IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND EXCAVATING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER MINING PURPOSES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Harrison, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in
the County of Durham, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND EXCAVATING COAL AND
OTHER MINERALS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER MINING PURPOSES."
Sealed the 5th February 1864, and dated the 18th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Harrison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
November 1863.
I, THOMAS HARRISON, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in the County of
Durham, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND EXCAVATING COAL
AND OTHER MINERALS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER MINING PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for cutting
and excavating coal and other minerals, applicable also to other mining pur-
poses, and consists in the application of mechanical power as a substitute for
or auxiliary to manual labour in cutting or excavating coal and other
minerals.
I take a turbine of such dimensions as the occasion may require, and mount
it upon a suitable truck, trolley, or other carriage. The axis or spindle of the
turbine carries two projecting cambs placed opposite each other and at right

page_text: angles to the axis. Each cam on the revolution of the turbine is made to
press upon a lever, which lever is thereby forced against a spring. The spring
must be of sufficient strength to cause the lever to rebound when liberated
with a force at least equal to that which can be given out by the blow of a
pick or tool wielded by a man's arm. Each lever works upon a pivot, and on
the end opposite to that which is brought in contact with the cam a box or
recess is formed into which any cutting tool is fitted at any required angle in
such manner that the point of it will be moved backwards and forwards by
the action of the cam and spring upon the lever, and so be made to strike
against the mineral or other substance intended to be excavated, one stroke
of each tool being given for each revolution of the turbine. The truck or
carriage is to move forward on a tramway or other suitable road or on slide
bars, so that as the work proceeds a continuous groove is formed by the
cutting tools either longitudinally or crosswise.
Compressed air, steam, or water may be used for working the turbine
according to circumstances; as a general rule I prefer to use compressed air,
which may be conveyed to the turbine in pipes, a sufficient length thereof next
the turbine being of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other flexible material, so
as to admit of the requisite freedom of motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Thomas Harrison in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HARRISON, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in the County of Durham, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Harrison, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Harrison, my executors, administrators, and assigns; or such others as I, the
said Thomas Harrison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND EXCAVATING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS, APPLICABLE
ALSO TO OTHER MINING PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Harrison, my executors or administrators, by an instrument 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 Thomas Harrison, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention consists of improvements in machinery for cutting and
excavating coal and other minerals for working of coal mines, and also for
other mining purposes, so as to effect the application of mechanical power as
a substitute for or auxiliary to manual labor in the working or winning of
coal and other minerals. I take a turbine of the dimensions necessary for
obtaining the requisite power to work the machinery as the occasion may
require, and mount the axle of the turbine in bearings upon a suitable truck,
trolley, or other carriage, which I prefer should be furnished with wheels, so
as to work upon a railway or tramway. The axis or spindle of the turbine
carries one or more projecting cams (the cam or each cam if more than one),
placed at a right angle to the axis; and if two cams be used I prefer to fix
them upon the proper parts of the axle for working their respective levers in
positions at right angles with each other. Each cam on the revolution of the
turbine is made to press against one end of a lever, the opposite end of which
carries a tool, and the lever is thereby forced against a spring. The spring
which actuates each lever must be of sufficient strength to cause the end of the
lever carrying the tool to rebound or move forwards when liberated from the
cam with a force at least equal to that which can be given out by the blow
of a pick or tool wielded by a man's arm. The lever (or each of them if more
than one) works upon a pivot so placed as to cause the lever to have two arms
or ends of unequal lengths, the shorter of which arms is that against which
the cam acts, and at the end of the larger arm a box or recess is formed into
which a cutting tool of the required description may be fitted and fixed at any
required angle, and in such manner that the point of the tool when moved
forwards by the action of the spring upon the lever may be made to strike

page_text: against and cut the mineral or other substance intended to be excavated.
The cam which acts upon the shorter arm of the lever when the axle of the
turbine rotates, causes the opposite arm of the lever to be carried back into a
position from which it is moved forward rapidly and with force by the spring
when the short arm of the lever is released from the pressure of the cam. At
each stroke of the arin thus produced the tool at the end of it is brought into
contact with the substance to be cut, and one stroke of the tool is given for
each revolution of the turbine. The truck or carriage carrying the cutting
apparatus is to be made to move along in a line parallel with the line in
which a groove cutting or excavation may be intended to be made by this
cutting tool or tools of the machine into a mass of the coal or other material,
so as to make the desired groove, cutting, or excavation into the coal or other
material in the usual way during the motion of the carriage. And the motion
of the carriage should be regulated so as to bring the tool or tools into contact
with fresh portions of the material to be cut at every stroke, and with the
speed at which the groove or cutting can be made by the tool or tools to the
intended depth. The carriage may be made to move upon a railway, tramway,
or other suitable and convenient road, or to slide on bars, so that a continuous
groove or cutting may be formed by the cutting tool or tools in the intended
direction and of the intended length. Compressed air, or steam and water
when it can be afterwards got rid of, may be used for working the turbine
according to circumstances. As a general rule I prefer to use compressed air,
which may be conveyed to the turbine in pipes, a sufficient length thereof next
the turbine being of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other flexible material, so
as to admit of the requisite freedom of motion. The air when so used in a
mine will assist in ventilating it. The application and combination of a
turbine with the other parts of such a machine as I have above described, is
an important and material part of the combination forming my improved
machinery to be used for such purposes as above mentioned.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed

page_text: a is a worm wheel on the axle of one pair of the wheels a', it gears with a
worm b, the axis of which is carried in bearings on the frame of the truck, trolly,
or carriage; b¹ is a hand wheel on the upper end of this axis, by turning it the
machine is propelled gradually forward as the work progresses; c is a turbine,
it is supplied with compressed air, steam, or water by a pipe c'; this turbine
is fixed on the vertical axis c³, which is carried in bearings on the frame and
has upon it a pinion c. The turbine shown is that which is preferred, but the
form and construction of the turbine may be varied. On another vertical
axis d carried by the frame is a spur wheel d', gearing with and driven by the
pinion on the axis of the turbine; & is a cam fixed on the axis d, one or
more of these cams may be employed; e is a lever, it is mounted on a vertical
axis e¹ intermediate of its length. The axis e¹ is carried in bearings on the
frame, and is furnished with a vulcanized india-rubber, or it may be a coiled
steel, or other spring f, the action of which is to tend constantly to rotate the
axis and draw the inner end of the lever e inwards towards the axis d of the
cam, so that as the turbine drives the cam round, it in succession displaces
the inner end of the lever e, thus putting the spring f in tension, and when
the cam has passed the reaction of the spring brings back the lever, striking
the tool g at its outer end into the coal or other mineral; this tool g fits into
a socket at the outer end of the lever e, and is there retained by a binding
screw; the lever also is made in two parts for convenience of repair; and in
order that by removing the outer end of the lever the machine may be
rendered more compact for travelling, a lever with a cutting tool e* and g*
may also be provided at the other end of the machine; in this case the
arrangement has to be somewhat varied; the lever is mounted on an axis elx,
and has formed on it a toothed quadrant ex, which gears with another similar
quadrant ex on the axis ex; the axis e¹* is also furnished with a spring f, and
it has upon it an arm ex for the cam to act on as it revolves. When two
levers are thus employed the length of the tools which they carry is so
arranged that the hinder tool acts to increase the depth of the groove cut by
the leading tool.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not intend to claim
as of my said Invention any of the mechanical parts or elements of the
machinery which I have described separate or apart from the combination and
application thereof, in the construction of machinery made according to my
Invention; and also that what I claim is, machinery for the purposes above
mentioned, consisting of a combination of a turbine and a cutting apparatus

page_text: mounted upon a truck, trolly, or other carriage, constructed, operating, and
moving according to my Invention, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Harrison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
THOMAS HARRISON. (L.S.)