INPROVE- MENTS IN GETTING OR MINING COALS AND MINERALS, AND IN DRILLING AND BLASTING OR DISINTEGRATING ROCKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Macnab, of Charlotte Strect, Fitzroy
Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "INPROVE-
MENTS IN GETTING OR MINING COALS AND MINERALS, AND IN DRILLING AND
BLASTING OR DISINTEGRATING ROCKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN.
"
Scaled the 14th March 1876, and dated the 18th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Macnab at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th September 1875.
I, JAMES MACNAB, of Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GETTING OR MINING COALS AND MINERALS, AND IN DRILLING
AND BLASTING OR DISINTEGRATING ROCKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the emplorment of on oment on amonto of

page_text: powerful substitute for gunpowder, gun cotton, dynamite, or other
dangerous explosive now used in mining coals, minerals, or blasting
rocks, and which is also a most expeditious-and-cheap-substitute-for-the.
present expensive, tedious, and-laborious-process-of-getting-coal_by_
manual labour or by cutting machines.
My process and method consists of simple boring-machinery-combined
with bursting or explosive agents, and modified according to circum-
stances. The said bursting or explosive agents are generated by
hydrostatic and pneumatic pressure in combination or separately, that
is to say, water and air or other liquid and fluid are compressed or
condensed in combination or seperately in a hollow iron shell, or other
non-inflammable bodies acting in a similar bursting or explosive manner
may be employed, but I prefer to use water and atmospheric air in
combination for getting or mining coal.
The water and air are confined in a water-tight hollow iron shell of
a spherical or other shape, the said shell being similar to those used in
mortars or artillery, or a shell of other metal or strong material may be
employed.. Into the opening or orifice of the iron shell the end of a
given length of iron, steel, or other metallic tubing is firmly screwed
or otherwise fixed and made air and water-tight, the other end of the
tubing being connected to an hydrostatic injector or pneumatic force
pump, which is placed at a suitable distance from the coal seam or coal
face operated upon.
"
The first step in my process is to drill or bore a hole of a given
diameter into the face of the coal seam at the required height, and to
-the-necessary depth in the said coal seam. At the head or end of this
bore hole, a hollow circular or other shaped chamber or enlarged hole.
is then bored or cut out by a radiating drill" or cutting tool, herein-
after described, together with the boring machinery employed in
combination with my process. This being completed, the iron shell is
placed or forced into the extremity of the hollow chamber or enlarged
hole at the head or end of the previously mentioned bore hole. The
tubing connecting the hydrostatic injector or pneumatic force pump
is led through the centre of a log of wood or plug, which may if desired
be composed of iron or other suitable material; this log of wood or plug
has a hollow core or hole bored through its centre from end to end, and
is in external diameter and length the exact size of the bore hole, and

page_text: is tipped at the end next to the iron shell at the head of the hollow
chamber or enlarged hole with a circular conical shaped steel shield or
cap, on which is fixed an easy fitting circular steel spring collar or ring,
to slide up and close the opening round the outer edge of the conical
shaped steel shield or cap. The other, or outer end of the log of wood
or plug is tipped with a ring or cap of steel and flat at the end or lead,
and has a small hole in its centre.
A circular pointed wedge of steel, of an internal diameter, exactly
equal to the external diameter of the log of wood or plug, is forced or
jammed tightly into the coal face, between and round the outer end of
the steel tipped log of wood or plug; the object of the same being to
prevent any loss of power from the escape of compressed air, water, or
other materials contained in the hollow chamber or enlarged hole. This
operation having been completed, the outer end of the said log of wood
or plug is shored up or jammed with a beam or beams, or by other
means, against the wall or other suitable part of the workings, to
prevent the said log of wood or plug from being started or forced
outwards. The hydrostatic injector or pneumatic force pump is now
worked, and at once condenses or compresses the air and water, or other
elastic and non-elastic fluid or liquid inside the hollow iron shell which
was placed and fixed in the hollow chamber or enlarged hole, until by
its hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure the hollow iron shell is burst or
exploded. This can be effected in a few minutes after it is operated
upon with the same facility as if the same had been charged with gun-
powder, gun cotton, or other dangerous explosive. At the same instant
of explosion of the hollow iron shell, the spring collar round the circular
conical shaped shield or cap will be forced or slid up into the coal seam,
and will close up the opening round the outer edge or rim of such shield
or cap, and at the same moment simultaneously throw down or force
out the entire arca of the coal scam, operated upon in the same manner
as if operated by the power of gunpowder or other inflammable explosive,
and thus at slight expense without danger and with equal if not greater
power and expedition.
The conical shield or cap may be formed with a female screw thread
for the reception of a conical screw ring, which is prevented from
rotating by a tongue projecting from the log or plug before referred to,
and the screwed cap is rotated by the act of turning by means of a
handle a hollow rod, carrying the tubing from the hydrostatic and

page_text: pneumatic injector, whereby the conical screw which is retained as
before mentioned, is forced outwards,-and-its-edges-are-caused to
penetrate the coal so as to maintain a tight joint..
Another modification consists-in-forming-the-conical-shield- or cap
with a central wedge; which is surrounded by two semicircular radiating
arms pivotted to the log or plug, which arms by the act of rotating the
cap and wedge by means of a screw passing through the same are caused
to diverge and take a firm hold upon the coal. The arms are surrounded
by a wedge-shaped ring and leather collar, which contribute to maintain
a tight joint after the manner of the leather collar and ring of a Bramah

page_text: As a further aid to the successful working of my system or process
of boring, a jet or stream of water is pumped or thrown into the borc
hole by the hydrostatic injector or force pump to maintain the drills or
cutting tools in a cool condition, and to force out the coal dust cut
by the drills or boring tools.
The machinery or apparatus used for drilling or cutting the bore hole
and hollow chamber or enlarged hole is constructed in the following
manner: The drill is carried in a holder which is mounted upon the
extremity of a traversing screw working in a female screw or nut formed
in or carried by a suitable frame. The screw is operated by a hand lever
mounted on a square or feathered portion thereof, which slides through
the lever as the screw rotates. The frame is rigidly wedged and sup-
ported at one end and mounted on trunnions at its opposite end, which
is adjustable vertically by means of a screw in order to admit of the
height of the drill being regulated as required. The frame in lieu of
being a fixture may be mounted on a wheel carriage, the wheels thereof
being made adjustable to suit tramways of different gauges.
The radiating drill herein-before referred to consists of a stock having
a fixed drill in the centre, around which there are arranged four or any
other suitable number of cutting tools which are pivotted to the stock
by means of a pin formed on the cutting tool entering a suitable inclined.
slot in the stock. These cutting tools are arranged in such a manner
that in their normal position they lie flat or locked, but that when the
central drill is rotated and entering the material the cutting tools
radiate or diverge so as to make an expanded hole or chamber.
According to another modification of my improved drilling apparatus
the drill is carried in a square holder, which is rotated by any suitable
motive power by means of a strap, which passes over a pulley carried
loosely upon the said holder, but prevented from shifting out of position
laterally suitable adjustable supports or brackets.
The rear end of the shaft or tool holder is made of a conical or other
suitable form to enter a bearing which is formed in one with a piston
fitting in a suitable cylinder, and the fore part of such shaft or tool
holder is fitted with an eccentric, which actuates the plunger of a
hydraulic or pneumatic injector, so arranged as to force water or air into
the cylinder and behind the piston, thereby forcing the drill into the

page_text: substance in proportion to the speed of rotation of the shaft. The
cylinder is carried upon suitable trunnions adjustable vertically, and is
suitably wedged-and-supported.
--->
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Macnab in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MACNAB, of Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Macnab, Her special
license that I, the said James Macnab, my executors, administrators,
.and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Macnab, my executors,
administrators, or 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, excrcise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “IMPROVEMENTS
IN GETTING OR MINING COALS AND MINERALS, AND IN DRILLING, OR BLASTING, OR
DISINTEGRATING ROCKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Macnab, my executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 James Macnab, 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

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
-
My said Invention relates to the mining of coal and other minerals,
the drilling and blasting or disintegrating of rocks, and to the machinery
or apparatus employed therein, and consists essentially in the applica-
tion, either separately or in combination in the manner hercin-after
described, of water, air, or other similar liquid or fluid, bursting or
disintegrating agents of a non-inflammable and harmless character in
substitution for gunpowder, gun cotton, dynamite, or other dangerous
explosive now employed for the purpose, and also for the ordinary
mechanical mode of getting or working coal at present adopted; also
in the construction and use of simple drilling or boring machinery
for forming holes to receive the agent or agents above-mentioned,
also in apparatus to be used in combination with such agent or agents.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings is a side elevation of my improved drilling
apparatus for boring holes in coal or other mineral, for the intro-
duction of the bursting or disintegrating agent; Figure 2 is an end
view of the same; and Figure 3 is a section taken along the line 1, 2,
in Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of an expanding or radiating drill,
which I employ for enlarging the inner end of the hole, as herein-after
described, for the reception of the bursting agent; Figure 5 is a front
clevation of the same, with the cuttors in an expanded position.
Figure 6 is a sectional view, illustrating one mode of applying my
Invention to the disintegration of coal, and Figure 7 is a similar section
illustrating the general combination and arrangement of the apparatus
employed, and mode of operating the same.
In carrying out my Invention I first drill or bore a hole of a given
diameter in the face of the coal seam (for example) at the required
height, by means of my improved drilling machinery, or by any other
suitable and convenient apparatus.

page_text: My improved drilling machinery is illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3,
in which A represents a wood or metal framing mounted upon -running
wheels B, for the facility of its removal from place to place, and which-may-
be made adjustable to suit different gauges of rails. To the upper part
of this frame there is fitted a nut C which works a corresponding screw D
formed on the lower end of a frame-E, carrying the holder F of thedrill¨F¹.
The upper end G of the frame E is extended upwards towards the roof
of the working against which (or against wedges or blocks provided
according to the desired height of the hole to be drilled) it is forced by
means of the nut C and screw D, in order to hold it securely in position
when at work. The drill holder F is provided with a screw thread H,
which works in a nut 'I carried by trunnions K in the frame E, so as to
enable the hole in the seam to be made at any desired angle. The drill
holder may be actuated by means of the hand wheel L keyed on the end
thereof, or it may be worked by power if desired. Immediately behind
the cutting point on the body of the drill F¹ there is provided a worm
or screw thread a and leather washer b, the former of which, when the
drill is at work, causes the dust produced by the cutting action of the
drill to be carried forward towards the mouth of the opening behind the
leather washer, whilst the latter by springing or expanding outwards, so
as to cover the surface of the worm when the drill is being withdrawn
from the hole prevents the dust from returning past the worm.
The hole having now been made of sufficient depth, and the drill with-
drawn, the same is removed from the holder and the radiating or expanding
drill represented in Figures 4 and 5, substituted therefor. This drill
consists of a number of arms M hinged to the stock or body M', and pro-
vided with cutting edges or points c, and a central fixed cutter.d..-This-
drill is inserted in the hole previously made, and is rotated therein; and
upon the arms M coming in contact with the bottom or head of the hole
they will commence to expand, and thereby produce an enlargement of
the hole, at the inner end thereof, of a form somewhat approaching that
of a cone, as shewn at c in Figure 7. A jet of water may be injected
into the hole for the purpose of maintaining the drill in a cool con-
dition. In the hole thus formed in the body of the coal I insert a metal
shell N which may be spherical, as shewn in Figure 7, or cylindrical, as
shewn by dotted lines in Figure 6, or of any other suitable form, into
which shell the bursting agent is forced in the manner herein-after
described. This shell is connected to apparatus for forcing or sup-
plying the bursting agents situate at any suitable distance from the face

page_text: of the working by means of tubing P, which passes through a central
hole Q formed in a plug R fitted in the hole in the working. The
plug R, which may be composed of either wood or metal, has fitted on
its inner end, by screwing or otherwise, a conical steel cap or shield S,
over which is placed (so as to fit easily thereon) a conical spring collar
or ring T. A metal disc or washer U is fitted immediately behind
the collar or ring T, so as to slide freely on the tubing P between the
said collar or ring and the shell N for the purpose herein-after
described. The outer end of the plug R, which is flush with the face
of the working when in position, is provided with a screw thread for
the reception of a screwed, conical, or other shaped wedge or nut V,
which by means of the projections g, g, is forced in to the coal, there by
securely holding the plug in position and preventing the escape of tho
disintegrating agent or agents, and the consequent loss of power. 'I do
not confine myself to the special construction and, arrangements of the
parts just described, as other equivalent arrangements may be employed
for the purpose.
In order to prevent any liability of the plug being forced out by the
power of the bursting agent I further secure it by means of beams or
planks of wood W made to bear at one end against the end of the plug,
whilst their opposite ends may be held against the opposite side of the
working or be otherwise retained in position. The apparatus is now
ready to receive the bursting or disintegrating agent or agents which
according to my Invention consists of compressed air, water, or other
elastic or non-elastic fluid, and which is introduced in the following
manner: The tubing P before referred to may either be placed in
communication with an atmo-hydraulic accumulator Y, as shewn, and
the latter be connected to the atmo-hydraulic force pump O by means
of the air and water pipe 7; or the said tubing P may be connected
directly to the force pump if desired. In the former case (which is the
arrangement I prefer to adopt) the tubing P is connected at X to the
lower end of the accumulator, and by means of the branch pipe / to
the upper end thereof at Z, such pipes P and h being fitted respectively
with cocks i, k, or valves for the purpose of regulating the passage of
air and water as required.
Air and water are forced into the accumulator Y by means of the
pump O, whereby a volume of air compressed to a high degree is
obtained in the upper part of the accumulator, which air, together with

page_text: the water, is thus stored up in readiness for use as required. The above
force pump is provided for this purpose with a separate cylinder o, as
indicated by the dotted lines, and has an air self-acting valve-o-at-the
top of the same. which opens and closes as the plunger of the pump
ascends and descends, the inlet water valve o² being shut during this
action, and vice versa when forcing water into the accumulator or
shell.
The air and water contained in the accumulator are employed in the
following manner:-The metal shell N and the plug R having been
inserted in the hole f, as herein-before described, the cock k is opened so
as to admit air from the accumulator into the shell to an extent
equivalent to say about four atmospheres or more of pressure (the
amount being ascertained by reference to the pressure gauge u). The cock
% is then closed and the cock i suddenly opened, when water from the
accumulator will enter the shell with great force and compress the air
contained therein until the explosion of the shell is effected. When the
explosion takes place the spring collar or ring T will by the force
generated be caused to slide over the shield S and enter the body of the
coal surrounding the plug R, thereby preventing the escape of the air
and water. The whole force of the compressed air and water will thus
be exerted in the enlarged end of the opening and the seam of coal be
consequently thrown or forced out in the same manner as if gunpowder
or other similar or inflammable explosives had been employed; or in
lieu of admitting air and water in combination into the shell, either water
or air may be employed alone if desired, and a similar result will be
obtained. The increased area obtained by enlarging the hole at the
-inner-end-thereof,-as-herein-before-described,.admits of more freedom for
the shell N to burst or explode with accumulated force, and thereby
cause it to act after the manner of a steam hammer, striking a con-
centrated blow on the face or walls of the chamber and forcing out the
coal before it. If desired the metal shell N may be dispensed with and
the hole be made either of the same diameter throughout, as shown in
Figure 6, or otherwise, the air and water being forced into the hole in
the same manner as when the metal shell is employed. In this case the
orifice p, Figure 6, of the tube at the inner end of the plug may be
provided if required with a check valve to prevent the return of the air
or water.

page_text: having frictional rams tightly plugged into their muzzles, which rams
are placed against the outer wall g, Figure 6, of the hollow chamber
and then operated upon (in a similar manner to the metal shell by the
hydraulic injector) so as to force out or throw down the coal seam or
other material, as the case may be.
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 what I consider to
bc novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The application and use to and in the mining, blasting, or
disintegrating of coal, minerals, and rocks, of compressed air, water, or
other similar fluid or liquid, either separately or in combination, sub-
stantially in the manner hercin-before described.
Secondly. The mode or method of exploding or bursting motal shells
or chambers placed or contained in a hole or recess formed in the body
of the coal, mineral, or rock, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose
herein-before described.
Thirdly. The combination of the drill holder F, swivelling nut I, and
adjustable frame E, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Fourthly. The employment of a drill with expanding or radiating
arms having cutting points or surfaces arranged and operating, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and as
illustrated by Figures 4 and 5 of my Drawings.
Fifthly. The combination of the tube P and the plug R with the
cap or shield S, spring collar T, and wedge or nut V, or their equivalents,
the whole arranged substantially in the manner and for the purpose
herein-before described and as illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Macnab, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.