IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE SHIPPING OF MINERALS IN TIDAL SITUATIONS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Martin, of Glasgow, in the. County of Lanark,
North Britain, Superintendent of the General Terminus and Glasgow
Harbour Railway, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE SHIPPING OF MINERALS IN TIDAL SITUATIONS."
Sealed the 16th July 1858, and dated the 20th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Martin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
January. 1858..
.
I, ROBERT MARTIN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Superintendent of the General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE SHIPPING OF MINERALS IN TIDAL
.SITUATIONS," to be as follows, that is to say:
This Invention relates to a simple and effective arrangement of machinery
or apparatus whereby coal and other minerals can be rapidly, economically,
and conveniently shipped or transferred from the shore or pier head into the
holds of vessels lying in tidal ways. In shipping coal by the agency of this
machinery the railway waggons are run up at right angles to the pier head
or wall until they come upon a balanced tipping arrangement. This arrange-
ment consists of a frame set on suitable centres and fitted with counterweights
and frictional brakes, so that when the waggon is run on to the frame up to

page_text: the outer curved stops of the rails the coal is tipped out at once, the rate of
descent being governed by the frictional brakes. As the coal falls from the
waggon it descends upon the upper and landward end of an articulated shoot
or starthe, which is so inclined as to direct the coal; down into the hatchway
or hold of the vessel in the tidal way beneath. This shoot is of considerable
length, and is in several pieces articulated or jointed together, and capable
of being wound upon a square barrel or carrier, the shaft of which is set in
end bearings in the pier head. The extreme inner or landward end of this
shoot is fastened to the square barrel, each face of which is of the proper
length for taking up the individual jointed lengths of the shoot, and suitable
catches are provided for retaining the lengths in position as wound up. The
barrel is actuated by winch, handles or other gearing, and its shaft carries at
each end a chain barrel or pulley, to which are attached supporting chains
passed up and round over head pulleys carried on suitable framing posts, and
thence down for attachment to the extreme outer end of the shoot. In this
way, by turning the barrel in either direction, the shoot is wound up or let
down to suit the level of the water in the tidal way, and the apparatus is
available for service in all states of the tide.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Martin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MARTIN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Superintendent
of the General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway, send greeting...
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of: Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto. me,
the said Robert Martin; Her special license that I, the said Robert Martin,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Martin, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and átball times thereafter! during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, cuse, 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 OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE SHIPPING OF MINERALS IN TIDAL

page_text: SITUATIONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Martin, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Robert Martin, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention relates to a simple and effective arrangement of ma-
chinery or apparatus whereby coal and other minerals can be rapidly, econo-
mically, and conveniently shipped or transferred from the shore or pier head
into the holds of vessels lying in tidal ways. In shipping coal by the agency
of this machinery the railway waggons are run up at right angles to the
pier head or wall until they come upon a balanced tipping arrangement. This
arrangement consists of a frame set on suitable centres, and fitted with
counterweights and frictional brakes, so that when the waggon is run on to
the frame up to the outer curved stops of the rails the coal is tipped out at
once, the rate of descent being governed by the frictional brakes. As the
coal falls from the waggon it' descends upon the upper and landward end of
an articulated shoot or starthe, which is so inclined as to direct the coal down
into the hatchway or hold of the vessel in the tidal way beneath. This shoot
is of considerable length, and is in several pieces articulated or jointed
together, and capable of being wound upon a square barrel or carrier, the
shaft of which is set in eid bearings in the pier head. The extreme inner or
landward end of this shoot is fastened to the square barrel, each face of which
is of the proper length for taking up the individual jointed lengths of the
shoot, and suitable catches are provided for retaining the lengths in position
as wound up. The barrel is actuated by winch handle or other gearing, and
its shaft carries at each end a chain barrel or pulley, to which are attached
supporting chains passed up and round overhead pulleys carried on suitable
framing posts; and thence down for attachment to the extreme outer end of
the shoot. In this way, by turning the barrel in either direction, the shoot is
wound up or let down to suit the level of the water in the tidal way, and the
apparatus is available for service in all states of the tide..
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
how proceed to describe the several Figures upon the explanatory Sheet of

page_text: Drawings which I have hereunto appended, for the purpose of showing certain
modifications under which my Invention may be judiciously carried out in
practice.
Figure 1 on my illustrative Drawing is an elevation or side view of one
modification of my improved apparatus for effecting the shipping of minerals
in tidal situations; Figure 2 is a front view of the arrangement as looking
upon the machinery from the river side of the wharf; Figure 3 is an end
view, showing a portion of the jointed shoot or delivering starthe and some of
the details connected with it; Figure 4 is a side view, and Figure 5 a plan
corresponding. The brick or stonework of the wharf A has built in it a
rectangular recess B, in which the main part of the machinery is fixed. Two
massive cast-iron end standards C are bolted to the flooring of the recess B; the
upper part of these standards form sockets, into which the lower ends of the
wooden framing D are fitted. Each of the uprights of the framing D carries
a grooved pulley E, over which the hoisting chains F are passed; one
extremity of each chain F is made fast to the grooved pulleys G, which are
with the spur wheels H keyed to the transverse shaft I. The bearings of the
shaft I are carried in the end standards C, and the pulleys G and spur wheels
HI are arranged in close contiguity to each other immediately outside each
standard. The spur wheels H are each in gear with an intermediate wheel J,
which is carried upon a stud fixed in the standard C; these intermediate
wheels are each in gear with a pinion K, which is fast to the spindle on
which the winch handles L are keyed; the intermediate wheels J thus serve
to bring the winch handles L within convenient reach of the operating work-
man upon the wharf A. The other or outer ends of the hoisting chains E are
fastened to the outer portion. M of a jointed or articulated shoot, the plan of
which is shown in Figure 5 of my illustrative Drawing: The outer part M
of the shoot is made narrower towards its extremity, as, shown in the front
view and plan, Figures 2 and 5, on my Drawing. The remaining portion
consists of a series of trough-like lengths of metal N, which are bolted together
so as to form a continuous but flexible spout or shoot for conveying the coals
or other minerals from the wharf into the hold of the vessel to be loaded.
Upon the under side of the separate lengths of the shoot there are parallel
ribs O, which are made with an eye or eyes at each end. The extremities of
the ribs are made so that the end of one rib passes between the forked or
duplex end of the rib to which it is to be jointed. The separate lengths of the
shoot are connected to each other by bolts and nuts or other convenient
means of attachment; the outer end of each bolt in this arrangement extends
beyond its retaining nut, for a purpose which will be presently referred to.

page_text: a
.
The several lengths of the articulated shoot are wound upon metal centres P,
which are keyed to the shaft I; these centres are square plates of metal, as
shown in Figure 4 on my Drawing. Near to each corner of the centres P is
lug, to which is secured by a bolt and nut a link Q that turns freely upon
its centre. When the shaft I is put in motion by means of the winch
handles L, the inner lengths N of the shoot are wound upon the centres P;
and as each length is laid upon the centres the operator turns the link Q near
to its outer end outwards, so as to pass over the projecting end of the bolt
which passes through the ribs O. By this means the several lengths N of the
shoot are kept in position upon the centres P, and prevented from falling
away from their peripheries. When the lengths N of the shoot are unwound
the links are thrown back as they pass in succession. The locking and
releasing of the separate parts of the articulated shoot may also be affected by
self-acting mechanical means, if desired, in lieu of the arrangement shown in
the accompanying Drawing. When the water of the river or tidal way is
sufficiently high, the ship may be loaded with coal or other mineral, using
only the front portion M of the shoot for conveying the coal or mineral to the
hold of the vessel, and one of the lengths N to receive the coal from the
waggon. It is, however, to prevent the coal from being broken by falling
through a greater height when the tidal way is low that the articulated shoot
is designed, as when the shoot is unwound the incline is not rendered steeper,
but simply extends further out, the extremity of the part M being so much
lower in consequence of this extension; thus, when the water is low a greater
length of the shoot is unwound, and as this is done the inner vertical edges of
the parts. come in contact with each other, and the several pieces form a
horizontal plane. The angle of inclination given to this plane is determined.
by the length of the chains E, which being adjusted in the first instance, the
incline of the shoot remains the same, whether the minerals pass over the
whole or a portion only of its surface; thus at high water the vessel to be
loaded may be close up to the wharf, whilst at low water she must be shifted
outwards, so that the extremity of the shoot is over the hatchway. To prevent
the shoot from altering its position after it has been arranged for the loading
of a vessel, a pawl R is fitted to a stud fixed to the standard C; the free end
of the pawl falls into the teeth of the intermediate wheel J and prevents its
recoil. In the rear of this mechanical arrangement for shooting the coal or
mineral into the vessel is an apparatus for tilting the loaded waggons so as to
discharge their contents on to the shoot. The loaded waggons are brought
up upon rails or tramways in the usual manner to within a short distance of
the framing D, and the distance up to the framing is completed by means of a

page_text: pair of moveable rails S; these rails are long enough to admit of.a waggon
standing thereon, they are, fast, to a transverse shaft T, which is carried in
pedestal bearings that are bolted to the brick or stonework A of the wharf,
the supporting columns of the masonry being built with a recess at the upper
part to admit of the descent of the rails S; the front extremities of the rails S
are curved upwards, as shown in Figure 1 of my Drawing, and at this part
they are connected to, each other by a transverse tie bar; these upwardly
curved ends, each form a stop to check the further progress of the waggon.
To each of the backward. ends of the rails Sa rod U is fitted, to which a
counterweight is hung; the gravity of these weights is sufficient to bring the
rails S and the waggon V back to their normal or horizontal position when
the coals or minerals have been discharged therefrom. When the loaded
waggon V is pushed on to the rails S, its weight counterbalances the weights
on the rods U, which causes the rails S to turn upon their centre and tilt the
end of the waggon over the shoot N, thereby discharging the load upon the
incline of the shoot, from whence it falls into the hold of the vessel. To
prevent the too sudden descent of the waggon V the downward movement of
the rails S is controlled by a brake, the action of which is: regulated by the
attendant. To one extremity of the shaft T a brake wheel W is keyed; to
the periphery of this wheel is adapted the friction brake X; one end of the
brake is fast to a bell crank lever Y, which is centred upon a stud which is
fixed in a lug projecting upwards from the face of the base plate of this part
of the machinery; the longer arm of the bell-crank lever forms the controlling
handle for regulating the pressure of the brake.
When the loaded waggon
is pushed on to the rails S, the attendant by means of the handle on the lever
Y tightens the brake X on the wheel W, and causes the waggon to descend
slowly and discharge its contents in an unbroken state upon the shoot N. In
this way coals or other minerals may be shipped with great ease and facility,
and in a far better state than by the means heretofore employed for the
purpose.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating. from
the principles or main feature of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus

page_text: for effecting the shipping of minerals in tidal situations, as herein-before
described.
Second, the system or mode of transferring minerals from wharves or
other similar places to the holds of ships or vessels, as herein-before described.
Third, the arrangement and construction of articulated or jointed shoots or
inclined planes for discharging minerals into the holds of ships or vessels, as
herein-before described.
Fourth, the system or mode of maintaining the articulated shoot at a
uniform angle, whether it is protruded to its whole extent or otherwise, by the
mechanical means herein-before described or any mere equivalent therefor.
Fifth, the arrangement and construction of the machinery or apparatus for
tilting the loaded waggons and controlling the descent of the same, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Martin, have hereunto set my
hand seal, this Nineteenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-eight.
ROBERT MARTIN. (LS.)