IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS FROM MINES AND OTHER PLACES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
NEWMAN FOURDRINIER, of Cheddleton, in the County of Stafford, Paper
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the First day of February,
in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Newman, Fourdrinier, my exors,
admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Edward Newman Fourdrinier, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Newman Fourdrinier, my
exors, adñors, 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, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS FROM
MINES AND OTHER PLACES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Edward Newman Fourdrinier, should cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Newman Fourdrinier, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a new combination of apparatus for raising and
lowering weights, so arranged that in the event of the breaking of the chain or
rope wedges or friction surfaces shall be brought into action, so as to prevent
the falling of the apparatus by which the weights are sustained. And in order
that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, I
will proceed to describe the apparatus as made by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a section of part of a mine or coal pit, with a side view of
apparatus by which the weight to be raised or lowered is sustained; Figure 2
is an end view; and Figure 3, a plan of the apparatus, the plate 6 being
removed. a, a, are upright guides, which are to be firmly fixed by any
suitable means to the sides of the mine from top to bottom, or in other
situations where weights have to be raised or lowered. b is a plate, having
slots at each end, so as to run freely between the guides a, a, to which plate
the rope or chain is attached, as shewn in the Drawing, or in any suitable
manner, and the corf basket or weight is suspended from it by hooks c, c, or
the weight may be carried on the plate b, which forms a stage for that pur-
pose. d, d, are rods screwed to the under side of the plate b, which are con-
nected by pin joints to the levers e, e, turning upon fulcrums at f,f, attached
to the cross bar g, which is also guided between the guides a, a.
h, h, are
springs fixed to the cross bar g, which constantly press upon the ends of the
levers at e', e', so as to bring them into action in case the rope or chain breaks,
or whenever the apparatus becomes disconnected from the instrument by
which it is suspended. The forked ends of the levers at e, c, enter into
recesses formed in the lower ends of the wedges or inclines i, i, which slide
between the guides and the inner surface of the cross bar g, which is made
with suitable inclines to correspond with the wedges i, i. The apparatus is
brought into action in the following manner :-So long as the plate 6 is sus-
tained by the rope or chain the apparatus will be free to move up and down
between the guides, and the springs h, h, will be compressed between the
levers c, e, and the cross bar g, as shewn in the Drawing; but immediately
the chain or rope is broken or detached, the springs h, h, will depress the
levers e, e, and the wedges will be forced by the levers e, e, between the

page_text: guides a, a, and the cross bar g, and the parts will assume the position shewn
by rel lines in Fig. 1, thereby preventing the further descent of the apparatus
and weight attached thereto.
I will now describe the manner in which I protect the rope or chain from
doing injury by falling in caso it should be broken. Down the side of the
mine or pit I place a pipe or shield j, of sufficient sizo for the passage of the
rope or chain, and there is a slit in it from end to end for the cranked arm
projecting from the plate 6 to slide in, to which arm the rope or chain is
attached, and the arm j' carries friction rollers, which act on the inner surface
of the shield j; or there may be a corresponding pipe or shield, and an
additional rope or chain on the opposite side of the mine or pit, so that the
pull may be brought over the centre of the weight, or this part of the apparatus
may be dispensed with, and the rope or chain attached to the centre of the
plate b.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the details as herein described, so long as the peculiar
character of the Invention be retained; but what I claim is, the mode of
combining apparatus as herein described, whereby wedges or friction surfaces
are brought into action by means of springs or otherwise, so as to prevent the
falling of the apparatus when a rope or chain breaks. And I also claim the
arrangement for protecting the rope by means of a pipe or shield for the
purpose herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Newman Fourdrinier, have
hercunto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the
E. N. (L.s.) FOURDRINIER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Edward Newman Fourdriuier came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped accord-
ing to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.