GB267652A - An improved apparatus for boiling or otherwise treating cork and like materials - Google Patents

Abstract

267,652. Bridges, W. Jan. 11, 1926. Chains with openwork carriers.-Apparatus for boiling or otherwise treating cork and like material such as timber or bales of wool in bulk comprises a long tank 5, Fig. 1, in which is disposed a horizontal endless conveyer 2 supported on wheels or rollers 3 and provided with rigid arms or carriers 6 which are arranged to be loaded with the material at one point in the upper run of the conveyer and to carry the material over one end of the tank and then over the other end of the conveyer to a point in the upper run of the convever where the treated material is unloaded from the carriers, ramps or guide plates being provided at the ends of the tank to facilitate the passage of the material over the ends of the conveyer. Steam jets or steam pipes may be used to heat the water or liquid in the tank. The carriers 6 consist of U-shaped frame members each comprising pairs of uprights a secured to a base bar b rigidly attached to one of the conveyer chains. A carrier may comprise two or more such members, preferably bridged by transverse bars 7, Fig. 3, the skeleton frame thus formed being covered on each side by wire netting. Alternatively a series of vertical bars arranged in cage fashion. may be used. The bales of material are loaded at the end A, Fig. 1. On reaching the far end of the conveyer the carriers are inverted and carry the material under the liquid through the tank and back to the end A. A guide 12 is provided at the far end of the tank to retain the bales in the carriers during the inversion. A ramp 8 merging into a guide 9 is provided at the end A to retain the material as the carriers pass from the inverted to the upright position. The bales are Demoved by operators through the open sides of the carriers and conveyed away by a shoot 10, Fig. 3, and a conveyer 11. To prevent bales which protrude above the carriers from jamming against the guide 12, a switch 13, Fig. 1, with a depending lever 14 is arranged to break the circuit of the motor driving the apparatus or to stop the prime mover or disconnect it from the conveyer when the protruding bale touches the lever 14. The tank may be supplied with hot water from a boiler by a conduit 15. Steam jets 20 may also be provided. Water carried out of the tank by the treated material is collected in a trough 22 whence it is pumped back to the boiler.