IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Irlam Ellis, of Number Twenty,
Barnsbury Park, in the Parish of Islington, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CRANES."
Sealed the 1st January 1869, and dated the 17th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Irlam Ellis
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th July 1868.
I, WILLIAM IRLAM ELLIS, of Number Twenty, Barnsbury Park, in
the Parish of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CRANES," to be as follows:-
The employment of a lever or levers for raising or lowering heavy
loads of what is usually described as of the first or third order to which
is applied a hydraulic press or jack, screw jack, rack jack, steam or
air cylinder or other similar means, whether worked by manual or
other power, whereby the use of chains to sustain the weight with their
chain pulleys, barrels and wheel gearing and of any wheel or pulley to
raise or lower the jib by its axis may be dispensed with, and the

page_text: construction of a wharf, travelling, or other independent swing crane
deriving no support except from its foundation or carriage with such an
arrangement of the parts that the usual massive post may also be
dispensed with, a holding down bolt being substituted for it. This is
performed by the use of rollers under the part of the crane frame
nearest to the load acting as a fulcrum around which the crane frame
is prevented from being overturned by the above mentioned holding
down bolt which also forms the centre around which the crane revolves.
The above named improvements may be used together or separately.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Irlam Ellis in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
IRLAM ELLIS, of Number Twenty, Barnsbury Park, in the Parish of
Islington, in the County of Middlesex, and now of Manchester Street
Works, Albion Street, Oldham Road, Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Irlam Ellis, Her special licence
that I, the said William Irlam Ellis, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Irlam Ellis, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN CRANES," upon the condition (amongst others), that I,
the said William Irlam Ellis, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 tlie said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Irlam Ellis, 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, reference being also had to the accompany-
ing Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in swing cranes used in
raising, lowering, or transporting heavy bodies, and consists, firstly,
in the employment of a lever or levers of the first or third order operated
by means of a screw jack, rack jack, hydraulic, air, steam, or any
other kind of press or machine which may be employed for the purpose
of the concentration of the force to be used; and my said improve-
ments consist, secondly, in the construction of swing cranes which
depend for support on their foundations to prevent their being over-
turned, with a holding down bolt as centre pin or axis in place of the
massive post hitherto employed.
In the accompanying Sheets of Drawings I have shewn several views
of my said Invention, as also some modes of applying and working the
same.
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation of a lever crane worked
by means of a screw, and Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.
In these Figures a is the lever, which in this case is of the first
order, turning on the fulcrum b; c is the screw used to raise or lower
the jib or lever as and when required. This screw passes through the
boss of the middle one d of three bevel geared wheels which forms the
nut or internal screw or counterpart for it. Each of the other two
wheels e, e, is keyed upon a horizontal shaft ff, provided at the end
with a handle, by turning which and by the above described apparatus,
the operation of raising or lowering a load suspended from or otherwise
carried by the end of the lever at g is effected. The crane frame h is
supported at the front by the rollers i, i, which run round the circular
roller path when the crane is being swung or revolved, it is prevented
from overturning on the rollers as a fulcrum by its being held down
by the bolt which also acts as the centre around which the crane
revolves.
In Sheet 2, Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation and Figure 2 is a
front elevation of the same as before. In these Figures a is the lever,
which in this case is of the third order, turning on the fulcrum b; c iş

page_text: à hydraulic press or jack used to raise or lower the jib or lever with
or without a load upon it as and when required. This press is operated
in the usual manner by means of a pump d, on working the hand lever
of which the fluid is forced into the press, the ram being thus caused
to rise and being connected with the lever the latter is compelled to
rise with it, any load carried by the lever a being thus elevated. When it
is required to lower or depress the jib a, the liquid contained within the
press c is, by the opening of a valve in the ordinary well known manner,
allowed to return from the press c when the weight of the jib or lever a
will cause it to descend. In this case the lever and other parts are
carried by an upright post e, which is supported at top and bottom by
centres which revolve in a fixed top bearing and footstep when the crane
is swung.
In Sheet 3, Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation, and Figure 2 is a
front elevation as before. In this case a is the lever or jib which is
of the third order, the fulcrum 6 being at one end and the load to be
lifted being supported at some point beyond the place at which the
press, jack, or other machine is applied; c is the before mentioned
hydraulic press which is supplied with steam, air, water, oil, or other
fluid by the pipe d, d, d, which conducts the fluid employed from an
accumulator, pump, tank, steam boiler, or other means of supply, whereby
the ram of the press is caused to rise when required and allowed to
fall when the fluid is permitted to escape from the press, the ram being
connected with the jib or lever at e, the jib end at g, and any load on
it rise or fall with the ram. The crane frame his supported at the
front by the rollers i, i, which run round the circular roller path % when
the crane is being swung or revolved, it is prevented from overturning
on the rollers as a fulcrum by its being held down by the bolt / which
acts as the centre around which the crane revolves, and is made hollow
or tubular to allow the passage through it of the pipe d, or it is made
to form a portion of that pipe. The centre bolt in this instance is made
with a wide flange to rest on the top of the foundation, and is connected
with the bottom of the foundation by several bolts in continuation of it,
which are used to enable the pipe d to be joined up to or pass through
the centre bolt and to distribute the lift more equally over the under
surface of the foundation.
In the modifications of my Invention herein-before described the
distance through which a load can be raised or lowered is limited to the

page_text: range of the end of the jib by which it is carried. In Sheet 3, Figure 1,
an arrangement is shewn by which the height of lift may be increased
when desired; this is accomplished by the use of chains or ropes and
blocks, used in the inverse of the usual manner, but in a similar way to
that well known in Armstrong's Patent hydraulic cranes. m, m, are
the blocks; n, n, n, the chain or rope with a hook attached to the free
end at o, by which the load is to be suspended from the chain n, n, n.
When the lever is put in motion the blocks m, m, one of which is
attached to the lever a, and the other to the frame h, will have a varying
distance between them, the effect of which will be that the chain n, m, n,
and hook o will have a corresponding movement communicated to them
whereby raising or lowering is effected as required.
It is to be understood that although I recommend that chains com-
posed of a considerable number of separate links should not be employed
except when unavoidably necessary, that I do not limit myself from
their use in combination with the parts or any part of my Invention
whether used together or any part separately.
When it is required to vary the radius of sweep or swing as in a
derrick crane or to raise a greater load than can with safety be carried
at the end of the jib or lever a, or which the machine applied to the
lever is incapable of raising at that point with convenience, the weight
carried may be greater if supported nearer the fulcrum of the lever as
shewn at p, p, p, in Figure 1, Sheet 1.
I do not confine myself to the precise arrangements shown on the
Drawings, which may be greatly varied or modified, some of the modifi-
cations of which they are capable being by the use of compound levers,
levers of different forms, and with the machine applied to them in
different ways; by the use of shafting, accumulators, steam or other
motive power engines on or off the crane frame; by the application of
counterbalance weights with chains and pulleys, or counterbalance
levers and weights to balance in whole or in part the weight of the
lever and its load, or levers for weighing the load carried; by the use
of machinery for racking in and out along the jib, or machinery for
swinging or revolving the crane; by the addition of circular segments
at the end of the jib to obtain a vertical lift, or of guide bars or any
other kind of parallel motion to control the motion of the lever in or
out of a straight or perpendicular line either at the end or any other
point; or by the use of different lengths or descriptions of hooks, links,

page_text: or chains to suspend the load by from the lever, or of platforms of
various constructions to carry the weight above the lever.
. Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have
had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made
therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features of my
said Invention; but I would have it distinctly understood that I lay
no claim to the separate and distinct parts hercin-before described and
referred to, except when employed in combination as and for the purposes
above mentioned; but what I consider to be novel and original and
therefore claim as my Invention is,―
Firstly. The construction of a crane by the employment of a lever
or levers of the first or third order, by which the raising, lowering, or
transporting heavy bodies is performed, in combination with a jack,
press, steam or air cylinder or other machine applied directly to the
lever or levers.
Secondly. The herein-before described construction of cranes with a
centre bolt or bolts through the foundation, instead of the post heretofore
used, which is subject to a transverse or bending strain.
And, thirdly, I claim the use of the parts of my Invention in com-
bination, and of each separate part independently.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Irlam Ellis, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Fourteenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.