IMPROVEMENTS IN MINE CAGES, AND IN LIFTS FOR WAREHOUSES, HOTELS, AND FOR OTHER PLACES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH THE SAID CAGES AND LIFTS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Holcroft, of Portfield Iron Works,
Tipton, in the County of Stafford, Ironmaster, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MINE CAGES, AND IN LIFTS FOR WAREHOUSES, HOTELS,
AND FOR OTHER PLACES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH THE SAID CAGES
AND LIFTS."
Sealed the 13th December 1870, and dated the 2nd July 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Holcroft at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd July 1870.
I, CHARLES HOLCROFT, of Portfield Iron Works, Tipton, in the
County of Stafford, Ironmaster, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MINE CAGES, AND IN LIFTS FOR
WAREHOUSES, HOTELS, AND FOR OTHER PLACES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH
THE SAID CAGES AND LIFTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements herein-after
described in constructing the guide rods of mine cages and lifts for
warehouses and other places; and, secondly, of the arrangement or

page_text: combination of parts herein-after described of safety mechanism to be
applied to the said cages and lifts for supporting them in case of the
breaking of the winding chain or rope.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the guide rods and cage
of a mine shaft. I make the guide rods of a series of lengths of bars
of wrought iron rolled of a channel or trough form in cross section,
and also of a series of short flat junction bars of wrought iron. Each
guide rod is made of a ladder form, that is, it consists of two parallel
sides running from top to bottom of the mine shaft, the said sides being
joined together at short intervals by cross bolts, the heads of the said
bolts and their rivetted ends being situated in the channels or troughs
of the bars of which the said sides are made, the trough sides of the
bars being situated outwards. The cross bolts described constitute the
stops with which the safety mechanism of the cage herein-after
described engages to support the said cage in the mine shaft. The
said cross bolts in addition to joining the parallel sides of the guide
bar together also serve to connect the lengths of channel bars to the
short flat junction bars to form a continuous length. The bolts by
which the channel bars and junction bars are connected together are
fastened by means of split pins, the said split pins lying in the channels
of the side bars. Around the bolts at the junction of the channel bars
and junction bars, and bearing against the inner sides of the said junction
bars, are tubular distance pieces by which the said junction bars are
supported the required distance apart. I use a guide bar constructed
as described on opposite sides of the mine shaft, the upper ends of the
said bars being connected to a support by means of screw caps provided
with elastic washers, by which the guide rods are made capable of
slightly yielding.
I will now proceed to describe the safety mechanism of the cage.
The opposite sides of the cage at top and bottom are provided with shoes
or tubular eyes, which surround and work upon the guide rods. On
the top of the cage and near the shoes or tubular eyes of the cage two
compartments made of angular plates or bars of wrought iron are
constructed. In each of the said compartments is a cranked lever
turning in a vertical plane on a centre on the inner side of the cage.
The arms of the cranked levers are at right angles to one another, that
arm situated nearest the guide rod being shorter than the other arm.
The said short arms of the crank lovers are made to engage with the

page_text: stops or cross bolts of the guide rods in the manner herein-after described.
The said crank levers are so jointed that when at liberty to move the
short arms take a horizontal position, springs pressing on the longer
arms of the levers assisting the descent of the said longer arms and the
rising of the shorter arms. The winding chain or rope is connected by
oblique chains to the top of the cage, and to the said oblique chains
the longer arms of the levers are connected by other chains. When the
winding chain is tightened during the ascent or descent of the cage
in the shaft the longer arms of the levers are raised into a horizontal
position; the short arms of the said levers are thereby withdrawn into
the cage and offer no obstruction to the motion of the cage; should
however the winding chain or rope break the horizontal arms of the
levers fall by their weight assisted by the pressure of the springs
described. The outer short arms of the said levers are thereby raised
through slots in the sides of the cage and take a horizontal position.
When in this position they project over and cross a pair of the stops
of the guide rods upon which they are caught, and thereby support the
cage in mine shaft. The improved guide rods herein-before described
may be used independently of the improved arrangement of safety
mechanism.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Holcroft in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HOLCROFT, of Portfield Iron Works, Tipton, in the County of Stafford,
Ironmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Holcroft, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Holcroft, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Holcroft, my 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

page_text: 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 MINE
CAGES, AND IN LIFTS FOR WAREHOUSES, HOTELS, AND FOR OTHER PLACES, AND IN
APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH THE SAID CAGES AND LIFTS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Holcroft, 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
nataire 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 Charles Holcroft, 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, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements herein-after
described in constructing the guide rods of mine cages and lifts for
warehouses and other places; and, secondly, of the arrangement or
combination of parts herein-after described of safety mechanism to be
applied to the said cages and lifts for supporting them in case of the
breaking of the winding chain or rope.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the guide rods and cage of a
mine shaft. 1 inake the guide rods of a series of lengths of bars of wrought
iron rolled of a channel or trough form in cross section, and also of
a series of short flat junction bars of wrought iron. The lengths of
channel bars and junction bars are joined together to form a continuous
length by means of rivets or rivets and screw bolts. Each guide rod is
made of a ladder form, that is, it consists of two parallel sides running
from top to bottom of the mine shaft, the said sides being joined together
at short intervals by cross bolts, the heads of which and their rivetted
ends being situated in the channels or troughs of the bars of which the
said sides are made, the trough sides of the bars being situated outwards.
The cross bolts described constitute the stops with which the safety
mechanism of the cage herein-after described engages to support the said
cage in the mine shaft. Around the cross bolts and bearing against
the inner sides of the junction bars are tubular distance pieces by which

page_text: the said junction bars are supported the required distance apart. I
use a guide rod constructed as described on opposite sides of the mine
shaft, the upper ends of the said bars being connected to a support by
means of caps provided with elastic washers by which the guide rods are
made capable of slightly yielding.
arm situated
The said short
I will now proceed to describe the safety mechanism of the cage.
The opposite sides of the cage at top and bottom are provided with
guide boxes or tubular eyes which surround and work upon the guide
rods. On the top of the cage and near the guide boxes is a compart-
ment, on the opposite sides of which is a cranked lever turning in a
vertical plane on a centre on the inner side of the cage. The arms of
the cranked levers are at right angles to one another, that
nearest the guide rod being shorter than the other arm.
arms of the cranked levers are made to engage with the stops or cross
bolts of the guide rods in the manner hercin-after described. The said
cranked levers are so jointed that when at liberty to move the short arms
take a horizontal position, springs pressing on the longer arms of the
levers assisting the descent of the said longer arms and the rising of
the shorter arms. The winding chain or rope is connected by chaius to
the top of the cage, and to the said cage chains the longer arms of the
lévers are connected by. other chains. When the winding chain is
tightened during the ascent or descent of the cage in the shaft the
longer arms of the levers are raised into a horizontal position.
short arms of the said levers are thereby withdrawn into the cage and
offer no obstruction to the motion of the cage. Should however the
winding chain or rope break tlie horizontal arms of the levers fall by their
weight assisted by the pressure of the springs described. The outer
short arms of the said levers are thereby raised through slots in
the sides of the cage and take a horizontal position. When in this
position they project over and cross a pair of the stops of the guide rods
upon which they are caught, and thereby support the cage in the mine
shaft.
The
The improved guide rods herein-before described may be used
independently of the improved arrangement of safety mechanism.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in which the
he mastowned

page_text: Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in side elevation
a mine cage provided with safety mechanism constructed according to
my Invention, the said mine cage being represented in connection with
guide rods, also constructed according to my Invention; Figure 3
represents in vertical section a portion of a mine cage safety mechanism
and guide rod drawn to a larger scale; Figure 4 represents in front
elevation, side elevation, and horizontal section on a larger scale my
method of constructing the guide rods; Figures 5 and 6 represent
separate parts of the safety mechanism; and Figures 7 and 8 represent
separate views of one of the guide boxes. The same letters indicate the
same parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
I will first describe the construction of the guide rods :-I make
the guide rods of a series of lengths of bars of wrought iron a, a,
the said bars being rolled of a channel or trough form in cross section,
and I join together the said lengths of trough-shaped bars a by means of
short flat junction bars b, b, of wrought iron. The trough bars a and
junction bars 6 are joined together partly by rivets c and partly by
screw bolts and nuts d. I use the two kinds of fastenings represented
for convenience in joining the bars together in the mine shaft, that is to
say, I secure one of the ends of the flat junction bars to one of the
ends of the trough bars a by means of rivets c, and I join the opposite
ends of the several lengths of the compound bars a, b, in the mine shaft
by means of the screw bolts and nuts d, thus forming a continuous
guide rod.
Where convenient I prefer to secure the lengths of trough
Each guide rod is made of
composed of the compound
bars a to the junction bars 6 by rivetting.
a ladder form, each of the parallel sides
bars a, b, running from top to bottom of the mine shaft. The two
parallel sides a, b, a, b, of the guide rod are joined together at short
intervals by the rivetted cross bolts e, which cross bolts constitute
the stops of the safety mechanism of the mine cage. Tubular distance
pieces marked få (see Figures 3 and 4) may be placed around some of
the cross bolts e. These tubular pieces f² by bearing against the inner
sides of the junction bars b and channel bars a, a, support them the
required distance apart. The heads of the rivets c, screw bolts d, and
cross bolts e are situated in the channels or troughs of the bars a, as best
seen in the sections of Figure 4. A ladder form guide rod of the con-
struction described is used on opposite sides of the mine shaft, as repre-

page_text: sented in Figures 1 and 2. The upper ends of the guide rods a, a,
above the mouth of the shaft are supported upon the cross support f (see
Figures 1 and 2) by the elastic caps or heads g, g, by means of which
caps or heads the guide rods are made capable of slightly yielding.
The said caps or heads g are made of alternate disks of iron and some
elastic material, such as vulcanized india-rubber or cork. The iron disks
are marked 9 and the elastic disks g. The guide rods a, a, being passed
through the disks of the elastic caps or heads, the said disks are fastened
together and to the said rods by the cross cotters h. A plan of one of
the elastic caps or heads g is represented in Figure 2^.
I will now proceed to describe the safety mechanism of the mine
cage. i is the cage made of flat and angle bars of wrought iron rivetted
together. On opposite sides of the cage i and at top and bottom are
guide boxes or eyes k, k, which surround and work upon the guide rods
a, a. One of the guide boxes is represented on a larger scale in front
elevation and section in Figures 7 and 8. The cage is divided by the
partition into two compartments I, m.
In the lower compartment m
the men to be raised and lowered in the cage are placed, and in the
upper compartment 1 the safety mechanism of the cage is contained.
The cage is connected to the winding chain or rope n by the chains p, p,
passing from the top of the cage. The safety mechanism of the cage
consists of two cranked levers each marked q, q*, situated on opposite
sides of the compartment and near the upper guide boxes k, k. The
construction of the safety mechanism will be best understood by
referring to the section Figure 3, and separate views of one of the levers
Figures 5 and 6. The cranked levers 7, 9, 9, 2, turn on centres q³, the
arms of the said levers being bent at right angles, the outer arms 9ª
being shorter than the inner arms q. The short arms q² by engaging with
the stops or cross bolts e of the guide rods support the cage in the
shaft. When the cranked levers are at liberty to move their short
arms take the horizontal position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3,
springs 1, 1, pressing on the tops of the longer arms q assisting the descent
of the said longer arms. Stops s on the under side of the top of the
cage limit the distance to which the longer arms q² of the levers can
risc, and thereby prevent the said arms injuring the springs 1º, r. The
arms q of the levers have the shape represented in the plan Figure 6,
the extreme ends of the said arms being provided with eyes q', 2. By
means of chains t, t, passed through the eyes q', q', the levers q, q², arc

page_text: connected to the chains p, p, fastened to the winding chain or rope n
Slots ³, ³, in the sides of the cage and guide boxes permit the short
arms q² of the levers to cross the guide rods a, a, and engage with the
stops c, c, when the said levers take their normal position. When the
winding chain n is tightened during the ascent or descent of the cage
in the mine shaft the safety levers q, q², occupy the positions represented
in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the short arms q³ of the said levers being with-
drawn into the cage and offering no obstruction to the motion of the
cage. Should, however, the winding chain or rope n break the longer
arms of the levers fall by their own weight assisted by the pressure of
the springs r, r. The outer short arms q² of the said levers are thereby
raised through the slots in the sides of the cage and take a horizontal
position, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3. When in this position
the said short arms q² project over and cross the stops e of the pair of
guide rods a, a, upon which stops e they are caught and support the
cage in the mine shaft.
At the top and bottom of the guide rods short plates are fixed flush
with the inner faces of the said guide rods. When the cage is on the
landing apparatus at the top or bottom of the shaft, the chains connected
with the levers are slackened, and the levers if not prevented would
fall unnecessarily, thereby causing useless wear and tear of the apparatus ;
this falling of the levers when the cage is on the landing apparatus is
prevented by the said short plates, which being presented to the short
ends of the levers when the cage is either at the top or bottom of the
shaft prevent the motion of the said levers.
The guide rods may be made of angle iron, as illustrated in the
horizontal section Figure 9. These angle bars r, r, are bolted to the
wood stays 8, 8, fixed in the shaft, or the said bars may be fixed to
the sides of the shaft itself. When the guide rods are made of angle
iron the guide box t of the mine cage does not clip the guide rod but
embraces it in the manner represented in the Figure.
The improved guide rods and safety mechanism herein-before described
are applicable to lifts for hotels, warehouses, and other places.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in mine

page_text: cages and in lifts for warehouses, hotels, and other places, and in appa-
ratus connected with the said
and lifts,-
cages
Firstly. Making the guide rods of the said mine cages and lifts of a
ladder form, each side of the guide rod being constructed of a series of
lengths of bars of wrought iron rolled of a channel or trough form in
cross section, the said trough bars being joined together to form a
continuous length by short flat junction bars of wrought iron, the two
sides of the ladder form guide rod so constructed being connected
together by cross pins or bolts, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings. Also making the guide
rods of angle bars, as herein-before described with reference to Figuro 9
of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The construction and combination or arrangement of parts
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings of the safety mechanism of mine cages and lifts for
supporting the said cages or lifts in case of the breaking of the winding
chain or rope.
In witness whercof, I, the said Charles Holcroft, have hercunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
CHARLES HOLCROFT. (L.S.)