IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DIGGING
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frank Proctor at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd November 1882.
FRANK PROCTOR, of Stevenage, in the County of Herts, "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DIGGING."
This invention relates to machinery or apparatus actuated by steam and used for
the purpose of digging or turning up the ground by means of forks or other
suitable implements, the digging appliances and also the self-propelling mechanism
for the entire apparatus being driven by a self-contained steam Engine and boiler.
The objects of my present invention are novel methods of constructing and
arranging the several parts of such machinery, so that they are simple, cheap, and
durable, and are effective for the purpose required.
Assuming that my invention is to be applied to apparatus in which three sets of
digging forks, tines, or other suitable implements, are to be used, I take a
sufficiently strong framework preferably of wrought iron at or about the centre of
the length of which are arranged bearings in which revolves a transverse axle
provided with two bearing wheels of diameter and size proportioned to the size of
the machine and to the work which it is to do. In front of these wheels I arrange
a third centre wheel the axle of which is carried in bearings connected to the
framing which is preferably curved down to the proper level the bearings being so
arranged that they can swivel round a centre vertical pivot in order that the wheel
may be used for steering, to facilitate which it is preferably provided with a central
angle iron or rib. The ends of its axle are provided with chains which are coiled
in opposite directions round drums upon a transverse shaft revolving in bearings,
which shaft can be turned round in either direction by a tangent wheel and screw
or other equivalent means, and a handle operated by an attendant upon the
machine.
The frame in front of the main axle carries a vertical boiler of any suitable kind,
and it also carries in a suitable position a support upon which is bolted a steam
engine of suitable size and any convenient description, the driving shaft of which
revolves in bearings upon standards bolted or otherwise fixed to the upper part of
the frame. Surrounding the main axle of the machine I fit a second hollow or

page_text: tubular shaft or axle which also revolves in separate bearings, carried by the frame
but arranged inside the main bearings. This hollow shaft is concentric with but
free from the main axle, and upon one end of it is fitted and fixed a toothed wheel
actuated by a corresponding toothed pinion upon the Engine driving shaft. Near
the back end of the apparatus is fitted another intermediate transverse shaft which
also revolves in bearings upon the frame in such a position that a toothed wheel
upon one of its ends of the same size as that upon the tubular shaft is driven by a
pinion upon the end of the tubular shaft of the same size as the pinion upon the
engine shaft, and the same toothed wheel thus driven also drives a third pinion, of
the same size as those already described, upon a transverse shaft which is provided
with three cranks or excentrics and revolves in bearings upon and below the back
end of the frame. These three cranks or excentrics, which are set at equal distances
apart upon the shaft, as well as in end view, actuate bars the lower ends of which
carry the three digging forks or implements whilst their upper ends are jointed to
links more or less horizontal, the forward ends of which are pivotted to a transverse
bar carried in standards fixed upon the frame of the machine.
The end of the intermediate shaft described also carries a fourth pinion, similar
to the other pinions, which gears with a toothed wheel also similar to the other
toothed wheels and fixed upon the main axle of the machine which carries the two
principal supporting wheels, and is preferably provided with means by which it can
be connected to or disconnected from them.
The relative diameters of the wheels and pinions described are so proportioned
that when the engine is set in motion the several parts move at the proper relative
velocity in the following manner-The pinion upon the Engine shaft drives the
toothed wheel upon the tubular shaft which by the pinion upon it drives the wheel
upon the intermediate shaft which in turn drives the pinion upon the cranked shaft
by which the digging forks or implements are set in operation at the proper speed.
At the samo time-the-pinion-upon-the-intermediate shaft drives the wheel upon the
main axle and propels the entire apparatus forward at a velocity exactly suited to
the speed with which the digging is effected.
The attendant upon the machine guides it by means of the steering wheel in
front, and the main wheels may be fitted with projecting pieces or spikes in order
to give them a better hold in the ground, and these projecting pieces may be made
moveable and connected to an excentric in the ordinary well-known way, so that
when desired they can be made to project more or less or he withdrawn, as for
instance when the Engine is running upon an ordinary road.
I arrange moveable clutch boxes by which the driving gear or the digging gear
can be thrown into or out of operation when desired, and the bearings which carry
the transverse cranked digging shaft may be made moveable round the centre of
the intermediate shaft which drives it, so that the digging implements may be made
to work more or less deeply, or entirely withdrawn from the ground. Or, the forks
may be hinged.
By the method of construction and arrangement described, which may be varied
in detail to suit varying circumstances, great simplicity and cheapness are attained,
the wheels and pinions respectively being similar, and by the method of arranging
the vertical boiler, the tubular shaft, and the other parts of the apparatus, the whole
is made very compact, strong, and durable, whilst it is light, and easily worked and
kept in repair.