CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE VENTILATION OF MINES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPIF
WILCOCK, of Barnsley, in the County of York, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain, and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of June,
in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Wilcock, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Joseph Wilcock, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Joseph Wilcock, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE VENTILATION OF
MINES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, requiring
that I, the said Joseph Wilcock, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.
.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
Joseph Wilcock, 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 this present Specification or instrument in
writing, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):—
My improvements in the ventilation of mines consist of a mode or modes of
elongating or raising the upcast shafts of mines, by means of stacks, towers,
or similar buildings erected above or in connection with such upcast shafts.
The great object to be attained for the purpose of effectually ventilating mines
is to obtain a sufficient current of air from the atmosphere, and after con-
ducting it through the various ramifications of the mine to discharge it along
with the vitiated air with which it has been contaminated again into the
atmosphere. In order to effect this object it is usual to make use of what
are called downcast shafts and upcast shafts, the former being used for
admitting air into the mine, the latter for permitting its escape, and to cause
or promote the more effectual ventilation of a mine it is usual to apply heat
to the air during its passage into or up the upcast shaft, so, as to increase the
velocity with which the air passes through the mine. I have found that
the more elevated the upper orifice of the upcast shaft is in comparison with
that of the downcast shaft, the stronger will be the current of air obtained
for effecting the ventilation of the mine. And the object of my Invention is,
by such means as I have already mentioned to elevate the upper orifice of
the upcast shaft of a mine so as to obtain greater ascending power, as it may
be called, or, in other words, to create a stronger and more rapid current of air
for the ventilation of the mine. The effectual ventilation of a mine is
frequently prevented or impeded by the smallness of the upper orifice of the
upcast shaft, but according to my Invention the orifice of the upcast shaft is
not only to be elevated, as before mentioned, but the elongation or continuation
of it is to be made with a transverse sectional area at least as great as that of
the shaft itself. And if the upper part or continuation of an upcast shaft is
intended to be used for any purpose except permitting the escape of a current
of air, the transverse sectional area of the continuation contained in the stack,
tower, or other building must, if necessary, be increased to such an extent as
will leave a space or spaces for the escape of the air, having altogether a
transverse sectional area at least as great as that of the lower portions of
the shaft.
In using an elongated upcast shaft for the purpose of ventilating a mine
according to my said Invention, the fire or fires used for the purpose of

page_text: causing or increasing the current of air through the mine and up the shaft
may be placed or applied in any ordinary manner at the foot or at the top of
the shaft, or in any other part where it can be most conveniently placed, care
being in every case taken that the sectional area of the space allowed for the.
passage of the air-through, over, or past the fire or fires be not made less than
the sectional area of the upcast shaft. In some cases mines have only one.
shaft or sinking, but in that case the shaft is divided into two or more parts,
one or more of such parts or divisions being used as a downcast shaft or shafts,
and another of such parts or divisions being used as an upcast shaft; and I will
first describe the mode in which my Invention may be applied to such mines.
Figure 1'is a plan view; Figures 2 and 3 vertical sections through the
lines Z, Z, and Y, Y, of Figure 1 respectively. In these Figures the cor-
responding portions are marked with similar letters of reference. A is the
principal wall of the shaft, built in the usual circular form; B and C are two
vertical partitions placed across the shaft and dividing it into three portions.
The centre portion serves for the purpose of raising minerals out of the mine;
one of the smaller divisions K serves for the introduction of tubes, &c. for
pumping out the water. The partition C and the part of the wall A forming
the division L, are erected much higher than the other parts of the shaft, and
the orifice of the division L is in this way extended considerably above the
upper orifices of the other parts of the shaft, so that the stack, tower, or
building thus erected above the division L.may form a continuation of that.
division to the height which may be deemed requisite for increasing the
current of air to the extent necessary for the effectual ventilation of the mine.
Either or both of the other divisions of the shaft may of course be used as a
downcast shaft or shafts in the ordinary manner, and the division L, which is
to be used as an upcast shaft, may be connected with the interior parts of the
mine in the usual way.
I will next explain the mode in which my Invention may be applied to a
mine worked with two or more separate shafts or sinkings, and in which the
upcast shaft is also used as a drawing shaft. In this case I .build a stack,
tower, or building at the top of the upcast shaft, so as to form a continuation
of that shaft, as before-mentioned; and if this shaft should happen to be used
as a drawing shaft (and upcast shafts are frequently so used), the interior of
the stack, tower, or building must be made larger than the lower portion of
the shaft, so as to allow space not only for the admission of any machinery
and for workmen, but also for such a quantity of air as will prevent the
currents of air entering through the orifices necessarily left in the sides of
the stack, tower, or building from materially interfering with or retarding the

page_text: upward current of air rising through the shaft from the mine. In Figures 4,
5, 6, and 7 of the said Drawings I have shewn a mode in which my said
Invention may be applied to an upcast shaft of this description. Figure 4.
is a front elevation; Figure 5 is a plan, the framework 0 (hereafter referred
to) being removed; Figure 6 is a vertical section and Figure 7 is a horizontal
section; and in these Figures similar parts are marked with similar letters of
reference. M, the shaft, and N, the tower; O, the framework, carrying pullies
over which the ropes P, P, pass, and are attached to vessels or carriages Q, Q.
for containing the contents removed from the mine. These ropes pass through
the side of the tower to the drum on which they are wound, and the opening
through which they pass is furnished with rollers R, R, which serve to protect
the ropes from chafing and, partially to fill up or close the said opening, which,
as well as all other openings necessary to the working of the mine, should be as
small as they can be compatively with the convenience required. The vessels or
carriages Q, Q, when raised are removed, and when emptied are brought back
again in the usual manner. Openings are therefore made in the wall of the
tower at S, S, of sufficient dimensions to allow the vessels or carriages and.
their loads to pass through them, and at night or other time, when the working
is not carried on, they are covered by dampers or plates T, T, which slide over
them. t, t, are handles for moving the same; U, U, counterbalance weights.
It is evident that these openings will allow air to pass from the external
atmosphere into the continuation of the shaft, and, when it is necessary to
make openings in the stack, tower, or building which forms the continuation of
an upcast shaft according to my Invention, I deem it better to increase the
transverse sectional area of the interior of the stack, tower, or building by an
amount equal to the area of the mouth of each of such openings for the
purpose of preventing the air which enters the stack, tower, or building from
the atmosphere impeding the current of air rising through the shaft from the
mine. If a mine has two or more shafts which are used both as upcast and
drawing shafts, each of them may of course be constructed in the manner I
have described.
I will now explain the mode in which my Invention may be applied
to the upcast shaft or shafts of mines worked with two, three, or more
shafts when such upcast shafts are not used as drawing shafts. In a mine
with three shafts it is usual to employ one for pumping, one for drawing,
and the other simply as the upcast shaft, the two former both serving
as downcast shafts.
If more be employed, they may be either downcast
or upcast shafts, as may be desirable, according to circumstances. In the
application of my Invention to such upcast shaft or shafts, the stacks; towers,

page_text: or buildings which form the continuation or elongation of such shaft .or.
shafts may either be of the same or of larger diameter than the shaft or
shafts over or in connection with which they are built; but I prefer making
the interior of the continuation of the same diameter as the lower part of the
shaft. I have in Figures 8 and 9 shewn a shaft elongated by a stack, tower,
or building, the interior of which is of the same diameter as that of the
interior of the shaft, Figure 8 being a section, and Figure 9 a plan. But the
foundations of this stack, tower, or building are placed outside the wall of the
shaft, so that the weight of the building may not be thrown upon the wall of
the shaft; and the wall of the building is made slightly conical for a short
distance upwards, until the interior is diminished so as to be of the same
diameter as the interior of the shaft below, and then the wall rises vertically.
The height which these stacks, towers, or similar buildings should be erected
will of course depend upon circumstances, but more particularly upon the
height of the upper orifice of the upcast shaft in comparison with the upper
orifice of the downcast shaft or shafts, and the quantity of carburetted hydro-
gen or other vapours or gases that exist or are produced in the mine. The
shaft of a mine having its mouth or upper orifice higher or upon a higher
level than the other shaft or shafts of the mine is generally chosen as the
upcast shaft. But if it be found inconvenient to make this higher shaft the
upcast shaft, a lower shaft is made the upcast shaft by means of a fire or fires
employed to heat the air as it passes into or through the shaft, as before men-
tioned. By using my Invention, however, the upper orifice of a low upcast
shaft may be raised, so as not only to be as high but higher than the orifice of
the downcast shaft; and that should be done in every case in which it is practi-
cable. And I recommend that the upper orifice of the upcast shaft should be
raised to such a height above the surface of the ground as will be equal to
from sixty to one hundred feet above the mouth or entrance to the downcast
shaft, so as to create such a current through the mine as effectually to carry
off the carburetted hydrogen, carbonic acid, or other noxious gases contained
in the mine. I wish it to be understood, however, that I do not limit the
application of my Invention to any particular height of such stacks, towers, or
buildings, but the dimensions I have given are such as I think sufficient when
the interior of the mine is well regulated and the quantity of noxious gas or
vapours not very large. I have no doubt, however, that in many cases a less
height will be found sufficient to produce the desired effect.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I hereby claim as of my said Invention the mode

page_text: or modes of elongating the upcast shafts of mines for the better ventilating
such mines, in' manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Wilcock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
JOSEPH (L.B.)
COCA.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Joseph Wilcock came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.