CERTAIN IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND REMOVING EARTH, WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE TO THE DIGGING OF CANALS AND THE LEVELLING OF GROUND FOR RAILROADS OR ORDINARY ROADS, AND SIMILAR EARTHWORKS
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the second year of Her
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
nine, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND REMOVING EARTH, WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE
TO THE DIGGING OF CANALS AND THE LEVELLING OF GROUND FOR RAILROADS OR
ORDINARY ROADS, AND SIMILAR EARTHWORKS," being a communication from a
foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said William Newton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner, the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear."
NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This improved machinery for-cutting and removing earth, applicable to the
digging of canals and the levelling of ground for roads and similar earth-
works, communicated to me from a certain foreigner residing abroad, consists a
peculiar arrangement and construction of apparatus mounted in a carriage, in
which a series of rotary cutters or peckers are made to break the ground as
the carriage advances; and also to conduct or throw the earth thus loosened
into a series of travelling buckets or shelves, which carry it up out of the
excavation, and deliver it into a series of troughs, moving in a transverse
direction, for the purpose of carrying off and discharging the loose earth raised
into carts or into any convenient situation by the side of the excavation..
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a sectional elevation taken
longitudinally through the carriage, shewing the positions and arrangement of
the principal working parts of the machinery. Fig. 2 is a horizontal view
of the same as it would appear if viewed from above, the same letters of
reference indicating corresponding parts in both Figures. The parts of the
machinery are arranged and erected upon a strong wooden frame a, a, a;
having longitudinal rails connected by transverse braces. This frame with the
machinery is mounted upon wheels b, b, b, which are to run upon temporary
wooden railways d, d, laid down on the sides of the line of ground intended to
be excavated. These wheels may be of iron, with a flange on the inside
of each to guide the carriage in a rectilinear direction as it runs upon the
wooden railway. They are proposed to be about eighteen inches diameter, and
eight inches wide at, the felloe and perfectly cylindrical, in order to gain
sufficient adhesion. Each pair of wheels are fixed...upon-an-axle turning-in
suitablebe arings under the carriage. At the hinder-part of the frame there'
is another pair of wheels: c also of a cylindrical form; but without flanges;'
which run upon the temporary railway for the support of the carriage and
the machinery. When a certain line of ground has been marked out for
excavation, it is necessary to cut slight trenches' on each side, or to level the:
surface of the ground for the purpose of laying down the temporary wooden

page_text: rails d, d, in order that the carriage with the machinery may be moved upon a
level surface, and advanced gradually without obstruction. These wooden
rails are proposed to be about six inches thick, and eight inches wide, and the
several lengths may at their ends be tenoned and keyed together, or be
held fast to one another by any suitable means. The power by which the
machinery is to be worked and advanced is proposed to be a steam engine
placed upon the platform e in the front part of the carriage. This driving
power is by any convenient means to be communicated to the horizontal shaft f,
and from thence through bevil wheels to the several parts of the machinery.
In beginning to work, a recess must be dug in the ground equal to the depth
of the intended cutting, in order that the machinery may be. lowered down and
adjusted to its proper working position. The earth intended to be removed is
cut or broken up by several series of rotary pickers g, g, g, fixed upon inclined
shafts h, h; h, placed at angles of about 25° or 30° from the perpendicular,
which must be regulated according to the depth of earth intended to be
removed at one cutting. These cutters are shewn detached at Figures 3 and 4
in two positions. The shafts h of the cutters are supported at bottom in
sockets formed in a plate i, i, called the inclined plane, fixed upon wooden
framing attached to the under part of the back of the carriage. Upon these
shafts any suitable number of the cutters may be fixed, having sharp hardened
steel tools at their ends, which peek into the earth as the shafts revolve. The
plate forms an inclined plane, upon which the loose earth falls as it is cut;
and by the rotation of the arms of the lower peckers this loose earth is pushed
off the inclined plane i into the recess behind at j formed by the curved Figure
of the back part of the plate i. From this recess ; the loose earth is taken up
by a succession of ledges or buckets attached to an endless chain passed over.
rollers. Toward the hinder part of the frame two vertical standards are
affixed, which support the axle of the upper roller of the endless chain of
buckets. At the bottom of these vertical standards running wheels mare.
attached for the partial support of the machinery, and for pressing the earth.
level ready for a second cutting if that should be required. The endless chain
carrying the series of buckets n, n, n, is extended over a rectangular roller / at
top, and under the cylindrical roller o at bottom, the axle of the former of
which turns in bearings affixed to the standard k, and the latter to the framing
near the recess j. The driving power being applied to the horizontal shaft f,
that shaft gives rotary motion through its bevil pinion p to a similar pinion
fixed on a transverse horizontal shaft 9, 9, seen best in Fig. 2. Upon the
shaft q there are also affixed several smaller bevil pinions 1, r,,, which.

page_text: respectively take into a bevil pinion s made fast on the top of each of the
inclined shafts h that carry the rotary cutters. Hence it will be perceived
that by the rotation of the horizontal shaft f, the inclined shafts h and the
cutters or peckers 9 are made to revolve, and thereby to peck or cut-away-the
earth against which they are brought into operation. As, however, this cutting
or pecking of the earth could not advance unless the machine moved onward,
the progressive movement of the frame with the machinery is effected by a
small bevil pinion t on the shaft f taking into a corresponding pinion fixed on
the top of a small vertical shaft u mounted in a bracket and bearing, as
shewn in Fig. 1. On the lower part of this vertical shaft u another bevil
pinion is fixed, which takes into a corresponding pinion on a small
horizontal worm shaft v. The worm
on this shaft takes into a toothed
wheel w fixed on the axle of one of the pairs of running wheels b, b; hence
the rotation of the pinions above described produced by the driving shaft
f will through the worm v and wheel w cause the carriage with the machinery
to be slowly advanced by the rotation of the running wheels upon the railway,
and the peckers or cutters 9, 9, 9, continually to be kept up to their work
against the unbroken earth. The rotation of the endless chain of buckets n, n, n,
is effected by a bevil pinion fixed at the end of the transverse shaft-q, which
takes into a corresponding pinion at the end of a lateral shaft x (seen best in
Fig. 2). The reverse end of this shaft has another bevil pinion taking
into a similar pinion fixed to the end of the axle of the upper roller l, which
carries the endless chain of buckets. By this arrangement of machinery it
will be perceived that the rotation of the driving shaft f, above described, will
cause the axle of the roller 1 to revolve, and that roller being rectangular will,
as it revolves, carry around the endless chain of buckets n, in the inclined
position shewn in Fig. 1. It will now be seen that the loose earth broken up
by the rotary peckers as before described, having been pushed off the inclined
plane i by the arms of the peckers into the recess ;, will there be taken up by
the successive buckets n as they revolve, passing through the recess j, and that
the earth so taken up will be discharged from the buckets at top into any
receptacle placed under the top roller, as at y. In order that the loose earth
thus discharged from the buckets n, n, may be conveniently removed from the
work, an apparatus is attached to the back part of the horizontal rails of the
framing a, a, consisting of a series of shallow troughs y, 'y, which are made to
traverse to or fro in lateral directions, for the purpose of carrying away the
loose earth and depositing it on the sides of the excavated line or trench.
This apparatus is shewn endways in Fig. 1, and in the horizontal view Fig. 2.

page_text: It consists of a series of boxes or troughs y, y, y, connected to an endless chain
passed over two tension rollers 2, 2, and conduced upon several intermediate
bearing rollers, which may have pulleys at their ends running upon horizontal
rails as at a, a, Fig. 1. The rollers z, z, are to be furnished with spun-teeth
taking into the links of the chain in order to conduct it with the troughs side-
ways, and the chain may be driven, or a rack on the side of the troughs may
be acted upon by a pinion connected through bevil gear with a pinion 6 fixed
at the end of the axle of the roller 7. The middle of the chain is made fast to
the under part of the framing, so that when the troughs are moved onward in
a lateral direction, they may be carried out to a distance from the framing of
the machine, and in passing they are filled with the loose earth continually
delivered from the buckets. The troughs are then severally turned over and
the earth discharged, and when empty they are passed in inverted positions
under the series of loaded troughs, and when the troughs have travelled as far
as the confined chain will allow, the action of the driving pinion is reversed,
and the whole series of the troughs are conducted in the opposite direction,
filling as they go on from the buckets and discharging themselves on the opposite
side of the machine. This part of the apparatus may be worked by various
mechanical contrivances for giving reciprocating movements to the series of
troughs, which are well understood by machine makers, and therefore do not
require further explanation. If it be desired that the sides of the canal or
excavation should be made sloping, that may be effected by applying peckers,
with larger arms at the upper part of the shafts, and gradually shorter ones
toward the bottom, where they must be of the ordinary length, observing that
the outer shafts in that case should incline outwards. It must be understood
that the tools with which the ends of the arms are furnished may vary in form,
according to the nature of the soil or earth they are required to move. Figs. 5,
6, 7, and 8 represent several forms of tools made of steel, which may be
attached to the ends of the arms suited to the ground to be excavated. Lastly,
I desire it to be understood that I do not claim the several parts of the
machinery as new in themselves, but I claim the form and arrangement of the
retary cutters and their connection with the other parts of the machinery as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-nine.
WILLIAM (L.S.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of Sep-
tember, in the third year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
William Newton came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid
was. stamped according to the Statute made in the Fifty-fifth year of the reign
of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twenty-seventh day of September, One thousand eight
. hundred and thirty-nine.