Year: 1872

page_text: refuse or other
employed therein, and consists in forming such fuel into blocks of a
spherical, cylindrical, polygonal, or other desired shape without the aid
of a press.
The peat is taken fresh from the bog and conveyed into the dis- :
integrating or disuniting apparatus, which works it into a doughy or
plastic mass. This apparatus consists of a cast-iron or other vessel, of a
cylindrical form, fitted or formed at one end with a conical delivery
mouth, the opposite end being provided with a feeding hopper into
Within this vessel or chamber works an
which the peat is fed.
archimedean screw, tapered or conical at one end, corresponding to the
The thread of the screw is cut
tapered or conical delivery mouth.
away or notched at intervals so as to form a spiral incision around the
screw in a reverse direction to the thread; the pitch and size of the
screw is regulated to suit the kind of peat to be operated upon. The
cylinder in which the screw rotates together with the conical mouth, is
divided longitudinally along the centre, the two halves being hinged
together, and provided with suitable fastenings to hold firmly together
the two halves when closed. The peat which is fed into this vessel
from the hopper before referred to is by the rotation of the screw caused
to be thoroughly disunited or disintegrated, and worked into a doughy or
plastic mass, and then forced through the conical mouth, to the front of
which mouth there is secured a die, the interior form of which cor-
responds with the form of the blocks it is desired to produce.
On the top of the cylindrical vessel and opening into the interior
thereof there is formed a chamber into which any superfluous material
is forced by the action of the screw should the vessel be overfed, but
which superfluous material re-enters the vessel as the material therein is
reduced in bulk.
Immediately in front of the die there is made to rotate a knife, which
in its rotation cuts the plastic mass into blocks as it issues therefrom.
The several blocks as they are cut fall down an incline, shoot on to an
endless band provided with strips of wood or metal to receive them.
This endless band or elevator conveys the severed blocks to a drying
chamber (herein-after described), where they are gradually dried by
being exposed to the atmosphere; but if it be desired to give to the
severed blocks a spherical form, they are conveyed to an apparatus for
that purpose, which apparatus consists of a conical vessel composed of

page_text: wood or other suitable material arranged in an inclined position. This
vessel is open at both ends, and rotates in bearings which are capable of
being adjusted to vary the inclination of the vessel as desired. The
blocks to be rounded or balled are fed into the upper and smaller end of
this vessel by an endless band or feeding apron worked by a strap from
the axle which carries the upper drum over which the endless band or
elevator before referred to passes. The blocks travel down through this
vessel and by the time they arrive at the lower end thereof a spherical
form will have been imparted to them by the rotatory motion combined
with the inclination of such vessel. As the balls pass from the lower
end of this vessel they are received into cars placed beneath to
receive them, and conveyed thereby to the drying chamber (before
referred to). This chamber consists of an open frame work of wood or
metal provided with a number of inclined drying ways or floors
arranged one above another, leaving a space between them. These
drying ways or floors are composed of a number of laths laid crosswise,
or so arranged as to form a kind of lattice work, through the openings
of which atmospheric air may freely pass and circulate amongst the
balls or blocks of peat which are placed thereon to be dried. In the
upper part of this chamber there are fitted tramways, upon which the
cars containing the balls to be dried travel. The balls are turned from
out of the cars into the spaces between the drying floors, down which
they roll until the floors become filled. As the blocks become dried,
which in favorable weather they will do very quickly) they are let
down from the lower ends of the inclined floors into a store room situate
beneath, fresh blocks to be dried being supplied at the top as fast as the
dried ones are removed. This drying chamber is provided with a
suitable roof or roofs to protect the blocks being dried as well as those
in the store room from injury, from rain or from the action of the sun,
which latter would by drying them too rapidly cause them to crack.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Albert Champion Pelly, Her special license
that I, the said Albert Champion Pelly, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Albert Champion Pelly,
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 MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FUEL, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS
THEREFOR," a communication to me from abroad by Leopold Von Horn,
Stockholm, Lieutenant in the Royal Swedish Navy, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Albert Champion Pelly, 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 Albert Champion Pelly, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention as communicated to me relates to improvements in the
manufacture of artificial fuel from peat, either alone or in combination
with coal refuse or other suitable material, and in the machinery o
apparatus employed therein, and consists in forming such fuel inte
blocks of a spherical, cylindrical, polygonal, or other desired shap
without the aid of a press.
The peat is taken fresh from the bog and conveyed into the dis
integrating or disuniting apparatus, which works it into a doughy o
plastic mass. This apparatus consists of a cast iron or other vessel of
cylindrical form, fitted or formed at one end with a conical deliver
mouth, the opposite end being provided with a feeding hopper int

page_text: which the peat is fed.
Within this vessel or chamber works an
archimedean screw, tapered or conical at one end, corresponding to the
tapered or conical delivery mouth. The thread of this screw is cut
away or notched at intervals so as to form a spiral groove around the
5 screw in a reverse direction to the thread; the pitch and size of the
screw are regulated to suit the kind of peat to be operated upon. The
cylinder in which the screw rotates together with the conical mouth, is
divided longitudinally along the centre, the two halves being hinged
together and provided with suitable fastenings to hold firmly together
O the two halves when closed. The peat which is fed into this vessel
from the hopper before referred to, is by the rotation of the screw caused
to be thoroughly disunited or disintegrated, and worked into a doughy
or plastic mass, and then forced through the conical mouth, to the front
of which mouth there is secured a die, the interior form of which
corresponds with the form of the blocks it is desired to produce.
On the top of the cylindrical vessel and opening into the interior
thereof, there is formed a chamber into which any superfluous material
is forced by the action of the screw should the vessel be overfed, but
which superfluous material re-enters the vessel as the material therein
is reduced in bulk.
Immediately in front of the die there is made to rotate a knife, which
in its rotation cuts the plastic mass into blocks as it issues therefrom.
The severed blocks as they are cut fall down an incline, shoot on to an
endless band provided with strips of wood or metal to receive them.
This endless band or elevator conveys the severed blocks to a drying
chamber (herein-after described), where they are gradually dried by
being exposed to the atmosphere; but if it be desired to give to the
severed blocks a spherical form, they are conveyed to an apparatus for
that purpose, which apparatus consists of a conical vessel composed of
wood or other suitable material arranged in an inclined position. This
vessel is open at both ends and rotates in bearings which are capable of
being adjusted to vary the inclination of the vessel as desired. The
blocks to be rounded or balled are fed into the upper and smaller
end of this vessel by an endless band or feeding apron, worked by a
strap from the axle which carries the upper drum, over which the
endless band or elevator before referred to passes. The blocks travel
down through this vessel, and by the time they arrive at the lower end
thereof a spherical form will have been imparted to them by the

page_text: rotatory motion combined with the inclination of such vessel. As the
balls pass from the lower end of this vessel they are received into cars
placed beneath to receive them, and conveyed thereby to the drying
chamber (before referred to). This chamber consists of an open frame-
work of wood or metal, provided with a number of inclined drying ways 5
or floors, arranged one above another, leaving a space between them.
These drying ways or floors are composed of a number of laths laid
crosswise, or so arranged as to form a kind of latticework through the
openings of which atmospheric air may freely pass and circulate
amongst the balls or blocks of peat which are placed thereon to be
dried. In the upper part of this chamber there are fitted tramways
upon which the cars containing the balls to be dried travel. The balls
are turned from out of the cars into the spaces between the drying
floors, down which they roll until the floors become filled. As the
blocks become dried (which in favourable weather they will not do too
quickly) they are let down from the lower ends of the inclined floors
into a store room situate beneath, fresh blocks to be dried being supplied
at the top as fast as the dried ones are removed. This drying chamber
is provided with a suitable roof or roofs to protect the blocks while being
dried, as well as those in the store room, from injury from rain or from
the action of the sun, which latter would by drying them too rapidly
cause them to crack.
And in order that the said Invention as communicated to me may
be more readily carried into practice, I will proceed to describe the
mode and the apparatus employed more particularly in detail, referring
to the Drawings hereunto annexed and forming part of this Specifi-
cation, in which similar letters and figures of reference denote similar
parts.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, shews an elevation; Figure 2 a plan; and Figures
3 and 4 shew transverse sections of the disintegrating apparatus. It a
consists, firstly, of an archimedean screw A which is enclosed and rotates
within a cylinder or casing B, this screw is shewn by Figures 1 and 2,
Sheet II., and in Figure 1, in dotted lines of which the outer shew the
circumference of the screw threads, the inner lines shew the barrel
of the screw, which is as appears in one part of its length parallel,
in the other conical, and can be either single or multiple threaded.
Along its parallel part runs a spiral groove which, as well as the form
of the screw threads, is shewn by Figures 1 and 2, Sheet II.,
which

page_text: shew part of the screw as adapted for most kinds of peat. The number
and pitch of the screw threads, the form and size of the groove, as well
as the size of the other parts depend on the material which is to be used,
that is, whether peat, or peat and other materials. The cylinder B
5 surrounding the screw is divided lengthwise in two halves fastened on
hinges, by which means it can without difficulty be opened when
required, the cylinder as well as the screw is partly parallel partly
conical. Uppermost on its parallel part is the hopper 6 through which
the fresh peat mass is driven, and the upper part of the cylinder is left
open, as shewn by 6', forming a receptacle for the overplus. At the
conical end is the outlet, shewn by 6; close to the outlet 6" is the
rotating knife C fastened on an arm of the axis c; E is the driving
shaft which by means of cog wheels gives motion to the archimedean
screw A, knife C, and strap disc F.
When fresh peat is served through the hopper 6 and the engine
started, the action of the archimedean screw will cause the peat mass
to be effectually disintegrated and worked up, which is thrust out by
the screw as a tough or doughy mass through the outlet, at the mouth
of which the rotating knife C cuts it into pieces of such size as is
determined by the relative speed of the screw and that of the knife.
Should the hopper 6 become overfed with fresh peat, the superfluous
mass rises from the screw into the receptacle 61, whence it returns into
the cylinder as soon as the feeding is diminished. Hence there is a
regularity of speed in the issue of the peat mass through the outlet 6"
independently of any irregularity in the feeding. To destroy any dis-
turbing effect on the even issue of the peat mass caused by the variable
quality and different consistency of the fresh peat, the archimedean screw
is made adjustable in the direction of its length by means of the double
screw a.
From the outlet the cut pieces of peat fall down into small scoops, as
shewn by Figure 1 on pieces of board d, d, fastened to an endless
strap D, which transport the peat to the apparatus for forming it into
ball shapes placed on a floor level with the upper ends of the drying
walks.
Figure 1, Sheet 3, shews a vertical section; Figure 2, a plan with the
transverse section of the cylinder of the apparatus for forming the peat
fuel into ball forms. The apparatus consists chiefly of a rotating

page_text: cylinder G open at both ends of circular transverse section, by degrees
widening towards the reverse end. This cylinder should be so constructed
as to be capable of taking a position inclined towards the horizontal
plane, variable within certain limits; its speed of rotation should also
vary according to the quality of the peat. The front end of the cylinder t
consists of a cast cover, which is held up by the ring J resting on the
bracket H, and provided with two axles i situated diametrically opposite
to each other; on the cover is fastened the cog rim K. In the centre
of the cylinder end is an axle, which rests in the ring or bearing Q,
which can by means of the screw q be either raised or lowered in the
bracket R provided with guides. In the event of such a rise or fall
within the marked limits it follows that the cylinder rim and ring will
turn on the axles i, thus the former of the conditions herein-before
referred to is fulfilled, and that the change in the speed of the cylinder
may be effected. The cog wheel M is fastened on the axis m in such a
manner as without difficulty to be taken off and replaced by another,
smaller or larger sized as the speed requires. The intermediate wheel L
which rotates on a stud will adjust itself to the wheel M and the cog
rim K on the cylinder. When the engine is started the motion is
transmitted from the strap D to the strap disc N and shaft n, and
through gearing to the cylinder G, thereby causing it to rotate. At the
inclination of the strap D over the disc N the pieces of peat are over-
turned from the scoops d and fall on the cloth O stretched over the
pulleys P and P¹, which by the strap o is put in motion towards the
mouth of the cylinder into which the peat pieces are fed, when within
the cylinder the soft peat pieces are forced to participate in its rotating
motion while its sloping position causes them while continuously rolling
to move always nearer to the open ends g, by which motion they obtain
a spherical form. The balls fall into cars placed beneath in which they
are carried into the drying apparatus herein-after described.
This drying apparatus is shewn on Sheet 4; Figure 1 shews a
transverse section without the drying ways; Figure 2, a side view;
Figure 3, a vertical section on larger scale; and Figure 4, the transverse
section of a drying way. The drying scaffold consists of numerous
sloping planes A running parallel at some distance from each other,
and resting on pillows and cross pieces. Each of these drying ways
composed of narrow laths a running along at such distances from each
other as to leave the greatest possible space for the air without the balls
is

page_text: slipping through; in fact the scaffold consists of latticework. The
distance of the drying ways A from each other may vary considerably
accordingly as it may be desirable to give free scope for atmospheric
action. Alongside of the building are arranged foot bridges D with
5 rails for the persons set to watch the drying. The chamber B situated
between the lower end of the drying ways and the ground is used as a
storeroom for the dried balls.
In order to protect the manufacture from rain, which hinders the
drying process, and from sunshine that dries the balls too fast on the
O surface and causes them to crack, the scaffold is covered by roofs C with
overhanging eaves.
On the upper cross pieces at the upper ends of the drying ways run
along the scaffold tramways E, on which the cars filled at the ball
forming apparatus are conveyed, and from which their contents are
turned off in the drying ways. In order to facilitate the due management
of the drying process the drying ways are in some places divided by
crossing loose barriers with rods, which at certain intervals are succes-
sively raised when the balls roll down by degrees. As the manufacture
proceeds the dried goods are let down into the store room and new balls
are replenished from above, hence the drying ways are at all times quite
filled.
In the event of unfavorable weather causing the balls not to be
entirely dried in time for the regular carrying on of the work, they may
be let down into the store room, which is made roomy enough for the
spreading and after drying of the balls.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention as communicated to me, I would remark that I am aware
that it has been proposed to employ an archimedean screw for carrying
the peat along to knives to be disintegrated, but in the Invention as
communicated to me the screw performs the various functions of
carrying, disintegrating, and consolidating, and dispenses with various
mechanical arrangements which render the process of manufacturing
fuel from peat too costly to be remunerative. I desire it therefore to be
understood that I claim the use of an archimedean screw only when
employed in the manner herein-before described and shewn; and that
what I claim and desire to secure by the herein-before recited Letters
Patent is,-

page_text: Firstly. The arrangement and construction of the machinery herein-
before described and shewn by the Drawings annexed, for carrying,
disintegrating, and pressing by one operation peat either alone or in
combination with other materials.
Witness,
HARRIET B. PELLY,
Reigate Hill,
Reigate.
ALBERT C. PELLY. (L.S.)