IMPROVE- MENTS IN VENTILATING MINES AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Pilling, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Cotton Waste Dealer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VENTILATING MINES AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH.
Sealed the 4th October 1872, and dated the 6th April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Pilling at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th April 1872.
I, ANDREW PILLING, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster,
Cotton Waste Dealer, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VENTILATING MINES AND IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
'
My Invention consists in ventilating mines by forcing air therein
drawn from the external atmosphere and by direct action, and in con-
veying the said air to any required part of the workings by means of
pipes or other suitable channels.
The method I propose to adopt is to use a number of air cylinders
provided with suitable pistons and valves for drawing in and expelling

page_text: air, the pistons of which cylinders are driven by a shaft placed at right
angles to one or more pairs thereof, the driving cranks being situated at
different points around the circle. The air thus drawn I propose to
force through pipes provided with suitable stop valves so that it may be
delivered to any one or more parts of the mine as found necessary. By
these means I can supply the mine with pure air which displaces or
dilutes the foul air and without decreasing the atmospheric pressure, as
is the case when the ordinary principle of exhaustion is adopted, and
which favours the emission of dangerous gasses, while at the same time I
can effect local ventilation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
'filed by the said Andrew Pilling in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th October 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
PILLING, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Waste 1
Dealer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-fifth year
of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Andrew Pilling, Her special license that I, the said
Andrew Pilling, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Andrew Pilling, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 VENTI-
LATING MINES," upon the condition, amongst others, that. I, the said
Andrew Pilling, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Andrew Pilling, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in ventilating mines by forcing air therein
drawn from the external atmosphere and by direct action, and in con-
veying the said air to any required part of the workings by means of
pipes or other suitable channels.
In carrying out my Invention I use a number of air cylinders pro-
vided with suitable pistons and valves for drawing in and expelling air,
the driving cranks of the said pistons being situate at different points
around the circle.
The particular method of adapting my Invention will be varied
according to the construction of the mine and its workings, but I will
shew and describe certain arrangements which will enable all competent
persons to carry out the same under different circumstances.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 shews in vertical section the
upper part of the downcast shaft of a coal mine with the blowing
apparatus adapted, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
At a is the downcast shaft, which for the purposes of my Invention
and in this instance is closed by, boarding and concrete b, just beneath
which there is formed a channel c in communication with a pipe d
which joins a horizontal pipe e. At ff, are two of the air cylinders,
there being as many more placed side by side as may be desired, and
from these proceed the eduction pipes g, g', communicating at their
other ends with the horizontal pipe e, the eduction passages being at
h, h, after the manner of ordinary blowing engines. The piston rods
and circle of the crank's pins are shewn by red lines in Fig. 1, the said
pins being ranged around the circle according to the number of the
cylinders employed, and the pistons are driven in the usual manner of
actuating blast engines.
Referring to the plan view, Fig. 3, the downcast shaft is again shewn
at a, the other parts of the Drawing representing the workings of a
coal mine as they sometimes exist. The air from the external atmosphere
being forced from the cylinders f, f¹, into the pipe d descends the down-
cast shaft a and enters the working i, from whence it passes into the
working k, where its course is divided, as shewn by the arrows, that

page_text: portion which goes to the left passing along cross workings 1, 1, into m,
and from thence to the upcast shaft n. The portion which goes
to the right serves to ventilate a working o, from whence it passes
under or over i, and proceeds along p, q, as shewn by the arrows,
after which it enters the upcast shaft n. In order to alter these
currents of air as the workings proceed the usual partitions or "brat-
tices" may be applied, as is well understood; one of these is shewn
at r; others at ², ², ³, and at s are the usual double doors between
the two shafts. The above described arrangement shews how my
Invention may be adapted to a mine with up and down cast shafts
by closing the top of the latter and without any other addition thereto.
Fig. 4 represents in plan view another method of carrying out the same
principle of ventilation. The downcast shaft as before is at a and the
upcast at n, the former being in this instance open at top as usual.
The pipe d before referred to is shewn by the same letter of reference,
but instead of terminating in the passage c it extends down the shaft
to the bottom of the mine, and there then issue from it, or from a
chamber in connexion therewith, one or more pipes s from which there
extend branch pipes extending into the workings u. The branch
pipes t are open at their ends or have perforations formed therein, through
which the air forced by the engines issues and thus the ventilation of
the workings is effected. Fig. 5 shews the plan of the downcast shaft
a with the cages v therein, the air pipe being at d, but the dotted lines w
shew that the said pipe may be of an elongated section. The above
description has had reference to those mines in which both a down and
up cast shaft is employed, but in some cases as is well known one shaft
only exists. Fig. 6 shews the application of my Invention under this
arrangement in plan view. The shaft is at a and the pipe proceeding
from the blast engines at a corresponding to that referred to by a similar
letter in Fig. 4. Extending from this is a horizontal pipe x, from
which these extend branch pipes y, traversing the workings u and
conveying air thereto, they being open at their ends. In this instance
the issuing air travels in the direction of the arrows and passes out
upward through the shaft, which as is well known is divided accord-
ing to the usual arrangement for up and down cast, but when my
Invention is employed this division is of course unnecessary as the
pipe d constitutes the down cast. I have above spoken of the channels
for the air as pipes, but they may of course be formed by "brattices
by other ordinary means. which will constitute suitable conduits.
"
or

page_text: I have also for simplicity of explanation spoken of pipes s, t, x, y, as
proceeding from the main pipe d, but this may be open to an air trunk
of suitable dimensions, from which any number of channels such as
those shewn at s, t, x, y, may proceed to ventilate any required part
of the mine. I would also observe that stop taps, valves, or other such
appliances may be adapted to any situation in the air channels in order
to shut off or modify the supply as may be desired, and that the usual
bratticing" may be employed to close such portions of the mine as
do not require ventilation or to divert the currents of air, also that the
pipes or other such channels may not only be open at their ends but
may be provided with other openings at any desired situation.
My Invention it will be seen acts on the opposite principle to that
usually adopted, which is by exhaustion, which necessitates a diminution
of atmospheric pressure, and it therefore follows that by my arrangement
I am enabled not only to maintain the ordinary pressure, but to increase
it to any desired amount by regulating the quantity of air forced down-
ward and allowed to pass upward, thereby diluting any issuing explosive
gas, or preventing its issue at low pressures.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I do not limit myself to the use of the apparatus shewn
for forcing the air, it having been merely described for the sake of
illustration; but I claim as secured to me under the above in part
recited Letters Patent and for the aforesaid purposes, forcing air into
mines by direct or positive action and conducting the same by suitable
channels to any required situation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Pilling, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.