CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF PLASTIC MATERIALS."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Ludewig Hahn Danchell, of 30, Great
Ormond Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF PLASTIC MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Ludewig Hahn
Danchell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 12th July 1864.
I, FREDERICK LUDEWIG HAHN DANCHELL, of 30, Great Ormond Street, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF PLASTIC MATERIALS," to
be as follows:
This Invention consists in an apparatus by means of which plastic
materials, such as clay, peat, and other similar substances are divided into
suitable parts, and freed from the moisture or part of the moisture they
may contain.
The apparatus is constructed as follows:-A series of rollers and beaters

page_text: are placed horizontally on a framework, so as to form or mould the plastic
material into a flat cake-like condition. The said material thus formed or
moulded is carried forward on an endless band of canvass or other suitable
material, and divided longitudinally and transversely into several parts. After
being thus divided the said material in form of bricks is further carried on
into a chamber or series of chambers, through which a constant current of
hot air is made to pass by using a steam jet or fan, or other suitable means.
After having been thus carried on for some time, and to a certain extent been
dyed on one side it is turned over, and made to present another surface; the
said bricks are again carried forward, and at intervals turned over until they
arrive perfectly or partially dry at the further end of the apparatus. The
turning over is effected in the following manner :-The endless band alluded
to, on which the said material or bricks are carried forward, pass each over a
series of rollers which are placed in a horizontal position, in such a manner
that the first roller of each succeeding series is situated slightly below the last
roller of the proceeding series, so that the said bricks on passing over the
last roller of each series will drop and turn over upon the next band, and
thus present another surface for dying.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Ludewig Hahn Danchell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 12th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
LUDEWIG HAHN DANCHELL, Engineer, of 30, Great Ormond Street, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Ludewig Hahn Danchell, Her special licence that I, the said
Frederick Ludewig Hahn Danchell, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Frederick Ludewig Hahn Danchell, my execu-
tors, 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

page_text: Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF PLASTIC
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Ludewig Hahn Danchell, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 1, the said Frederick Ludewig Hahn Danchell,
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 and accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:-
This Invention consists of an apparatus by means of which plastic materials,
such as clay, peat, and other similar substances, are moulded and divided into
pieces or masses of suitable size, and partly or wholly freed from the moisture
which they contain.
The apparatus is constructed as follows:-In a suitable framework is placed
a beater or series of beaters, the operation of which is to shape or mould the
plastic materials into a flat slab. The material thus shaped or moulded is
carried forward on an endless band of canvas or other suitable substance, and
is divided longitudinally and transversely into bricks or blocks by any of the
means usually employed in brick-making machinery. After being thus
divided the material is further carried on upon the same or another endless
band into a chamber or series of chambers through which converging currents
of air are made constantly to pass, created by a steam jet, fan, chimney
draft, or any other convenient means. After having been thus carried
forward for some distance, and to a certain extent dried on one side, the
bricks or blocks of material are turned over, so as to present another surface
to the action of the current of air, and being again carried forward and at
intervals turned over they arrive perfectly or partially dry as may be desired
at the further end of the apparatus. The turning over of the bricks or blocks
is effected in the following manner :-The endless bands alluded to on which
the bricks or blocks of material are carried forward pass each over a series of
rollers, which are placed horizontally in such a position with respect to cach
other that the first roller of each series is slightly below the last roller of the
preceding series, so that the said bricks or blocks on passing from one band to
another over the last roller of each will fall, and in falling turn over upon the
next band, and thus present another surface for drying.

page_text: In order that the nature of my Invention and the construction of the
apparatus may be the more easily and clearly understood, I refer to the
annexed Drawing.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the apparatus. The
same letters refer to the same parts in both Figures, and the arrows indicate
respectively the direction of the currents of air and of the endless bands.
a is the beater, under which are the endless bands b and c. The first, b,
being made of a strong impervious fabric (oilcloth will answer for this
purpose), and strengthened and stiffened by slats or strips of wood d, and
further sustained by a floor or bars of wood e. The second, c, I prefer to be
of woollen stuff. The material to be operated upon is carried forward under
the beater in the direction shewn by the arrows, and is by the beating action
reduced to the form of a slab. The movement of the beater is indicated by
the dotted lines. If the nature of the material requires it a series of beaters
may be employed. While passing forward on the band C the material is
divided by any of the well-known means employed in brick-making machinery
into bricks or blocks of suitable size, and is afterwards conveyed on the same
band into the chamber F. The first overturn of the bricks or blocks takes
place in passing from c to g, the next succeeding endless band on 9, they are
carried forward and are again overturned upon h. In like manner they are
carried forward and overturned on to each band in succession, arriving finally
at i, where they are received into a receptacle convenient for their removal.
I recommend a distance of about twenty-five feet to be passed over in about
a quarter of an hour between each overturn. The number of bands and over-
turnings in any apparatus will be regulated by the nature of the material to
be dried. The air is admitted through the passages 2, 21, 22, &c., and passes
out through the passages x, x1, x2, a³, but it is to be observed that after
entering the chamber the air becomes divided into two currents moving in
contrary directions. For example, that which is admitted at z¹ moves in part
towards & and in part towards a¹. In the same way that which is admitted
at moves in part towards a¹ and in part towards a³, and so on throughout
the series, so that each of the outlets x, x1, x2, &c. is the point of convergence
of two currents moving in contrary directions, the currents in their course
through the chambers pass over the material, carrying off its moisture.
What I claim as my Invention is,―
First, the mode of producing a slab of plastic material by means of a
beater or series of beaters, as described.
: Secondly, the turning over of the bricks or blocks of material in passing
from one endless band to another, as described.

page_text: Thirdly, the application of converging currents of air to the drying of
plastic materials, in the manner herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Ludewig Hahn Danchell, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
F. HAHN DANCHELL. (L.8.)