IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRIVING PILES
Year: 1841

page_text: DUNCAN'S SPECIFICATION AND HYDE AND
HUNTINGTON'S DISCLAIMER.
SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DUNCAN, of Great George Street, Westminster, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of September, in the fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Duncan, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Duncan, my exors, admors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Duncan, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRIVING
PILES," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John
Duncan, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Duncan, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say) :-
The object of the Invention is so to construct machinery for driving piles
that the machinery may travel progressively along the piles which have been
driven by such machinery, and by means of a suitable saw to cut off the upper
ends of the piles to the height desired. And in order to carry out the Inven-
tion the pile-driving engine is mounted on a carriage with wheels, such
wheels being guided in their progress along the tops of the piles by temporary
rails or other suitable surfaces thercon, and which are readily applied to and
moved from the piles as the carriage progresses, as will be hereafter explained.
By this means, when a long range of piles for a railway or other work is
required to be performed, when a sufficient number of piles have been driven
to receive the carriage of the pile-driving engine there will be no further
platform or works required for supporting the pile-driving machinery than
what is produced by the piles which have been driven by such machinery;
and the pile-driving engine will then successively drive. piles and cut off their
upper ends, and then be supported by such piles, in order to drive other piles,
till the length or line of piles is completed, by which means much saving of
labor and materials will result from the employment of the Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a side view of a pile-driving engine on six wheels, and sup-
ported on a temporary railway formed on piles which have been driven by the
engine. Figure 2 shews a sectional plan of the same; and Figure 3 is a
front view thereof. In each of these Figures the same letters indicate similar
parts. C are the uprights which guide the monkeys, and the weight C¹ being
the diagonal supports to the uprights, and C the cross framings from the
uprights C to the diagonal support C¹; and it will be seen that these parts
are of the ordinary construction. C3 is the horizontal framing of the
machinery, which, with the wheels M, constitute the carriage of the
machinery, the wheels being flanged wheels, similar to those used on rail-
ways, and as is clearly shewn in the Drawing.. A are the monkeys, and B
the weights for driving the piles, which are similar to those in ordinary use,
and are clearly shewn in the Drawing, and need not therefore be further
described. D are the chains or ropes by which the monkeys are worked;
they pass round barrels or windlasses E, to which motion is communicated in
the following manner :-II is an axis turning in suitable bearings. On this

page_text: axis H are affixed two wheels G, which, by means of their peripheries, drive
the pullies I, formed or affixed on the barrels E, when the surfaces or peri-
pheries of the pullies I are held tightly in contact with the wheels G, such
driving of the pulleys I being by the friction of the surfaces; or the same
effect may be obtained by cog wheels in place of the wheels and pulleys G, I,
as is well understood. It should be understood that the axels or necks of the
barrels E can be moved a short distance in their bearings, so that the pulleys I
may be brought into surface contact with their wheels G, and when they are
in contact they may by their wheels G raise their weights, and when out of
contact with the monkeys may be set at liberty and descend again to take
hold of their weights. F are sliding bars, each having a forked end, in which
the axis or neck of one of the barrels is received; and the workman attending
to each barrel may readily draw the pulley I, and then holding it in contact
with the wheel G till the weight has been raised and let go. The workman
will then force the surface of the pulley away from its wheel, when the monkey
will follow its weight, as will readily be understood on examining the Drawing.
On the axis H is is affixed the drum or pulley N, by means of which motion
is communicated to the axis from a steam engine affixed on the carriage of
the pile-driving machinery. Such steam engine is not however shewn, as it
forms no part of the Invention, and will readily be applied; or the axis F
may be turned by any other suitable power. On the axis H is affixed a
bevilled toothed wheel O, which takes into and drives the bevilled toothed
wheel O', which is affixed on the axis Q, having its upper bearing in the
lever R, by which the axis can be moved, and by such means bring the
wheels O, O', into and out of gear. At the lower end of the axis Qis
affixed a drum or pulley U, which, by means of an endless band or strap V,
gives motion to the pulley P on the axis of the circular saw S, the axis of
which saw is capable of being raised or lowered more or less by a screw W,
and thus adjusted according as the cut is to be higher or lower, or similar to
the preceding cut. The saw is carried by the bar V, which moves freely on
the axis Q, thus allowing of the saw being first placed and held in a position to
cut off the top of a pile on one side of the machinery, and then on the other
side; and this is accomplished by the workman having a hooked staff, by which
he draws the bar V first towards one pile and then to the other. E', E¹, are
catches which are to be placed in their respective ratchet wheels (affixed
on the axes of the barrels), when it is desired to hold up the monkeys and
weights when the workman requires so to do for any length of time, but the
catches are thrown back when the machinery is at work. J, J, are a serics
of piles which have been driven, and J' is a pile in the act of being driven.

page_text: Y is a cross tie, the ends of which have spikes Z on their under sides, which
are pressed into the piles, and the short rails X are placed between pro-
jections T, on the upper surfaces of the ends of the ties Y, there being one
such tie to each two piles, and by this means it will be seen that the rails can
be quickly applied to the piles, and readily removed as the carriage proceeds.
And it will readily be understood, that in using the pile-driving machinery con-
structed according to the Invention, that it will only be necessary to arrange
a suitable platform or surface at the commencement of the work to support
the carriage of the pile-driving engines till enough piles have been driven,
after which the piles themselves will be the means of supporting the carriage
of the pile-driving machinery, and by means of forming temporary rails or
ways on such piles the carriage will readily be moved by the workpeople as
the work of pile driving proceeds and the upper ends cut off; or in place of
having wheels applied to the pile-driving machinery the same may be caused
to progress as a sledge on suitable surfaces or rollers applied on to the piles;
and it will be desirable to remark that the application of a steam engine to
raise the monkey or weight of a pile-driving engine in place of manual labor
is a very important improvement; and the machinery above described may be
used on land on a floating vessel, in place of having the machinery to run on
a railway or surface formed on the piles which have been driven and cut off by
the machinery.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise arrangement shewn, so long as the general
character of the Juvention be retained; but what I claim as the Invention
secured by the above-recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the mode herein described of constructing pile-driving machinery, and
in such manner that the same may be caused to travel along a railway or
other suitable surface progressively formed or applied on the piles as the
work of pile driving proceeds and the end of the piles are cut off by the
machinery.
And, secondly, I claim the application of a steam engine to pile-driving
machinery, in order by such power to raise the monkey or weight.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Duncan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Nineteenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid John Duncan came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.

page_text: George Street, Westminster; Gentleman, for an Invention
communicated to him by a certain Foreigner residing abroad,
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRIVING PILES," bearing
late at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of September, in the
fifth year of the reign of Queen Victoria, to which a Specifica-
tion has been duly inrolled, and which said Letters Patent,
and all right, title, and interest therein, have been assigned to
Joshua Burrows Hyde and John Barker Huntington.
SCLAIMER AND ALTERATION proposed to be entered by the said
Assignees, according to the Statute in that case made and provided.
We, the said Joshua Burrows Hyde and John Barker Huntington, have
n informed that steam had been, before the date of the said Letters
ent, used for driving piles, for which reason we do wish to disclaim, and do
eby disclaim, that part of the said Specification, which is in the following
dds, "and, secondly, I claim the application of a steam engine to pile-
ing machinery, in order by such power to raise the monkey or weight,"
Iwe also disclaim, for the same reason, all parts of the said Specification
ch relates thereto; and we do alter the Specification by striking out the
d "first" in the first claiming clause.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joshua Burrows Ilyde and John
Barker Huntington, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
First day of April, One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.

page_text: as been duly inrolled, and all right, title, and interest in the said Letters
Patent have since been assigned to the above-named Joshua Burrows Hyde
nd John Barker Huntington; and having considered of the said application,
nd no objection having been made to the same, I have granted leave to the
ail Joshua Burrows Hyde and John Barker Huntington to file their said
Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed
n the fifth and sixth year of the reign of His late Majesty King William
he Fourth, entitled An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent'
or Inventions.