Improvements in Apparatus for Breaking up Roads and other Surfaces, for Making Roads, Breaking Stones, and like purposes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 8th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 29th Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Breaking up Roads and
other Surfaces, for Making Roads, Breaking Stones, and
like purposes.
We, ARTHUR SAMUEL FRANCIS ROBINSON, and ARTHUR CHARLES AUDEN,
both of the Vale of White Horse Iron Works, Wantage, in the County of
Berks., Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The machine is provided with a number of vertical or inclined rods working
in guides and provided at their lower ends with the necessary tools. For breaking
up roads these tools consist of a number of spikes and for making roads and
breaking stones of plane surfaces. An up and down reciprocating motion is given
to these rods by revolving wipers or cams which come against projections on
the rods raising them and then allowing them to fall by their own weight. The rods
are mounted upon a carriage and the wipers or cams are caused to revolve either
by hand or power.
We connect the tools to the lower ends of the rods in the following manner :-
The upper part of the tools are flanged and lie in a trough shaped piece of metal
embracing and bolted to the end of the rod the bottom of the trough being pierced
with holes for the projecting portions of the tools to pass through. Sometimes in
place of this arrangement we hinge the tools to a block or weight at the lower end
of the rod. In this case the tool is prevented from turning in one direction by
coming against the block or the lower end of the rod and in the other direction by
a spring which latter however gives way and allows the tool to turn if the machine
is moved forward whilst the tool is in the ground.
The apparatus is very suitable for being worked by a portable or traction
engine. In this case it is provided with a pole or shafts the ends of which enter
guides in the rear of the engine means being provided for moving them in the
guides so as to advance the machine a certain distance whilst the engine is
stationary. The engine is from time to time moved on this distance and in this
way the whole surface can be operated upon. The machine is driven by a belt
from the fly wheel of the engine a movable pulley being provided to take up
the slack of the belt when the machine is moved relatively to the engine. Or
the machine may be movable along and be driven by a shaft from the engine.
In place of working in guides the rods may be mounted on pivotted arms.
Dated this 7th day of November 1891.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Breaking up Roads and
other Surfaces, for Making Roads, Breaking Stones, and
like purposes.
We, ARTHUR SAMUEL FRANCIS ROBINSON, and ARTHUR CHARLES AUDEN,
both of the Vale of White Horse Jron Works, Wantage, in the County of
Berks., Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
For the purpose of breaking up roads and other surfaces, for making roads,
breaking stones and like purposes we provide a machine consisting of a carriage
on which are mounted a number of vertical or inclined rods. The rods can move
up and down in guides upon the carriage and they receive this motion from cams
or wipers upon a transverse horizontal shaft which is suitably driven. At their
lower ends the rods are armed with pointed or other tools according to the nature
of the work to be performed.
The machine is most suitably used in connection with a portable or traction
engine. A driving belt from the engine gives motion to an intermediate axis upon
the carriage and this by a pinion drives the cam axis. The carriage is provided
with shafts which enter guides or sockets attached to the engine. Whilst at work
the carriage is caused to advance slowly towards the engine the shafts sliding
through the guides or sockets whilst the engine remains stationary. Suitable
mechanism is provided for giving the forward motion to the carriage and 'for
maintaining a suitable tension upon the driving belt.
In the annexed drawings
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 is a plan of apparatus in' accordance
with our invention.
Figure 3 is a section showing the tools at the lower end of one of the rods.
a a is the frame of the carriage and bb are a pair of wheels on which it is carried.
ccare four or other number of rods moveable up and down in guides c c. d is an
axis provided with cams or wipers d' d' one for each rod. Each wiper d' as 'the
axis d revolves acts against an arm upon the rod, lifts it and then allows it to
fall. The rod carries a weight at its lower end at ca in order that in its fall it may
strike a sufficiently powerful blow. For road breaking and similar work each
rod c is armed with points e e preferably of hardened steel. These points' are fixed
in place in the following manner:-A three sided shoe fis applied to the lower end
of the rod; the bottom of the shoe is perforated with holes sufficiently large to
allow the points to pass through but not the heads at the upper ends of the tools.
The sides of the shoe fit closely to the sides of the rod c and are held to them' by
the through bolts
J.
The heads of the tools prevent them falling through the shoe and the upper
surfaces of the heads abut against the lower end of the rod. For other descriptions
of work as for stone breaking and road consolidating the 'rods are armed with
stampers with plane surfaces on the underside.
A portion of a traction engine which works the machine is shewn in the
drawings; it has swivel sockets or guides h h fixed to it by brackets and through
these the shafts a' a' of the carriage are passed. The axis i is also mounted upon
the socket brackets and upon the axis there is the barrel. k is a cord extending
from the barrel around a pulley upon the carriage and back to an attachment in
rear of the engine. is a hand wheel at the end of the axis i by turning it the
cord is wound upon the barrel and the carriage is drawn towards the engine. This
is done whilst the machine is in action to bring the tools or stampers forward to
operate on fresh surfaces as rapidly as the nature of the work renders it desirable.

page_text: When the carriage has approached the engine as nearly as it is able the work is
stopped for a moment, the engine without the carriage is moved a few feet forward
and work is then recommenced. The cam axis d has a toothed wheel d³ upon it
with which a pinion on the intermediate axis d° engages and on which is the belt
pulley. The pulley as shewn receives a driving belt from the engine. m is a
pulley carried upon a lever m' which is mounted upon the side of the engine; the
shaft a' as will be seen abuts upon one arm of the lever and the pulley m on the
other arm is in contact with the belt. Thus as the carriage advances towards
the engine the belt is deflected from its direct course between the belt pulleys and
the proper tension is constantly maintained.
By means of this machine much work may be done upon roads which is now
performed by manual labour.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we are aware
of the Specification of Patent No. 18843, A.D. 1890 granted to A. A. Voysey and
H. H. Hosack, and we make no claim to anything which is described and claimed
therein, but what we claim is :-
1. The combination substantially as described consisting of a carriage; rods
armed with tools at their lower ends and mounted to work up and down in guides
upon the carriage; an axis with wipers or cams lifting the rods and allowing them
to fall and apparatus for rotating the cam axis and for drawing the carriage slowly
forward as the work progresses.
2. In a machine in accordance with the preceding claim
a. The means described for attaching the tools to the lower ends of the rods
so that same may be readily changed.
b. The method described for maintaining a suitable tension upon the driving
belt whilst the carriage advances towards the engine.
Dated this 8th day of August 1892.
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents.