Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Sept, 1887
Complete Specification Left, 9th July, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 17th Aug., 1888
I ADOLPH VOGT of Kiel in the Empire of Germany Civil Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
In working ordinary excavators the rails on which the excavator and the trucks for
conveying away the excavated earth run have to be frequently moved backwards as
the excavator operates-This makes the operation of excavating with the ordinary
excavators very costly and when the earth is wet or soft it is difficult to obtain an
adequate support for the rails and excavator so that frequently the rails sink into the
ground get out of the level and endanger the machinery frequently causing ruptures
and stoppage of working-Further with ordinary excavators several machines cannot
conveniently be used on the same spot when it may be desirable to expedite the work
at one place.
The object of this Invention is to provide an excavating apparatus which obviates
the foregoing drawbacks.
According to the said Invention I provide a bridge or girder like framing or
structure (which I will call the girder) situated transversely to the rails on which it
runs The excavating arrangements are double consisting of two ladders chains bands
or series of excavators and elevators buckets or conveyers (which I will call bucket
chains) arranged at an angle to each other so that they cross each other and can
operate one on each side of a bank of earth to be removed-The said two series of
bucket chains pass to above the girder for instance through slots or openings left
thereon for the purpose-The upper wheels or tumblers over which the bucket chains
pass and by which they are set in motion are supported in carriages which can be
caused by a long screw or otherwise to run along the girder. The lower wheels or
tumblers are supported as usual by trusses or cranes by which the bucket chains can
be adjusted so as to be brought to different angles with each other-The upper wheels
or tumblers can be rotated to cause the bucket chains to he operated whatever the
position of the carriages may be-This is effected by shafts arranged lengthwise of the
girder and supported in bearings carried thereby the said shafts being rotated through

page_text: suitable gearing which may be operated by an engine or by engines carried by the
girder The motion of those shafts is transmitted to the said upper wheels or tumblers
by toothed wheels or by a worm which turns with the shaft and is so carried by the
carriage supporting the upper wheel or tumbler that it travels along the shaft when
the carriage is moved along the girder-In proximity to each of the upper wheels or
tumblers a hopper is placed and secured to the carriage so as to travel with it for the
reception of the earth tipped from the buckets and to guide it into or onto a suitable
receptacle a convenient arrangement being one in which the hoppers deliver the earth
onto an endless band or carrier supported by the girder and carrying the earth to the
end of the girder and discharging it into trucks.
The girder is carried in end supports travelling on the rails and in these supports
the girder can be raised by hydraulic or other machinery.
I may provide in connection with my excavator a continuous system for transporting
the earth removed by the excavator and delivered by the endless band by using
endless chains or cables laid along the two tracks of the rails by which several trains
of trucks can be moved at regular intervals along the cutting to and from the
excavator by means of a stationary engine. At intervals there are several inclined
tracks provided with chains or cables in such a way that the trains of trucks after
leaving the level lines of rails can be attached to the chain or cable of one of the
inclined lines so as to be pulled up to the top thereof and be brought onto a bridge
moveable along rails and carrying the means for moving itself along the rails and also
for operating the chains or cables. When a train of full trucks is on one of the
bridges the cables are detached the bridge moves along its rails and the trucks are emptied
of their contents at the desired place. When the trucks are emptied the bridge is
moved back to the inclined cable line and the train returns to the excavators for a
fresh load This system is preferably duplexed so that trains of trucks are led to and
from each end of the excavator alternately for receiving their loads therefrom and so
working continuously. Although I have mentioned but one girder and but two
bucket chains it will be evident that more may be used if desired.
The apparatus instead of being supported entirely upon rails may be supported on
pontoons or other supports as for example on rails at one end and on a pontoon at
the other end and be used as dredgers. Where pontoons are used they may be moved
or guided or both by means of ropes or chains.
Dated this 8th day of September 1887.

page_text: I ADOLPH VOGT of Kiel in the Empire of Germany Civil Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
The construction of the excavating apparatus or machines with long bucket chains
or bucket ladders employed in excavations on a large scale and the method of
working rendered necessary by the way in which these machines are constructed aro
attended with considerable disadvantages in practice the most important of these
disadvantages being the following, namely:-
1. The want of stability in the machine in consequence of the necessity for working
the bucket ladders on a long lever and at different angles.
2. The necessity for shifting the rails after each cut or forward and backward
travel of the machine. This frequent shifting of the rails involves a considerable
amount of labor and renders it impossible to fix the rails so firmly and accurately as
they should be for ensuring the proper action of such heavy machinery.
3. The impossibility of bringing a number of machines to act simultaneously in a
limited area so that when the work has to he accelerated at a given point it is
frequently necessary owing to the impossibility of concentrating a sufficient number
of machines to have recourse to hand labor at great expense. These disadvantages
are obviated by means of the improved system of construction of the machines
arranged according to my invention which enables the excavating operations to be
conducted on a new or improved system as hereinafter explained.
And in order that the said invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
figures on the annexed sheets of drawings the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents an excavator according to this
Invention in side elevation and figure 2 shows the machine in plan. Figure 3
represents an end elevation of the machine and figure 4 shews the bucket ladders in
elevation with the driving gear and supports partly in section.
This machine or excavator is provided with a bridge or girder B, figure 1, carrying
two bucket ladders L arranged so as to cross one another as indicated in the drawing.
These ladders are provided with top tumblers T and these tumblers together with
their driving gear are supported by sliding or adjustable carriages which can be
caused to slide along ways or guides on the girder B by means of long screwed
shafts working in nuts attached to the carriages or other suitable or equivalent
mechanism. The lower parts of the ladder frames are suspended from the girder
by suitable hoisting gear x. By means of this arrangement the bucket ladders L aro
enabled to be moved or adjusted parallel with themselves each independently of the
other in a horizontal direction transversely to the cutting by means of the screws
and also in a vertical direction by means of the boisting gear so as to vary their
angle or inclination. In order to enable the top tumblers to be driven in any position
of the carriages and bucket ladders L, long driving shafts G are provided being

page_text: arranged parallel to the ways or guides on the bridge or girder B. Each of these
shafts is provided with a worm or endless screw W Figure 4 (or a bevel wheel)
capable of sliding longitudinally on the shaft and at the same time partaking of the
rotary motion of the latter. This worm drives a corresponding worm wheel on the
carriage S which wheel transmits motion to the top tumbler through suitable gearing
and thus drives the chain of the corresponding bucket ladder L. The worms W
are held between suitable supports on the carriages S so that they slide along the
shafts with the carriages as the latter move along the way on the girder B. The two
long driving shafts & are driven by toothed "wheels on their ends which receive
motion from steam or other motor engines D situated at each extremity of the bridge
or girder B. When the excavator has to work in hard material, in order to prevent
dangerous shocks or strains on the machinery instead of these driving shafts G with
the endless screws or worms, all connecting parts between the driving engines and
the upper tumblers T of the bucket chains may be formed by means of endless chains
which are more or less elastic.
With this object the driving mechanism may be arranged as hereinafter described
with reference to figures 9 and 10. On cach carriage S two chain or sprocket
wheels A A¹ are placed, one of which is on the shaft of the upper tumbler T; over those
two wheels runs a pitch chain carrying teeth t. Chain wheels 00¹, figure 9, are
provided at each end of the girder B at a distance apart corresponding to the horizontal
travel of each ladder. Over the wheels 001 runs an ordinary pitch or driving
chain F. This latter is arranged in such a manner that a portion of it runs parallel
with a portion of the toothed chain f so that the links of the chain F engage with the
teeth tt on the said chain f. The chain F is supported on suitable anti-friction wheels or
rollers and is maintained at the proper tension. In order to cause the driving chain F
to have a secure grip on the toothed chain the former is pressed against the latter
by small wheels a, a acted on by springs K, K.
One of the chain wheels O may be connected by means of ordinary driving chains
with the engine in order to enable it to be driven by the latter and transmit motion
to the driving chain F, toothed chain and the upper tumblers T of the bucket
ladders in any position of the latter. When the excavator is at work the two bucket
chains are caused to move in opposite directions to each other the buckets working
by scraping the ground or bank in the same way as ordinary excavator buckets.
This arrangement may be reversed in certain cases when the buckets are employed
for working like dredging buckets for example.
Between the two crossed bucket ladders there is provided a horizontally moving.
belt or apron E (or a conveyor or carrier with buckets) projecting at opposite ends
of the machine. This apron or carrier is arranged to work in either direction so as
to discharge the spoil received from the excavating buckots at either end of the
machine. Shoots H on the carriages S receive the spoil from the bucket ladders L L
and deliver it onto the travelling carrier or apron E.
In dealing with mud or wet earth or rubble a modified arrangement of carrier may
be provided as represented in figure 9.
Instead of a movable carrier a long open trough or channel Qis employed being
provided with an archimedian screw or creeper M or other similar device being placed
between the two crossed bucket ladders L L in which channel the spoil is propelled
to one or both ends of the bridge B and then delivered into the trucks. In many
cases by adding a sufficient quantity of water to the spoil in the channel Q, the earth
may be so much diluted and dissolved with water as to enable it to pass through a
centrifugal pump and be raised to an open trough Q' disposed parallel to the rails
of the excavators and fixed on posts 1 at such a height that the mud may flow
directly on to the banks of the cutting or be directed to any other fixed pumping
station in order to be raised to higher levels or conveyed to any distance as
circumstances may require.
The bridge or girder B together with the bucket ladders engines and driving gear
is supported at each end on supports Z travelling on rails laid at right angles to
the girder.

page_text: These supports Z are caused to advance along the rails and carry with them the
entire excavator by means of the engines D which can be arranged to transmit the
requisite motion to the axles of the wheels of the said supports by means of bevel and
chain gear as indicated in figure 3 or by any other suitable transmission.
In order to enable the bridge or girder B with the bucket ladders L to be adjusted
vertically and supported at varying elevations according to the nature of the work as
hereinafter described the travelling supports Z at the ends of the machine may be
constructed with a strong framing as in the arrangement illustrated in figures 5 and 6
combined with hydraulic lifting rams (so arranged as to enable the ends of the
girder B to be lifted and firmly guided or supported by the framing. When the
girder B has been raised to the required height it is supported at each end upon
four stout posts F, figure 5, hinged to the frame at their lower ends which take the
weight off the rams and form a rigid support for the said girder.
The engines are supplied with steam from boilers K, figure 1, which may be carried
either on the girder B as indicated in the accompanying drawings or preferably
on the travelling supports Z in order to bring the centre of gravity as low as
possible.
The action of the machinery herein before described is as follows:-
In the first place two lines of rails are laid at a suitable distance apart according to
the distance between the travelling supports Z and the machine is placed thereon
care being taken to have both lines of rails truly in the same horizontal plane. The
lower ends of the two crossed bucket ladders L L are elevated to such a height that
the undermost buckets just rest on the ground being so arranged that the buckets
driven by the top tumbler on the right hand may act upon the soil close to the
left hand line of rails and vice versa that is to say the bucket whose top tumbler is
on the left hand engages with the soil at the side of the right hand line. The buckets
or scoops of both bucket ladders are then set in motion by the engines D and at
the same time the entire machine is caused to advance slowly along the rails. The
machine is thus caused to work backwards and forwards on the rails the bucket
ladders L being lowered by means of the hoisting gear to enable the buckets to
remove a fresh layer of earth at each backward or forward travel of the machine.
Two trenches or channels are thus formed in the first place of a depth corresponding
to the adjustment of the bucket ladders (see figure 1). This having
been accomplished
the bucket ladders are moved bodily or parallel with themselves without altering their
angle of inclination by sliding the carriage S horizontally along the ways on the
girder B towards one another in opposite directions after which the buckets are set
in motion again and the machine is worked along the rails as before thus widening
the channels previously formed as indicated in figure 1 on the right hand, and in
figures 6 and 7. After each stroke or travel of the machine the bucket ladders are
again moved parallel with themselves to an extent corresponding to the layer of earth
to be taken off at each stroke. This action is continued until the entire mass of earth
between the two trenches formed in the first instance has been removed to a depth
proportioned to the length and adjustment of the bucket ladders as indicated by the
dotted line in figure 1 for example.
Lines of rails are laid outside and parallel to the rails on which the machine travels
for trucks P figures 1 and 6 which receive the material delivered at opposite ends of
the excavator alternately and carry it away to the required distance.
To cut a wider and deeper channel wide enough at its upper part to receive several
excavators arranged end to end, the excavating operation is conducted as next
hereinafter described with reference to the diagram figure 7.
In the first place a number of lengths of parallel channels or trenches say about
20 or 30 ft. deep are cut side by side to any distance according to the width of the
complete or finished excavation by means of one or more machines acting as herein-
before described. When this has been done a series of banks or ridges of earth will
evidently be left between the channels the width of these banks at the top being
sufficient to carry the rails for the machines and trucks: To remove these banks
which are narrower at the base than the space between the supports of the excavator,

page_text: lines of rails are laid in the bottoms of the trenches or cuttings between the banks at a
suitable distance apart to receive the excavator. This having been done the excavator
is brought down by means of an inclined plane and suitable points or switching
arrangements for example from the upper level of the line of rails used in the pre-
ceding cutting to the rails laid in the bottom of the cuttings. As the excavator is
thus brought down to the lower level the bridge or girder carrying the bucket ladders
is gradually elevated on its supports by the hydraulic apparatus so that when the
wheels are on the lines at the lower level the bank is straddled by the two bucket
Ladders as indicated in the case of the machine illustrated in the centre of figure 7
for example. After lowering the two bucket ladders to the required extent to enable
them to act on the bank the work of removing the bank proceeds in the same way as
the previous excavating operations as will be readily understood on referring to the
drawing (figure 7) the carriages S being gradually moved over towards the ends of
the girder or support with a suitable adjustment of the hoisting gear of the bucket
ladders until the bank has been completely removed. Suitable lines of rails for the
trucks P are of course laid down on each side of the machine as before.
When the bank or banks have been removed as herein before described down to the
level of the rails the bridge or girder B is lowered together with the bucket ladders
by means of the hydraulic apparatus to its original position and the work of excavating
the earth between the rails can then be proceeded with without disturbing the latter
until a channel has been dug of the same depth and breadth as in the previous
excavating operation on the upper level.
When a number of excavators are working together some may be adjusted for
excavating the channels being followed by others adjusted for removing the banks or
ridges between the channels formed by the preceding machines.
In removing the intermediate ridges or banks adjacent to the sides of the main
cutting the conditions are somewhat different and method of conducting the operation
is modified accordingly.
In this case there being no channel where a low level line of rails can be laid on
one side of the bank to be removed as indicated for example on the right hand side of
figure 7 the rails are laid at different levels and the travelling supports Z are readily
adjusted to work on these rails by supporting one end of the girder B on the top of
its support and lowering the opposite end to the bottom of the other support by means
of the hydraulic apparatus as indicated in the drawing. By these means the main
cutting is enabled to be completed by the operation of the excavating machines.
Hydraulic hoisting apparatus on the end or travelling supports may be omitted if
required. In this case the main girder B carrying the bucket ladders is made
removable from the travelling supports so that after hoisting the girder on to suitablo
props or temporary supports the travelling support can be removed and changed for
another of different height suited to the difference in the levels at which the supports
of the machine are required to work. As it will be necessary to perform this operation
only in connection with very extensive excavations the cost of effecting the changes
is relatively inconsiderable.
When the machine is employed for widening canals for example or in other
operations where it is impracticable to support the main frame or girder on supports
travelling on rails at both ends of the machine the girder may be supported at one
end on a barge or pontoon or other flat bottomed vessel Y as in the arrangement
illustrated in figure 8 which by means of suitable mooring or other ropes or cables is
caused to advance at the same rate as the support travelling on rails on the canal
bank at the opposite end of the machine thus enabling the excavation to proceed
without interruption and obviating all the disadvantages attending the employment
of ordinary dredging or excavating machines and which frequently prove a source of
serious difficulties in the construction of works of this description.
By means of the method of working with machines constructed as herein before
described the following advantages are obtained namely:
-
1. The machine can be fixed with perfect firmness or rigidity with the bucket
ladders in any working position.

page_text: 2. The rails are enabled to be solidly laid and carefully levelled or adjusted and
proper precautions can be taken for preventing surface water from undermining the
rails and thus the wear and tear of the plant is considerably diminished.
3. A number of similar machines can be worked side by side on the same rails and
thus concentrated on one point of the works so as to accelerate the progress of the
excavating operations where required without increasing the cost of excavation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1st. An excavating apparatus constructed with two crossed bucket ladder
supporting bucket chains working on top tumblers carried by sliding or adjustable
carriages capable of being moved along a horizontal bridge or girder motion being
imparted to the said tumblers from a motor engine by means of worms on wheels
moving with the carriages in combination with long fixed driving shafts G and
suitable hoisting gear being provided for raising or lowering the lower ends of the
bucket ladders substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
2nd. The combination of an endless or pitch chain F with a toothed chain / placed
on the carriage S supporting the upper tumbler T in order to transmit motion from
the engine to the tumbler T by means of chains and chain wheels only in any position
of the said tumbler substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures
and 10 of the accompanying drawings.
3rd. The arrangement of an endless band or movable apron E or an open trough or
channel provided with an archimedian screw or screws M or other similar pro-
pelling means situated between the two crossed bucket-ladders for receiving the spoil
and conveying it to the ends of the bridge where it is received in trucks or pumps
for further conveyance as required substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
4th. In combination with an excavating machine as hereinbefore described and
claimed in the preceding claiming clause supporting the bridge or girder B on
travelling supports provided with hydraulic or other hoisting gear or apparatus for
raising or lowering the said bridge or girder the said supports being propelled along
the rails by a motor engine situated on the bridge or girder substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
5th. The arrangement or combination of excavating apparatus with crossed bucket
ladders which first excavate a series of channels or cuttings between the rails
supporting the excavating machines and then after the machine has been transferred
to rails laid on the bottoms of the cuttings so formed, remove the banks or ridges
remaining between the said cuttings the said bucket ladders being subsequently
lowered on the same rails so as to excavate a fresh series of cuttings at a lower level
substantially as herein before described with reference to figure 7 of the accompanying
drawings.
6. The arrangements and combinations of parts constituting the improved
excavating apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.