NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CHARGING AND DISCHARGING GAS RETORTS AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES to be as follows
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM GRICE of Lower Fazeley Street Birmingham in the County of
Warwick Ironfounder do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "NEW
OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CHARGING AND DISCHARGING GAS RETORTS AND FOR
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES to be as follows:-
"
My invention consists of new or improved machinery the parts of which are
constructed and arranged in the manner hereinafter described for charging coal
into gas retorts.and discharging or removing coke therefrom which said machinery
is also applicable to other like purposes such for example as charging and
discharging pyrites burners.
I will describe my invention in connection with the charging and discharging of
gas retorts. The principal part of the machine or the part which is more inme-
diately concerned in the charging and discharging operations requires to be
moveable both horizontally and vertically so as to bring the charging and
discharging parts opposite the mouths of the retorts in succession or in any
required order. For this purpose the charging and discharging mechanism is made
to travel horizontally on a pair of rails fixed on the floor of the retort house imine-
diately in front of the retorts and the table or platform of the machine on which
the acting parts are supported is capable of being raised and lowered to the
required height by means of upright racks on which the said table travels the
table being provided with pinions taking into the said racks. By the rotation of
these pinions the said table can be raised or lowered and by the two motions
described the acting parts can be brought opposite to the mouth of any one of the
set of retorts to be charged or discharged Or the table may be raised and
lowered by screws instead of the racks and pinions described.
The moveable table described carries a horizontal shoot of somewhat less width
than the interior of the retort which shoot is capable of being projected into the
retort and withdrawn therefrom at pleasure. The said shoot slides horizontally
out of and into a fixed case on the table of the machine. The said shoot is
actuated by a rack on its underside into which rack pinions driven from the
principal shaft engage. The said pinions are actuated by clutches carried on
a swivelling frame by the motion of which either of them is thrown into gear
with the rach the other at the same time being thrown out of gear. When the

page_text: The
swivelling frame has an intermediate position both the pinions are thrown out of
gear with the rack: The said pinions rotate in opposite directions so that by
throwing one or other of them into gear with the rack the shoot may be projected
out of its case into the retort or withdrawn from the retort into its case.
ends of the shoot have horizontal rollers over which an endless chain passes. The
upper layer of the said endless chain travels over the upper side of the shoot and
the lower layer of the endless chain travels along the underside of the shoot.
Vanes or scrapers extending all across the shoot are fixed at short intervals on the
outerside of the said endless chain. The endless chain is driven by toothed gearing
situated underneath the said chain which can be thrown into and out of action at
pleasure. The said gearing is so arranged that the endless chain travels at a
greater speed than the shoot.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The shoot being raised and brought
opposite the mouth of the retort to be discharged and recharged the gearings by
which the shoot is projected into the retort and the endless chain set in motion
are operated upon so as to cause the shoot to advance into the retort. The endless
chain travelling faster than the shoot its lower layer is performing a backward
motion that is a motion into the case of the shoot while the shoot itself is
advancing. By this action the advancing shoot and retiring endless chain and
scrapers effect the discharge of the coke from the retort the scraping and dis-
charging action commencing at, the mouth of the retort and progressing to the
back or end of the retort. The retort may be immediately recharged in the
following manner.
Over the front end of the case of the shoot is a hopper containing the coal a
vertical delivery channel from this hopper opening into the case of the shoot.
This delivery channel is made telescopic to accommodate the rising and falling
motion of the table and is provided with a slide to shut off the supply of coal at
pleasure. The coal delivery channel being opened and the shoot at rest in its
most advanced position in the retort and the endless chain being in motion coal is
carried forward on the upper layer of the endless chain and when the coal on the
endless chain has reached the far end or back of the retort the shoot is made to
perform its retiring motion and as it does so the coal on the upper layer of the
endless chain is deposited as the chain passes the end of the shoot on the bottom of
the retort which is thus supplied with a continuous layer of coal.
Or the coal may be transferred to the shoot in fixed quantities by means of a
horizontal slotted tube situated over the shoot. By the revolution of this tube
which is situated between the hopper and shoot the slot is alternately brought
under the hopper and over the shoot. In the former position it becomes filled
with coal and in the latter position it delivers coal onto the shoot.
The hopper of the machine is supplied with coal from a pit or receptacle in the
retort house. From this pit or receptacle the coal is raised by an endless chain
and scrapers to a height somewhat greater than the highest position of the hopper.
The coal is then carried horizontally by the said endless chain and scrapers in a
trough immediately over the path of the hopper carried by the machine Openings
closed by slides are made at intervals in this trough so that under whichever part
of the trough the hopper is situated a slide may be opened through which coal will
pass from the trough into the hopper.
The machine may either be worked by hand or by steam or other motive power.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I WILLIAM GRICE of Lower Fazeley Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Ironfounder, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "NEW
OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CHARGING AND DISCHARGING GAS RETORTS AND
FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES" and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention consists of new or improved machinery the parts of which are
constructed and arranged in the manner herein after described for charging coal
into gas retorts and discharging or removing coke therefrom, which said machinery
is also applicable to other like purposes such for example as charging and dis-
charging pyrites burners.
I will describe my invention in connection with the charging and discharging of
gas retorts.
The principal part of the machine or the part which is more immediately
concerned in the charging and discharging operations requires to be moveable both
horizontally and vertically so as to bring the charging and discharging parts
opposite the mouths of the retorts in succession, or in any required order. For
this purpose the charging and discharging mechanism is made to travel horizontally
on a pair of rails fixed on the floor of the retort house immediately in front of the
retorts and the table or platform of the machine on which the acting parts are
supported is capable of being raised and lowered to the required height by means
of upright racks on which the said table travels, the table being provided with
pinions taking into the said racks. By the rotation of these pinions the said table
can be raised or lowered and by the two motions described the acting parts can be
brought opposite to the mouth of any one of the set of retorts to be charged or
discharged. Or the table may be raised and lowered by screws instead of the
racks and pinions described.
The moveable table described carries a horizontal shoot of somewhat less width
than the interior of the retort which shoot is capable of being projected into the
retort and withdrawn therefrom at pleasure. The said shoot slides horizontally
out of and into a fixed case on the table of the machine. The said shoot is
actuated by a rack on its underside into which rack pinions driven from the
principal shaft engage. The said pinions rotate in opposite directions so that by
throwing one or other of them into gear with the rack the shoot may be projected
out of its case into the retort or withdrawn from the retort into its case.
ends of the shoot have horizontal rollers over which endless chains pass. The
upper layers of the said endless chains travel over the upper side of the bottom
of the shoot and the lower layers of the endless chains travel under the bottom of
the shoot. Vanes or scrapers extending all across the shoot are fixed at short
intervals on the said endless chains.
The
The endless chains are driven by toothed gearing situated underneath the said
chains, which can be thrown into and out of action at pleasure. The said gearing
is so arranged that the endless chains travel at a greater speed than the shoot.
The action of the machine is as follows:-
The shoots being raised and brought opposite the mouth of the retort to be
discharged and recharged the gearings by which the shoot is projected into the

page_text: retort and the endless chain set in motion are operated upon so as to cause tho
shoot to advance into the retort. The endless chains travelling faster than
the shoot their lower layers are performing a backward motion that is a motion
into the case of the shoot while the shoot itself is advancing. By this action the
advancing shoot and retiring endless chains and scrapers effect the dischargo of the
coke from the retort, the scraping and discharging action commencing at the mouth
of the retort and progressing to the back or end of the retort. The retort may be
immediately recharged in the manner hereinafter particularly explained.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents in front elevation Figure 2
in end elevation and Figure 3 in plan machinery constructed according to my
invention Figure 3A represents a portion of the gearing of the machinery
detached.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the drawings.
In order to bring the charging and discharging mechanism in succession opposite
the mouths of the retorts or to bring the said mechanism opposite the mouths of
the retorts in any required order it is necessary that the machinery should be
moveable both horizontally and vertically. The horizontal motion is effected
on rails one of which is marked a in Figure 2. These rails are parallel to the
mouths of the retorts and the base of the machine carries the supporting
wheels c, c which travel upon the rails a. The base also carries a steam engine
by which the machine itself may be moved and the charging and discharging
appliances worked as herein after described. The vertical motion of the table or
platform g of the machinery is effected by means of the racks d, d on the
uprights e, e of the machinery and pinions f,f engaging in the said racks. The
said pinions are carried by the table y and are actuated by the worms h on the
longitudinal shaft i gearing with worm wheels on the cross shafts h² carrying
the said pinions. The worm wheels are immediately under the worms h. Only
one of the cross shafts 2 is shown geared to the longitudinal shaft i, but it must
be understood that all the cross shafts h² are so geared.
The shaft i may be driven in one or other direction from the principal shaft
worked from the steam engine by means of gearing, a portion of which is shown
in Figure 3 arranged as follows. On the said shaft is a toothed wheel m which
gears with another toothed wheel n immediately under it. The said wheel n
drives the two toothed wheels p, q on either side of it but an intermediate
pinion situated between the wheels n and p causes the toothed wheels P and
to rotate in opposite directions; , are hand worked clutches by which the
longitudinal shaft i may be thrown into or out of gear with either of the shafts of
the wheels p and q, the table or platform g being made to rise or fall according
as the clutch or the clutch is thrown into gear. The shafts of the wheels p
and q are geared to the longitudinal shaft by the worm and worm wheels at 3:
s is the horizontal shoot of the machinery made preferably of wrought iron sup-
ported by and sliding in the fixed cases on the table g; 82, 8² are racks on the
underside of the shoot 8 with which racks the pinions t, t, t, t (see Figure 3) work,
for giving the forward and backward motion to the shoot 8. The pinions t, t, t, t by
which the shoot s is worked are driven from the main shaft in the following
manner. The shaft of the wheel (see Figure 34) carries the pinion u (sec
Figure 1) which gears with and drives the large toothed wheel v. The toothed
wheel gears into the two wheels wand x. On the axis of the wheel x is a
larger wheel x which gears with the wheel y. In this way, the wheels w and y
are made to rotate in opposite directions. The pinions t, t which gear with the
racks of the shoot are carried by the shafts of the wheels w and y. By a con-
necting lever the two sliding clutches w² and y² may be operated (see Figure 3).
When the clutch w³ is thrown into gear, the shoot s makes its advance motion as
indicated by the arrow in Figure 3. When the clutch y' is thrown into gear and
the clutch w taken out of gear the motion of the shoot s is reversed. When both
the clutches wand y are thrown out of gear, the shoots is at rest; 3, 3 are the

page_text: endless chains of the shoot passing over rollers 2, 2 at the ends of the said shoot.
The upper layers of the endless chains 3, 3 travel over the upper side of the bottom
of the shoot and the lower layers of the endless chains travel under the bottom of
the shoot; 4, 4 äre the vanes or scrapers extending all across the shoot 8 and are
fixed at short intervals on the endless chains (see the plan Figure 3). The endless
chains 3, 3 carrying the vanes or scrapers 4, 4 are driven by the toothed
wheels p3, p on the shaft of the wheel p. A clutch on the said shaft between the
toothed wheels p², p² is employed to throw into and out of gear the said toothed
wheels p p so as to give motion to or arrest the motion of the said toothed wheels
and thereby drive or arrest. the motion of the endless chains 3, 3 which chains
have motion in one direction only. The gearings of the shoot 8 and chains 3, 3
are so arranged that the said chains travel at a greater speed than that of tho
shoot.
The action of the charging and discharging mechanism is as follows:-
8
Over
The table or platform g having been adjusted at the proper height in the manner
herein before described so as to bring the shoot & opposite the mouth of the retort
to be discharged and recharged the gearings by which the shoot s is projected into
the retort and the endless chains 3, set in motion, are operated upon so as to
cause the shoot to advance into the retort. The endless chains 3, 3 travelling
faster than the shoot s their lower layers are performing a backward motion, that
is, a motion into the case of the shoot while the shoot itself is advancing. By this
action the advancing shoot and retiring endless chains and scrapers effect the
discharge of the coke from the retort the scraping and discharging action com-
mencing at the mouth of the retort and progressing to the back or end of the
retort. The retort may be immediately recharged in the following manner.
the front end of the case of the shoot s is a hopper 5 containing the coal, a vertical
delivery channel 6 from this hopper opening into the case of the shoot. The
delivery channel 6 is made telescopic to accomodate the rising and falling motion
of the table or platform g and may be provided with a slide to shut off the supply
of coal at pleasure. Or the delivery channel 6 is by preference provided with the
measurer herein after described and represented in Figures 1 and 2. The coal
delivery channel 6 being opened and the shoots at rest in its most advanced
position in the retort and the endless chains 3, 3 being in motion, coal is carried
forward by the scrapers 4, 4 on the upper layers of the endless chains and when
the coal has reached the far end or back of the retort the shoot is made to perform
its retiring motion and as it does so the coal is deposited, as the chains pass the
end of the shoot, on the bottom of the retort which is, thus supplied with a .
continuous layer of coal.
The measurer before referred to consists of a horizontal slotted tube 7 situated
over the shoot and working in the fixed case 8. By the alternating partial rotation
of this tube or measurer 7, which is situated between the hopper 5 and shoot 8, its
slots 9, 9 are alternately brought under the hopper and over the shoot. In the
former position the tube or measurer 7 becomes filled with coal and in the latter
position it delivers coal through the delivery channel 6 into the shoot 8. The tube
or measurer 7 has a reciprocating partial rotation given to it either by hand or by
the use of a steam cylinder 10.
The hopper 5 of the machine is supplied with coal from a pit or receptacle in the
retort house.
From this pit or receptacle the coal is raised by an endless chain and scrapers to
a height somewhat greater than the highest position of the hopper. The coal is
then carried horizontally by the said endless chain and scrapers in a trough over
the path of the hopper 5 carried by the machine. Openings closed by slides are
made at intervals in this trough so that under whichever part of the trough the
hopper is situated a slide may be opened through which coal will pass from the
trough into the hopper.
The machine may be worked by hand instead of by the steam engine with which
it is shown combined.

page_text: By my invention the processes of drawing the coke from the gas retort and the
recharging of the retort with fresh coal are performed by one and the same machine
instead of by two machines and two processes as usual. By the use of my
invention immediately the coke has been withdrawn the feeding of the fresh coal
commences and the retort is charged without the loss of time and the admission of
air into the retort which follows when separate machines are used for withdrawing
the coke and charging in the coal.
I apply my invention to the charging and discharging of pyrites burners and for
other like purposes substantially as herein before described and illustrated with
respect to the charging and discharging of a gas retort.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is of "New or improved machinery for charging and discharging gas
retorts and for other like purposes."
First. The general arrangement or combination of the parts of the said
machinery herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings
whereby the machinery is made to travel horizontally in front of the retorts or
furnaces and the charging and discharging mechanism made to rise and fall
vertically.
Secondly-The construction and arrangement herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings of the horizontal shoot carried by the
vertically adjustable table or platform, the said shoot being made to advance into
or retire from the retort or furnace for the purpose and substantially as described
and illustrated.
Thirdly The combination with the shoot, claimed in the previous claim of the
endless chains and scrapers herein before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings whereby coke or the other material which has been operated
upon is removed from the retorts or furnaces and coke or the other material to
be operated upon charged therein, the said endless chains and scrapers having a
greater velocity than the horizontal shoot substantially as described and illustrated.
Fourthly The horizontal partial rotating tube or measurer situated under the
fixed hopper for receiving and discharging the coal or material in given quantities
onto the shoot substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Dated this forstaanth love of Now 100K