IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING COALS FROM RAILWAY WAGGONS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Plimsoll, of Whiteley Wood Hall,
Sheffield, in the County of York, Gentleman, for the Invention
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING COALS FROM
RAILWAY WAGGONS."
Sealed the 22nd January 1869, and dated the 1st August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Plimsoll at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st August 1868.
I, SAMUEL PLIMSOLL, of Whiteley Wood Hall, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING
COALS PROM RAILWAY WAGGONS," to be as follows:-
According to my Invention, which is chiefly applicable for transferring
coals from railway trucks into barges, I provide a shoot sufficiently wide
to receive the contents of two or more railway trucks to be unloaded at
the same time. This I effect by bringing each truck over an aperture.
above the shoot into which the coal is emptied from the bottom of the
truck. At the lower end of the inclined shoot are hinged flaps which

page_text: are provided with raised sides and supported in a horizontal position by
means of suitable chains and pulleys by the aid of which the hinged
flaps may be inclined at any angle to the shoot desired. A wedge-
shaped central division is placed near the lower end of the shoot to
guide the coal on to the flaps. Two or more hinged doors or gratings
are suspended in the inclined shoot (between the aperture through
which the coals are received and the flaps) for the purpose of checking
the coal in its descent. In loading a barge the hinged flaps are first
placed in a nearly horizontal position to check the coal until it
accumulates to a considerable depth from the flaps to the top of the
shoot or even up to the trucks. The hinged flaps are then lowered a
few inches by the aid of the chains and pullies before mentioned, by
which means the coal is lowered from time to time only just so far as
is necessary to provide room for that which is in course of being emptied
from the trucks, the shoot being in no case entirely cleared until the
last of the intended cargo is removed from the trucks. By this means
the coal is allowed to fall only in a .hody, thus preventing the breakage
which usually occurs in loading coals into barges. By raising or
lowering the flaps the descent of the coal may be readily checked, or it
may be deposited at any required point of the barge without ceasing
to unload it from the trucks. The hinged doors or gratings before
mentioned as being suspended above the incline are made sufficiently
heavy to check the coal as it descends, and may if required be provided
with ropes and pullies for the purpose of adjusting their position.
They further serve to prevent any lumps of coal becoming detached
from the falling stream. By employing a wide shoot the coals may be
dispersed over a large area of the barge, even supposing only one truck
to be unloaded at a time, the division between the hinged flaps serving
to protect the transverse beam of the barge which is placed directly
underneath the same, and upon which the coal would otherwise fall to
the injury of both. I prefer to erect a staging above and in front of
the hinged flaps upon which the person operating the latter would
stand, the barge being placed underneath. In order to prevent the
breakage of the coal by allowing it to fall on the line of rails wher
unloading the truck, I provide two inclined boards or surfaces, one o
which is placed on each rail between the wheels of the truck so as t
entirely cover the rails and conduct the whole of the coal into the shoot
These inclined boards may either be provided with blocks on the unde

page_text: side fitting on to the rails, or they may be jointed or otherwise attached
thereto, and turned back out of the way when it is required to bring
un or remove the trucks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Plimsoll in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
PLIMSOLL, of Whiteley Wood Hall, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Samuel Plimsoll, Her special licence
that I, the said Samuel Plimsoll, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Plimsoll, 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
RAILWAY WAGGONS,"
MEANS OR
APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING COALS FROM
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel
Plimsoll, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Plimsoll, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-

page_text: According to my Invention, which is chiefly applicable for transferring
coals from railway trucks into barges, I provide a shoot sufficiently
wide to receive the contents of two or more railway trucks to be unloaded
at the same time. This I effect by bringing each truck over an aperture
above the shoot, into which the coals are emptied from the bottom of
the truck. At the lower end of the inclined shoot are hinged flaps,
which are provided with raised sides and supported in a horizontal
position by means of suitable chains and pullies, by the aid of which
the hinged flaps may be inclined at any angle to the shoot desired. A
wedge-shaped central division is placed near the lower end of the shoot
to guide the coal on to the flaps. Two or more hinged doors or gratings
are suspended in the inclined shoot (between the aperture through which
the coals are received and the flaps) for the purpose of checking the
oal in its Joncent
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1
of which shows a section of the shoot and Pigure 2 a front view of same
partly in section in order to show the position of the apertures at which
the coal enters. In this example I have shown the shoot as divided
at the lower part so as to form two outlets, but the shoot may have a
single outlet only if desired.
A, A, represents a line of rails supported on staging or brickwork
forming the side of the canal in which are the barges to be laden with
coal from the trucks, the trucks being brought on said rails over the
aperture or apertures B of the inclined shoot C, as shown. This shoot C
is made sufficiently wide to receive the contents of two or more trucks
to be unloaded at the same time, the coal being discharged either from
the bottom or side of the truck. In Figure 2 I have shown the shoot
as provided with two openings B, B, for receiving the coal from the
bottoms of two trucks, but when discharging at the sides I provide a
central opening B' in the shoot, indicated by the red lines, to receive
the contents of both trucks at a time. D is a door or flap hinged near
the top of the shoot C for checking the descent of the coal from the
trucks. This door D is made sufficiently heavy to retain its position
under the pressure of the coal, and is adjusted in position so as to
enable the coal to pass more or less freely down the shoot by means
of an endless chain and pulley E or in other suitable manner. Similar
hinged doors F are provided near the lower end of the shoot C, which

page_text: At
I make preferably in the form of gratings, as seen, their position being
adjusted by means of ropes or chains, as in the case of door E.
the lower end of the shoot C (which terminates preferably in a line
with the wall of the canal) I provide one or more hinged mouths or
flaps G, G, as seen. These mouths have raised sides so as to prevent
the coal falling out, and project over the barge X into which the coal
is to be discharged as seen. The position of these mouths is adjusted
by means of pulleys and chains H in connection with a crab or other
hoisting gear, as will be herein-after described. I is a staging placed
immediately above and in front of the mouths G, on which a person
operating the latter stands for the purpose of regulating the delivery
of the coal into the barge. The staging I is omitted in front view,
Figure 2, for the sake of clearness. K is a wedge-shaped central division
fixed midway between the mouths G, G, of a double shoot to guide the
coal on to said mouths.
The following is the mode of unloading the coals by means of the
apparatus of my Invention. In loading a barge the hinged flaps G are
first placed in a nearly horizontal position to check the coal until it
accumulates to a considerable depth from the flaps to the top of the
shoot C or even up to the truck; the hinged flaps G are then lowered a
few inches by the aid of the chains and pulleys H before mentioned, by
which means the coal is lowered from time to time only just so far
as is necessary to provide room for that which is in course of being
emptied from the trucks, the shoot C being in no case entirely cleared
until the last of the intended cargo is removed from the trucks. By this
means the coal is allowed to fall only in a body, thus preventing the
breakage which usually occurs in loading coals into barges. By raising
or lowering the flaps G the descent of the coal may be readily checked,
or it may be deposited at any required point of the barge without
ceasing to unload it from the trucks. The hinged doors and gratings
D, F, before mentioned as being suspended above the incline C are
made sufficiently heavy to check the coal as it descends, and also
serve to prevent any lumps of coal becoming detached from the falling
stream. By employing a wide shoot the coals may be dispersed over
large area of the barge, supposing only one truck to be unloaded at
time, the division between the hinged flaps G serving to protect the
ransverse beam of the barge which is placed directly underneath the
ame, and upon which the coal would otherwise fall to the injury
f both.

page_text: In order to prevent the breakage of the coal by allowing it to fall on
the line of rails when unloading the truck I provide two inclined boards
or surfaces L, L, Figure 2, separately represented in transverse section
of a line of rail, Figure 3, one of which is placed on each rail between
the wheels of the truck so as to entirely cover the rails and conduct
the whole of the coal into the shoot. These inclined boards may either
be provided with blocks, as shown, on the under side fitting on to the
rails, or they may be jointed or otherwise attached thereto and turned
back out of the way when it is required to bring up or remove the
trucks, as shown at L' in the same Figure.
Although my apparatus is chiefly applicable for loading barges with
coals direct from railway trucks without requiring any intermediate
operation involving
involving damage to the coal, it may also be used for
discharging coal in bulk for the purpose of storing the same.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Improved Means
or Apparatus for Unloading Coals from Railway Waggons," to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
arrangement of inclined shoot C, hinged flaps D, F, hinged mouth
or mouths G, and inclined surfaces L when combined and operated
substantially in the manner shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Plimsoll, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
SAMUEL PLIMSOLL.
(L.S.)