IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS AND STONES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Harrison, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in
the County of Durham, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS AND
STONES."
Sealed the 18th March 1864, and dated the 2nd December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Harrison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd December 1863.
I, THOMAS HARRISON, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in the County of
Durham, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING COAL AND
MINERALS AND STONES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in improvements in and modifications of my
Invention of "Improvements in Machinery for Cutting and Excavating Coal
and other Minerals, applicable also to other Mining Purposes," and for which
I obtained Provisional Protection on the 18th November last (No. 2837).
I take a turbine of such dimensions as the occasion may require, and mount
it upon a suitable truck, trolly, or other carriage, and on the spindle or axis

page_text: of the turbine I place a toothed pinion. On another spindle or axis placed
upon the same carriage I put a toothed wheel in such a manner as to work
into and be driven by the pinion aforesaid. Upon the axis of the toothed
wheel I place a circular revolving cutter or a disc having a serrated edge
like a circular saw, but stronger, or a hollow circular box or frame, into which
I fix any required number of cutting tools of a form suited for cutting the
coal or other substance intended to be operated upon. The turbine wheel
and pinion frame and cutters are fixed upon a sliding bed in such manner
that the whole may be moved simultaneously forward or backward by means
of a lever, a screw, a rack and pinion, or by any other means, and thus the
depth of the groove or cut which is to be excavated may be regulated at the
will or pleasure of the operator. The relative sizes of the toothed wheel and
pinion must be such as to give the most suitable velocity to the cutters, and
this will depend in part upon the nature of the mineral or other substance
operated upon. When it is desired to cut a groove of a variable width
tapering from front to back, I place upon the circular frame two or more
tiers of cutting tools arranged one above another or spirally so as to come into
operation in succession.
And in order to combine when desired the advantages of my first-named
Invention with the one now described, I place upon the same carriage both
machinery now described and that which is described in my Provisional
Specification of the 13th November last. In cutting logitudinal grooves the
machinery is to be placed upon a rail or tramway, and must be moved forward
as the work proceeds. In making vertical cuts the machinery must be
mounted so as to work upon slide bars upwards or downwards as desired.
The turbine may be put in motion, as in my first Invention, by compressed
air, water, or steam.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Harrison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HARRISON, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in the County of Durham, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Harrison, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Harrison; my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Harrison, 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 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 MACHINERY FOR CUTTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS AND
STONES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Harrison,
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 Thomas Harrison; 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 :-
This Invention consists in improvements in and modifications of my Inven-
tion of "Improvements in Machinery for Cutting and Excavating Coal and
other Minerals, applicable also to other Mining Purposes," and for which I
obtained Letters Patent, dated the 18th day of November last (No. 2887).
I take a turbine of such dimensions as may be necessary to enable me to
obtain the power requisite to effect the cutting operation which the machinery
is intended to perform. I mount the spindle or axis of the turbine in suitable
bearings in framing upon a suitable truck, trolly, or other carriage, and on the
spindle or axis of the turbine I place a toothed pinion. On another spindle or
axis also mounted in bearings upon the same carriage I put a toothed or spur
wheel in such a manner as to work into and be driven by the pinion aforesaid.
Upon the axis of the toothed wheel I place a circular revolving cutter or a
dise having a serrated edge like a circular saw, but stronger, and strong
enough to cut the materiał it may be intended to operate upon. Instead of
such a cutter, the axis of the toothed wheel may have fixed upon it a hollow
circular box or frame, into which may be fixed any required number of
cutting tools of a form and strength suited for cutting the coal or other

page_text: substance intended to be operated upon. The turbine pinion wheel and
cutters and frame on which they are mounted are fixed upon a sliding bed
made to slide upon the truck or carriage in such manner that they may be
moved forward or backward across the truck by means of a lever, a screw, a
rack and pinion, or by any other means, and thus the cutters may be moved
towards and brought into contact with the coal or other material to be cut,
and may, when required, be moved backwards out of action. And when the
machinery is used for cutting or making grooves in a mass of coal or other
material, the depth of the groove or cut which is to be excavated may be
regulated by the extent to which the cutting instruments are moved towards
the material operated upon at the will or pleasure of the operator. The
relative sizes of the toothed wheel and pinion must be such as to give the
most suitable velocity to the cutters, and this will depend in part upon the
nature of the mineral or other substance operated upon.
In cutting longitudinal grooves into the face of a mass of coal or other
mineral the truck carrying the machinery is to be placed upon a rail or tram-
way, and must be moved forward as the work proceeds. In making vertical
cuts the truck carrying the machinery must be mounted so as to work upon
slide or guide bars upwards or downwards as desired, the requisite power
being applied by any convenient means. The truck carrying the machinery
may by any convenient means be moved along in front of the coal or other
material to be operated either in a vertical or horizontal direction.
The turbine may be put in motion by compressed air, water, or steam
supplied from any convenient source. Compressed air may be advantageously
used in a mine, and water or steam may be employed in those cases in which
the water or steam expelled from the turbine will not produce inconvenience,
or may be got rid of with facility.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of a machine arranged according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a side view; and Figure 3 an end view of the same.
a, a, is a truck, trolly, or carriage mounted on the four flanged wheels a¹, a',
and having guides upon it in which the bed 6 is able to slide to and fro in a
direction across the carriage; this motion is conveniently given to it by means
of a screw c, which is mounted so as to be able to turn freely in the bearing b¹

page_text: fixed to the bed, but not to move longitudinally therein; d is a screw nut fixed
to the carriage a, and the screw c passes through and works with it, hence
when the screw c is turned, which is done by a handspike or lever c¹ placed
in one or other of a series of holes in the head c³ of the screw, the bed 6 iş
caused to travel in its guides; e is a turbine, which is fed with compressed air,
water, or steam by the pipe f; it is carried by the U-form frame g, which is
fixed on the top of a stud axis & formed or secured to the sliding bed b. On
the lower end of the axis of the turbine, beneath the frame 9, there is a pinion i
gearing with and driving the spur or toothed wheel k, which is fixed against
the circular cutter box or frame l, so as to turn and revolve with it. A plan
and also a transverse section of a portion of this cutter box or frame, together
with its cutters m, are shown at Figures 4. It will be seen that the cutters
are made with tangs m', and these enter sockets in the cutter box or
frame 1, and are then secured by tap screws, wedges, or otherwise. The
toothed wheel k and cutter box or frame are mounted so as to be able to
revolve freely on the stud axis h; Figure 5 is a plan of a portion of a circular
revolving cutter or disc having a serrated edge like a circular saw, which I
sometimes employ in place of the cutter box or frame and the cutters m.
On the axis of one pair of the wheels a¹ a worm wheel n is fixed, and this
gears with a worm on the axis o; at the end of this axis is a hand wheel o¹,
by which it can be rotated, and by so doing the carriage is caused to travel
forward as the work progresses; Figure 6 is a side view, partly in section, of
the U-form frame g. together with a portion of the sliding bed 6 and the stud
axis h, to the upper end of which the frame g is secured by the bolt p. In
use the machine is mounted with its wheels upon or against horizontal or
vertical rails or slides, along which, as the work progresses, the machine is
made to travel. Motion is given to the machine by turning the axis o by the
hand wheel at its end and by the screw c, or if the machine moves in a
vertical direction the motion may be given by any convenient means, so as
to apply the requisite power to elevate the machine and regulate its upward
and downward motions. The cutters are set or placed upon the sliding frame
so as to be capable of operating upon or penetrating the coal or other material
to the depth required, and to any extent within the limits of that depth; the
cutters may be caused to operate by varying the position of the sliding frame
upon the truck. In cutting a vertical groove it is convenient to have a
toothed wheel on the axis of the hinder wheels a¹, a¹, and to provide a rack
on the vertical slides for this to work into. When it is desired to cut a groove
of a variable width tapering from front to back, I place upon the circular

page_text: frame two or more tiers of cutting tools arranged one above another or
spirally, so as to come into operation in succession.
Figure 7 is a side view of apparatus, which is a slight modification of the
apparatus herein-before described, and more suitable for tunnelling, driving
headways, and similar work; Figure 8 is a front elevation, Figure 9 a plan,
and Figure 10 a back view of the same. a is a truck, trolly, or carriage
mounted on wheels at, and having, as before, guides upon it, in which the bed b
is able to slide, but longitudinally of the truck, trolly, or carriage a, in place of
transversely, as before; the method of giving motion to the bed 6 is similar to
that employed in the machine shown at Figures 1, 2, and 9; the screw and
other parts employed for this purpose are omitted from the Drawing in order
that other portions may be more clearly seen. e is a turbine fed with com-
pressed air, water; or steam by the pipe f; the axis of the turbine is carried
by bearings on a frame g, which is capable of sliding up and down in guides
on the standards 6¹; these standards form part of the bed b; i is a pinion on
the axis of the turbine, gearing with and driving the toothed wheel k carrying
the cutter box or frame 1. The cutters m are in this case cranked, so that as
their axis revolves they may cut a circular groove in the head or end of the
tunnel or way in which the apparatus is worked. m is a drill fixed in the
centre of the cutter box or frame 1; it serves to bore a hole in the centre of
the ring groove cut by the cutters m, and this hole is intended to receive a
charge of powder, which when fired may bring down the mass of mineral or
rock enclosed in the ring groove; n is a worm wheel on the axis of one pair
of the wheels a¹, and a worm on the axis o gears therewith; it can be rotated
so as to propel the carriage by a hand wheel o¹, the motion of the axis of the
hand wheel being transmitted to the axis o by bevilled pinions. In order to
raise and lower the frame g a screw 9 is employed; the axis or stem of this
screw is retained at its lower end by a bearing on the bed b, and its thread
engages with a nut or female screw on the frame g; the screw is turned by a
hand wheel r, the axis of which is by bevilled pinions geared with the screw:
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not claim as of my
said Invention any of the mechanical parts or elements of the machinery
described and shown in the Drawings separate or apart from the combination
and application thereof in the manner and for the purposes herein mentioned;
but what I claim is the combining with a truck, trolly, or other carriage a
turbine driving rotating cutters, the carriage being so arranged that it can be
caused to travel gradually forward as the work progresses, and the cutters being

page_text: capable of being set to cut a greater or less distance into the coal, mineral,
or stone operated upon, as may be required, by means of a sliding bed made
to slide on the truck, trolly, or carriage, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Harrison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 30th day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
THOMAS HARRISON. (L.s.)
THOMAS HARRISON. (L.s.)