IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR RAISING AND CONVEYING WEIGHTS
Year: 1850

page_text: MCNICOLL, of Liverpool, Engineer, send greeting.
SHALL COME, 1, JOHN
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 Sixth day of June
(One thousand eight hundred and fifty), in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John McNicoll, my exors, admors, and assigns, Herespecial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John McNicoll, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John McNicoll, my
exors, admors, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR RAISING AND CONVEYING WEIGHTS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John McNicoll,
shall 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 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
John McNicoll, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained 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 improvements in travelling cranes, whereby such
machines are caused to receive their requisite motions (for raising and convey-
ing weights) from fixed or stationary engines, which give motion to shafts
running longitudinally of the rail or tramways on which the travelling cranes
move.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews an elevation of part of a raised rail or tramway suitable for
a travelling crane; Figure 2 is a transverse elevation thereof; Figure 3 is an
elevation and section through the line A, B; and Figure 4 is a plan. In these
Figures the same letters are used to indicate the same parts. And I would at
the outset state that I make no claim to the construction of the travelling
cranes shewn by the Drawing, and the same may be varied in the mechanical
details, my Invention consisting of the improvements shewn in the Drawings,
and herein described, for obtaining the requisite motions to a travelling crane
by a shaft and machinery driven by a fixed or stationary engine as herein
described.
a, a, is a square shaft running longitudinally of the rail or tramway, which
shaft is put in motion by a strap from a fixed or stationary engine, as shewn.
The shaft a, a, is supported at intervals by moveable bearings b, b, such bear-
ings being lever bearings moving on axes, so that they may be forced out of
the way as the carriage of the crane comes to them, and return into position
when the carriage has passed. By these means any desired length of shafting
may be readily supported, and yet the bearings will not interfere with the
passage of the carriage of the crane to and fro on the rail or tramway.
Motion is communicated from the longitudinal shaft a, a, and the machinery
of the travelling crane is worked in the following manner:-On the shaft a, a,
is placed a drum c, which works (by means of a leather belt) the pulley d
attached to the moving platform. The pulley d is fixed on the shaft e, upon
which are placed the bevil wheels which impart the threefold motion to the
crane.
The bevil wheels f, f, which revolve freely on the shaft, are made so

page_text: as to turn the bevil wheel g by means of the clutch box.h which is attached to
the shaft, so that by withdrawing the clutch box from one of the bevil wheels
and putting it in gear with the other, the motion of the bevil wheel g is
reversed, and when the clutch box is out of gear the bevil wheel g is stationary.
The bevil wheel g is fastened upon the small shaft i, to the other end of which
is attached the pinion j, which works the spur wheel fixed to the roller wheel k
and imparts the longitudinal motion to the whole platform. As the platform
would otherwise move away from the drum c which communicates the motion,
it is made to slide freely upon the shaft, and being attached to the moving
platform by means of the rod it always preserves its relative position with
regard to the pulley d. The difficulty of making the drum pass over the
numerous brackets that a long shaft must necessarily have (to support it) is
overcome by making the brackets swing on a centre, so that when the drum c;
protected by the guard n, comes in contact with one of the brackets b, b, it
yields, as shown in Figure 1, and allows the drum to pass over it. Imme-
diately it has so passed the weight of the lower extremity of the bracket causes
it to resume its position, and the machine passes on to the next bracket, where
the operation is repeated. In order to prevent the shock that would be felt in
putting in motion so heavy a body as a travelling crane of fifty feet span,
carrying, in addition to its own weight, a load of three or four tons, a friction
roller o is made to press upon the leather belt that passes round the drum c
and the pulley d, so that, before putting the machine in gear, the friction roller
is raised, the machine is then put in gear, and the friction roller gradually
lowered. The momentary slipping of the belt round the pulley d, when the
weight of the friction roller is only partially resting upon it, causes the machine
to move forward with an easy motion, and directly it is under way the friction
roller is allowed to bear with the whole of its weight, and the crane then moves
forward with its load. The hoisting motion is obtained by communicating the
power through the bevil wheels q, q, and the shaft r, to the barrel 8, round
which the chain revolves. In order to render the hoisting motion independent
of the transverse motion the hoisting chain passes from the barrel, round which
it is coiled, to the truck t, and after passing over the pulley u, under the
pulley v of the hook h', and over the pulley w, it is firmly attached to the
point at the extreme end of the platform. To hoist a weight, therefore, it is
merely necessary that the handle y which communicates with the clutch box z
should be moved a few inches. The transverse motion is imparted to the
load by means of the barrel a', which is worked from the shaft e by the bevil
wheels b', 6', and clutch box c', in the same manner as the longitudinal and
the hoisting motions. Two chains are attached to the barrel in such a way

page_text: that one winds when the other unwinds. One of these chains is attached to the
small truck tat d', and the other is carried round the pulley e¹ and fastened to
the truck at f', so that by alternately putting the clutch box c¹ in gear with
one or other of the bevil wheels b¹, b1, by means of the handle g, the truck,
and with it the load, is moved backwards or forwards along the platform
at right angles with the motion of the platform itself. Each of the above, the
longitudinal, the transverse, and the hoisting motions, can be used independently
of either of the others, or any two of the motions may be used in combination;
or the whole three may be used simultaneously. For instance, at the same
time that a weight attached to the hook h¹ is being raised from the ground by
the barrels, the truck t, and consequently the load suspended on the chain, may
be moved in the direction or at the same time that the whole platform
may be moving in a longitudinal direction.
In the above description I have only spoken of the truck t of the tra-
velling crane traversing to and fro transversely of the railway, but, if desired,
the whole of the works of the crane may move transversely across the rail-
way, as is shewn by Figures 5, 6, and 7. Figure 5 is a plan; Figure 6 is an
elevation; Figure 7 is an elevation and section through the line C, D. In
these Figures the same letters are used to indicate the same parts. In
this arrangement the shaft a, a, will give motion to the crane machinery
through the shafte of the carrage of the crane, in the following manner :-
The small vertical shaft f, connected to the shafte by the bevil wheels g, g,
communicates motion to the square shaft h through the bevil wheels
i, i. The bevil wheel k slides upon the square shaft h and turns the
shaft by means of the bevil wheel m; the bevil wheel k also turns upon the
vertical shaft n by means of the bevil wheel o; the two shafts 1 and n being
thus caused to revolve at all times when the square shaft a is in motion. The
bevil wheel
P is fixed at the extremity of the shaft l, and works into the bevil
wheels q, q. The bevil wheels q, q, which revolve freely on collars upon the
square shaft r, are made so as to be turned by the bevil wheel p by means
of the clutch box s which is attached to the shaft, so that by withdrawing the
clutch box from one of the bevil wheels q, q, and putting it in gear with
the other, the motion of the square shaft r is reversed; and when the clutch
box is out of gear the square shaft r is stationary. The bevil wheels q, q,
and the clutch box s are made to slide freely along the square shaft r. At
one end of the, square shaft r the pinion t is attached, which works the
spur, wheel fixed to the roller wheel u through the intermediate spur wheel o,
and imparts the longitudinal motion to the whole platform. The drum C is
made to move along with the platform, and to pass over the numerous brackets

page_text: which support the shaft, and the action of the friction roller upon the belt
passed over the drum c and pulley d is accomplished precisely in the same
manner as described in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4. The hoisting motion is obtained
by communicating power from the vertical shaft n, through the bevil wheel w,
to the bevils wheels x, x, and the shaft y, to the barrel z, round which the
hoisting chain revolves; and in order to hoist a weight it is only necessary
to move the handle a', which communicates with the clutch box b¹ working
into the bevil wheels x, x. The transverse motion is given to the load by
means of the small shaft c¹, having a pinion d' fixed upon it, and working into
the spur wheel e¹ attached to one of the roller wheels supporting the crane or
winch. The shaft c is worked from the shaft g¹ by means of the bevil
wheels ff, the shaft g¹ being moved by the bevil wheels h¹, h¹, and the
clutch box ¹, in the same manner as the hoisting motion; and by alternately
putting the clutch in gear with one or other of the bevil wheels h¹, h¹, by
means of the handle k', the crane or winch, and with it the load, is moved back-
wards or forwards along the platform, at right angles with the platform itself.
Thus the same results are accomplished by this arrangement as by the plan
described by Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, this plan of gearing or machinery affording
the means of working the three motions, the longitudinal, the transverse,
and the hoisting, or of working any two of the motions in combination, or of
working the whole three simultaneously. For instance, at the same time that
a weight attached to the hook is being raised from the ground by the barrel
z, the crane or winch, and consequently the load suspended on the chain,
may be moved in the direction of m¹ or n¹ at the same time that the whole
platform may be moving in a longitudinal direction.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I make
no claim to the mechanical parts separately which are shewn and described for
giving motion to a travelling crane from a fixed or stationary engine, and the
details may be varied without departing from my improvements, so long as the
peculiar character of my Invention be retained.
What I claim is, the mode herein described of combining machinery for
giving motion to a travelling crane, whereby a fixed or stationary engine
is caused, by a shaft running longitudinally of the rail or tramway, to give
motion to the working parts of a travelling crane, in such manner as to cause
it to lift and convey weights as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said John McNicoll, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
JOHN (L.S.) M°NICOLL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid John McNicoll came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
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.