IMPROVEMENTS IN EXCAVATING OR CLEARING AWAY EARTH, SAND, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, PRIOR TO FORMING FOUNDATIONS UNDER W "
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Doull, of Westminster, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXCAVATING OR CLEARING AWAY
EARTH, SAND, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, PRIOR TO FORMING FOUNDATIONS UNDER
W
"
CARING AWAT
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXCAVATING OR
EARTH, SAND, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, PRIOR TO FORMING FOUNDATIONS UNDER
Sealed the 28th December 1860, and dated the 4th July 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Doull at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
July 1860.
I, ALEXANDER DOULL, of Westminster, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXCAVATING OR CLEARING
AWAY EARTH, SAND, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, PRIOR TO FORMING FOUNDATIONS UNDER
WATER AND OTHERWISE," to be as follows:-
When excavating for a foundation in the inside of a cylinder or for a con-
tinuous foundation protected by piles or otherwise, I employ a frame or ladder
of iron or wood, which I place vertically or nearly so over the ground or stuff
to be excavated, and I attach to it a travelling platform, or fix it in any other
convenient manner. To this ladder I fit a chain, carrying at convenient
intervals a series of small buckets or excavators, the form of which is modified
according to the nature of the ground to be excavated. The chain carrying
the excavators is passed over a friction roller or sheave fixed at or near the
bottom of the frame or ladder. At a convenient height upon the ladder I fix
a projecting frame or head with a roller or sheave, over which the chain
carrying the buckets passes. This projecting head is for the purpose of carry-
ing the buckets clear away from the ladder, to admit of the excavated materials
falling from the buckets at their upper turning point into a receptacle provided

page_text: for them. The chain is caused to rotate by any convenient means, and the
motion of the travelling platform brings the excavators to every part of the
ground to be excavated.
When the space where the excavating apparatus is required to work is
confined, I adopt the following arrangement:-I take a bucket, and pass
through it, so as to enter the ground, an auger or screw, which, on being
rotated, excavates the ground, and raises the portions acted upon into the
bucket. I work the screw or auger by a rod from above, and raise and lower
the apparatus by a chain. Instead of one auger or screw I sometimes arrange
several round the bucket, which receives the debris or excavated portions from
all of thein.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Doull in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
DOULL, of Westminster, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alexander Doull, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander
Doull, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Alexander Doull, my executors, administrators, and 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN EXCAVATING OR CLEARING AWAY EARTH, SAND, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES,
PRIOR TO FORMING FOUNDATIONS UNDER WATER AND OTHERWISE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Doull, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 Alexander Doull, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to
say:-
When excavating for a foundation in the inside of a cylinder, or for a con-
tinuous foundation protected by piles or otherwise, I employ a frame or ladder
of iron or wood, which I place vertically or nearly so over the ground or stuff
to be excavated, and I attach it to a travelling platform, or fix it in any other
convenient manner. To this ladder I fit a chain carrying at convenient
intervals a series of small buckets or excavators, the form of which is modified
according to the nature of the ground to be excavated. The chain carrying
the excavators is passed over a friction roller or sheave fixed at or near the
bottom of the frame or ladder. At a convenient height upon the ladder I fix
a projecting frame or head with a roller or sheave, over which the chain
carrying the buckets passes. This projecting head is for the purpose of carry-
ing the buckets clear away from the ladder, to admit of the excavated materials
falling from the buckets at their upper turning point into a receptacle provided
for them. The chain is caused to rotate by any convenient means, and the
motion of the travelling platform brings the excavators to every part of the
ground to be excavated.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings shows in side elevation an apparatus
constructed according to the foregoing description for excavating for a foun-
dation in the inside of a cylinder or cofferdam. A, A, is a frame of wood
or iron made somewhat in the form of a ladder; near the lower end of this
frame a drum or pulley B, with projecting flanges, is attached. C is a similar
drum or pulley attached above the traveller, and in a convenient position
to be turned round either by manual, steam, or other power. D, D, are endless
chains passing round the pulleys, to which any convenient number of buckets
E, E, are attached. By causing the upper pulley to revolve, the buckets and
chain move with it, and as the buckets pass under the lower pulley they each
successively become filled with the material to be excavated, and are thence
carried to the upper pulley, so that when they pass round it each bucket is
emptied, and the contents thereof fall into a shoot or other receptacle provided
for the purpose. Instead of chains I sometimes employ endless straps or belts
for carrying the buckets. The frame A is attached to the frame F, of a
traveller free to move upon a travelling platform in order to command the
whole space to be excavated. The frame A is attached to the frame of the
traveller in such manner as to be easily lowered as the work progresses. The
upper pulley is attached to the edge of the frame in such manner that it can
be easily removed and placed higher up upon the frame when it is necessary

page_text: .
to do so. In order that the chain may be kept at the necessary tension, the
connections on the frame are placed at regular distances apart, and portions
of chain or belt are kept ready to be introduced corresponding in length
with the distance which the upper cylinder has been shifted along the frame.
Extra buckets are also attached when necessary. G, G, are braces connected
to the frame of the traveller and to the stay H, in order to preserve the frame
in a vertical position. This stay H is free to move in a dovetail groove upon
a piece of iron attached to the centre of the frame the whole of its length.
The frame carrying the buckets is attached to the traveller by any simple
mode of clamping, so as to be easily lowered as the excavation proceeds.
The braces retain their position notwithstanding the downward motion of the
frame. The number of buckets and their size are varied according to the
nature of the work and the power employed.
Figure 2 illustrates the apparatus I employ for excavating material from
the inside of a column. The apparatus is made light; it is composed of a
vertical bar of double T-iron marked I, forked at top and bottom to receive
a small drum or pulley k, round which the chains carrying the buckets are
made to pass. The action of this apparatus is similar to that first described.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment in apparatuses for excavating for a foundation under
water or other purposes of a frame or ladder placed vertically or nearly so,
carrying pulleys or drums at bottom and top, round which endless chains or
straps pass carrying buckets, which are caused to revolve and thereby remove
material or debris, substantially in the manner herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the employment of a travelling frame or platform for adjusting and
regulating the position of the frame carrying the buckets, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Doull, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Second day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.