IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TUN- NELLING AND DRIVING GALLERIES THROUGH ROCK AND OTHER STRATA."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert Newton Penrice, of Witton House, near
Norwich, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TUN-
NELLING AND DRIVING GALLERIES THROUGH ROCK AND OTHER STRATA."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert Newton Penrice
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd June 1861.
I, HERBERT NEWTON PENRICE, of Witton House, near Norwich, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
TUNNELLING AND DRIVING GALLERIES THROUGH ROCK AND OTHER STRATA," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for tunnelling
and driving galleries through rock and other strata. In the Specification of a
Patent granted to me, dated 6th November 1858, No. 2481, I described
certain machinery for tunnelling and driving galleries which, when, worked by
steam, was supplied from a boiler at a distance.
Now, according to my present Invention, the boiler is connected with the
machinery, and the whole is mounted on wheels, so that it may be made to
progress as the work proceeds. It is preferred, as in the former Invention,
that the machinery should be arranged to cut a cylindrical tunnel. The boiler
and steam machinery are carried on several pairs of wheels, and the peri-
pheries or tyres of these wheels are formed to a corresponding curve to that

page_text: of the cylindrical tunnel, and the pairs of wheels revolve in planes inclined to
each other, their axles being inclined to each other. On each axle is a screw
or worm wheel, and there are two parallel shafts, one on each side of the
boiler, with worms or screws thereon, there being one worm for each of the
wheels; by this means a slow motion may be given to the wheels, and the
machinery may thus be moved towards the face of the work. The speed at
which the screw shafts are driven is capable of being readily varied in order to
suit the varying strata, and in order to be able readily to adjust the
progress of
the machine to the quantity of work which the cutters are enabled at different
times to penetrate, the cutting machinery is constructed and is put in
motion in a similar manner to what was described in the Specification of my
said former Patent. The valves of the steam cylinders, by which the cutter
is worked, and the pump or pumps are actuated by suitable gearing, worked
by the piston of another and smaller steam cylinder, which also drives the
screw shafts and the endless chain of scrapers by which the pulverized
materials are moved back from the face which is being worked; or more than
one steam engine may be employed for these purposes. Provision-is-made for
drawing off the products of combustion and the steam from the, tunnel or
gallery through a pipe, and provision is also made for admitting to the tunnel
fresh air to supply the workman, and also the boiler furnace..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent; filed
by the said Herbert Newton Penrice in the Great Seal. Patent Office
on the 3rd December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
NEWTON PENRICE, of Witton House, near Norwich, send greeting.
:..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing dato the Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Herbert Newton Penrice, Her special licence that I, the said Herbert
Newton Penrice, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Herbert Newton Penrice, 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
night make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Pritain and Ireland, the. Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for.

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TUNNELLING AND DRIVING GALLERIES THROUGH
ROCK AND OTHER STRATA," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Herbert Newton Penrice, my executors or administrators, by an instru
ment 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 Herbert Newton Penrice, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for tunnelling
and driving galleries through rock and other strata. In the Spécification of a
Patent granted to me, the 6th November 1858, No. 2481; I described certain
machinery for tunnelling and driving galleries, which when worked by steam;
was supplied from a boiler at a distance.
Now, according to my present Invention, the boiler is connected with the
machinery, and the whole is mounted on wheels, so that it may be made to
progress as the work proceeds. It is preferred, as in the former Invention,
that the machinery should be arranged to cut a cylindrical tunnel. The boiler
and steam machinery are carried on several pairs of wheels, and the peri-
pheries or tyres of these wheels are formed to a corresponding curve to that
of the cylindrical tunnel, and the pairs of wheels revolve in planes inclined to
each other, their axles being inclined to each other. On each axle is a
screw or worm wheel, and there are two parallel shafts, one on each side of
the boiler, with worms or screws thereon, there being one worm for each of
the wheels; by this means a słow motion may be given to the wheels, and the
machinery may thus be moved towards the face of the work. The speed at
which the screw shafts are driven is capable of being readily varied in order to
suit the varying strata, and in order to be able readily to adjust the progress
of the machine to the quantity of work which the cutters are enabled at
different times to penetrate, the cutting machinery is constructed and is put
in motion in a similar manner to what was described in the Specification of
my said former Patent. The valves of the steam cylinders, by which the
cutter is worked, and the pump or pumps, are actuated by suitable gearing
worked by the piston of another and smaller steam cylinder, which also drives
the screw shafts and the endless chain of scrapers by which the pulverized
materials are moved back from the face which is being worked; or more than

page_text: with fresh air to supply the workman, and also the boiler, furnace.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a side elevation. of machinery constructed, and, combined
according to this Invention; Figure 2 shows a plan thereof; and Figures.
3, 4, 5, 6; 7, and 8 transverse sections thereof, taken respectively at different
parts a, a, b, b, c, c, d, d, e, e, and f,f, Figure 1. The machinery is arranged
to cut a cylindrical tunnel, and the size of such tunnel will depend on the
diameter of the cutter head or holder used.
In the Drawing; A is the bed of the engine or cylinder within which the
piston works, which gives a quick to-and-fro motion to. the cutter head г.
holder F. The cutter head has a number of cutters fixed on arms, which
radiate from. the centre, of the head or holder. These radial cutters are of
steel. The cutter head has a slow rotation, so that the cutters are moved.
after each blow against the face of the rock a short distance round, so that
the cutters, act at a slight distance from their previous points of action, and so
that they are each caused to chip off a small piece of the rock at each forward
movement of the cutters. This form of cutter head for cutting tunnels and
galleries in rocks is not new, but was described by me in my said previous
Specification, but in the former arrangement of machinery described by me
the steam boiler which supplied the engine did not accompany the engine, by
which the cutter head or holder was put in motion, neither was the steam
machinery mounted on wheels, so as thereby progressively to bo caused to
move up to the face of the work as the rock in front is progressively cut away;
on the contrary, the movement of the machinery was by other mechanism.
The peculiarity of the present Invention consists in arranging the steam.
machinery which gives motion to the cutter head or holder, and also the other
mechanism, in such manner that such machinery may be accompanied by the
requisite boiler or boilers, and the whole mounted on wheels, in order that the
same may be locomotive. The arrangement and the construction of the
various parts of the combination necessary for carrying out my Invention may
be greatly varied, but that which is shown in, the Drawings I believe will be
found very convenient and suitable for the purpose. The construction of
steam boiler which is preferred is the best class of locomotive boilers of
considerable power, in order that the cutter bead may be moved to and fro a
short distance with high velocity, say, four to five hundred strokes per minute;

page_text: and it is preferred that the piston which actuates the cutter head should on
one side (where the steam acts on it to bring it and the cutter head or holder
back) be of much less area than the other side of the piston where the steam
acts on it to drive the cutter head or holder against the face of the rock. That
which is required is that the area of the piston on the side next the work
should be sufficient to bring back the piston and the cutter head or holder
with the requisite speed.each time. after the cutters have been driven against
the face of the rock: In the arrangement shewn the cutter head or holder F
is mounted on and carried by a. hollow piston rod, which is of large diameter.
as compared with the cylinder within which it works; in order to get strength,
and also that one side of the piston may be of larger area than the other.
The piston rod. is supported and slides. in. a bearing E, all which is similar to
what bas before been published by me in my said former Specification: In.
the arrangement shown there are two small steam cylinders K, L, which are
of the ordinary construction, and they are supplied by steam from the steam.
boiler. By means of these small engines and the gearing and apparatus put
in motion thereby, the slide valve of the main cylinder can be driven with great
rapidity; and these small engines also give motion to the two shafts P, one on
each side, as will readily be understood. by reference to the Drawings. On
these shafts Pare screws P₁, which give motion to screw. wheels P³ on the
axes of the wheels P³, as is clearly shown in the Drawings; these wheels
carry the steam boiler and the steam machinery, and the peripheries of the
wheels are convex, corresponding with the curvature of the tunnel, and they
rest on the lower parts of the cutting, the wheels on each side being inclined,
as shown in the Drawing: In order that a slow rotating motion may be com-
municated to the cutter head, there is a screw wheel O formed round the
piston rod, which receives motion by a screw N (shown in red lines), put in
motion by the small steam engines, as is shown in the Drawings.
The waste steam from the engines and the products of combustion from the
furnace are conveyed away from the engines and boiler furnace by a suitable
pipe, supported near the roof of the tunnel, and communicating with the outer
air, which arrangement will greatly aid in ventilating the tunnel or gallery,
but it is preferred, in addition to the use of the exhaust steam and the products
from the furnace for carrying off the air near the engine and boiler (by which
air from the exterior of the tunnel is induced' to rush through the tunnel
towards the further end thereof, where the engine is situated), to employ a fan
or fans or exhausting machinery to aid in removing the air in the pipe above
mentioned; and it may in some cases be found desirable to provide for drawing
air by a fan or, fans or suitable mechanism from the outer atmosphere, in order

page_text: to insure the tunnel or gallery being well ventilated. In order to remove the
portions of the rock which are constantly being chipped off by the cutters of
the cutter head, another small engine M is employed, which gives motion to
an endless chain of scrapers working in a trough or rectangular passage below
the engines and boiler, as will readily be understood by reference to the
Drawings. The forward end or part of this trough is spread out and formed
to a curve to correspond with the lower part of the tunnel; hence, as the
engines, boiler, and machinery are moved forward, the chippings of the rock
will rise up the incline of the forward end of the trough or rectangular passage,
and come within the action of the endless chain of scrapers, and will be by
them carried back and delivered at the back end of the machinery, where
they are to be collected into suitable trucks or carriages, and conveyed away
out of the tunnel or gallery. The small engines K, L, M, or either of them,"
may, in addition- to the work above mentioned, be caused to communicate
motion to water pumps for supplying the boiler, and they may also be caused
to perform any other duty which may be found desirable. It is not essential
that three small engines should be used, as the duties performed by them may
be; if desired, performed by a less number of engines. I have not thought it
necessary to show all the mechanical details in the Drawings, as they will be
obvious to the mechanical engineer.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert Newton Penrice, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.