IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EXCAVATING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Somes Story and Francis Gascoigne Lynde,
both of Kirkby Stephen, in the County of Westmoreland, Civil
Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
EXCAVATING."
Sealed the 4th February 1873, and dated the 20th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Somes Story and
Francis Gascoigne Lynde at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th September 1872.
We, JOHN SOMES STORY and FRANCIS GASCOIGNE LYNDE, both of
Kirkby Stephen, in the County of Westmoreland, Civil Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR EXCAVATING," to be as follows :-
This machine consists principally of a large iron pick fastened to the
end of a jib or shaft to which different motions, both vertical, horizontal,
and otherwise, are imparted by connecting the end of the pick shaft
with a steam cylinder. A separate pair of cylinders are also attached
to the boiler for the purpose of travelling the carriage on which the

page_text: machinery is mounted along the rails, for lifting and removing the
material excavated cither to wagons, or to deposit it in some convenient
place, the whole machine being capable of revolving round a centre pin
fixed to the under carriage.
The operation is as follows:-The machine is brought to the face of
the cutting, and a box put under the place where the pick is to operate,
so as to receive the material as it is loosened, the pick is then set in
motion and a series of blows delivered on the earth or clay which falls
by gravity into the box placed to receive it. Should the pick become
imbedded in the material a foot lever which is under the control of the
engineer is raised, by which means the fulcrum on which the pick shaft
acts is loosened, and the whole of the shaft now moves on a moveable
link which has one end fixed on a pin below the fulcrum on which the
pick shaft usually works. By this means a horizontal motion is
imparted to the pick, and the earth or clay is thus pulled over into the
box. Should the pick become fast int the earth so that the steam on
the cylinder has not sufficient power to raise it, a wedge which is
inserted in the head of the pick is withdrawn by means of a hand lever,
and the horizontal motion before mentioned is imparted to the shaft,
and by this means the pick is loosened and can be again drawn up to
deliver another blow.
The whole of the machine is capable of revolving on rollers worked
by suitable gearing round a centre pin fixed to the under carriage, so
that the pick can be brought into operation with any part of the cutting
within its reach.
The pick shaft is provided near the end with a shackle to which the
box when full can be attached, and then raised by the separate pair of
cylinders, when it can be removed by turning the machine on its centre
pin, or by running the whole machine back along the rails as desired.
The pin of the cross head on the piston rod takes into a slotted piece,
the end of which is connected by a chain passing around a barrel.
When the empty box is lowered the barrel is turned partly round by
the small cylinders to allow the slotted piece to travel with the cross
head to the end of its stroke, and when the machine is at work the cross
head moves to and fro within the slot.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Somes Story and Francis Gascoigne Lynde in
the Great Scal Patent Office, on the 17th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JoHN
SOMES STORY and FRANCIS GASCOIGNE LYNDE, both of Kirkby Stephen,
in the County of Westmoreland, Civil Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said John Somes Story and Francis Gascoigne
Lynde, Her special licence that we, the said John Somes Story and
Francis Gascoigne Lynde, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said John Somes Story and Francis Gascoigne
Lynde, our 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 FOR Excavating," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Somes Story and Francis Gascoigne
Lynde, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said John Somes Story and Francis
Gascoigne Lynde, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to
say) :-
Our improved machinery for excavating consists principally of a
picking instrument connected to the end of a jib or shaft to which the
required motions are imparted by a steam engine, and a separate engine
is employed to traverse the machine along the rails, and for lifting or
moving the material excavated.

page_text: And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thercon.
Fig. 1 represents an elevation of our improved excavating machine; 5
and Fig. 2 is a modification of the same; Fig. 3, represents a section
of a railway cutting, shewing how the soil may be removed by our
improved machinery; Fig. 4 is a plan of the same; Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8,
are detached views of parts of our improved machinery drawn on an
enlarged scale; and Fig. 9 is a section of the oil cup for lubricating the 1
valves and cylinders of the steam engines.
In Fig. 1a is the under carriage which is supported on the
wheels b, b; and c is the upper carriage which swivels upon a centre
pin coinciding with the axis d, and which is supported upon rollers
running upon the under carriage. To the carriage c is fixed the steam 1
boiler e and the cylinder in which is a piston, the piston rod of which
is connected to a cross head moving to and fro in suitable guides. This
cross head is connected by the side links f¹ to the shaft or jib of the
pick g which is hinged on the movable fulcrum g', shewn detached in
Figs. 5 and 6. The movable fulcrum is made in the upper end of the 2
link g² which moves on a fixed stud g³. This link is held against the
fixed stop 9' by the catch 9" which can be raised by the treadle lever g
to disengage the catch g' when required. The picking instrument g is
jointed to a bridle fixed to the shaft or jib, as shewn in the detached
Figs. 7 and 8, and it is held in its working position by the wedge slide h 2
which is connected by a rod to the lever /. The attendant by moving
this lever can draw the wedge slide back, as shown in Fig. 7, to
release the picking instrument, or he can push the slide forward, as
shewn in Fig. 8, to hold the picking instrument rigid.
To the upper carriage c or to the boiler e is fixed the steam cylinder i, 3
which by a train of wheels and pinions, shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1,
gives motion to the winding barrel, the chain from which is provided
with a hook taking into a shackle on the shaft or jib of the pick, and
to this shackle the box containing the excavated material is suspended.
The steam cylinder i is also connected by suitable gearing to the centre
axle d, which gives motion to the horizontal shaft on which are worms
gearing into toothed wheels on the supporting wheels b. By this
arrangement the whole machine is traversed along the rails. The upper

page_text: carriage is turned round on the under carriage by the hand wheelj and
pinion j¹ gearing into the large wheel k fixed to the under carriage, or
in any other convenient manner.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The machine is brought to the
face of the cutting, as shewn in Fig. 1, and a box put under the place
where the pick is to operate, so as to receive the material as it is
loosened. The pick is then set in motion and a series of blows delivered
on the earth or clay which falls by gravity into the said box. Should
the pick become imbedded in the material the attendant depresses the
treadle lever gº, by which means the catch g³ is lifted, and the link g³
assumes a diagonal position, as shewn in Fig. 6, and the whole of the
pick shaft now moves on the fixed stud 7. By this means a horizontal
motion is imparted to the pick, and the earth or clay is thus pulled over
into the box. Should the pick become fast in the earth so that the
steam in the cylinder has not sufficient power to move. it, the wedge
slide which is inserted in the head of the pick is withdrawn by means
of the hand lever h³, and the horizontal motion before mentioned is
imparted to the shaft, and by this means the pick is loosened, and can
be again drawn up to deliver another blow. As the whole of the
machine is capable of revolving on rollers worked by suitable gearing
round a centre pin, the pick can be brought into operation with any
part of the cutting within its reach, as shewn in Fig. 4. When the
box is full it can be attached to the shackle, and then raised by
the steam engine i, when it can be removed by turning the machine on
its centre pin, or by running the whole machine back along the rails, as
desired.
The excavating machine shewn in Fig. 2 is very similar to that shewn
in Fig. 1, and the corresponding parts are marked with similar letters
of reference. In this modification the lower end of the shaft or jib of
the picking instrument g is capable of moving in curved slots in the
plates 2, and at the beginning of every stroke the position of the fulcrum
is changed. The Drawing shews the fulcrum in the position it occupies
when the pick has been raised, and the dotted line m marked with
the upward arrow shews the arc of the circle described by the head
of the pick as it is drawn up, but at the return stroke of the piston in
the cylinder f the fulcrum of the pick is changed from g¹ to g, and the
pick head is then brought down along the face of the earth or soil to be
excavated, as shewn by the downward arrow. When the pick head is

page_text: at the bottom of its stroke and the piston rod begins to travel out of the
cylinder the first portion of its stroke moves the fulcrum of the pick
back from 9" to g¹, thereby drawing the pick head along the ground
before it again commences its upward stroke. By this arrangement the
slide wedge h may be dispensed with. When the pick shaft is brought 5
into the vertical position, as shewn in Fig. 2, the spring g' comes into
operation to act as a buffer and to prevent the shock which would
otherwise take place. This spring also gives greater effect to the down
stroke of the pick.
The improved oil cup shewn in Fig. 9 consists of a vessel n containing 1
the lubricating material. This vessel is fixed on the pipe o leading
from the boiler to the steam engines. Above the vessel n is a cup n',
and between the two there is a tap n³, and the vessel n is connected to
the pipe o by the passages n³ and "*. The former is provided with a
bent pipe n. The passages n³ and nº pass through the tap nº.
In 1
supplying the lubricating material to the pipe o both the taps n³ and ne
are closed, the lubricant is then poured into the cup n¹, and the tap n³
is opened to allow it to fall into the vessel n, the tap n³ is then closed,
and the steam passing up the passage n³ forces the lubricant down the
passage n* into the pipe o. The end of the passage n³ is turned towards 2
the current of the steam, as shewn by the arrow, to convey the steam
into the vessel n, and the end of the passage n' is turned in the opposite
direction to assist the discharge of the lubricant.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, we declare that we claim,—
First. The general combination and arrangement of the parts forming
the machines for excavating, as shewn and described.
Secondly. The direct action of the steam engine to the shaft or jib of
the pick.
2
Thirdly. The modes described or any other equivalent arrangement of 3
parts for moving the fulcrum of the pick.
Fourthly. The mode described or any other equivalent arrangement of
parts for loosening the head of the pick.
Fifthly. The application of the buffer spring g³, to prevent jars or
shocks, and to assist the down stroke of the pick, as shewn and described 3.
in reference to Fig. 2.

page_text: Sixthly. The mode described and shewn in Fig. 1, or any other
equivalent method for removing the excavated material.
And lastly. The improved lubricating cup applied to the steam pipe,
as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Somes Story and Francis
Gascoigne Lynde, have hereto set our hands and seals, this
Fourteenth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-three.