IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY HOOKS OR DISENGAGING APPARATUS FOR CAGES EMPLOYED IN RAISING COAL, MINERALS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Foster and William Brindle, both of Shevington,
near Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SAFETY HOOKS OR DISENGAGING APPARATUS FOR CAGES EMPLOYED IN
RAISING COAL, MINERALS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Foster and William
Brindle at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th March
1880.
JAMES FOSTER and WILLIAM BRINDLE, both of Shevington, near Wigan, in the
County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY HOOKS OR DISENGAGING
APPARATUS FOR CAGES EMPLOYED IN RAISING COAL, MINERALS, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES."
is
This Invention relates to improvements in safety hooks or disengaging apparatus
for cages of that class in which levers in the form of plates placed side by side, and
supported centrally on a pin or axis, on which they are free to turn, are so con-
structed that their upper ends hold or grasp a link or shackle attached to the end
of the winding rope, the arrangement of apparatus being designed to cause the rope,
in case of overwinding, to be detached from the hook from which the cage
suspended. The object of our Invention is to lessen the time required and personal
risk involved in re-attaching the rope to the hook and cage. We arrange the levers
so that their lower ends project, one on each side, somewhat beyond the edges of
the frame or sheaf, in which they are mounted. To the framing or head gear
above, at a point above which the safety-hook-or apparatus-must not be raised, we
affix a metal plate (which we term the detaching plate) having an aperture at or
about its centre large enough to allow the winding rope and the upper portion of
the safety hook to pass easily through, but of such size that upon the projecting
lower ends of the levers entering the aperture they will be compressed or closed in,
thus causing the upper ends of the levers to open out, and so disengage or release
the link or shackle on the end of the winding rope. For convenience in handling
the levers when closed are kept in position by a soft metal pin passed through a
When the lower ends
hole bored through the sheaf or frame and the two levers.
of the levers are pressed in by the detaching plate the soft metal pin will be cut

page_text: through by the shearing action of the levers, and the levers will be free to open
out at their upper ends and release the winding rope. We provide our improved
safety hook with a pair of catch plates hung on studs or pins passed through the
sheaf near its upper end so arranged that they will pass freely through the aperture
in the detaching plate, but will of their own weight, or by means of a spring or
other suitable attachment, become distended before pressure is exerted on the
lower ends of the levers by the detaching plate below. The catch plates will
sustain the cage and load in position whilst re-attachment of the winding rope
takes place. This may be readily effected by inserting the link or shackle within
the upper ends of the levers, which are readily accessible from the upper side of the
detaching plate. The catch plates are also available for preventing the cage from
going back in case the rope should happen to break through being too weak to
close in the levers and shear off the soft metal pin as above described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Foster and William Brindle in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th September 1880.
JAMES FOSTER and WILLIAM BRINDLE, both of Shevington, near Wigan, in the
County of Lancaster. 'IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY HOOKS OR DISENGAGING
APPARATUS FOR CAGES EMPLOYED IN RAISING COAL, MINERALS, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES."
This Invention relates to improvements in safety hooks or disengaging apparatus
for cages of that class in which levers in the form of plates placed side by side, and
supported centrally on a pin or axis, on which they are free to turn, are so con-
structed that their upper ends hold or grasp a link or shackle attached to the end
of the winding rope, the arrangement of apparatus being designed to cause the
rope, in case of overwinding, to become detached from the hook from which the
cage is suspended. One object of our Invention is to lessen the time required and
personal risk involved in reattaching the rope to the hook and cage.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a section of our
improved safety hook, in which a, a, are metal sides secured by screw bolts and
forming the framing or body of the hook; b is the link or shackle attached at its
curved or upper part to the winding rope, and held at its lower ends within the
jaws 2 (see Figs. 3 and 4) of the levers c, supported on the pin or axis d.
We
arrange the levers o so that their lower ends 3 project, one on each side, somewhat
beyond the edges of the frame or sheaf a in which they are mounted.
To the
framing or head-gear above, at a point above which the safety hook or apparatus
must not be raised, we affix a metal plate e (which we term the detaching plate)
having an aperture 4 at or about its centre large enough to allow the winding rope
and the upper portion of the safety hook to pass easily through, but of such size
that upon the projecting lower ends 3 of the levers centering the aperture 4 they
will be compressed or closed in, thus causing the upper ends of the levers to open
out (as shewn in Fig. 3), and so disengage or release the link or shackle b on the
end of the winding rope. For convenience in handling the levers c when closed
are kept in position by a soft metal pin f passed through a hole g bored through
the sheaf or frame a and the two levers c. When the lower ends 3 of the levers c
are pressed in by the detaching plate e the soft metal pin f will be cut through
by the shearing action of the levers c, and the levers will be free to open out at
their upper ends and release the winding rope.
We provide our improved safety hooks with a pair of catch plates h (see Fig. 5)
hung on studs or pins passed through the sheaf near its upper end, or supported on
the same pin as the levers c, as shewn, so arranged that they will pass freely through
the aperture 4 in the detaching plate e, but will of their own weight, or by means
of a spring or other suitable attachment, become distended before pressure is
exerted on the lower ends of the levers c by the detaching plate e below. The
catch plates h will sustain the cage and load in position whilst reattachment of the
winding rope takes place. This may be readily effected by inserting the link or
shackle b within the upper ends of the levers c, which are readily accessible from
the upper side of the detaching plate e. The catch plates h are also available for
preventing the cage from going back in case the rope should happen to break
through being too weak to close in the levers c, and shear off the soft metal pin f,
as above described.
Having described the nature of our said Invention, and explained in what
manner the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, we
would have it understood that we claim as our Invention the improved safety
hook or disengaging apparatus constructed, arranged, and operating substantially

page_text: as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying Drawings. We also
clain the application and use, in combination, substantially as and for the
purposes hereinabove set forth, of the levers c, soft metal pin f, and catch
plates h.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Foster and William Brindle, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.