IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING COAL SLACK
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Taylor, of Wigan, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
WASHING COAL SLACK."
Sealed the 21st November 1871, and dated the 23rd May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Taylor at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd May 1871.
I, EDWARD TAYLOR, of Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR WASHING COAL SLACK," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to apparatus for washing coal slack for making
coke, and consists of certain improvements upon the machinery or
apparatus at present employed for washing such slack, by means of a
current of water forced upwards by the aid of pistons or plungers
through perforated sieves.
In the first place I provide the said pistons or plungers with clacks or
valves to prevent the back suction as the pistons rise.

page_text: Secondly. I carry the water-supply pipes round the sides of the
"bashes" underneath the sieves and perforate the same, so as to dis-
tribute the water and keep the sides of the "bashes clean.
,,
"
Thirdly. I make the slides or valves for removing the dirt from the
bottom of the "bashes self-acting by connecting them to cranks by
means of rods in such a manner that any one or all of the slides can be
disconnected or connected at pleasure.
Fourthly. I attach to the interior of the door of the "bashes" a
scraper which can be worked from the outside, by means of which the
dirt or sediment at the bottom of the "bashes" may be stirred, and the
quantity and condition thereof ascertained or felt from the outside of the
"bashes" without opening the same.
Fifthly. I cover or protect the wire sieve on the overflow shoot
through which the water escapes with a perforated shield or cover to
prevent the slack passing over from rubbing and wearing the same.
When the perforated cover becomes worn it can easily be replaced.
Sixthly. Between the sieves and the overflow shoot I place sluices
sliding between two planed surfaces, and raised and lowered by means
of a hand wheel and screw at each end.
Seventhly. I provide each sieve with a scraper by means of which 2
the heavy dirt which is too large to pass through the sieve can be drawn
or scraped off the surface of the sieve towards the sluice when required
to clean the sieve.
Eighthly. Instead of running the water from the overflow shoot
(which contains a large amount of coal dust) into filter beds I pump it 2
up into a cistern where it passes through a filter plate or division whence
it flows into the supply shoot and is returned with the fresh slack into
the "bashes" above the sieves and it is thus used over and over again,
whilst the clear water only that passes through the filter partition is
supplied to the bashes beneath the sieves.
3
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Taylor in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd November 1871.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Taylor, Her special license,
that I, the said Edward Taylor, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Taylor, 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
APPARATUS FOR WASHING COAL SLACK," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edward Taylor, 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 Inven-
tion, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Taylor, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to apparatus for washing coal slack for making
coke, and consists of certain improvements upon the machinery or
apparatus at present employed for washing such slack by means of a
current of water forced upwards by the aid of pistons or plungers
through perforated sieves.
In the first place I provide the said pistons or plungers with clacks
or valves to prevent the back suction as the pistons rise.
Secondly. I carry the water supply pipes round the sides of the
"bashes" underneath the sieves, and perforate the same so as to distribute
the water and keep the sides of the "bashes" clean.
Thirdly. I make the slides or valves for removing the dirt from the
bottom of the "bashes" self-acting, by connecting them to cranks by
means of rods in such a manner that any one or all of the slides can be
disconnected or connected at pleasure, or in some cases I work them by

page_text: hand by means of levers so placed that the operator can work them
without moving from his position near the sluice.
Fourthly. I attach to the interior of the door of the "bashes" a scraper
which can be worked from the outside, by means of which the dirt or
sediment at the bottom of the "bashes" may be stirred, and the
quantity and condition thereof ascertained or felt from the outside of
the "bashes" without opening the same.
Fifthly. I cover or protect the wire sieve on the overflow shoot
through which the water escapes with a perforated shield or cover to
prevent the slack passing over from rubbing and wearing the same.
When the perforated cover becomes worn it can easily be replaced.
Sixthly. Between the sieves and the overflow shoot I place sluices
sliding between two planed surfaces and raised and lowered by means
of a hand wheel and screw at each end.
Seventhly. I provide each sieve with a scraper by means of which the
heavy dirt which is too large to pass through the sieve can be drawn
or scraped off the surface of the sieve towards the sluice when required
to clean the sieve.
Eighthly. Instead of running the water from the overflow shoot
(which contains a large amount of coal dust) into filter beds I pump 1
it up into a cistern, where it passes through a filter plate or division,
whence it flows into the supply shoot and is returned with the fresh
slack into the "bashes" above the sieve, and it is thus used over and
again, whilst the clear water only that passes through the filter partition
is supplied to the bashes beneath the sieves.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in Apparatus for Washing Coal Slack," I will now proceed to
describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may
be performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the
same may be clearly understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of
Drawings illustrate thereof, and have marked the same with figures and
letters of reference, corresponding with those in the following explanation
thereof.

page_text: "
a, a, is the framing of the apparatus; b, b, the "bashes"; c, c, the
sieves; d, d, the cylinders; and e, e, the pistons or plungers. I
provide the latter with clacks f. f, in order to prevent their suction
when rising from drawing slack down through the sieves c, c, with the
dirt; g, g, are the water supply pipes, which are perforated and carried
round the sides of the "bashes," so as to keep the sides of the "bashes
clean and distribute the supply in such a manner as to cover the whole
of the under surface of the sieves with water moving in the required
direction, but without too much force on any particular part. At the
bottom of the bashes are the slides or valves h, h, for drawing off the
dirt. These slides may be made self-acting by connecting them to
a revolving crank shaft i, i, by the rods k, k, which latter are hinged
and provided with notches so that any slide can be disconnected at
pleasure by raising its rod on the hinge as shown at Fig. 3, and recon-
nected by merely lowering the rod. If the slides h, h, are not required
to be self-acting, I work them by rods m, m, attached to levers n, n,
the handles of which are within reach of the operator as he stands
beside the sluices as shown at Fig. 1. o, o, are the agitators attached
to the manhole doors p, p, of the "bashes," and provided with winch
handles g, g, for ascertaining the quantity or condition of the dirt or
sediment in the "bashes" without opening the doors. r, r, is the over-
flow shoot, the fine wire sieve 8, 8, of which I protect with a perforated
plate t, t, to prevent the larger pieces of slack from damaging the sieve,
and thus lessens the waste of slack which always takes place on the
slightest injury to the wire gauze. u, u, are the sluices which work
between two planed surfaces v, v, to prevent the slack from passing away
or the grit from getting between the working surfaces, and I employ two
screws w, w, so that either end of the sluice can be raised or lowered
separately (see front view Fig. 4.) x, x, are the scrapers raised about
two inches above the surface of the sieve, by means of which the operator
can with comparatively little trouble keep the dirt accumulating on the
sieve at the desired minimum, see Figs. 8 and 9. The water from the
overflow shoot r, r, is pumped up into a cistern y, y, placed above, see
detached views Figs. 5, 6, and 7. This water, which carries with it a
considerable amount of fine coal dust, enters the chamber z, z, of the
cistern by the pipe 1, 1, and the clear water passes through the filter
plate 2, 2, into the outer part of the cistern which supplies the perforated
pipe g, g, below the sieves, whilst the other portion of the water which
contains the coal dust passes by the pipe 3, 3, into the shoot which

page_text: conducts the unwashed coal slack to the machine, and thus the necessity
for the filter beds usually employed for this purpose is dispensed with.
In some cases instead of having a filtering plate 2, 2, I make the
sides of the chamber z, z, lower than those of the cistern, and the water
passing downwards under the division plate 4, 4, the thicker part
remains at the bottom of the chamber and the clear water overflows the
sides of the chamber into the cistern.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
for "Improvements in Apparatus for Washing Coal Slack," together
with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as
my Invention the several improvements in coal slack washing machines
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
or any mere modification or imitation thereof, constructed and operating
in substantially the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Taylor, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
EDWARD TAYLOR. (L.S.)
Witness,
JNO. SCARISBRUK WALKER.