AN IMPROVED SAFETY APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS FROM OVERWINDING IN MINES AND OTHER LOCALITIES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Walker, of Craggs Hall Mines, Brotton,
near Saltburn-by-the-Sea, in the County of York, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED SAFETY APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS FROM
OVERWINDING IN MINES AND OTHER LOCALITIES."
Sealed the 22nd September 1871, and dated the 14th June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Walker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th June 1871.
I, WILLIAM WALKER, of Craggs Hall Mines, Brotton, near Saltburn-
by-the-Sea, in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SAFETY APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING
ACCIDENTS FROM OVERWINDING IN MINES AND OTHER LOCALITIES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has reference to an improved construction of that
description of safety apparatus for preventing accidents from over-
winding in mines and other localities whereby the winding rope or
chain is disconnected from the load, while at the same time the load is
supported by the apparatus so as to be prevented from falling after the
rope or chain has been disconnected.
I construct such apparatus of two links or levers hinged together at
or about the middle of their length, and so formed that when the upper

page_text: parts of the links are close together the lower parts project at an angle
from each other. The upper ends of the links are formed so as to hold
the winding rope or chain between them when kept close together and
to release the same when opened out; they are also formed with heads or
projections on their outer sides for a purpose to be presently described.
The lower ends of the links are formed with eyes or pins carrying chains
or ropes by which the bucket, cage, or other load to be raised is con-
nected thereto. Over the two links is slid a guard plato having an
aperture through which the links pass. This guard plate projects some-
what on each side of the head of the links, and is under ordinary
circumstances situated close under such head, the aperture thereof
being of such a size as to keep the upper parts of the links close
together, and the guard plato is maintained in this position by soft
metal pins passing through holes in the links immediately underneath
the guard plate. At the point beyond which the load must not be
raised is fixed a beam having an aperture through which the winding
rope or chain-passes, which aperture is just large enough to let the head
of the before-described safety apparatus pass through. Should over-
winding take place the upper parts of the links are drawn by the rope
or chain through the said aperture in the beam, but the guard plate in
coming in contact with the under side of the beam is retained there
while the links are drawn through it, whereby, firstly, the soft metal
pins are sheared off, and, secondly, when the links have passed through
to the point where they are hinged together the guard plate in sliding
over the lower distended parts of the links draws these close together,
and thereby causes the upper ends (which are now situated above the
top of the fixed beam) to open out and to release the winding rope or
chain, while the projections or heads of the links at the same time take
a bearing upon the upper side of the beam, and thus sustain the load
after the winding rope is disconnected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WALKER, of Craggs Hall Mincs, Brotton, near Saltburn-by-the-Sea, in 3
the County of York, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent; bearing date the Fourteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Walker, Her special licence that
I, the said William Walker, my executors, dministrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Walker, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "AN IMPROVED SAFETY
APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS FROM OVERWINDING IN MINES AND
OTHER LOCALITIES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Walker, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Walker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say :-
My Invention has reference to an improved construction of that
description of safety apparatus for preventing accidents from over-
winding in mines and other localitics, whereby the winding rope or
chain is disconnected from the load, while at the same time the load
is supported by the apparatus so as to be prevented from falling after
the rope or chain has been disconnected.
I construct such apparatus of two links or levers hinged together at
or about the middle of their length, and so formed that when the upper
parts of the links are close together the lower parts project at an angle
from each other. The upper ends of the links are so formed as to hold
the winding rope or chain between them when kept close together, and
to release the same when opened out; they are also formed with heads

page_text: or projections on their outer sides for a purpose to be presently described.
The lower ends of the links are formed with cyes or pins carrying
chains or ropes by which the bucket, cage, or other load to be raised is
connected thereto. Over the two links is slid a guard plate having an
aperture through which the links pass. This guard plate projects some-
what on each side of the head of the links, and is under ordinary
circumstances situated close under such head, the aperture thereof being
of such a size as to keep the upper part of the links close together, and
the guard plate is maintained in this position by soft metal pins passing
through holes in the links immediately underneath the guard plate. At
the point beyond which the load must not be raised is fixed a beam
having an aperture through which the winding rope or chain passes,
which aperture is just large enough to let the head of the before-
described safety apparatus pass through. Should overwinding take
place the upper parts of the links are drawn by the rope or chain
through the said aperture in the beam, but the guard plate in coming
in contact with the under side of the beam is retained there while the
links are drawn through it, whereby, firstly, the soft metal pins are
sheared off, and, secondly, when the links have passed through to the
point where they are hinged together the guard plate in sliding over
the lower distended parts of the links draws these close together, and
thereby causes the upper ends (which are now situated above the top
of the fixed beam) to open out and to release the winding rope or chain,
while the projections or heads of the links at the same time take a
bearing upon the upper side of the beam, and thus sustain the load
after the winding rope is disconnected.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Figure 1 shews a front
view and Figure 2 shews a side view of my before-described improved
safety apparatus.
E, E, are the two links or levers hinged together at F, the upper parts
of which are held together in the position shewn while in the act of
winding by the guard plate or collar B through a slot in which the
links pass, the guard plate being kept in position upon the links by soft
metal pins C, C, inserted through holes in the links. When in this
position the heads E¹, E', of the links hold the winding rope or chain G
securely between them in the notchics formed for this purpose
in their
meeting surfaces, and their lower ends divorge at an angle as shewn,
and have pins or holes D to which the load T to be raised is attached.

page_text: A is a fixed beam situated at the point beyond which the load T should
not be raised; it has an opening A' just large enough to allow the
heads E¹ of the links to pass through it. When through overwinding
the guard plate B comes in contact with the under side of the beam A
the links E, E, will be drawn by the rope or chain through the guard
plate and up into the opening A' (the pins C, C, being sheared off
by the plate B), and as the links pass through the guard plate beyond
the point F, where they are hinged together, their lower ends will be
drawn close together, thus causing the upper ends to open out, as shewn
in dotted lines in Figure 1. The winding rope G is by this means
released from the apparatus, while at the same time the heads E¹ of the
links take a bearing upon the upper side of the beam A so as to sustain
the load after the winding rope is disconnected.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood I
am aware that an arrangement of safety apparatus with hinged links
has already been proposed, which links in being drawn through an
opening in a fixed beam have their lower ends brought together by the
side surfaces of the said opening and their upper ends opened out so as
to release the winding rope or chain, and I do not therefore claim such
an arrangement; but what I claim is, the before-described construc-
tion of safety apparatus for preventing overwinding in mines, consisting
of two hinged links E, E, operating in combination with the guard
plate B, substantially as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Walker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
WILLIAM WALKER. (L.S.)