IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John West, Gas Engincer, of Maidstone, in the
County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS."
Sealed the 27th December 1873, and dated the 4th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John West at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
October 1873.
I, JOHN WEST, Gas Engineer, of Maidstone, in the County of Kent,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS USEd in the ManufACTURE OF Gas," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements or additions to apparatus for
the Invention of which Letters Patent No. 1255, dated April 4, 1873,
were granted to me, and consists in using, where more advantageous or
convenient, short mouth pieces and ordinary lids, and one charger to a
number of retorts, instead of long mouth pieces with a separate charger
to each, as described in the Specification of the Patent referred to. In
front of the retort bench a rail or tramway is laid down, and on it runs
a travelling carriage consisting of a frame, to the top of which and

page_text: sliding within it is a hopper and shoot. This hopper receives a supply
of coal from a waggon or truck which may run along a railway on the
retort bench, and the waggon or truck obtains its coal from a reservior
into which the coal is lifted by an elevator. The travelling carriage is
furnished with a stage or stages to suit the varying heights of the 5
retorts and support the charger and convey it from one retort to
another.
An improvement has also been made in the rake, hoc, or disc by
adding to it a kind of double plough, which on the return movement of
tho charger just catches the surface of the coals and drives it towards 1
the sides of the retort, thereby producing a more even layer of the
material to be carbonized.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-The lid is removed
from the mouth picce of the retort to be charged; the travelling carriage
with the charger, which has previously received its charge of coal from
the hopper above is thrust into the retort, the disc being depressed.
This has the effect of discharging the coke or pushing it into the coke
chamber at the back end, and at the same time delivering a charge of
coal to be distilled. In withdrawing the charger, the disc being raised,
the plough takes effect in the manner before described.
The operation may be also so managed that the forward movement of
the charger shall only push out the coke, while the withdrawing move-
ment shall distribute the fresh charge. ·
For very long or through retorts an arrangement of chargers at cach
end may be adopted, and actuated as follows:-The coke is to be thrust
out the whole length with the disc of one charger, and on its return it is
to be followed by a second charger from the opposite end. As soon as
both have reached the centre, the distributing gear is to be put in
action, when on withdrawing both chargers the coal will be distributed.
Thus, both the machines leave the middle of the retort and finish their
work simultaneously, both being drawn out on to their respective
carriages, and moved to another retort to be worked again in the same
way. The lids are then secured, and the coal left to distil in the usual
wav

page_text: .
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John West in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
.4th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WEST, Gas Engineer, of Maidstone, in the County of Kent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John West, Her special
licenco that I, the said John West, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John West, 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 USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John West, 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 Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John West, 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to improvements or additions to apparatus for
the Invention of which Letters Patent No. 1255, dated April 4, 1873,
were granted to me, and consists in using where more advantageous or

page_text: convenient short mouth pieces fixed to the front, or those ends of the
retorts at which the charger is introduced, while at the back ends
mouth pieces sufficiently long only to admit of the attachment of the
ascension pipes are employed.
In the case of what are known commonly as long or through retorts,
and where the retorts would have to be charged from both ends, mouth
pieces of the latter kind would be fixed to both ends of each retort.
•
Instead of using a separate charger to each retort, as described in the
Specification of the Letters Patent before alluded to, one charger is
made to serve a number of retorts, the charger being supported and
conveyed from one retort to another upon a travelling carriage. This
carriage is made to run upon a rail or tramway laid down in front of the
retort benches, and consists of a frame to the top of which and within it
is a hopper with one or more shoots, the hopper being to contain coals,
while the shoots are used to convey them to the chargers for the purpose
of filling the same, valves being attached to the hopper so as to regulate
or cut off the supply to the shoot when necessary. The hopper receives
its coal from a waggon that may travel to and fro upon a railway laid
on the top of the retort bench, the said waggon obtaining its coal from a
reservoir fixed to one end of the retort bench, and into which the coal is
hoisted by an elevator. The means whereby the coal is brought to the
top of the retort bench will however vary with the particular arrangement
existing at each works in which this system may be adopted.
The travelling carriage is furnished with a stage or stages for the
support of the charger. It is, however, found more convenient to make
the top stage a fixture at such a height as to suit the top tier of retorts,
while the lower stage may be made to slide up and down, and be
adjustable to the heights fit for charging the lower tiers of retorts. Thus,
one charger may be kept on the upper stage, and serve for charging the
.top row of retorts, and another may be applied upon the sliding stage
for charging the lower ones.
In settings where there are a number of retorts in each arch, the top
ones will be at such an elevation as to make it difficult to charge them,
unless the workman was proportionately raised from the floor level.
For this purpose, a platform is therefore attached to the travelling

page_text: carriage, when necessary, and may be either a fixture to it or made
removable.
For the purpose of spreading the charge of coal more evenly in the
retort an improvement has been effected in the charger. This is produced
by fixing to the rake, hoe, or disc of the same a kind of double plough,
which in the return movement of the charger and when the disc is
raised just catches the surface of the coal and drives it towards the sides
of the retort, thereby levelling the coal, so as to make the stratum of
uniform depth throughout.
Another improvement in the rake is the making of the bar for raising
or depressing the disc to go straight through the charger, instead of a
curved rod as heretofore, and attaching the said rod or bar to the disc
through the intervention of an eccentric or cam. The disc is therefore
raised vertically instead of at an inclination by the use of the improved
form of apparatus, a partial turn of the handle at the end of the bar
serving to effect this object. In the Drawing attached this bar is seen
to be inserted through the hollow bar used for putting the charger in
and out of gear, but where it is desirable that the layer of coal should be
spread at the same time as the coke is being discharged, and unnecessary
to wait for the whole of the coke to be removed before commencing to
spread the charge, one of the bars may be dispensed with, and the other
used to effect both operations, namely, the putting in and out of gear,
and raising or depressing the rake, hoe, or disc, both objects being
effected at one and the same time by a partial turn of the handle, as
before described.

page_text: In Fig. 1A is the receptacle into which the coals are first conveycu.
This receptacle, which is shown in section, is filled with coal by hand or
otherwise, and consists of a large hopper with curved shoot. At the
bottom of the hopper, where the hopper may be said to terminate and
the shoot commence, is inserted a deeply fluted roller d, which is driven
round by gearing, and so draws the coal into the shoot, from whence it
falls into the buckets B, B, of the elevator, the drum of which is
marked C. The coal when hoisted is tipped from the buckets as they
rise, and turn over into a shoot D, which communicates with a
reservoir E. From the reservoir the coal is let out, as occasion requires,
down the shoot F into the waggon G, which runs along the top of the
retort bench, and supplies coal to the hopper H fixed to the frame of the
travelling carriage I, seen in Figs. 3 and 4.
In Figs. 3 and 4 J and K are shoots which depend from the hopper H,
and guide the coals in their descent to the chargers placed beneath
them, K being made telescopic or with a sleeve, so as to lengthen it at
pleasure. Each of the shoots is furnished with a valve opened and
closed respectively by the wheels and bandles L and M. N is a stage
fixed to the frame at a suitable height, to support the charger for
charging the top row of retorts; and O is the platform whereon the man
stands when operating upon them; P is a stage, also for supporting a
charger, but made to slide up and down within the frame by means of
the wheel and gearing Q.
In Fig. 3 R is a retort with a charger S in outline within it;
T, T, are the short mouth pieces; and U, U, the mouth pieces from
which ascension pipes V rise to the hydraulic main W, a full description
of which is given in the Specification of Letters Patent No. 3224, dated
October 4, 1873, and granted to me.
In Fig. 4 X is the body of the charger running upon serrated
wheels Y, and Z is the rake, disc, or hoe, with the. improvement or
double plough a attached; b is the rod which actuates the disc; and
c is the hollow bar which puts the charger in and out of gear.
In the case where a separate action of the two rods are not required,
one may be dispensed with, as before explained.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-The lid is removed
from the mouth piece of the retort to be charged; the travelling carriage

page_text: is then brought in front of it; the charger is then filled with coal by the
shoots J or K from the hopper H, and is thrust into the retort, the disc
being depressed. This has the effect of discharging the coke or pushing
it into a coke chamber or other receptacle placed to receive it outside the
retort, and at the same time delivering a charge of coal to be distilled.
In withdrawing the charger, the disc being raised, the plough takes effect
in the manner before described.
The operation may be also so arranged that the forward movement of
the charger shall only push out the coke, while the withdrawing move-
ment shall distribute the fresh charge.
For very long or through retorts an arrangement of chargers at each
end may be adopted, and worked as follows:-The coke,is to be drawn
from the retorts with light rakes on one or both sides, or thrust out the
whole length with the disc of one charger, and on its return it is to be
followed by a second charger from the opposite end. As soon as both
have reached the centre, the distributing gear is to be put in action,
when on withdrawing both chargers the coal will be distributed. Thus,
both the machines leave the middle of the retort and finish their work
simultaneously, both being drawn out to their respective carriages, and
moved to another retort to be worked again in the same way. The lids
are then secured, and the coal left to distil in the usual way.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements I have
described or referred to, as variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of this Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent 18,
-
Patent 18,-
Firstly. The construction and general arrangement of the retorts,
whereby they may be charged with the machine or apparatus herein
called a charger.

page_text: And, Fourthly. The double plough attached thereto, as described and
shown on the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John West, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.