A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING AND LOWERING GATES AT THE MOUTHS OF COAL AND OTHER MINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tate, Engineer to the Cannock and
Rugeley Colliery Company, of Cannock, in the County of Stafford,
66
for the Invention of 'A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING
Sealed the 1st August 1871, and dated the 4th February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tate at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th February 1871.
I, WILLIAM TATE, Engineer to the Cannock and Rugeley Colliery
Company, of Cannock, in the County of Stafford, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
ELEVATING AND LOWERING GATES AT THE MOUTHS OF COAL AND OTHER MINES," to™
be as follows (that is to say)
The object of my Invention is to protect coal and other pit mouths
by a self-acting arrangement, which will be understood from the fol-

page_text: lowing description:-On the end of the axis of the winding drum a
worm wheel is formed or applied, which gears into a horizontal toothed
wheel, on the axis of which two arms are formed or applied at right
angles, and to the ends of these arms rods are fixed, working in guides,
and connected near the mouth of the pit by bell-crank levers to vertical
rods, which are connected a segment on cach side of the pit, the
radius of which from its axis permits a chain attached to its top side
to advance over the pit mouth to a bar or other means connected with
the two gates on the one side, whilst the other series of connecting rods
connected to the other arm is extended to the other side of the pit
mouth, and in like manner connected by a bell-crank motion to a
vertical rod and segment for operating on the other two gates, which is
effected in the following way:-As the drum in connection with the
winding apparatus is winding up the pit rope and bringing one skip to
the pit mouth the other skip is descending to the bottom, and as the
winding drum is revolving the worm wheel causes the horizontal wheel,
also before mentioned, to revolve and actuate the arms, rods, and
segment to the extent of causing one pair of gates to be elevated as the
skip emerges from the pit mouth, and by the reverse action of the
winding the gates last referred to will immediately follow the descent
of the skip, so as to protect or bar the pit mouth, and will not be again
operated on until after the skip on the other side of the pit has been
elevated with the gates, and in rotation alternately closed and opened by
the continuous backward and forward action of the winding apparatus.
To regulate the throw or extent of action to the segment slots are formed
in the connecting rods, which permit the arms in connection with the
axis of the toothed wheel to carry forward the link part in connection
with them until its end takes up its work, and effects the operation of
elevating or lowering the gates as soon as the skip rises above or descends
below the surface, thus employing an independent arrangement worked
from the winding apparatus for elevating and lowering the gates at pit
mouths, instead of their being elevated by the. action of the skip, as
ordinarily practised, which has the effect from concussion of rapidly
destroying or deranging them.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Tate in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TATE, Engineer to the Cannock and Rugeley Colliery Company, of
Cannock, in the County of Stafford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Tate, Her special license that I, the
said William Tate, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Tate, my executors, administrators, or
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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
ELEVATING AND LOWERING GATES AT THE MOUTHS OF COAL AND MINES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Tate, 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 William Tate, 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 (that is to say) :-
The object of my Invention is to protect coal and other pit mouths.
or mouths of mine shafts that are being worked by a self-acting arrange-.
ment which will be understood from the following description:-On
the end of the axis of the winding drum a worm wheel is formed or
applied, which gears into a horizontal toothed wheel, on the vertical
axis of which two arms are formed or applied at suitable angles, and,
to the ends of these arms rods are fixed working in guides and con-

page_text: nected near the mouth of the pit to bell-crank levers, which are
likewise connected to vertical rods, which are again connected to
´segment wheels on each side of the pit, the radius of which from their
axis permit chains attached to their top sides to advance and be
connected with the two gates on the one side, whilst the other series
of connecting rods connected to the other arm is extended to the other
side of the pit mouth, and in like manner connected by a bell crank
motion to a vertical rod and segments for operating on the other two
gates, which is effected in the following way:-As the drum in con-
nection with the winding apparatus is winding up the pit rope and
bringing one cage to the pit mouth the other cage is descending to
the bottom, and as the winding drum is revolving the worm wheel causes
the horizontal wheel before mentioned to revolve and actuate the arms,
rods, and segments to the extent of causing one pair of gates to be
elevated as the cage emerges from the pit mouth, and by the reverse
action of the winding the gates last referred to will immediately follow
the descent of the cage so as to protect or bar the pit mouth, and will
not be again operated on until after the cage on the other side of the
pit has been elevated with the gates, and in rotation alternately closed
and opened by the continuous backward and forward action of the
winding apparatus. To adjust and regulate the action of the worm
wheel to the throw or extent of action given to the segments, slots
are formed in or connected to the horizontal connecting rods, which
permit the arms in connection with the axis of the toothed wheel
to advance and retire the links or slotted parts in connection with them
until the one next in use takes up its work and effects the operation
of elevating the gates on the one side as soon as the cage rises above
the surface, and in due course the descent of the gates on the other
side is effected as soon as the cage descends below the surface, thus
employing an independent arrangement worked from the winding
apparatus for elevating and lowering the gates at pit mouths, instead
of their being elevated by the action of the cage as ordinarily practised,
which has the effect from concussion of rapidly destroying or deranging

page_text: Fig. 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a top view of the winding apparatus
necessary at coal pit mouths for bringing up the loaded cages and
lowering the empty ones, the main portion of which is common, general
in use, and well understood in the ordinary method of constructing
and working coal pits, to which my Invention is more particularly
applicable, and which Invention consists in applying a worm on the
extended axis A of the drum shaft, into which worm the wheel B gears,
and which wheel is secured to a vertical shaft marked D supported by
a suitable carriage or support marked C, C. To this vertical shaft
two arms are secured represented in a separate top view at Fig. 3, and
to these arms the connecting links and adjustable screws are attached
as exhibited in the side view, Figure 1, and top view, Figure 2, marked E
and F, E and F, and which is again attached to strong wire rods shown
in dotted lines at G, H, and J, K, Figure 2, represented dotted because
they work below the surface in a tube or draining pipe as exhibited
in section at J and K, Figure 1. The ends of the wire connecting rods H
and J are connected to bell-crank levers L and M, L being distinctly
seen marked with the same letter at Figure 1, and to the long arms
of these bell-crank levers strong metallic or hempen ropes or chains are
attached, which work over and around pulleys marked N, N, secured
on the axis P and Q, P being only seen at Figure 1. On each of these
axes the wheels or segments of wheels R and S, T and U, are attached;
the radial extent of these wheels or segments I prefer to be equivalent
to half the distance between the cage guides, as will be understood by
referring to Fig. 4, which is a front view of the pit frame representing the
mouth of the shaft in section, and in this view I have represented on one
side a wheel marked U, and on the other side a segment marked S,
merely to show that either plan may be adopted in use, the radial
diameter of each being equivalent with the means of fixing to permit a
chain to work over the periphery of the segment S and wheel U that they
may be centrally connected with the gates V and W, and I have also
shown the lateral trusses or legs of the pit frame marked X, X, and Y, Y,
broken to avoid confusion and obscuring the segment S and wheel U.
I have not thought it necessary to technically describe the apparatus
constituting the pit frame, head wheels, driving drums, and other details,
as they are well understood in mine engineering.

page_text: Having limited my description to the details appertaining to my
improvements, I will further describe them as in use.
The cage on the left hand side of the shaft, Figure 4, is represented
just emerging from the pit mouth by the drum (deriving its motion
from the engine in the ordinary way) moving in the direction of the
arrow, by which means the worm wheel B has been made partially to
revolve from right to left, and has brought back the arm shown in
dotted lines (but marked a in the detached view, Figure 3), which has
had the effect of operating. on the bell-crank lever L so as to depress
the long arm, and by means of the cord or chain attached to it and the
pulley N the segment S has been placed from the position exhibited in
dotted lines, Figure 4, to its present position, and as a consequence has
elevated with its movement the gate V preparatory to the cage Z, Z,
emerging from the pit mouth, so as to bring the lower deck of the cage
up level with the rails or ground surface, that the wagon or tub A¹ may
be wheeled off, and the cage lowered and adjusted for the like operation
to the tub or wagon B³, and directly the cage passes down below the
surface by the reversal of the drum and the reverse action of the
worm A, thereby altering the position of the arms a and b, Figure 3,
the gate V drops in position, and as the front and back gates are
operated on simultaneously the gate V and the one immediately in a
line behind it both rise and fall together. It will be readily understood
from my description that the gate V descends the moment the cage
passes below the surface, thereby protecting the pit mouth, as the front
and back gates will remain down until the reverse action of the drum
has lowered the cage Z, and elevated the other in like manner, at which
time by the adjustment of the screw F and the attendant parts the front
gate W and corresponding back gate will be elevated by the slow and
gradual working of the arms on the vertical axis D by means of the
wheel B gearing in the worm A; but to compensate for the long stretch
of descent and ascent, and the continuous working of the worm A. and
wheel B, slots are formed in the connecting parts C' and D', which permit
a traversing motion in proportion to the depth of the pit, an important
feature in my
Invention.
Having now described my improvements I will observe that the same

page_text: vertical shaft, as at Figure 3, may be on different planes to suit convenience
of situation, and the connecting parts with the arm b6 may be placed in
connection with the lever L, while the connection from the arm a may
be made with the lever M if so preferred; in which case there would be
no necessity for providing an orifice through the masonry E', Figure 1,
to permit the connection to be carried in a straight direction from the
arm to the lever M; but what I claim and wish to protect by these my
in part recited Letters Patent is, the self-acting arrangement herein
described and exhibited, or its equivalent or equivalents, for actuating
the protecting gates at pit mouths, effected by independent and distinct
means apart from and separate to the action of the ascent or descent of
the cages, thus effecting not only the avoidance of the destructive
consequences of the system now generally in use, viz., the rapid wear
and tear of the gates consequent on their being struck up and down by
the cage in its ascent or descent, but also a forewarning is given of the
near approach of the ascending cage to the pit mouth, which is important
in mining operations.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tate, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
JAMES S. COCKINGS,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM TATE. (L.S.)