AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR EXCAVATING. RAISING, AND DEPOSITING SOIL."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Peacock Savage, of Roxham, Downham
Market, in the County of Norfolk, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR EXCAVATING. RAISING, AND DEPOSITING SOIL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Peacock Savage
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th March 1859.
I, WILLIAM PEACOCK SAVAGE, of Roxliam, Downham Market, in the
County of Norfolk, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR EXCAVATING, RAISING, AND DEPOSITING SOIL." to be as
follows:-
The object of the machine is to excavate and raise, or lift and cast, or
deposit clay or earth. The machine is intended to be worked by steam or
other power, as may be required, and in can be used either in subsoiling land,
or raising and casting earth and clay upon the land; or raising and casting up
clay or brick carth for making bricks or tiles; or in excavating and clearing
bottoms of watercourses, or in cutting new drains from the depth of one foot
or 18 inches to 5 or 6 feet from the surface. The earth or clay is raised by
two sets of iron cups or buckets on endless chains, which are propelled into
the ground, and which chains of cups or buckets revolve upon axes. The two
sets of cups or buckets descend into the land to different depths, one set is
arranged to cut into and remove the upper surface, and the other set is
arranged to cut into and raise the clay or earth from below. As the cups or
[Price 8d1

page_text: buckets become full, they are raised by suitable mechanism, so as to empty
themselves upon platforms, one of which platforms is in the rear of the engine
or machine, and it receives the soil or earth removed from the uppersurface of
the land, and the other platforms revolve or slide on each side of the engine or
machine, so that the earth or clay when raised by the cups or buckets which
descend more deeply into the land may be deposited laterally on the land, or
upon any stage or platform, or in carts. And the engine or machine is so
constructed as to raise and place the subsoil on the surface, and vice versa,
the surface earth below from whence the subsoil is taken.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Peacock Savage in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PEACOCK SAVAGE, of Roxham, Downham Market, in the County of Norfolk,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Peacock Savage, Her special licence that I, the said
William Peacock Savage, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Peacock Savage, 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 terin 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 "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR EXCAVATING, RAISING
AND DEPOSITING SOIL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Peacock Savage, my executors or administrators, 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 inanner 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 Peacock Savage, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The object of the machine is to excavate and raise, or lift and cast, or deposit
clay or earth. The machine is intended to be worked by steam or other
power as may be required, and it can be used either in subsoiling land or
raising and casting earth and clay upon the land; or raising and casting up clay
or brick earth for making bricks or tiles; or in excavating and clearing bottoins
of watercourses, or in cutting new drains from the depth of one foot or 18
inches to 5 or 6 feet from the surface. The earth or clay is raised by two sets
of iron cups or buckets on endless chains which are propelled into the ground,
and which chains of cups or buckets revolve upon axes. The two sets of cups
or buckets descend into the land to different depths; one set is arranged
to cut into and remove the upper surface, and the other set is arranged to
cut into and raise the clay or earth from below. As the cups or buckets
becoine full they are raised by suitable mechanism so as to empty them-
selves upon platforms, one of which platforms is in the rear of the engine
or :nachine, and it receives the soil or earth removed from the upper surface of
the land; and the other platforms revolve or slide on each side of the enginé
or machine, so that the earth or clay, when raised by the cups or buckets
which descend more deeply into the land, may be deposited laterally on thé
land, or upon any stage or platform, or in carts. And, the engine or machice
is so constructed as to raise and place the subsoil on the surface, and vice
versa, the surface earth below from whence the subsoil'is taken.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and'
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto

page_text: axis d; d³ is a smaller wheel on the same axis which actuates the wheel e¹ on
the axis e; e, e, e³, are chain wheels on this axis, and f, f, f, are endless
chains passing round them. The axis e and the parts connected with it are
shown separately at Figure 3; it will be seen that the chains are made up of
single and double links alternately, and the chain wheels over which they pass
are furnished alternately with single and double teeth. The single teeth enter
between the two parts of the double links, and the double teeth are received
into the spaces between them, and the single links enter in between the double
teeth; g,g, are frames or stretchers which are capable of turning freely on the
axis e, and they carry at their further ends the axis h, on which other chain
wheels i, i, are fixed, and round these also the endless chains f,fpass;,, are
cups or buckets carried by the endless chains. A front view and an end view
of one of these cups or buckets is shown at Figure4, furnished with two eyes
at each end, and the pins by which the links of the chain are held together
also pass through the eyes', j, of the buckets;,, are sharp steel cutters
rivetted to the edges of the buckets; the cutter of each bucket is formed of a
bar or plate of steel, the upper edge of which is extended and bent to a zig zag
form, as the Drawing shews, or they may be made with straight or plain fronts,
or cutting edges with projections inside to break the earth or cut it to pieces
to ensure its delivery. In some cases a strong toothed cutter is attached to
each end of the-bucket. On the axis e, there is also mounted another chain
wheel e² to receive an endless chain k, which drives the axis, at the upper
part of the frame; m, m, are buckets passing round this axis, and forming a
second chain in all respects similar to that passing round the axis e, only of
greater length. The frames or stretchers are made of various lengths and
widths, according to the purposes for which they are required; the axis l, and
the parts connected with it are showo separately at Figure 5. The chains of
buckets,as shown in the Drawing, are raised above their working position, they
are held suspended by the chain n passing over the pulley o, carried by the
frame a; this chain is attached at one end to the frame or stretchers of the
upper set of buckets, and its other end is worked on the drum p. The frame
or stretcher with the lower chain of buckets is connected with the upper by
the connecting link or bar 2, so that they move together. To lower the
buckets into their work, the handle is turned; this, by a screw or suitable
wheel, gives motion to the axis s, on which is a pinion gearing with a spur
wheel on the axis of the drum p; t is a chain attached to the fore part (or
part travelling forward at the time of working) of the machine; it is passed
round a pulley anchored or fixed some distance ahead of it, and then returns
to the chain wheel u, Figure 6. This wheel receives a slow motion by means

page_text: of the pinion 3, at the end of the axis e; this pinion gears with an intermediate
wheel, on the axis of which is another pinion driving a spur wheel on the axis
of the chain wheel u. In this manner the machine when at work is drawn
constantly forward at a slow speed, and by changing the wheels, the travelling
motion will be increased or diminished, and the buckets travelling at the same
time cut a trench of the depth to which they are set along the land over
which the machine passes; the upper chain of buckets remove the surface
soil, and the lower chain of buckets the subsoil, the lower buckets penetrating
the land to a greater depth than the upper. The upper buckets discharge
the soil they raise on to the travelling surface v; it is formed of endless chains
of a somewhat similar description to those which carry the buckets, only of
smaller size; these chains are shown separately at Figure 9, Sheet 2, and they
pass round chain wheels mounted at the ends of frames or stretchers in a
similar manner, the chains, however, receive boards in place of buckets or
metal or any other suitable covering. The travelling surface v receives
motion in the following manner:-At the end of the axis is a chain wheel /,
which by a chain drives another wheel w, mounted on a stúd on the upper-
most end of the frame or stretcher of the upper chain of buckets, another
chain wheel on the same axis when the buckets are lowered for work, has
placed round it a chain which also encircles a chain wheel a, at one end of
the travelling surface u, and in order to keep this driving chain constantly
distended notwithstanding any change which may take place in the inclination
of the chain of buckets a stretcher w¹ is employed passing from the axis of the
wheel w to that of the wheel a. The axes of the chain wheels of the travelling
surface v are capable of moving in guides on the frame. This travelling
surface may be of any desired length, so as to fill in the earth again at any
distance from the place where it was raised; or it may be made to discharge
the earth into carts over the end of the machine. The lower chain of buckets
discharge the earth which they raise on to two similar travelling surfaces V, V,
passing off laterally, and on each side of the machine; to drive these surfaces,
a transverse shaft y is employed, it is driven by spur gear from the axis 0, aud
by means of bevilled pinions it actuates the two longitudinal shafts z, z, and
these, by chains, chain wheels, and spur gear, give motion to axes, over which
the travelling surfaces pass, as is clearly shown in the Drawing. The space
between the inner ends of the two surfaces at the centre of the machine is
covered by a double incline A, to prevent the earth thrown out of the buckets
from falling through. Thus these travelling surfaces carry the earth raised
by the lower buckets to a distance on each side of the machine, and they
either allow it to fall on to the land or discharge it into carts, as required.

page_text: When the machine is making deep cuts on soft or fen land, timbers or
surfaces S. S, for the travelling wheels b, b, are used, and they are provided
with guide rails SI, S¹, either of iron or wood, and in this case a beam or
axle B is fixed at the end of the frame a, as shown at Figures 1 and 2, by
bolts, and it carries a wheel C at each end, to give more secure support to the
machine. If desired, another beam or axle B and wheels C, C, may also be
employed at the other end of the machine, but the wheels C, C, are not
generally used. The two sets of buckets are not in all cases employed at the
same time, and either of the travelling surfaces may be removed when not
required.
In some cases, for instance, when operating on very heavy land, such as
strong hard clay, or stoney land, then I find it desirable to apply driving
apparatus, such as is represented at Figure 7, and then remove every third
bücket, or some of the buckets, and in lieu thereof I substitute pronged
instruments or grubbers, as shew at Figure 8. The driving pulley or
rigger is removed from the axis c, and the chain wheel d* is substituted for
the pulley or rigger c', but instead of being placed on the axis c it is placed
upón the axis d.. The chain wheel d* is driven by the chain d+, which passes
round the chain wheel 5 on the engine shaft, and around the chain wheel d*,
as shown at Figure 7. Its direction is indicated by the arrow, which it will
be scen, by referring back to Figure 1, is the reverse direction to the motion
given to the axis c when using the band and pulley c'. When it is desired to
form a deep and broad cutting by the machine, then the endless chain & instead
of working with the chain wheels e³, e, on the axis e, would be transferred
to similar wheels fixed upon an axis working in bearings, shown at D,
Figure 1; for this purpose it will be necessary to shorten the chains k by
removing some of the links. There will also be another chain passing from
the chain wheel on the axis e to one of the chain wheels on the axis at D, as
is shown by the red lines. The lower chains of buckets and frame, &c. g are
also removed, they not then being required, and the travelling or delivering
surface would be removed, and the side delivery or travelling surfaces would
be removed from their positions shown at F into the position as represented
in red lines at G, and then held so as to incline upwards from the machine by
suitable tyes from the frame. But, in some instances, shoots or stationary
inclines may be used instead of the travelling deliveries. The buckets j, j, I
prefer to form with shoots or additional pieces j, as shown; they are for the
purpose of assisting the materials in being shot or delivered correctly on to the
travelling surface or platform. When the material raised contains much
water, I attach' to the chains of the travelling deliveries upright boards or

page_text: scrapers, which scrape the semi-liquid matter along an inclined board fixed
under the chains, and the scrapers are furnished with end and top pieces, to
prevent the matters escaping at the ends and over the tops of the scrapers.
Having now described my Invention, and also the means whereby the same
is or may be carried into practice, I desire it to be clearly understood that
although I have been somewhat particular in describing the means which
I prefer in carrying out my Invention, that I do not intend to limit myself"
to any of the details, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention be
retained, as the same admits of being much varied without departing from the
principle.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Peacock Savage, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
WILLIAM PEACOCK SAVAGE. (L.s.)