Ix- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TUNNELLING, SHAFT SINKING, AND STONE DRESSING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Dickinson Brunton, of 6, Leighton Crescent,
Kentish Town, Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TUNNELLING, SHAFT SINKING, AND STONE
DRESSING
33
Sealed the 9th November 1869, and dated the 26th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Dickinson
Brunton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th May 1869.
I, JOHN DICKINSON BRUNTON, of 6, Leighton Crescent, Kentishi
Town, Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TUNNELLING, SHAFT SINKING,
AND STONE DRESSING," to be as follows:-
According to this Invention I substitute for the revolving discs or
for the sectors having bevelled cutting edges, as described in the
Specifications of my Patents, No. 1784, A.D. 1866, and No. 302, A.D.
1868, a row or rows of cutting tools of a chisel form, and I act upon

page_text: these chisels by rollers or rotating discs so as to cause them to chip pieces
off the rock or stone. The chisels may be so placed or arranged side
by side in a row or rows as that their edges shall form a circle either
concave or convex, or so that their edges shall form a straight line or any
other figure that may be desired. The actuating rollers would be fixed
in the rim of a wheel suitably formed to receive them or in a reciprocating
bar, or be attached to the links of a chain, as may be found most suitable
for the prticular work required. In all cases cach roller as it fulfills
its prescribed path actuates cach chisel, the several chisels being set
in a firm and rigid holder.
In the construction of machines upon the principle of my tunnelling
machine, as described in the Specification of my Patent, No. 178h,
A.D. 1866, but of a small size suitable for boring holes for blasting or
for other like purposes, I give motion to the cutter chuck by means of
an internal toothed wheel placed at the outer end of the machine.
Upon the rim of this wheel 1 form a concave circular moulding, and in
the concavity I form a worm or spiral of any desired pitch. By this
worm or spiral I drive a worm wheel, and from thence gain the slow
speed required for the orbital motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Dickinson Brunton in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 20th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DICKINSON BRUNTON, of 6, Leighton Crescent, Kentish Town, Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Dickinson Brunton, Iler
special license that I, the said John Dickinson Brunton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such otliers as I, the said
John Dickinson Brunton, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any tinic agree with, and no others, from time to time and at

page_text: all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, usc, 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 TUNNELLING,
SHAFT SINKING, AND STONE DRESSING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Dickinson Brunton, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Dickinson Brunton, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to. the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction
and arrangement of machinery or apparatus for tunnelling, shaft sinking,
and stone dressing, and consists as follows:-I substitute for the
revolving discs or for the sectors having bevelled cutting edges, described
in the Specifications of my Patents No. 1784, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and sixty-six, and No. 302, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, a row or rows
of cutting tools of a chisel form, and I act upon these chisels by rollers
or rotating discs so as to cause them to chip pieces off the rock or stone.
The chisels may be so placed or arranged side by side in a row or rows
as that their edges shall form a circle either concave or convex, or so
that their edges shall form a straight line or any other figure that may
be desired. The actuating rollers are to be fixed in the rim of a wlicel
suitably formed to receive them or in a reciprocating bar, or they may
be attached to the links of a chain, as may be found most suitable for the
particular work required. In all cases cach roller as it fulfils its
prescribed path actuates cach chisel, the several chisels being set in a
firm and rigid holder.
In the construction of machines upon the principle of my tunnelling
machine, as described in the Specification of my Patent No. 1784, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, but of a

page_text: small size suitable for boring holes for blasting or for other like purposes,
I give motion to the cutter chuck by means of an internal toothed wheel
placed at the outer end of the machine. Upon the rim of this wheel I
form a concave circular moulding, and in the concavity I form a worm
or spiral of any desired pitch. By this worm or spiral I drive a worm
wheel, and from thence gain the slow speed required for the orbital
motion.
And in order that my 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 cor-
responding Figures.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) of my Drawings is an edgo view, partly in section,
of a portion of my improved tunnelling or shaft sinking machine, in
which I substitute chisels for revolving cutters; Figure 2 is a back view
of the same looking towards the end of the tunnel with certain portions
removed to shew the chisels more clearly, and Figures 3, 4, and 5 aro
enlarged details of the same.
a, a, a, are the chisels, the edges of which form a circle, as shown in
Figure 2; b, b, are the rollers or rotating discs which act upon the
chisels a, a, causing them to chip off the rock against which they act.
A, B, are separate castings bolted together by the holts c, c, c, so as to
constituto a holder for the chisels. This holder does not revolve with
the chuck C hut is held by the pins d, d, while the machine is working;
it can nevertheless be moved round and set at different points, several
holes being provided at the back of the casting B into which the pins d
will enter. D is the cross head, as described in the Specification of my
Patent No. 178, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-six, and E, E, are the pivots or arbors on which revolve freely
the chucks C, which are driven by means of teeth cast on their peripheries
and forming one piece with the chuck C, as shewn in section at Figure 1,
and half in elevation at Figure 2; F is a casing made in two parts sur-
rounding the cross head, and bolted securely to the flange e cast upon the
cross head, in which casing are the pins d, d, before described. This
casing encloses the two wheels of the chucks C and the central wheel O'
(as described in my Specification No. 1784, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six), which drives them both. As tho
cross head moves slowly round the ohisels a slide inwards by their contact

page_text: with the chip or surfaco acted upon, and are constantly forced outward
again by the rollers b as they pass over or behind them.
I prefer to form the chisels of wrought iron rolled to the section shewn
in Figure 5 and having the steel points welded on as is common in
ordinary tools used for boring in rocks. In order to prevent the grit
getting into the interior of the holder I surround the neck of cach chisel
with a band of india-rubber or other suitable substance, as shown at f,f,
in Figures 3 and 4, which by stretching can adapt itself to the move-
ments of the chisel in the holder.
Figures 6 to 17 inclusive illustrate the employment of the chisels in
stone-dressing machinery. I make the chisels a, a, a, oither straight, as
shown in Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 (Sheet 1), or curved, as shewn in Figures
10, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 (Sheet 2). Whether straight or curved the chisels
are acuated by rollers which cause them to chip off the stone in front
of their edges.
A (Figures 10 and 11) is the bed, provided with rollers g, g, on which
rests and moves the table B, carrying the stone to he operated upon.
The table B is caused to traverse by a screw B' in the manner well
known in planing machines, C, C, (Figures 10, 11, and 12,) are
standards, within the faces of which slides the frame D. In the centre
of this frame is the shaft or pivot h, around which revolves the wheel or
chuck E which carries the rollers b. The frame D is raised or lowered
by screws D in the standards in the same way as the tool holder of a
planing machine. The chuck E is driven by a toothed pinion i
working into a wheel j, çither with external teeth, as in Figures 8 and 9,
or with internal teeth, as in Figures 10 and 12.
F (Figures 10, 12, and 13) is the circular chisel holder, in which the
chisels are set with their points converging inwards so as to form with
their edges a concave are or semicircle. One-half of the circumference
of the holder F is formed to receive the chisels, the other half, as shewn
at &, in Figure 10, to afford a surface on which the rollers may run during
that portion of their revolution when they are not acting on the chisels.
The half which contains the chisels has a rim t, with a semi-ring",
(Figures 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, and Figures 13 to 17 inclusive) bolted around
it, leaving a space between and u to receive the chisels. The interior
sides of this space are grooved, as shewn in Figure 14, to receive the
projecting ribs formed on the wrought iron out of which I make

page_text: the body of the chisels. The holder F is keyed upon the pivot h,
and may be turned round by means of the worm wheel and
worn, so as to bring the chisels to bear upon either end of a stone
placed upon the table B. (Figures 10 and 12) is a flanged ring
bolted under the frame D, against which the friction rollers O press.
The object of these rollers is to present a direct resistance to the force
employed in chipping the stone and to avoid any spring in the parts
marked E or F. The same purpose is served by the two series of
friction rollers o', o", shewn in Figure 8.
I form the chisels of wrought iron rolled to the shape shewn in
Figures 17, and I either weld steel points upon them or I form internal
sockets in them into which are fitted moveable points a', as shewn in
Figures 15, 16, and 17. Between the head of the chisels and the roller
I place a short piece of hardened steel p, p, (Figures 6, 7, and 13,) and
when the chisels become shorter by wear I make up the proper lengths
by intermediate pieces 7 (Figure 13), or I fit to cach chisel a piece »,
shown in Figures 15, 16, and 17, upon which the rollers & act, and which
by means of the set screw & upon the head of the chisel impart
their motion to the chisels. By means of these set screws the chisels
can be set to any desired point and their shortening by wear may be
compensated for.
Figures 18 to 26 (Sheet 3) shew a machine constructed upon the
principle of my tunnelling machine described in the Specification of my
Patent No. 1784, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-six, for boring small holes for blasting or other purposes.
Figure 18 is a view, partly in section, shewing the general arrangement
of the interior; Figure 19 is a partial section showing the worm wheel
gearing and the collar through which water is supplied to the hole
being bored; Figure 20 is a cross section through 1, 2, (Figure 18);
Figure 21 is a similar section through 3, 4; Figure 22 is a half plan
and half horizontal section of the machine; Figure 23 shews the form
of the thread on the exterior of the stem; Figure 24 is a scetion
through 5, 6, (Figure 23); Figure 25 is a similar section through 7, 8,
(Figure 10); and Figure 26 is an external view of the entire
machine on a smaller scale. I use only one cutting disc on cach
chuck if the hole to be made is less than four inches diameter. The
Drawing represents a machine for boring holes three inches in
diameter.

page_text: a is the cutting disc; b, b, are the chucks, onc in section the
other without the cutter; c, c, are shafts each forming one piece with
its chuck, and on the other end of which are toothed wheels d, d, which
are driven by an internal wheel e. A is the stem of the machine,
having holes through its entire length, through which pass the shafts
c, c, and a central passage through which water passes down into the
hole for the purpose of washing up the debris; g is a collar with water-
tight joint surrounding the stem, having a screw nozzle communicating
with the water supply; h, h, are rollers upon the lower end of the stem
to keep the machine centrally in the 'hole. Upon the upper end of the
stem are formed two shoulders i, j, and a worm wheel k; upon the shoulder
i rests the internal wheel c, which is turned round by a handle / fitted
on a square cast upon the cover m of the wheel e. A shoulder upon
this wheel bears the screwed collar with its packing gland o. Tho
collar screws into the outer casing p, the bottom of which is bored to
receive the stem A, it bears up against the shoulder j, and is made
tight by a packing gland q. Upon, the rim of the internal wheel e I
form a circular concave worm or spiral v, into which is geared the worm
wheel r. The revolution of the wheel e with its worm or spiral v gives
motion to the wheel, and this by means of the wheels 8 and 1 imparts
motion to the worm working in the worm wheel formed upon
the stem. By this means a slow rotation of the stem, similar to that
produced in the cross head of the tunnelling machine, as described in
the Specification of my Patent No. 1784, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, is obtained. V is an S formed
partition to divide the stream of water as it descends through the passage
W (Figure 26) is the nut into which the stem screws. This nut
forms the point of resistance, and is held in one place by any convenient
means.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The application and use to and in machinery or apparatus for
tunnelling, shaft sinking, and stone dressing constructed substantially
in accordance with the Specifications of my Patents herein-before referred
to of sliding chisels operated upon by rollers, substantially in the manner
herein-before described and illustrated on Sheets 1 and 2 of my Drawings.

page_text: Second. The combination of the internal toothed wheel e and the
concave worm or spiral with the worm wheel r, spur wheels & and,
worm, and worm wheel, the whole being arranged and operating
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described
and illustrated on Sheet 3 of my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Dickinson Brunton, have to
this my Specification set my hand and scal, the Twenty-third
day of November One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine
JOHN DICKINSON BRUNTON. (L.S.)