IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sturgeon, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 28th April 1868, and dated the 1st November 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sturgeon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1867.
I, JOHN STURGEON, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to an improved system of "opening out" or
driving headings in coal and other mines by means of machinery worked by
compressed air or other fluid. In "opening out" or driving headings it
is usual first to undercut or "hole" a certain portion of the work for the
required width of road, and to cut "nicks" vertically at each end of the undercut
portion in order to break away and remove the material.
In the Provisional Specification filed by me on the 2nd day of July 1867,
and numbered 1927, I described certain modes of holeing and also of cutting
the nicks vertically.

page_text: This improvement consists in so arranging the machinery for cutting the said
"nicks as to give them a curvilinear or arched direction upwards instead of
cutting them in a straight perpendicular line. By this means when the material
is broken out as above stated the sides of the drift or cutting will be left of an
arched form, thereby affording a better support to the roof than if the sides
were left perpendicular to the base or floor of the mine.
For this purpose I
carry the cutter or cutters (whether pick-acting, slotting, or otherwise) on a
frame which is capable of turning round on a central axis arranged in such a
manner that when a gradual feed motion is imparted thereto as the work
proceeds the cutter is elevated, and at the same time caused to travel in a
circular arc. For a "pick-action "machine one convenient mode of effecting
this may be described as follows:-The vibrating or "pick" cutter being
carried on and worked by the engine in the manner described in the said
Provisional Specification of the 2nd July 1867, No. 1927, for the purpose of
enabling its being used for undercutting in headings, has its axis carried by
a revolving headstock which works round a projecting bearing on the front
of the cylinder as an axis, in the manner described in the Specification of a
Patent granted to me and others, dated November 28th 1864, and numbered
2962, and to this headstock the requisite rotary feed motion is imparted
whereby the cutter is elevated and at the same time caused to travel through
a circular arc.
The mode for carrying out the principle of action above described may be
considerably varied. The "holeing" portion of the work is performed by the
apparatus described in the said Specification of July 2nd, 1867.
To enable the machine to be moved easily from place to place when rails
are not used, and in making drifts, I provide on the frame of the machine
pins on which suitable rollers or runners may be readily put or taken off as
required.
When the machine is arranged to be worked or guided on rails I shape round
or bevel off or bend upwards the ends of such guides in such a manner as to
enable them to pass freely over any inequalities in the setting of the rails.
And I also provide at each end of such guides projecting forks or jaws
arranged to receive small rollers which may be readily slipped into their places
in bearings formed by the said jaws, so that the machine may rest on the
rollers and not on the guides, whenever it is required to move it rapidly by hand
along the rails.
When actuating picks by means of a lever I provide a slot or hole in the
axis on which the pick is mounted; in this slot or hole one end of the lever
arm is arranged to slide, and the other end is connected to the piston rod so

page_text: that as the piston rod moves to and fro it is enabled to maintain its parallelism
throughout the stroke by causing the lever arm to slide in or out of the slot
or hole and thus adjust itself to the motion. .
the
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Sturgeon in the Great Seal Patent Office. on
30th April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STURGEON, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Sturgeon, Her. special licence that I, the said John
Sturgeon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Sturgeon, 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 MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Sturgeon, 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 John Sturgeon, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to an improved system of "opening out" or
driving headings in coal and other mines, by means of machinery worked
by compressed air or other fluid. In "opening out" or driving headings
it is usual first to undercut or "hole" a certain portion of the work for the

page_text: required width of road, and to cut "nicks" vertically at each end of the undercut
portion in order to break away and remove, the material.
In the Specification of a Patent granted to me, bearing date the Second day
of July 1867, and numbered 1927, I described certain modes of holeing and
also of cutting the nicks vertically.
This improvement consists in so arranging the machinery for cutting the
said "nicks" as to give them a curvilinear or arched direction upwards instead
of cutting them in a straight perpendicular line. By this means when the
material is broken out as above stated the sides of the drift or cutting will
be left of an arched form, thereby affording a better support to the roof than
if the sides. were left perpendicular to the base or floor of the mine. For
this purpose I carry the cutter or cutters (whether pick-acting, slotting, or
otherwise) on a frame which is capable of turning. round on a central axis
arranged in such a manner that when a gradual feed motion is imparted
thereto as the work proceeds the cutter is elevated and at the same time
caused to travel in a circular arc. For a "pick-action "machine one con-
venient mode of effecting this. may be described as follows:-The vibrating
or "pick "cutter being. carried on and worked by the engine in the manner
described in the Specification of the said Patent of the Second July 1867;
for the purpose of enabling its being used for. undercutting in headings, has
its axis carried by a revolving headstock which works round a projecting
bearing on the front of the cylinder, has an axis in the manner described in
the Specification of a Patent granted to me and others, dated November 28th
1864, and numbered 2962, and to this headstock the requisite rotary feed
motion is imparted whereby the cutter is elevated and at the same. time
caused to travel through a circular arc.
The mode for carrying out the principle of action above described may be
considerably varied. The "holeing" portion of the work is performed by the
apparatus described in the said Specification of July 2nd, 1867.
To enable the machine to be moved easily from place to place when the
rails are not used, and in making drifts, I provide on the frame of the machine
pins on which suitable rollers or runners may be readily put or taken off as
required.
When the machine is arranged to be worked or guided on rails I shape
round or bevil off or bend upwards the ends of such guides in such a manner as
to enable them to pass freely over any inequalities in the setting, of the rails.
And I also provide at each end of such. guides projecting forks. or.. jaws
arranged to receive small rollers which may be readily slipped into. their places
in bearings formed by the said jaws, so that the machine may rest on the rollers

page_text: and not on the guides whenever it is required to move it rapidly by hand along
the rails.
>
When actuating picks by means of a lever I provide a slot or hole in the
axis on which the pick is mounted; in this slot or hole one end of the
lever arm is arranged to slide, and the other end is connected to the piston
rod, so that as the piston rod moves to and fro it is enabled to maintain its
parallelism throughout the stroke by causing the lever arm to slide in or out
of the slot or hole and thus adjust itself to the motion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a plan, and Fig. 2 an, end view of a machine arranged as above
described to cut a heading in an arched form.
A is the cylinder; the axis B is carried by the revolving boss C on the
front, to which a gradual feed may be imparted by means of the worm &
worm wheel D; the pick E works through guides F, F¹, on the revolving
bosses C & C¹; G is the piston rod acting on the pick bar through the
lever E, the slot in this lever and the link I allowing the pick to maintain its
parallelism. The pick cuts a drift, the shape of the sides of which is shewn in
Fig. 2, the cutter being caused by means of the circular feed motion above
described to cut a groove in the line of the circle K, L, M, after which the
coal may be detached by breaking it away upwards, by this means a very
narrow heading may be cut. When it is required to cut in a thicker seam
the cutter may be set further out from the centre round which it turns so that
it may describe a larger circle. In order to cut a wider heading as indicated
by the dotted lines L, N, O, the circular feed motion is thrown out of gear
and the frame held rigidly while the machine is fed along gradually from L
to N, after which the circular feed is again continued from N to O; or the coal
may be undercut from K to O, and the side cuts made afterwards from K to L,
and from N to O, and the coal then broken down from the top. When
traversing the machine from side to side it rests on the wheels P, P, and
when it is required to move it away from the face (as for the purpose of
breaking down and removing the coal) rollers of a larger diameter may be
placed on the pins Q, Q, so that the machine then rests on rollers set in the
direction in which it is required to move; or the axes of these rollers may be
provided with eccentrics, screws, or other contrivances in order to enable one
set of rollers to be raised out of the way while the other set is in action.
Fig. 3 shows a mode of actuating a lever pick by means of a lever arm
connected direct to the piston rod, and so arranged as to maintain its parallelism
without the intervention of a connecting rod; R is the piston rod; S, the

page_text: lever arm; and T, the axis carrying the pick U, and working in bearings V
on the bracket V₁%; the lever arm S instead of being rigidly connected to the
axis T is arranged to slide in and out through a boss in the centre thereof
while the piston rod travels to and fro in a straight line.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sturgeon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
1868.
JOHN STURGEON. (L.S.)