IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING APPARATUS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Alliott, of the Park, Nottingham, Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING APPARATUS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Alliott at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the
8th May 1856.
I, ALEXANDER ALLIOTT, of the Park, Nottingham, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING
APPARATUS, to be as follows:
My Invention consists in improved methods of circulating the air in drying
rooms by means of apparatus.imparting motion to the goods, which, with the
placing of suitable diaphragms, causes the air of such rooms to be thoroughly.
mixed and circulated amongst the goods to be operated upon. This is effected
by causing a circular framework, on which the goods are suspended,, to revolve.
My Invention also consists in improved. arrangements of machinery for
filling and emptying drying rooms,in which the goods to be dried are placed
on rails or other suitable apparatus and carried through a small opening in
the drying room and deposited on the revolving frame, without the necessity of
the operator entering the stove, and also by a similar arrangement for with-
drawing the goods when dry. I also employ a similar apparatus for carrying

page_text: goods in and out of a drying room, in which, instead of a revolving apparatus,
the goods are moved from end to end by means of a framework operated upon
by chains and pulleys.
My improvements further consist in arrangements for carrying the goods to
be operated upon when of wool or of materials similar to wool; in this case I
employ suitable wire trays or boxes, which are introduced and withdrawn in
the manner last named; by means of these arrangements, I can more com-
pletely regulate the ventilation of such drying apparatus, in consequence of the
smallness of the openings required for introducing and removing the goods.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Alliott in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
ALLIOTT, of the Park, Nottingham, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander Alliott, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Alliott, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Alliott, 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
DRYING APPARATUS, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alexander Alliott, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Alliott, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:

page_text: My improvements in drying apparatus consist, first, in improved apparatus
and arrangements of machinery, whereby in proportion to the size of the stove
used, the drying capacity of the same is increased; this advantage is partly
obtained in consequence of motion given to the apparatus, whereby the air in
the stove is thoroughly mixed and brought into contact with the goods to be
dried and with the heating apparatus employed, and partly for the ease with
which the ventilation can be regulated, and in avoiding the loss of heat that
occurs when stoves are filled and emptied by the stove man entering the stove;:
second; in improved apparatus, whereby great facility of filling and emptying-
the stoves is obtained; and, third, in improved arrangements of apparatus for
drying wool.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of part of my Invention; Figure 2, a
plan of the same, with the upper part removed; Figure 3 is a front eleva-
tion, partly in section, of a second arrangement of drying stoves, including
part of the advantages herein-before mentioned; Figure 4 is a front elevation
of the apparatus employed for filling and emptying the stove; Figures 5, 6,
and 7 shew separate parts of the Drawings on an enlarged scale. In
Figure 1 the stove walls are shewn in section. A is a shaft, turning in
bearings a', a³, fixed in the centre of the stove; D is a cast-iron boss, fastened
on the shaft A; 61, 62, 63, are angle iron rings supported by the stays c¹, c¹,
and also further held in their places by the horizontal stays c, also seen in
plan, Figure 2, where one part of the apparatus is shewn with the pegs F left
out; e, es, are hooks fastened on the under side of the rings b', 63, and F, F,
are rods or pegs on or over which the goods to be dried are hung, and which,
when placed in the stove, rest in the hooks e¹, e. Suitable gearing is attached
to the shaft A, for the purpose of turning the same. Diaphragms or projecting
plates G, G, are fixed to the stove walls round the drying apparatus, as shewn,
for the purpose of assisting the thorough mixing of the air in the stove, and.
preventing the same from being carried round the stove by the movement of
the drying apparatus. Similar projecting plates are also placed at the top and
bottom of the stove. The stove may be heated by steam piping, hot air, or
any other suitable means, care being taken to insure proper ventilation. An
additional number of pegs F, but shorter ones may be used, by fixing hooks e¹
on the ring, and between the hooks on the ring b. Figure 4, H is a bar
fixed at one end in the stove wall over the entrance L, and supported from the
ceiling in the room outside the stove; K is an iron rod carried by the sliding
brackets h1, h2, (see Figures 5 and 6,) these brackets have bosses h³, h*, with
holes bored to fit the rod K, and in which the rod K can turn. The bracket h'
has a pulley resting on the bar H at top, and the bracket h a pulley h

page_text: pressing (in consequence of the projection of the rod K beyond the bracket h')
on the under side of the bar H; the rod Khas hooks
.
fastened to it, one
is a handle, for the
of which is shewn,.on an enlarged scale, in Figure 5.
purpose of turning and moving the rod K: To insure the revolving apparatus
inside the stove being brought to the required position for receiving, in each of
its divisions, the pegs F on to the hooks 'el, e, catches or ratchet,,stops (not
shewn.in the Drawing) are placed all round the angle iron ring 6, arranged to
stop the apparatus first half way between each hook, and then; in the proper
position for the hooks ',, to deposit the pegs F on the hooks; e, The
method of working this apparatus is as follows:The goods to,be dried are
hung on the pegs F; one of these pegs is then placed on the hooks, k², when
these hooks stand in the position shewn, k*, in Figure 5. The revolving
apparatus inside the stove is now moved half way between the-hooks e, e, to
allow the rod K with the goods on it to be pushed into the stove; when this
is accomplished, the revolving apparatus is moved into position to receive the
peg F on to the hooks e', e; the hooks k¹, k³, are now turned by means of the
handle, so that the hooks k¹, k2, assume the position shewn, *,,Figure 5,
by which means the peg F is deposited on to the hooks e¹, e; the rod K is now
drawn out, and the operation is repeated until the pegs are all delivered: into
the stove. (The unloading of the stove,, when the goods are dry, is performed
by the apparatus just described:). As soon as the stove is properly filled, and
the door closing the opening L shut, the revolving apparatus. is put in action
by the gearing, and in consequence of the goods being caused to revolve.at a
speed sufficient to thoroughly mix and constantly change the position; of the
air. in reference to the goods, the drying operation is very speedily performed.
Figure 3 shews an improved arrangement of drying stoves to be substituted
for the ordinary drying closets, in which, what are commonly called "horses are
used, and by the use of which improvement less room is occupied, the ventila
tion is more easily regulated, and in most cases the drying closets are more
conveniently worked. L, L, are openings, with doors for introducing and with-
drawing the goods to be dried; the number of these openings is regulated as
most convenient for the work required. M, M, are octagon drums, shewn also
in Figure 7; turning in bearings, fastened in the stove walls, the shafts of
which project through the front, wall, and on. which shafts; the wheels m² are
fastened, for the purpose of imparting motion to the drums M; M; m², m, are
endless chains composed of links, and fitting in the recesses of the drums M
(Figure 7); hooks e are fastened to the chains m² to carry the pegs F. The
method of working this apparatus is as follows: The goods are hung over
pegs, as before mentioned in reference to Figures 1 and 2, and placed on the

page_text: hooks
e, e, through the opening L; as soon as one peg with the goods on it is
placed on the hooks e, e, the chains and hooks are moved forward by the handle
of the pinion wheel m³ the distance of, the hooks from each other, and another
peg is placed on the second hooks, and so on until the stove is filled. The
The goods, when dry, are removed by the same means. When long pegs are
employed, apparatus as described in Figure 4 is used, fixed at the openings
L, L. When it is desired to dry wool, frames or trays with lids, both made of
wire work are used, the frame having a number of wire points projecting
inside. The wool is thrown loosely inside the trays, and then the lid put
down. These trays have hooks, to enable them to be hung on the pegs F,
the projecting points inside the tray preventing the wool falling down when
the trays assume a vertical position. The loading and unloading the stove
with these trays is performed in the method already described in reference to
Figures 1 and 2.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improved
apparatus and arrangements for drying purposes, as described and explained,
whereby the advantages herein-before pointed out are obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Alliott, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
ALEXANDER ALLIOTT. (L.S.)