ITPROVED IN PREVENTING ACCIDENTS IN OR AT THE C
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Creswell Perry, of Sedgley, in the County of
Stafford, Master of Arts, Clerk, for the Invention of "ITPROVED IN
PREVENTING ACCIDENTS IN OR AT THE C
"
Sealed the 22nd May 1861, and dated the 30th November 1800.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Creswell Perry
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th November 1860.
I, EDWIN CRESWELL PERRY, of Sedgley, in the County of Stafford, Master
of Arts, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "I-
PROVEMENTS IN PREVENTING ACCIDENTS IN OR AT MINE SHAFTS," to Le as
follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, of the machinery or apparatus herein-after
described, which said machinery or apparatus suspends or arrests the mine
skip or cage, if by the breaking of the chain, or otherwise, the said skip or
cage becomes detached from the winding apparatus. The said skip or cage is
thereby prevented from falling down the mine shaft. On opposite sides of the
shaft conducting slides or guides are fixed, on the sides of which said slides a
series of teeth or steps are formed extending from the top to the bottom of
the mine shafts. The upper sides of the said teeth or steps are nearly
horizontal, being inclined from their ends downwards towards the slide. The
cage or skip is suspended in an outer skip or casing, in the manner herein-
after explained. The said outer skip is connected to the chain in the following

page_text: Tanner: On the top of the said outer skip a column is fixed, to the summit
of which two levers are jointed, the said levers crossing one another after the
manner of a pair of forceps or scissors. The upper ends of the said levers
are connected by a chain, to the middle of which the nine chain is fastened.
The lower end of each lever is connected by means of a connecting rod with
a bolt, which slides horizontally on the top of the outer skip. The end of
each bolt is forked, and is of a size and shape suitable for embracing the
before-mentioned slides. When the skip is suspended to the mine chain, the
said levers are nearly parallel, somewhat similar to a closed pair of forceps,
and the sliding bolts connected with their lower ends do not project over the
sides of the outer skip. When the mine chain breaks, or the skip becomes
detached from the said chain, the levers open after the manner of an open pair
of forceps, and the before-described bolts are shot out and made to embrace
the slides and engage with the teeth on the said slides, and the skip is thereby
suspended in the shaft. The opening of the levers on their detachment from
the chain is effected by means of weights attached by means of nearly
horizontal arms to the upper part of each lever. The opening of the levers is
further secured by the method employed to connect the cage or skip to the
outer skip. This is effected by means of four vertical rods joined at their
lower ends to the skip. These rods pass through the top of the outer skip,
and their upper ends are jointed to the arms carrying weights, already described.
The opening of the levers and the shooting of the locking bolts is further
secured by means of bow springs placed between the upper or lower arms of
the said levers, or between both the upper and lower arms. Immediately the
said levers become separated from the mine chain, the said springs which had
been before compressed now expand and secure the opening of the levers, and
the shooting of the safety bolts.
My Invention consists, secondly, of a self-acting cover for mine shafts con-
structed as follows:-The said cover is dome-shaped, and has at its summit an
opening through which the winding chain passes. The edges of the said
opening have antifriction rollers. The said dome is capable of rising and
falling upon four vertical guide rods. As the skip rises under the dome, the
said dome is lifted by the skip. The dome is supported in the following
manner: As the said dome rises it strikes an arm or lever, which gives
motion to mechanism which projects a bolt underneath the dome, and supports
it as the skip descends. In order to liberate the dome when the skip is about
descending to the mine, the said skip in rising again strikes the said arm or
lever, by which action the bolt is withdrawn, and the dome is at liberty to
descend to the pit's mouth.

page_text: My Invention consists, lastly, of mechanism for preventing the skip from
being drawn over the pulley. The skip is fastened to the chain in the following
manner: Two crossing levers turning upon a common centre are connected
at top by a chain, to the middle of which the pit chain is fastened. The lower
arms of the said levers are of a semi-elliptical figure, their concave sides being
presented to each other. When the said levers are closed their lower arms
constitute an elliptical ring, to which the skip is hung. When the said levers
open the skip falls. The said levers are kept closed by means of levers jointed
to each lower arm engaging with projections on the opposite arm. The last-
described levers are supported in their engaged horizontal position by means
of springs. Somewhat below the pulley is a ring, through which the chain
passes, and when the skip is raised almost to the pulley, the said levers strike
against the said ring, and are thereby disengaged from the projections. The
arms open and the skip is detached from the chain. The skip is supported by
the machinery herein first described, or by other machinery having a like
action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Creswell Perry in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
CRESWELL PERRY, of Sedgley, in the County of Stafford, Master of Arts, Clerk,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edwin Creswell Perry, Her special licence that I, the said Edwin
Creswell Perry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Edwin Creswell Perry, 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 PREVENTING ACCIDENTS IN OR AT MINE SHAFTS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edwin Creswell Perry, my execu-
tors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one

page_text: 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 Edwin Creswell Perry, 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 machinery or apparatus herein-after
described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying
Drawings, for preventing accidents in mine shafts; the said machinery or
apparatus suspending or arresting the mine skip or cage, if by the breaking
of the raising chain or otherwise the said skip or cage become detached from
the winding apparatus. The said skip or cage is thereby prevented from
falling down the mine shaft.
same.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a front elevation of the said machi-
nery or apparatus fixed to a skip or cage in a mine shaft, the parts of the said
machinery or apparatus being in the position in which the skip or cage can be
raised or lowered in the mine shaft; Figure 2 represents the said machinery
or apparatus in action, and the skip or cage suspended or arrested in the mine
shaft; Figure 8 is a side elevation of the same; and Figure 4 is a plan of the
The same letters of reference are used to indicate the same parts in
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. On opposite sides of the mine shaft a, conducting
slides or guides b, b, are fixed, on the sides of which said guides b, b, a series
of teeth, brackets, or steps c, c, are formed, extending from the top to the
bottom of the shaft. The shape of the said brackets or steps c, c, is best seen
in Figure 3, from which said Figure 3 it will also be seen that the upper sides
of the said brackets or steps are nearly horizontal, being inclined from their
ends downwards towards the slides b, b. The cage or skip d is suspended in
an outer skip or cage e, in the manner herein-after described, and the arrest-
ing mechanism connected with the raising chain is supported on the top of
the outer skip 6. On the top of the said outer skip e a hollow standard f is
fixed, to the summit of which two levers g, of the shape represented, are
jointed at i, the said levers crossing one another in the manner represented.
The upper ends of the said levers are connected together by a chain k, to the
middle of which chain the mine chain is fastened. The lower end of each of
the levers g, h, is connected by links with a double bolt g³, h³, respectively,
which slide horizontally in the guides m, m, on the top of the outer skip o.

page_text: The space between the two bolts of the double bolts g, h, is equal to that of
the thickness of the unbracketed parts of the slides b, b, so that the ends of
the double bolts may embrace the said slides b, b, when in action, as seen in
Figures 3 and 4. When the skip is hung to or connected with the minė
chain the levers g, h, are nearly parallel, as illustrated in Figure 1, and the
sliding bolts g, h, do not project over the sides of the outer skip e. When,
however, the mine chain breaks, or the skip otherwise becomes detached froni
the said chain, the levers g, h, open, as illustrated in Figure 2, and the safety
bolts g, h, are shot out and made to embrace the conducting slides b, b, and
to engage with the brackets or steps c, c, on the said slides, as illustrated in
Figures 2, 3, and 4, and the skip or cage is thereby suspended or arrested in
the mine shaft, and prevented from falling down the said shaft. The opening
of the levers g, h, on the breaking of the mine chain is effected by a bow-
shaped spring fixed between the upper ends of the levers g, h, tho ends of
the said spring pressing against the inner sides of the levers. When the
mechanism is not in action the said spring 1 is compressed, as represented in
Figure 1, but when the said levers are at liberty to move, the said spring
expands and presses the said levers outwards, and assumes the shape repre-
sented in Figures 2 and 4. The opening of the levers g, h, is further secured
by the method employed to connect the skip or cage d to the outer skip 6. This
is effected by means of four vertical rods n, secured at their lower ends to the
skip d. The said rods n pass through the top of the outer skip 6, and their
upper ends are connected to cross rods n³, n³, which latter are jointed to the
levers g, h, as best seen in Figure 4. On the arrival of the skip at the bottom
of the mine shaft, the mine chain being slackened, the levers g, h, open and
shoot the safety bolts g; h³, the inner skip d at the same time descending upon
the outer skip e, as represented in Figure 2. The weight to be raised being
placed upon the skip d the winding engine is set in motion and the mine chain
tightened. The levers g, h, are thereby closed, the safety bolts g, h, with-
drawn from the slides b, b, and tho skip d raised in the outer skip e, as seen
in Figure 1. The weighted skip d being connected to the levers g, h, in the
manner already described, tends to open the said levers, when they are at
liberty to move and to shoot the safety bolts g, h, and suspend or arrest the
skip or cage in the mine shaft, as herein-before explained.
My Invention consists, secondly, of a self-acting cover for mine shafts, con-
structed and worked in the manner herein-after described and illustrated in
Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the accompanying Drawings.. Figure 5 represents
in side elevation a cover, and parts connected therewith, made according to my
Invention, covering the mouth of a mine shaft, the said shaft being shewn in

page_text: section; and Figure 6 is a plan of the same; Figure 7 represents the sail
cover in the position which it occupies when the mino skip or cage has been
raised above the mouth of the shaft, or is about to descend the said shaft;
and Figure 8 is a plan of a portion of Figure 7. The same letters indicate
the same parts in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8. o is the mine cover, having a dome-
shape (or the said cover may have any other required shape); through an
opening p in the summit of the said cover the winding chain 9 from the
drum of the mining engine passes, being conducted over the pulley r in the
ordinary way. The edges of the opening p have antifriction rollers s, against
which rollers the chain 9 may bear as it is wound through the said opening.
The said dome-shaped cover o may either be made of continuous plates of
metal, or of wood, or of wires or bars so arranged as to form cage or lattice-
work, and the said cover may be made in two halves joined together by screws
and nuts. The bottom of the cover o is provided with four fixed arms t,
having eyes or holes in their ends, through which holes or eyes four guide
rods u above the mine shaft are passed. The said cover is thereby capable of
rising and falling on the said guide rods u. To the end of the mine chain q
is connected a disc or plate v, and to the under side of the said plate v,
another chain w is hooked or otherwise connected, to which last chain w the
skip or cage is connected in the ordinary manner. When the skip or cage x
on being raised in the mine shaft approaches the mouth of the said shaft, the
plate v, fixed to the mine chain q, engages under the bottom of the rectan-
gular opening p in the cover o, and raises the said cover from the position
represented in Figure 5 to that represented in Figure 7, the said cover
moving on the guide rods u, u. The bottom of the skip a being raised above
the mouth of the shaft the mining engine is stopped. The slide y, working
on the bars, is then moved forward and the mouth of the shaft closed, the
said skip being lowered on to the said slide y, as shewn in Figure 7. The
skip is afterwards detached from the chain w, and removed and replaced by
an empty one. The slide y is withdrawn, as represented in Figure 5, the
mining engine is set in motion, and the skip descends the mine shaft. As the
said skip descends the cover o, being no longer supported by the plate v, which
moves with the mine chain 9, the said cover descends upon the guide rods u, u,
and covers the mouth of the shaft, as represented in Figures 5 and 6. As
the skip is again raised the cover o is raised before it in the manner already 3
described. The mouth of the mine shaft is thus covered at all times, excepting
when the skip or cage is about to be raised from or lowered into the shaft, and
accidents from falling down the said shaft are prevented.
My Invention consists, lastly, of disengaging mechanism for preventing the

page_text: mine skip from being drawn over the pulley, constructed in the manner herein-
after described and illustrated in Figures 9, 10, and 11 of the accompanying
Drawings. Figure 9 represents the said disengaging mechanism, partly in
section and partly in elevation, together with the framing pulley and the other
parts which are ordinarily placed above the mine shaft, the said mechanism
being in the position which it occupies just before the skip is liberated from it;
Figure 10 is a horizontal section of the same, taken at the dotted line 1, Figure
9, and Figure 11 is an end elevation of the said mechanism, and a section of a
part connected with it. The same letters indicate the same parts in Figures 9,
10, and 11. The said mechanism consists of two crossing levers 2, 3, turning on
a common centre 4, and connected at top by a chain 5, to the middle of which
chain the pit or mine chain is fastened. The lower arms of the levers 2, 3, are
nearly parallel, the inner sides being slightly inclined to one. another in the
manner represented. The lower end of the lever 3 carries a small arm or lever
6, turning on a joint 7, and the inner side of the other lever 2 has a recess 8.
made in it, thereby forming a tooth or projection on which the end of the arm
or lever 6 engages or rests when the levers 2, 8, are closed. The chain 10, to
which the skip is fastened, is connected with or hung on the arm or lever 6,
as represented. The said levers 2, 3, are kept closed, so as to prevent the
liberation of the skip chain 10 from the arm 6, and the said levers 2, 3,
opened, so as to liberate, the said skip chain in the following manner :-
Across the levers 2, 3, a bar or plate 11 is placed, openings 12, 12, being
made in the said bar, through which the levers 2, 3, pass. The outer edges
of the central part 11 a of the bar 11 are inclined, having the same or nearly
the same inclination as the inner sides of the levers 2, 3, as represented..
The bar 11 is supported on the levers 2, 3, and the said levers pressed together
by the springs 18, 18. The middle of each spring is fixed to the ends of the
bar 11, the free ends of the said springs pressing against the outer sides of the
levers 2, 3, respectively. Somewhat below the pulley 14 is a ring 15, fixed
to the framing 16 a, through which ring the pit chain 17 passes, and when
the skip has been raised to the proper height above the mouth of the mine
shaft, the bar 11, from its length being incapable of passing through the ring
15, strikes against the said ring, and is arrested. By the motion of the pit
chain continuing, the levers 2, 3, aré pulled through the bar 11, and the said
levers are opened by the wedge-shaped part 11 a of the bár 11, being forced
between the lower ends of the said levers. By the opening of the levers 2, 3,
the lever 2, on which the end of the small lever 6 rests, is withdrawn from
under the said lever 6, and the said lever 6 falls, and the skip chain slips from
off it. The bar 11 being detached from the levers 2, 3, when they are drawn

page_text: through the said bar 11 and ring 15, the said..bar would fall but that it is
supported by two-hooked springs 16, 16, fixed on the ends of the said, bar
11. As the said bar 11 is raised against the ring. 15, the bent and free end
of each of the springs 16, 16, on being raised in the ring 15 is compressed as
represented in Figure 9; but when the said end of the spring has passed the
top of the ring 15 it expands outwards, and hooks itself on to the said ring
15, and thereby supports the bar 11. The detached or liberated skip or cago
is supported by the machinery or apparatus herein first described and repre-
sented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawings, or other machinery having
a like action.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention.
I claim as my. Invention is,-
But what
Firstly, the arrangement or combination of parts of machinery or apparatus
to be used for preventing accidents in mine shafts, berein-before described and
illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, a self-acting cover for covering the mouths of mine shafts, con-
structed and worked essentially in the manner herein-before described and
illustrated in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the accompanying Drawings.
Lastly, disengaging mechanism for disengaging the skip or cage from the
raising chain, and preventing it from being drawn over the pulley, constructed
essentially in the manner herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 9,
10, and 11 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Creswell Perry, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
EDWIN CRESWELL. PERRY. (L.S.)