in the form of bars or
wire network fixed to chains linked to each other, and from 6 to 9 feet in
width. The speed of the rollers ought to be adjusted with relation to the
amount of the fibre and its condition, and I find that if the fibre is short, the
substance should be spread about an inch deep, but if it is long the depth may
be increased. The air in the chamber should be kept at a temperature of
from 300° to 350° Fahrenheit, and this may be done by fire-boxes or flues, or
by a series of gas burners M, M, M, under each apron below plates or curved
metals, to distribute the heat, while fans or other blowers exhaust the air in
the chamber and promote a draught, which can be controlled by openings below
for admitting the air. Revolving agitators are fixed over the endless aprons
F, G, and H, for the purpose of stirring up the material on the endless apron,
and keeping it in an open condition, and at the delivery end of each endless
apron a scraper is arranged to clear them, to prevent the material adhering to
the apron. Holes in the sides and top of the chamber F are so placed as to
allow the process to, be examined, tested, and regulated, and some machines,
especially large ones, may be so arranged in compartments as to subject the
substance to successive degrees of heat. This modification is applicable to
cases where more rapid operation is desired. In the first compartment I have
the heat less and the current of air greatest, while in the last (say, of three
such compartments,) the current would be less and the temperature highest.
The substance next passes between the rollers H, H', by which it is pulverized,
and is delivered through the trough I to a cylinder or case J, in which a
vaned screw K revolves, and sifts and keeps the substance in motion forwards
along the intermediate bottom, which is perforated so as to allow the smaller
dust to pass through into a receptacle below, while the remainder not in small
powder is delivered at L to be again operated upon. The powder thus
obtained may be used as manure, or may be mixed with the dust previously
shaken out from the shoddy rags or woollen waste, or with coprolite, ground
bones, or other suitable substance to neutralize the acid if the state of the soil
or circumstances require it. Instead of separating the fibre into different
lengths after the oil has been extracted, the whole may be treated in the
apparatus, but I prefer the process of separation above mentioned.
I am aware that woollen natter has been used as manure, but while it is in
a fibrous state it is not adapted for use in the drill machines employed in
agriculture, also that woollen matter has been prepared for manure by
carbonizing it with sulphuric acid, and that drying by gas is not new, and
that the pulverizing and carrying forward material by endless bands have been

page_text: used, and I do not therefore claim as part of my Invention these processes or
machines separately; but I claim as my Invention the preparation of manure
from the above-mentioned materials by the process above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee Norton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
J. L. NORTON. (L.B.)