IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN AND CONNECTED WITH THR GETTING OF COAL AND OTHER MINERALS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jolin Sturgeon, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN AND CONNECTED WITH THR
GETTING OF COAL AND OTHER MINERALS:"
Scaled the 30th July 1869, and dated the 29th May 1869:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sturgeon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th May 1869.
I, JOHN STURGEON, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN AND CONNECTED
WITH THE GETTING OF COAL AND OTHER MINERALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to certain improved arrangements of
valves and valve mechanism in engines for condensing or compressing
atmospheric air to be used as a motive power in connection with
the getting of coal and other minerals. Instead of the clack valves
employed in such engines I apply to the induction passages valves

page_text: which are actuated by suitable self-acting mechanism direct from the
engine itself or by springs or weights, the action of which is controlled
and regulated by the engine through suitable mechanism, while the
eduction passages are opened and closed in the ordinary way, namely,
by valves so arranged as to open by means of the air pressure within
the cylinder and to close by the pressure of the air in the receiver or
vessel into which it is forced, and I also so arrange the induction
ports that when the piston has arrived at the end of its stroke it may
overlap and close the induction port, the valve of which is then opened
by the self-acting mechanism while the port is thus covered by the
piston at the end of its stroke, consequently when the piston commences
to move back it has to travel through a short space before it exposes
the induction port, and the compressed air left in the clearance space
at the end of the cylinder and in the eduction passage is thus drawn
out to a lower pressure and the eduction valve allowed time to close
before the induction port opens. The early opening of the induction
port is thus rendered absolutely certain, and the outer air allowed to
pass freely into the cylinder from the commencement of the stroke
of the piston. By this means is obviated the uncertainty of action
attending clack valves, which sometimes fail to act owing to the high-
pressure air left in the cylinder and passages at the end of the stroke
expanding into the cylinder as the piston recedes, and thereby spoiling
the vacuum which is necessary to cause the clack valve to open and
delaying the admission of the outer air until too near the end of the
stroke. The valves are worked by rods or levers actuated by tappets or
cams in the ordinary way or by springs regulated and controlled by
means of cams, tappets, or other suitable mechanism, and the valves of
the eduction passages may also be partly worked in the liko manner
through rods or levers actuated by tappets or cams so arranged as to
close the valves at the proper moment, but at the same time being
capable of yielding to the pressure of the air in the cylinder so as to
allow the valves to open when the pressure reaches a certain maximum
amount in the cylinder independently of the ordinary movements of
the rods and levers working the valves. This may be readily effected
by the application of a spring between the valve and the rods connected
thanata

page_text: means of hydraulic pressure or the pressure of air or other fluids.
Various plans have been proposed to effect this object, consisting
generally of an apparatus which is inserted into a hole bored in the
coal and acts by the simple expansion of wedges or pistons when in
the hole, but in these arrangements the coal has to be previously holed
or undercut to enable it to yield to the action of the wedges. In my
improvement the apparatus has a twofold movement imparted to it
in the hole, consisting action in the hole combined with a forward
movement towards the face of the coal. For this purpose a hols
of the requisite dimensions and depth having been bored into the
coal, I insert therein an apparatus consisting of a ram fitting in a
hydraulic cylinder of a light and portable form. To one end of the
hydraulic cylinder are attached arms or flutes in such a way as to fit
close against the cylinder when the apparatus is inserted in the hole.
The free end of the ram presses against the solid coal at the bottom of
the hole, against which it obtains the requisite purchase or resistance, so
that when the water pressure is applied the cylinder is drawn forward
along the ram, the arms or flukes catching into the coal, into which they
become more firmly bedded as the cylinder advances, and by the cou-
tinued motion of the cylinder forcing or dragging the coal bodily
outwards and breaking it away from the face. By this means blocks of
coal may be separated and broken away from the solid bed without the
necessity of previously holing or undercutting the coal, as is necessary
where the action of the wedges is in only one direction. Instead of
the ram being stationary and the cylinder moving the cylinder nay
be stationary and the ram moving, and instead of the arms or flukes
wedges may be applied in like manner, being expanded into the coal
and also drawn forward toward the face by the one movement of the
ram or cylinder. The apparatus may also comprise two or more rams
or cylinders; or a chain or chains may be applied carrying a series of
arms or flukes to catch into and drag down the coal.
Another improved mode of applying hydraulic pressure for breaking
down coal where the coal has been previously holed or undercut consists
in the application of one or more flexible pipes or bags made of any
suitable material rendered water-tight. These pipes or bags when empty
are capable of being compressed into a comparatively small compass,
and are thus forced into the bore hole made in the coal so as to fill it
completely; water or other suitable fluid is then forced into the pipes

page_text: or bags by means of a hydraulic pump, thereby causing the pipes or
bags to expand to their natural size, and by their expansion to break down
the coal. This may be effected in a variety of ways, thus for instance,
a pipe which when filled with water is two inches in diameter when
empty might be rolled up in the direction of its length so as just to
fill a hole of, say, one inch in diameter, and when water is then forced
into it will tend to expand into its natural size and shape as it fills,
and by so doing break down the coal, or a pipe of a smaller diameter
might be used, being folded longitudinally in a sufficient of turns to
fill the hole, or one or more pipes may be coiled in a helix form round
a bar or round a piece of hydraulic piping through which the water
is forced into the flexible pipe or pipes, or a series of flexible pipe or
pipes may spring from one junction pipe, through which the water
is forced into all the flexible pipes simultaneously, or a bag may bo
applied fastened to the end of a piece of hydraulic piping the bag
being driven home to the bottom of the bore hole, and the water then
forced into it through the pipe. The pipes may be protected by being
loosely covered with canvas or other suitable material.
My Invention relates in the third place to certain improvements in
machines to be used in mines for holing and cutting in coal or other
minerals. In general coal-cutting machines are arranged so as to be
worked and guided along rails or trams laid parallel with the face of the
coal, and are provided with carrying wheels having flanges which take
against the side of the rails, and besides guiding the machine serve to
keep it in position against the reaction or recoil caused by the blow of
the cutter; but I find that in practice it often happens that the said rails
or trams may not have been laid exactly in the same plane, the one with
the other, so that the machine consequently rests on only two or three
of the carrying wheels, the others being raised off the rails with the
flanges or guides almost clear, so that the reaction caused by the blow of
the cutter is liable to force the flange of the wheel completely over the
top of the rail or tram. In order to obviate this defect instead of
attaching the axles of the carrying wheels rigidly to the body of the
machine or its carriage I connect them in such a way as to allow a little
vertical play so as to enable them to follow up any inequalities in the
laying of the rails or trams and thereby keeping the flanges always well
down against the rails. This may be conveniently effected by attaching
the axle of each wheel to an independent bracket connected by a hinge

page_text: to the body of the machine or the carriage, and kept constantly pressing
downwards towards the rail by its own weight or by the action of a
suitable spring; or in place of providing a hinged bracket for each
wheel independently the axles may be attached to slides or guides
pressed downwards upon the rails by suitable springs or weights. I
also find that in practice the gauge of the rails or trams does not always
exactly fit the gauge of the carrying wheels on the machine, but that
a certain amount of clearance ar play is almost necessarily left, owing to
which the violence of the concussions against the rails from the reaction
or recoil caused by the blow of the cutter is considerably increased. In
order to obviate this defect I apply suitable spring buffers behind the
carrying wheels in such a way as to keep the flanges constantly pressed
close up against the rails, and thereby break and reduce the force of
the reaction against the rails caused by the blows of the cutter; or
the carrying wheels may be so attached to the machine as to cause the
weight of the machine itself to press the flanges against the rails. In
place of the flanges on the vertical or carrying wheels rollers may be applied
so as to press up against the rails by the action of springs in like manner,
and these rollers may be inclined a little out of the horizontal plane so
as to allow more clearance for the bearings on which they are carried to
pass over the sleepers. The effect of the concussions against the side of
the rails may also be reduced by applying wood, leather, or other slightly
elastic material behind the wheels in order to deaden the shock of the
blow, and providing screws or other suitable mechanism for the final
adjustment of the wheels to the gauge, or conversely the rails might be
in like manner pressed up against the wheels instead of the wheels
against the rails, but I prefer the arrangements above described.
Another improvement consists in mounting the machine on wheels or
rollers, which instead of running in a vertical position and being guided
in their course by flanges are so carried on their axes as to be inclined'
out of the vertical plane so that each pair of wheels may be spread out
wider at the base or the points where they bear upon the rails than at
the opposite points, that is to say, forming an angle the apex of which
would be at some point above the level of and between the rails. The
inner sides of the rails may be formed like a V slide to suit the incli-
nation of the wheels or rollers and thereby prevent any liability of the
machine to be jerked off the rails when at work; and the said wheels
or rollers may also be carried by the machinc in such a manner as

page_text: In the Specification of a Patent granted to me and others, dated the
27th day of October 1863, and numbered 2659, and in the Specification
of certain Patents granted to me, dated the 2nd day of July 1867, and
numbered 1927, and dated the 1st day of November 1867, and num-
bered 3076, examples of coal-cutting machines have been given in which
the working cylinder of the machine is is placed transversely to the rails
on which it travels instead of parallel with them, that is to say, so that
the piston of the engine works in a direction at right angles to the face
of the coal. In order that the tendency of the machine to oscillate to
and fro with the motion of the piston may be opposed and counteracted
by the rails, instead of setting the engine directly at right angles to
the working face as above described, I incline it a little in the direction
in which the machine has to travel, so that the piston may still have its
movement across the rails as in the former case, and thereby avoid the
oscillation of the machine on the rails, but at the same time the point of
the cutter is thrown further away from the face of the coal when at the
end of the lack stroke, thereby giving it a greater amount of motion
before it commences to act upon the coal and consequently improving
the cutting effect, and the reaction or recoil caused by the blow of the
cutter instead of being thrown entirely on the back rail is partly thrown
upon the front rail and more equally distributed, thereby ensuring greater
steadiness of action while the machine is at work. This may be con-
veniently effected by mounting the engine having the headstock carrying
the pick axis and its other gearing attached thereto on a separate carriage
provided with a centre pin or pivot on which the machine may be
turned so as to incline cither towards the right or left according as
the machine has to travel towards the right or left, and the machine
may be held fast at the required inclination by means of bolts or keys
securing it to the carriage. The pick axis is carried by a bracket or
leudstock mounted on the working cylinder concentric with the piston
thereof, and capable of being turned round without throwing it out of
gear with the piston rod, as described in Specification of a Patent granted
to me and others, dated the 28th day of November 1864, and num-
bered 2902. When the direction of the machine's travel is changed, as
for instance, when the machine has to travel a second or third time
over the work to increase the depth of cut, it is necessary to turn the

page_text: pick axis to the opposite side of the machine, which is effected by
turning the headstock half round, and as the position of the pick is
thereby reversed it is necessary to take it off and readjust it in the
required position. In order that the pick may fall exactly into its
proper position when the machine is reversed I, in the first place, provide
stops on each side of the cylinder, against which the headstock when
turned half round may rest in the required position, where it is held fast.
by means of keys fitting between projections or lugs formed on the front.
of the cylinder and flats formed on the headstock, or it may be secured
by bolts. By this means the pick axis is certain to fall exactly into its
proper vertical position on either side without any difficulty or loss of
time in adjustment. In the second place I connect to the pick axis a
plate which works clear of the axis bearings, and to the centre of which
the slide carrying the pick holder is pin-jointed, so that when the slide is
turned half round on its centre pin the pick holder may be at the same
distance from the centre on the opposite side. The centre piu round
which the slide turns is placed exactly at the height of the centre of the
cylinder, so that it may have exactly the same elevation at either side of
the machine when the headstock is turned half round. By this means
when the headstock is turned half round the pick holder may be brought
exactly into its original situation above or below the centre of the
machine by giving the slide half a turn on its centre pin, in which
position it may be sccured by keys fitting between projections or lugs on
the plate and flats formed on the slide. By these means the exact
elevation of the pick on either side of the machine is obtained without
any difficulty or loss of time in adjustment. The pick holder is so
fitted to the slide that its distance from the centre along the axis may
be regulated to suit the place in the coal where it is intended to cut, and
consists of an L-shaped bracket the vertical part of which is moveable
along tho slido, the horizontal part forming a socket, in which the end of
the pick arm is fitted and secured by a key, so that the pick may be
readily removed from the holder when the bracket is turned round, and
fitted in again in the required position.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Sturgeon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STURGEON, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Sturgeon, Her special licence
that I, the said John Sturgeon, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Sturgeon, 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 might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE GETTING OF
COAL AND OTHER MINERALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Sturgeon, my exccutors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my or one of their hands and scals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Sturgeon, 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
following statement:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to certain improved arrangements of
valves and valve mechanism in engines for condensing or compressing
atmospheric air to be used as a motive power in connection with the
getting of coal and other minerals. Instead of the clack valves employed
in such engines I apply to the induction passages valves which are
actuated by suitable self-acting mechanism direct from the engine itself,

page_text: or by springs or weights, the action of which is controlled and regulated by
the engine through suitable mechanism, while the eduction passages are
opened and closed in the ordinary way, namely, by valves so arranged as
to open by means of the air pressure within the cylinder, and to close by
the pressure of the air in the receiver or vessel into which it is forced.
The mechanism is so arranged as to ensure the early opening of the
induction port, which is thus rendered absolutely certain, and the outer
air allowed to pass freely into the cylinder from the commencement
of the stroke of the piston. By this means is obviated the uncertainty
of action attending clack valves, which sometimes fail to act owing to
the high pressure air left in the cylinder and passages at the end of
the stroke expanding into the cylinder as the piston recedes, and
thereby spoiling the vacuum which is necessary to cause the clack
valve to open, and delaying the admission of the outer air until too
near the end of the stroke. The valves are worked by rods or levers
actuated by tappets or cams in the ordinary way, or by springs
regulated and controlled by means of cams, tappets, or other suitable
mechanism.
On Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a view of an
engine for condensing or compressing atmospheric air, the air cylinder
of which is furnished with valves upon my improved system; Fig. 2 is
a side view of the mechanism for actuating the induction valves; Fig. 3
is an end view of the cams.
A, A, is the steam engine; B is the air cylinder; C and D are tho
induction valves, which are actuated by means of the cams C' and D'
on the engine shaft acting through the levers and rods C³, C³, C+, and
D, D, D'; E and F are the eduction valves, which open by the pressure
of the air within the cylinder. The form and position of the cams C¹
and D which actuate the levers and rods working the valves C and D
are so arranged that these valves are caused to open at an early part
of the stroke after the piston has returned sufficiently far to reduce the
pressure of the air remaining in the cylinder, and so ensure the closing
of the outlet valve. By this means high-pressure air left in the space
at the end of the cylinder and in the valve ports, instead of interfering
with the action of the engine and being besides wasted, by its expansion
acts as a power assisting the engine to propel the piston of the air
cylinder.

page_text: I also sometimes so arrange the induction ports that when the piston
has arrived at the end of its stroke it may overlap and close the in-
duction port, the valve of which is then opened by the self-acting
mechanism, while the port is thus covered by the piston at the end of
its stroke; consequently when the piston commences to move back
it has to travel through a short space before it exposes the induction
port, and the compressed air left in the clearance space at the end of
the cylinder and in the eduction passage is thus drawn out to a lower
pressure and the eduction valve allowed time to close before the in-
duction port opens. This may be very simply accomplished by placing
the induction ports in the positions marked at G, H, Fig. 1, Sheet 1 of
the Drawings, instead of at C and D, as shown in the Drawing. The
valves of the eduction passages may also be partly worked in the like
manner through rods or levers actuated by tappets or cams so arranged
as to close the valves at the proper moment, but at the same time being
capable of yielding to the pressure of the air in the cylinder, so as to
allow the valves to open when the pressure reaches a certain maximum
amount in the cylinder independently of the ordinary movements of the
rods and levers working the valves. This may be readily effected by
the application of a spring between the valve and the rods connected
thereto. Thus it is obvious that the eduction valves E, F, Fig. 1,
Sheet 1, may be arranged as described to be opened and shut by means
of mechanism actuated by the engine, the valves not being rigidly con-
nected to the mechanism, but connected thereto by springs, which
while they are sufficiently strong to cause the valves to follow the
movement of the mechanism and open or shut them at the proper
times are yet sufficiently flexible to allow the valve to open indepen-
dently should the pressure in the cylinder become too great while the
valve is closed.
I have described certain modes for carrying out this part of my
Invention, but it is obvious that the details of the mechanism may be
considerably varied.
The second part of my Invention consists in the application of certain
improved arrangements of apparatus for breaking down the coal by

page_text: but in these arrangements the coal has to be previously holed or
undercut to enable it to yield to the action of the wedges. In my
improvement the apparatus has a twofold movement imparted to it in
the hole consisting of an expansive action in the hole combined with a
forward movement towards the face of the coal. For this purpose a hole
of the requisite dimensions and depth having been bored in the coal I
insert therein an apparatus consisting of a ram fitting in a hydraulic
cylinder of a light and portable form. To one end of the hydraulic
cylinder arc attached arms or flukes in such a way as to fit close against
thic cylinder when the apparatus is inserted in the hole. The free end
of the ram presses against the solid coal at the bottom of the hole,
against which it obtains the requisite purchase or resistance, so that
when the water pressure is applied the cylinder is drawn forward along
the ram, the arms or flukes catching into the coal, into which they
become more firmly bedded as the cylinder advances, and by the
continued motion of the cylinder forcing or dragging the coal bodily
outwards and breaking it away from the face. By this means blocks of
coal may be separated and broken away from the solid bed without the
necessity of previously holing or undercutting the coal, as is necessary
where the action of the wedges is in only one direction. Instead of the
ram being stationary and the cylinder moving, the cylinder may be
stationary and the ram moving, and instead of the arms or flukes wedges
may be applied in like manner, being expanded into the coal and also
drawn forward towards the face by the one movement of the ram or
cylinder. The apparatus may also comprise two or more rams or
cylinders; or a chain or chains may be applied carrying a series of
arms or flukes to catch into and drag down the coal.
Various arrangements are shewn on Sheet 2. In Fig. 1, A is the
hydraulic cylinder into which the water is forced through the passage B;
C is the ram; D, D, are wedges which are carried in slots formed in the
hydraulic cylinder. When water is forced into the cylinder the ram C
is forced in, thereby expanding the wedges which firmly grip the coal,
and on the ram C coming against the plug E at the end of the hole the
cylinder then moves outwards, carrying the wedges with it, and thereby
breaking away the coal from the back towards the face. In Fig. 2, A
is the hydraulic cylinder; B the ram. To this ram are attached the
lukes or arms C, C, C, which work on the centres D, D, D. One
pair of flukes or arms is shewn fully expanded by the dotted lines

page_text: at E. In Fig. 3 the wedges A, A, are connected to the chains B, B,
the necessary pull being given to these chains by the force of the
water in the hydraulic cylinder, shewn at C. The wedges are shewn in
their fully expanded position at D, D. In Fig. 4 the flukes or arms A, A,
are attached to the bar or rod B to which the necessary power may be
applied through the chain C. Fig. 6 is a similar arrangement, but with
single flukes instead of pairs. The catching of the flukes in the coal
may be insured by means of springs; such springs are shown at F, F,
Figs. 2 and 4. Although the hydraulic cylinder and ram will no doubt
be found the best mode of applying the necessary power, other methods
might also be adopted.
Another improved mode of applying hydraulic pressure for breaking
down coal where the coal has been previously holed or undercut consists in
the application of one or more flexible pipes or bags mado of any suitable
material rendered water-tight. These pipes or bags when empty are
capable of being compressed into a comparatively small compass, and aro
thus forced into the bore hole made in the coal so as to fill it completely.
Water or other suitable fluid is then forced into the pipe or bags by
means of a hydraulic pump, thereby causing the pipes or bags to expand
to their natural size, and by their expansion to break down the coal.
This may be effected in a variety of ways, thus, for instance, a pipe
which when filled with water is two inches in diameter when empty
might be rolled up in the direction of its length so as just to fill a hole
of say one inch in diameter, and when water is then forced into it
will tond to expand into its natural size and shapo as it fills, and by so
doing break down the coal. A pipe made according to this part of my
Invention is shewn in longitudinal section in Fig. 7, and in cross section
in Fig. 8. In this case the flexible pipe or bag A is protected by the iron
shield B. The pipe being compressed within this shield two strips of
suitable material, such as hard wood, C, C, are put into spaces made for
them in the shield. The apparatus is then pushed into a hole formed in the
coal just large enough to admit it and water forced into the pipe, which
by expanding forces out the pieces C, C, and thus breaks down the coal.
Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of another pipe, of which a cross section
is shewn in Fig. 10. This pipe is formed with the folds A, A, running
parallel to its length, and cause it to occupy a comparatively small space
until tho water being forced in expands it, and so breaks down the coal.
The material of which these pipes are formed should be waterproof and

page_text: strong, a suitable material consisting of alternate layers of canvas and
india-rubber. Besides the arrangements above described various other
modes may be adopted; for instance, pipe of a small diameter might
be used, being doubled up lengthwise in a sufficient number of turns to
fill the hole. Or one or more pipes may be coiled in a helix form round a
bar or round a piece of hydraulic piping, through which the water is
forced through which the water is forced into the flexible pipe or pipes ;
or a series of flexible pipes may spring from one junction piece through
which the water is forced into all the flexible pipes simultaneously. Or
a bag may be applied fastened to the end of a piece of hydraulic piping,
the bag being driven home to the bottom of the boro hole and the water
then forced into it through the pipe. The pipes may be protected by
being loosely covered with canvas or other suitable material.
My Invention relates, in the third place, to certain improvements in
machines to be used in mines for holing and cutting in coal or other
minerals. In general coal-cutting machines are arranged so as to be
worked and guided along rails or trams laid parallel with the face of the
coal, and are provided with carrying wheels having flanges which take
against the side of the rails, and besides guiding the machine serve to
keep it in position against the reaction or recoil caused by the blow of
the cutter; but I find that in practice it often happens that the said rails
or trams may not have been laid exactly in the same plane the one with
the other, so that the machine rests only on two or three of the carrying
wheels, the others being raised off the rails with the flanges or guides
almost clear, so that the reaction caused by the blow of the cutter is
liable to force the flange of the wheel completely over the top of the rail
or tram. In order to obviate this defect instead of attaching the axles
of the carrying wheels rigidly to the body of the machine or its carriage,
I connect them in such a way as to allow a little vertical play, so as to
enable them to follow up any little inequalities in the laying of the rails
or trams, and thereby keeping the flanges always well down against the
rails. This may be conveniently effected by attaching the axle of cach
wheel to an independent bracket connected by a hinge to the body of
the machine or the carriage, and kept constantly pressing downwards
towards the rail by its own weight or by the action of a suitable spring.
Thus, in Fig. 1., Sheet 3, the carrying wheels A, A, B, B, instead of being
rigidly attached to the machine are attached to brackets A', A', B', B',
which are connected by hinged joints A, A, B, B2, to the carriage, and

page_text: are thereby allowed to move up and down vertically, and so to follow
the inequalities in the rails; or in place of providing a hinged bracket
for each wheel independently the axles may be attached to slides or
guides pressed downwards upon the rails by suitable springs or weights.
I also find that in practice the guage of the rails or trams does not
exactly fit the guage of the carrying wheels on the machine, but that a
certain amount of clearance or play is almost necessarily left, owing to
which the violence of the concussions against the rails from the reaction
or recoil caused by the blow of the cutter is considerably increased. In
order to obviate this defect I apply suitable spring buffers C, C, Fig. 1,
Sheet 3, behind the carrying wheels in such a way as to keep the flanges
constantly pressed up close against the rails, and thereby break and
reduce the force of the reaction against the rails caused by the blows of
the cutter; or the carrying wheels may be so attached to the machine
as to cause the weight of the machine itself to press the flanges against
the rails, as shown in Fig. 4 of Sheet 3. In place of the flanges on the
vertical or carrying wheels rollers may be applied so as to press up
against the rails by the action of the springs in like manner, and these
rollers may be inclined a little out of the horizontal plane so as to allow
more clearance for the bearings on which they are carried to pass over
the sleepers. I am aware that horizontal wheels have been before
applied, but they were not pressed against the rails by springs. The
effect of the concussions against the side of the rails may also be reduced
by applying wood, leather, or other suitable clastic material behind the
wheels in order to deaden the shock of the blow, and providing screws
or other suitable mechanism for the final adjustment of the wheels to
the gauge; or, conversely, the rails might be in like manner pressed up
against the wheels instead of the wheels against the rails, but I prefer
the arrangements above described.
Another improvement consists in mounting the machine on wheels
or rollers, which instead of running in a vertical position and being
guided in their course by flanges are so carried on their axes as to be
inclined out of the vertical plane, so that each pair of wheels may be
spread out wider at the base, or the points where they bear against the
rails, than at the opposite points, that is to say, forming an angle the
apex of which would be at some point above the level of and between
the rails. The inner sides of the rails may be formed like a V slide to
suit the inclination of the wheels or rollers, and thereby prevent any

page_text: liability of the machine to be jerked off the rails when at work, and the
said wheels or rollers may also be carried by the machine in such a
manner as to cause the weight of the latter to press them outwards
against the rails. This arrangement is shewn in Fig. 5, Sheet 3.
In the Specification of a Patent granted to me and others, dated the
27th day of October 1863, and numbered 2659, and in the Specification
of certain Patents granted to me, dated the Second day of July 1867, and
numbered 1927, and dated the 1st day of November 1867, and num-
bered 3076, examples of coal-cutting machines have been given in which
the working cylinder of the machine is placed transversely to the rails
on which it travels instead of parallel with them, that is to say, so that
the piston of the engine works in a direction at right angles to the face
of the coal. In order that the tendency of the machine to oscillate to and
fro with the motion of the piston may be opposed and counteracted by
the rails, instead of setting the engine directly at right angles to the
working face, as above described, I incline it a little in the direction in
which the machine has to travel, so that the piston may still have its
movement across the rails as in the former case, and thereby avoid the
oscillation of the machine on the rails, but at the same time the point
of the cutter is thrown further away from the face of the coal when at
the end of the back stroke, thereby giving it a greater amount of motion
before it commences to act upon the coal, and consequently improve
the cutting effect, and the reaction or recoil caused by the blow of the
cutter, instead of being thrown entirely on the back rail, is partly
thrown upon the front rail and more equally distributed, thereby
insuring greater steadiness of action while the machine is at work.
This may be conveniently effected by mounting the engine D (shewn in
plan at Fig. 1, Sheet 3, and in side elevation in Fig. 2), having the
headstock E carrying the pick axis F and its other gearing attached
thereto, on a separate carriage provided with a centre pin or pivot G ou
which the machine may be turned, so as to incline either towards the
right or left according as the machine has to travel towards the right or
left, and the machine may be held fast at the required inclination by
means of bolts or keys securing it to the carriage. In Fig. 1 the
machine is shewn in the position described, where it is held by the
bolts in the circular slots H, H. The pick axis F is carried by a
bracket or headstock E mounted on the working cylinder concentric

page_text: with the piston thereof, and capable of being turned round without
throwing it out of gear with the piston rod, as described in the Speci-
fication of a Patent granted to me and others, dated the Twenty-eighth
day of November 1864, and numbered 2962. When the direction of the
machine's travel is changed, as, for instance, when the machine has to
travel a second or third time over the work to increase the depth of cut,
it is necessary to turn the pick axis to the opposite side of the machine,
which is effected by turning the headstock half round, and as the
position of the pick is thereby reversed it is necessary to take it off and
readjust it in the required position. In order that the pick may fall
exactly into its proper position when the machine is reversed I, in the
first place, provide stops I, I, Fig. 1 and 3, on each side of the cylinder,
against which the headstock when turned half round may rest in the
required position, where it is held fast by means of keys K, K, fitting
between projections or lugs L, L, formed on the front of the cylinder
and flats formed on the front of the headstock, or it may be secured
by bolts. By this means the pick axis is certain to fall exactly into its
proper vertical position on either side without any difficulty or loss of
time in adjustment. In the second place I connect to the pick axis a
plate M, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, which works clear of the axis bearings, and
to the centre of which the slide carrying the pick holder N is pin-
jointed, so that when the slide is turned half round on its centre pin N
the pick holder may be at the same distance from the centre on the
opposite side. The centre pin N', Figs. 2 and 3, round which the slide
turns is placed exactly at the height of the centre of the cylinder, so
that it may have exactly the same clevation at either side of the
machine when the headstock is turned half round. By this means, when
the headstock is turned half round, the pick holder may be brought
exactly into its original situation above or below the centre of the
machine by giving the slide half a turn on its centre pin, in which
position it may be secured by keys fitting between projections or hugs
on the plate and flats formed on the side. By these means the exact
elevation of the pick on either side of the machine is obtained without
any difficulty or loss of time in adjustment. The pick holder is so fitted
to the slide that its distance from the centre along the axis may be
regulated to suit the place in the coal where it is intended to cut, and
consists of an L-shaped bracket O, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the vertical part of
which is moveable along the slide, the horizontal part forming a socket,

page_text: in which the end of the pick arm is fitted and secured by a key P, Fig. 1,
so that the pick may be readily removed from the holder when the
bracket is turned round, and fitted in again in the required position.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sturgeon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.