IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES USED FOR FACILITATING THE DISCHARGE OF COALS, MINERALS, EARTHS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS FROM WAGGONS USED ON RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND COMMON ROADS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Spencer, Civil Engineer, of No. 6, Cannon
Street West, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES
USED FOR FACILITATING THE DISCHARGE OF COALS, MINERALS, EARTHS, AND
OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS FROM WAGGONS USED ON RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS,
AND COMMON ROADS."
Sealed the 3rd September 1857, and dated the 4th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Spencer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
April 1857.
I, GEORGE SPENCER, Civil Engineer, of No. 6, Cannon street West, London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES USED FOR FACILITATING THE DISCHARGE OP COALS, MINERALS, EARTHS, AND
OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS FROM WAGGONS USED ON RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND
COMMON ROADS," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist,
1st, in so arranging end tips or platforms by means of suitable bearings and
adjustments, that they can in most cases be placed under the control of the
men working them without the aid of breaks or of any extra machinery.
2nd, in the arrangements of what are called side tips when the material
is to be discharged from one side of the waggon.

page_text: 3rd, in the arrangement of such tips so that they can be used either as
side or end tips as required.
4th, in arrangements when side tips are wanted to discharge from either
side as required.
In the first kind, mentioned above, the platform on which the waggon is
placed is supported at the two sides at the centre of gravity of the loaded
waggon and tip, which in a coal waggon is usually about 4 feet higher than
the rails. When this condition is complied with the waggon remains in any
position in which it may be placed. To ensure this, I make the bearing
adjustable in height, so that the height may be varied to suit different waggons;
or I arrange what have been called rockers or rollers for the same purpose,
so that the loaded waggons shall always be in equilibrium, or very nearly so,
in all positions. In both cases the empty waggon when let go will return
to the horizontal position.
In the second kind, or single side tips, I form on the frame ends or fix to
them curved surfaces or rollers, which are so contrived that the curves of
such rollers shall be formed with a circle described from or near to the centre
of gravity of the heaviest waggon and tip that are to be used on the tip.
When that is done the waggon remains balanced in any position, and a much
greater angle for discharging material can be safely obtained that can be used
by other means. I sometimes use a counterbalance in connection with the
tip, to allow for cases where the waggons differ greatly in weight. These
rollers can be formed on the ends of tip, or be fixed to the end at the side;
or the rollers may be made in a separate piece, which can be loose, or be
fixed to a bracket holding it, or placed under the frame, so that the curve
of the roller is correct; or it may be formed on the brackets and fixed to the
frame.
The third kind is intended to be used either as a side tip or end tip. I
do this by supporting the frame on which the waggon rests on an outer frame,
which outer frame is supported by the fixed framing. When the inner frame
is fixed to the outer frame the two can be made to work on a pair of rollers,
as in No. 2, either sideways or endways, and if this outer frame be fixed,
the inner frame, being supported by rollers resting on the outer frame, can
be made to act as an end tip or a side tip, according as the rollers are placed
at the end or at the side.
The fourth kind is an arrangement to enable side tips to be used either
way, so that waggons can be discharged at either side. To effect this, I place
a pair of rollers on the ends of the tip, and get the loaded waggon in equi-

page_text: librium, or nearly so, and to the end of frame I affix a long lever, which
I place under the frame for convenience. To work the lever, I use either
a train of wheels, like in a crane, or I use a long screw with a nut on it, which
nut works the lever end backwards and forwards, and is guided by a suitable
frame; or I use a wheel and axle with a chain or rope passing over pulleys.
The frames and rollers and brackets when used may be made of wood or
cast iron, or both combined, but I prefer wrought iron.
In all my plans brakes are not required. I object to them because of the
danger of trusting such heavy weights in uuskilful hands, but they can be
used for easing the waggon's back if required. I make no claim for any
such use.
Rollers have been used before, but they have been arranged to allow the
centre of gravity to fall outside the bearing points, by which means powerful
brakes are required, or there is a dangerous concussion when the waggon
falls over, which is especially objectionable in side tips. In any of these tips
the frames should be made so as to allow of hopper waggons being discharged
on the same platform by a space being left in the centre of such frame.
In all three Plans, Nos. 1, 2, 3, the tip with the loaded waggon may be
held in position while being emptied by means similar to that described in
No. 4, and in such cases the centre of gravity of the tip and waggon may
overhang the bearing point, and be eased down by the lever and power in
a similar manner to No. 4, a counterbalance being used in such cases to
balance the empty waggon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Spencer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SPENCER, Civil Engineer, of No. 6, Cannon Street West, London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Spencer, Her special licence that I, the said George Spencer,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George'
Spencer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: 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 MACHINES USED
FOR FACILITATING THE DISCHARGE OF COALS, MINERALS, EARTHS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
MATERIALS FROM WAGGONS USED ON RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND COMMON ROADS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Spencer, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of 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 I, the said George Spencer, 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:
My "Improvements in Machines used for Facilitating the Discharge of
Coals, Minerals, Earths, and other similar Materials from Waggons used on
Railways, Tramways, and Common Roads," consist in so arranging and
adjusting tipping platforms that they shall be under the control of the men
working them without the aid of breaks or other extra machinery.
To effect this object, I place under the two ends or sides, as an end or side
tip may be required, rollers or rockers, as they may be called, and these
rockers are so contrived that their curved surfaces are described by a radius
having for centre as near as may be the centre of gravity of the tipping
platform and loaded waggon; and when this condition is complied with the
loaded waggon has no tendency to change its position, but when any small
force is applied the platform may be placed at any required inclination; thus
the fall, unavoidable when the curve is not so arranged, or when the centre
of gravity of loaded waggon and platform is placed in advance of the bearing,
as has been done hitherto, is obviated; thus breaks or any other machinery
now used for such purpose to ease the loaded waggon down are rendered
unnecessary. I apply this principle to several kinds of tipping platforms,
some of which I have shown in the Drawing.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3 in the Drawing show one of these platforms arranged
for a side tip; Fig. 1 is a plan; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section; Fig. 3, a
transverse section. A is the frame, of wood or iron, on which the waggon to

page_text: be emptied is placed; B are the rails; C¹ is a frame for supporting the
rockers D, D', which are to be placed under the centre of waggon, as shown.
These rockers D rest on flat plates of iron; secured to the frame C at centre.
The rockers in this plan are so arranged that the tip may be used on either
side of rails, but the tip is to be used on one side only the curve of rocker
would end at the centre and the remainder be flat, as shown in Fig. 4, and
that side of frame would have a permanent support of some kind. When
the tip is to be arranged for working on either side, temporary supports, such
as strong bolts or bearing blocks, must be provided to prevent the frame
from falling on that side. This is so obvious that I have not thought it
necessary to show these details in the Drawing. So arranged, it is obvious
that when the waggon is emptied, the centre of gravity being lower than
with the full waggon, the waggon and frame will fall back to the horizontal
position.
In order to form an end tip, I place the rockers D and frames C' at the
centre of the two sides, and place the waggon over the centre of the rockers,
and then secure it by any economical means, so that when the platform is
inclined the loaded waggon and platform shall be in equilibrium, or nearly
so, thus rendering breaks unnecessary. But to take any occasional fall that
may happen when waggons too heavy for the platform as arranged may be
emptied, I place at each of the four corners of the tip a spring buffer for the
frame to fall on. I prefer india-rubber, but any kind of spring may be used.
Fig. 5 shows a plan of platform so arranged that it may be used as
an end or side tip. A is the frame; B, the rails; D, D', are the rockers;
(a) is an outer frame, supporting the rockers of inner frame A, and which rests
on the fixed frame E by the rockers d, d. If it be desired to use the inner
or side tip, the outer frame a is secured by bolts or otherwise to the fixed
frame E. If it be desired to use it as an end tip, the inner frame A
and outer frame a are to be bolted together, and the rockers d, d, used.
The arrangement of these frames may be reversed, making the inner frame
A act as an end tip and the outer one as a side tip. In some cases it may
be convenient to place the fixed frame C on wheels, so that the waggon and
platform may be shifted from one set of rails to another, so that one line
of loaded waggons may be brought in to the tipping platform along one line
of rails, while the empty ones are taken out by another line of rails, with
which the tipping platform is brought in connection when shifted.
I prefer to make these tipping platforms entirely of wrought iron, but wood
or a combination of both may be used.

page_text: The rockers are shown attached to the sides of frame, but they may be
formed in or placed at the bottom of the frames if preferred.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Spencer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 2nd day of October, in the year of our Lord 1857.
Witness,
ALFRED PYALL.
GEORGE SPENCER. (L.S.)