Improvements in and connected with Apparatus for the Loading and Discharging of Vessels and the Transfer of Railway Wagons, Coal, and other Substances, from One Place or Level to Another.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 7th Jan., 1891-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Apparatus for the Loading
and Discharging of Vessels and the Transfer of Railway
Wagons, Coal, and other Substances, from One Place or Level
to Another.
.
I, GEORGE TAYLOR, of Penarth, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
The first part of the invention is applicable to the transfer raising lowering
filling and discharging of railway wagons and anti-breakage boxes for conveying
coal and other substances to or from high and low level railways staiths cranes
wharves and vessels.
One portion of the apparatus comprises a girder or bridge-like structure partially
similar to the connecting bridge referred to in the Specification of Letters Patent
No. 4231 of 1888 granted to me. It is capable of adaptation for receiving wagons
from a railway, and transferring them to different points on a quay, to suit the
position of vessels' hatchways. It extends from the railway to the vessel's berth,
and has one or more pairs of rails, turntables, and traversing or other appliances,
enabling full and empty wagons to pass each other, side by side, or superposed.
The end next the railway is either mounted directly on wheels travelling on a curved
path, or on a framework so mounted. On this end of the radial platform is a
turntable, with a central pivot passing down through the radial platform, which turns
laterally on this pivot as a vertical axis; and at its other end it is supported by a
framework and suited for carrying a tip, hoist, crane or other shipping or dis-
charging appliance, which may be fixed or movable. The superstructure is thus
considerably shorter from its own base, and may therefore be of lighter construction
than if built on the ground level.
For coal shipping I preferably provide the radial platform with a pair of rails
extending from the pivotted end to the other end, and having a second pair leading
from the first pair to a second turntable on the radial platform, communicating with
the first one by a pair of short rails. Railway lines on the high level match with
the rails on the turntable at the end of the radial platform. Loading may be
effected at a level below that of the radial platform by leaving an opening in the
latter to allow a wagon platform to pass down. The radial platform is adapted for
various purposes, and when used for carrying a fixed tip I prefer erecting thereon
a tip framing of ordinary construction, with an inverted hydraulic hoisting cylinder
placed centrally at the back, and a horizontal tilting cylinder at the top, the ram
working out towards the front of the tip for tilting by lifting. At the central part
of the back framing I provide a third cylinder, placed vertically, for tilting by
lowering. Chains from the back of the wagon platform are led to the hoisting
cylinder, and thence to the horizontal tilting cylinder. Chains from the front of
the wagon platform are led to the hoisting cylinder, and thence to the vertical
tilting cylinder, which is of less power than the others. This arrangement enables
the wagon platform to be lifted at the back for tilting above the level of the radial
platform, and to be lowered at the front for tilting below it; but if only one mode
of tilting is necessary the appliances for the other are omitted. This arrangement
of cylinders and gearing is also applicable to movable staiths. If a shoot is used I
provide at its butt end a pair of travelling side frames, running in guides on the
front or the main verticals of the staith, and carrying a horizontal shaft which
supports the back end of the shoot and is suspended by chains passing over sheaves
at the top of the staith, the object being to project the shoot forward from the
staith that it may reach the hatchways when the radial platform is traversed

page_text: laterally. The travelling side frames for mounting the shoot are also adapted for
other forms of staiths, and enable a considerable portion of the front parts of the
latter to be dispensed with.
Instead of a radial platform to or from which wagons are transferred at a fixed
point on the railway siding, I use in some cases a movable platform for transferring
at various points of high or low level railways, similar to the connecting platform
described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4 in the Complete Specification filed by me in
relation to my application for Letters Patent No. 648 of 1889, together with one
or more pairs of rails and movable turntables such as are hereinafter referred to;
and I may make portions of the radial and movable platforms, as well as the turn-
tables, adjustable as to height in order to obtain a falling gradient for loaded and
empty wagons proceeding towards or from the vessel.
I further arrange the radial and movable platforms for use in association with a
crane or a lift, which may be movable thereon, and the apparatus is adapted for
raising, lowering, and transferring wagons, or anti-breakage boxes, between various
points of high or low level railways, and between them and vessels' hatchways at
various points, as well as between rails on the surface of the said platforms and
others placed below them, or on the wharf underneath.
In order to transfer anti-breakage boxes from one place or level to another, such
as between a radial or movable platform, staith, wharf, or warehouse and a vessel's
hold, I bring chains adjustable in length from hydraulic rams for supporting and
working the box and its anti-breakage appliances, over sheaves placed preferably
at the top of a staith, or at some other point overhead from which they may so
hang that the box shall come into convenient position for being filled. I raise or
lower the box as required for filling, and bring it to a level suited to the vessel's
bulwarks, and traverse it to the hatchway to be lowered into the hold, and rice-
versu. In accomplishing this I use a shoot or jib, which may be horizontal or nearly
so, and supported by a staith or crane, one end being over the hatchway and the
other over the wharf. At the hatchway end I provide sheaves over which
chains are led from a hydraulic ram to a travelling carriage running upon or
-supported by the shoot &c. The travelling carriage has sheaves which engage
with the supporting and anti-breakage chains before alluded to. To traverse
the box the chains connected with it, and those attached to the travelling
carriage, are operated simultaneously, and means are provided for securing an
approximately horizontal direction for the box, when being traversed to and fro.
These means may comprise special hydraulic cylinders for securing the requisite
adjustment of the chains, or the cylinders for working the box and travelling
carriage, respectively, may have regulating valves-for-the-purpose,-and-the-chains
may also be furnished with stops to arrest their motion at certain points. In dis-
charging vessels, or where the box is desired to be suspended from a point over the
hatchway for filling, the terminal sheaves of the traversing chains may be suspended
by bars from the jib stays, and may proceed direct from the ram instead of going
around guide sheaves over the hatchway. The hydraulic rams and machinery for
lifting, lowering, and discharging the box, and operating the anti-breakage
appliances, may be affixed to the shoot or jib, but I preferably place them on the
top or front of a staith, and arrange them telescopically or in continuous line,
with certain cylinders placed in opposite directions, so that fewer sheaves are
required. In some cases I take the chains to the hydraulic rams in pairs, and in
others I use a crosshead, or merge them from opposite sides of the box into single
chains.
To suit hatchways that are too small to receive an anti-breakage box large
enough to contain a railway wagon load of coal, I have a modification by which
boxes may be filled in pairs, and traversed to the hatchway simultaneously or
successively, so that two boxes may be used, if desired, for taking a wagon load.
For simultaneous filling I place two boxes beside each other, and when necessary
to give room for the wagon I support them by bridles from two opposite corners
connected to chains, over the centre of each box, which engage with traversing

page_text: sheaves such as, and supported and worked by means similar to, those already
mentioned. I may, however, work the pair of boxes by the same or separate sets
of hydraulic machinery, and by a shoot or by girder jibs either converging to a
point over the hatchway, or parallel with each other.. In the latter case the boxes
can severally be brought over the hatchway by moving the supporting structure
on a vertical axis situate at the wharf end, or by moving the travelling carriage, or
traversing the boxes or their supporting sheaves, laterally, to the centre, at the
hatchway end.
To guide the coal into a single box a rectangular hopper may be used, with au
opening left on one side for the end of a wagon, and when a pair of boxes are
used an adjustable covering plate, with a stop plate opposite the wagon, is placed
over their adjacent sides and supported either from above or below. When the
boxes are filled successively they are traversed to the hatchway one in front of
the other, and the first one on arriving over the hatchway is lowered for discharging,
and on being brought up from the hold is passed outwards to allow the succeed-
ing box to get over the hatchway for lowering and discharging. The lowering
may be effected by a loop or endless chain, which can be used for the boxes in
succession.
For transferring coal from wagons on a railway to the holds of vessels, without
using a radial or movable platform, I prefer a compound staith of special design and
arrangement which is suitable for loading by my anti-breakage box system and may
also be adapted for an ordinary shoot. I construct an iron "outside frame," mainly
of rectangular form and having two or more vertical strutted members in pairs,
braced together by horizontal girders and diagonal stays. The vertical inembers
of the pairs are a sufficient distance apart for the passage between them, from back
to front, of a railway wagon or an anti-breakage box. The verticals of the front
pair are connected together at the bottom by a horizontal girder, and at the top
they are curved outwards towards the vessel's hatchway and kept in position by
stays or ties securing them to the back part of the framework. The top ends of
the portions curved outwards are secured together by a horizontal girder. The
verticals of the back pair are connected at the top by a horizontal girder, and also
in some cases at the bottom and intermediately. Openings and space are left where
required for the entrance and passage of anti-breakage boxes and wagons, in
connection with filling the boxes, or discharging into a shoot. The outward
projection of the upper part of the front members is intended to serve partly for
supporting sheaves for the chains from the point of a shoot, or for raising lowering
and working anti-breakage boxes and their appliances. It may also be arranged
for supporting a telescopic or movable jib extending to a point over the hatchway,
and capable of being traversed backward forward or laterally, to suit the batchways
and bring the boxes into proper position. The outward projection allows the
framework to be much lower in height, and therefore lighter, than when the front
vertical members are secured together by the usual horizontal girder directly
above them, as the latter mode requires the framing to be carried up a considerable
additional distance to get head room for tilting the wagon.
The construction of the outside frame suits it for being mounted on wheels fixed
in the bottom girders at front and back, or in the back verticals as the case may be,
and it is also arranged for keeping the "machinery frame" hereinafter referred to
in upright position by means of stops and engaging guides fixed to the "outside
frame" which keep the "machinery frame" vertical and also enable it to be moved
with the "outside frame," but without the latter taking any of its weight.
Instead of setting the hydraulic cylinders machinery and gearing for raising
lowering and tilting the wagons in expensive masonry below ground, or attaching
them to the wagon platform or the staith framing, so that the latter has to bear
their weight and that of the wagon platform, as well as the weight and strains of
dealing with the loaded wagon, I use a separate "machinery frame" which carries
the hydraulic machinery connected with hoisting lowering and tilting, and also
bears the weight and strains of the wagon platform and the loaded wagon. The

page_text: "outside framing" is thus relieved of the weight and strains alluded to, and may
be correspondingly reduced in strength and weight, which latter is a special
advantage when the apparatus is arranged to be movable, and it reduces the cost of
foundations for the roads &c.
The "machinery frame" preferably consists of two pairs of iron vertical members
or of baulks, each pair being on the inside of, and adjacent to, a side of the "outside
frame" between stops and clamps fixed on the central part of which it is kept
upright. These pairs of verticals are connected by transverse girders and diagonal
bracings placed at their upper or lower parts, or both, according to circumstances
and to the-spaces required for the passage of wagons &c. The verticals of each
pair are connected together at a distance apart suitable for securing hydraulic
cylinders to them, and their inner faces or corners are formed as guides for the
working up and down of a wagon platform to each side of which a frame is attached,
having guides or projections which engage with the guides of the verticals, in
order to keep the wagon platform steady and in horizontal position. The wagon
platform has a tilting platform which may at its front part be pivotted to the
wagon platform or work up and down in guides on the front verticals of the
"outside frame," and at or near its back end it may be pivotted to, or engage by a
slot with, the wagon platform. The latter is arranged to carry a hydraulic
cylinder for tilting by lifting the back end of the tilting platform, or it may have
one for tilting by lowering the front end, and if required it can be provided with
cylinders enabling the tilting to be performed both ways. The tilting can be
effected at any point of the vertical range of the wagon platform, and the tilting
cylinders are supplied with pressure water from the cylinders or rams that actuate
the wagon platform.
For a low level staith I prefer to raise the wagon platform by a pair of inverted
telescopic hydraulic cylinders, one of which is placed in proximity to one pair of
the verticals of the "machinery frame" and the other in proximity to the other
pair. The ends of the cylinders are brought as near as possible to the quay level,
and the wagon platform is attached to them at each side. The ends of the rams.
projecting from the cylinders rest upon, and are secured to, the “machinery
frame." On the admission of pressure water to the cylinders the latter are lifted
and work upwards, taking the wagon platform-with-them, and being kept in-position
by guides engaging with the guides of the verticals of the framing. The-cylinders
at the opposite sides of the wagon platform may be connected together at their
uppermost ends, the necessary wagon space being left between them.
For a high level staith I preferably use two hydraulic cylinders at each side for
operating the wagon platform, the lower of the two standing on the bottom of the
"machinery-frame," the ram working upwards and being of the requisite length
and power for lifting the wagon platform and loaded wagon to the highest point
for discharging. The arrangement is telescopic, the lower or large ram alluded to
at each side serving as a cylinder for a second or small ram of a power suited for
raising the wagon platform and empty wagon, but insufficient for bearing up the
wagon platform and loaded wagon, except when the valves are closed so as to retain
the water in the cylinders. When the large rams are in their cylinders and the
small rams out of theirs to the full extent of their stroke, the rails on the wagon
platform match with those on the high level railway. To lift the loaded wagon
above the high level the valves for the small rams are closed, and the pressure valves
for the large rams are opened. To lower loaded wagons below the high level the
pressure valves for the small rams are opened, and the water passes out from the
cylinders back into the pressure main. The "machinery frame" is adapted to be
mounted on wheels to make it movable, and it and the "outside frame" truvel
together on being hauled or propelled by a hydraulic engine or otherwise.
The principle of mounting the hydraulic machinery and wagon platform on a
separate frame, as described, is also applicable to radial and movable platforms,
which can be supported at their outer ends by attaching their side girders to the
sides of an "outside frame," the "machinery frame
being placed within and

page_text: moving with the "outside frame " and the radial or movable platform. If
preferred the "machinery frame" can be used with a radial or movable platform
whose outer end rests on supports of its own, and the "outside frame" is in that
case dispensed with.
In applying my anti-breakage system of loading to continuous coal staiths, similar
to some of those in the North of England, at which the coal arrives in wagons on a
railway level considerably higher than the vessel's deck, and rolls over a series of
shoots to get to the hatchway, I use certain modifications according to circum-
stances. The mode I prefer is to fix at intervals, to the top of the staith, projecting
brackets or supports of wood or iron, having railway rails upon which wagons of
hopper description with bottom doors can be moved out to a point over the hatchway.
I provide these brackets with sheaves, chains, and other machinery, connected with
hydraulic power or counterbalance weights, by means of which I raise and lower
one or more anti-breakage boxes, and operate their anti-breakage appliances. The
box is brought up close underneath the wagon standing on the projecting brackets,
and on the bottom doors of the wagon being opened the coal passes out upon the
anti-breakage platform, or plates, that are at the top of the box ready to receive
it, and by which it is gently lowered into the box. The empty wagon then goes
back to the rails on the staith, and a full one is passed on to the brackets, the anti-
breakage box being in the meantime lowered directly down through the hatchway
into the vessel's hold, emptied, and brought up to be refilled. The anti-breakage
boxes may be worked in pairs by double sets of machinery, or by loop or endless
chain arrangements serving for a pair of boxes but worked by one set of hydraulic
rams etc. A pair of boxes, may, if preferred, be worked alternately, by chains over
sheaves with breaks, so that the descending full box brings up the empty one. The
requisite regulation of the length of the chains is attained by chain stops, or a
winch or small adjustable drum sheave, carried by the box, or by adjustable sheaves
rams or other appliances on the bracket or staith, for gathering up or letting out
some of the chain. Where it is necessary to traverse or move the boxes to bring
them into position to suit the wagon or the hatchway it will be done by means such
as have been already referred to herein. For discharging wagons with end doors
the projecting bracket would be furnished with tipping machinery. In cases where
the bracket-system cannot be used the wagon can be discharged on the staith into a
short shoot leading to the box, or the latter may be traversed into a recess formed
in the staith to allow it to come close underneath the wagon. Another mode is to
employ a pair of adjustable jibs or girders, which may be fixed to a framing movable
on wheels and project outwards from the staith to a point over the hatchway. The
jibs or girders are connected with raising, lowering, traversing and anti-breakage
machinery and apparatus similar to that already referred to herein for traversing
and operating anti-breakage boxes. The boxes could thus be brought alongside the
staith in close position for receiving coal from end door wagons tilted at the edge
of the staith, or from bottom door wagons brought a short distance over the staith
to place them centrally over the box alongside the latter.
To facilitate the transfer of wagons as required to and from railway lines and
the movable platform and other movable loading machinery comprised herein I use
movable turntables, specially designed to allow a turning platform, supporting the
wagon, to be rotated in the nearest horizontal plane practicable above a pair of
railway lines. For this purpose I place on the railway rails, a circular iron path,
which is of girder section, and supported by sleepers except at the parts where it
crosses the rails. At these points it merges into a flat bar section and may rest on
the rails. There is a central pivot on which a turning platform rotates having a
pair of angle iron flanges or plates for supporting the wheels of the wagon. This
platform is constructed with its transverse girders or plates placed at parts
other than those that come above the turning path, and so that there shall be
nothing between the flange or plate that supports the wheels and the turning path
on the rails. The object of this is to bring the turning platform as close as possible

page_text: to the railway rails that there may only be a slight difference of level between
them, for which incline rails or ramps will be provided. Instead of the circular
path passing over the railway rails I may construct it to match up close to them
on each side, so that the surface of the turning path shall be level with that
of the rails. The portions of the path that are outside the railway rails are
connected with the portions between them by plates formed on and connected
with the path, but outside the circumference thereof, and passing over the rails
at points where the plates may form part of the inclines leading from the rail-
way rails to the turning platform. The outside and inside parts of the turning
path are supported on sleepers accurately laid and presenting the same level, and
may also connect them by plates within the circumference of the turning path but
arranged not to interfere with the rotation of the turning platform. Each of these
forms of turntable will be movable on wheels or otherwise, so as to be available
for transferring at varying points of the railway, or it may be connected with a
movable platform or other movable loading machinery.
The invention relates next to anti-breakage boxes for facilitating the transferring
loading and discharging of coal cargoes and other substances, without breakage,
and to improved means for operating them and their appliances. I use a steel plate
anti-breakage box, one form of which comprises three fixed sides connected together
in rectangular form, and one movable side, composed of one or more sections pivotted
near two upper corners of the fixed sides, and hinged or adjustably connected with
a loose plate in one or more sections, in such way that by raising one edge of the
loose plate sufficiently high, by means of chains connected with hydraulic power,
the movable side is brought to a horizontal position at the upper part of the box
and makes a platform for receiving coal &c. from a wagon or otherwise, without
fall or breakage, and by lowering the chains attached to the loose plate the latter
changes from a vertical to an inclined and horizontal position, and in so doing forms
a check plate or supporting platform that acts in conjunction with the movable side
plate in order to lower the coal gently into the box without breakage, and retain it
there,-the-loose-plate-being-kept-in-position-by-means-of-the-chains-or-by-a-stop-or
catch. The full box may be taken into a vessel's bold and discharged by further.
slackening the hydraulic chains attached to the loose plate, which causes the latter
to assume an inclined position-that allows the coal to pass out at the bottom. This
anti-breakage box is adapted for use with a staith or crane, and in some cases the
hydraulic chains operating the anti-breakage plates may be detachable, and be only
_temporarily instead-of-permanently-connected. The discharging_may_then be
effected by releasing stops or catches provided for the purpose, and controlled by a
piston in a cylinder associated with the box and containing fluid the action of which
is regulated by valves.
For some purposes I compose the anti-breakage box of two sides parallel with
cach other, partially rectangular in shape, and secured together by a third plate the
whole or part of which is curved, and by a connecting piece opposite thereto where
there is a movable side, in one or more parts, pivotted at the upper corners of the
box and either furnished with a loose piece or not, according to circumstances.
The movable side is brought to the top for filling the box, and the latter is
emptied by allowing the movable side to pass outwards in a lateral direction. This
modification of the apparatus is suited for being worked in connection with a shoot
and filled at the point thereof for lowering coal down into the hold.
The anti-breakage appliances may be operated by detachable chains by means of
an overhead ram having suspended chains with automatic hooks or catches for
raising the said appliances into position for preventing breakage, and lowering
them in the filling of the box; or an adjustable ram underneath may be used, with
arms or framing for engaging temporarily with the anti-breakage appliances, and
raising and lowering them.
For some modes of working the chains from the box may be attached to rings to
which hydraulic ram chains from a jib over the hatchway and from a traversing

page_text: ram at the staith are also attached. By a regulated operation of these rams and
chains the box may be raised lowered and traversed without a travelling carriage
or the traversing sleaves before referred to.
66
To assist in spreading the coal in the vessel's hold I use one or a pair of anti-
breakage spreaders," consisting of steel plates which may be horizontally hinged
or pivotted to the lower part of the anti-breakage boxes and extend upwards so as
to close against the sides of the box or form part thereof. The spreaders are kept
upright by chains or levers, and on lowering the ends opposite their hinges to a
suitable angle the coal passes out of the box and is conveyed by the spreaders a
considerable distance into the hold. The spreaders may also be advantageously
adapted to serve as doors for the boxes.
As a check to show that the anti-breakage appliances are faithfully used, and to
record the extent of the user, I purpose attaching a mercurial or other indicator to
the anti-breakage rams or boxes so as to be operated thereby.
The modes herein described of raising, lowering, traversing, and operating anti-
breakage boxes are also applicable to other descriptions of boxes than those referred
to herein.
Dated this Sixth day of March 1890.
. COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Apparatus for the Loading
and Discharging of Vessels and the Transfer of Railway
Wagons, Coal, and other Substances from One Place or Level
to Another.
I, GEORGE TAYLOR, of Penarth, in the County of Glamorgan, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
The invention relates to anti-breakage boxes for facilitating the transferring
loading and discharging of coal cargoes and other substances without breakage,
and to improved means for operating them and their appliances. I use a steel
plate anti-breakage box which comprises three fixed sides connected together in
rectangular form, and one movable side composed of one or more sections pivotted
near two upper corners of the fixed sides, and hinged or adjustably connected with
a loose plate in one or more sections, in such way that by raising one edge of the
loose plate sufficiently high, by means of chains connected with hydraulic power,
the movable side is brought to a horizontal position at the upper part of the box
and makes a platform for receiving coal &c. from a wagon or otherwise, without
fall or breakage, and by lowering the chains attached to the loose plate the latter
changes from a vertical to an inclined and horizontal position, and forms a check
plate or supporting platform that acts in conjunction with the movable side in order
to lower the coal gently into the box without breakage, and retain it there, the
loose plate being kept in position by means of the chains. The full box may be
taken into a vessel's hold, and discharged by further slackening the hydraulic chains
attached to the loose plate, which causes the latter to assume an inclined position
that allows the coal to pass out at the bottom.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood, I illustrate it in the
accompanying sheet of drawings, and 1 give the following particulars.
Fig. 1 of the drawings is a front elevation of the anti-breakage box, Fig. 2 a
side elevation, Fig. 3 a rear elevation and Fig. 4 a plan. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are
sectional views of the box with the near side removed.
A is the front of the box, and consists of steel plate stiffened at the top by angle
iron A and rivetted to two parallel fixed sides B, by vertical angle irons B'.
C, C' and C are steel plates stiffened by angle iron C³, and secured to the two
sides B, keeping them in position.

page_text: The spaces between C¹ and C and C² may be left open, the edges of the sides B
being stiffened by angle iron C. The front A and sides B are strengthened by
bar or angle irons D. A bar iron hanger E is attached to each of the two sides B
for suspending the box by chains F. These chains F are operated in the ordinary
or any convenient way for transferring raising or lowering the box.
G and G are sections of the movable side, and each may be constructed of steel
plate G2 rivetted to an angle iron frame G³. The section G is attached to each of
the side plates B by a pivot or hinge H the pin of which projects through the
sides B and is supported by them. The section G is also attached to the section G¹
by a hinge H. I is the loose plate, formed of steel plate I¹ rivetted to an angle
iron frame I and attached to the section G₁ of the movable side by a hinge H³.
The loose plate is operated by the chains K attached at each side to the links K.
The movable side and the loose plate correspond in width to the width of the box,
between the sides B, but sufficient clearance is allowed to permit them to be moved
freely upwards and downwards by raising or lowering the chains K.
In Fig. 5 the apparatus is in position for being filled with coal or other substance
from a railway wagon or a shoot. The point of a shoot or the end of a wagon is
brought above the section G of the movable side, which is lifted to a horizontal
position by shortening the chains K. As the coal is received the chains Kare
slackened, and the section G assumes an inclined position as shewn in Fig. 6.
By further slackening the chains K the movable side and the loose plate are passed
down into the box until they attain the position indicated by the full lines in
Fig. 7. The box is thus filled by a flow of coal, which is lowered into the box
supported by the movable side and loose plate, instead of falling from the shoot to
the bottom of the box in the usual way. By operating the chains F and K
coincidently the box may be passed into the hold of a vessel or other place of dis-
charge, and the coal be set free by lowering the chains K and loose plate I as
shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 7.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
An anti-breakage box with apparatus for preventing or reducing breakage in the
transferring loading or discharging of coal or other substances, substantially as
illustrated by the accompanying drawings and described herein.
Dated this 6th day of January 1891.