IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WORKING AND LOADING COAL
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Firth, of Burley Wood, near Leeds, in
the County of York, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR WORKING AND LOADING COAL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Firth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1875...
I, WILLIAM FIRTH, of Burley Wood, near Leeds, in the County of
York, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WORKING AND LOADING COAL," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for
working and loading coal.
In order to give a self-acting forward motion to coal-cutting machines
in which the cutter receives a reciprocating motion from an air engine,
I lay a chain or rope along the line of work and fix it at both ends. I
3

page_text: mount chain wheels on the machine to gear with the chain, and these
chain wheels are driven by a ratchet wheel on the axis of one of them
acting with a pawl which takes its motion from a tappet lever. A
tappet on the piston rod strikes corresponding tappets on the tappet
lever and moves it to and fro. The forward motion takes place when
the cutter is out of the coal, but only when the cutter at the previous
stroke has penetrated to the full depth, as it is during the last portion of
the effective stroke that the pawl is drawn back to take another tooth of
the ratchet.
There is a brake in connection with the axis of one of the chain
wheels by which sufficient friction can be applied to prevent the machine
running forward of itself when working down hill. I make the point
loose in a manner that saves coal by reducing the breadth of the cut.
I use a flat piece of steel jumped up at the cutting edge and keyed into
a slotted hole made in the pick or hammer bar, I sometimes detach
the cutting tool from the pick or hammer bar and strike it in the same
way as a smith strikes a cold chisel.
To work coal by drilling, and afterwards pressing or forcing it down,
I employ an air engine mounted on a carriage running on rails parallel
to the working face. On the carriage is a standard constructed in the
manner of a screw jack. When the machine is in operation this
standard is jammed against the roof of the working. In the head of the
standard, as close to the roof as is convenient, are bearings in which a
ratchet brace is mounted. In the socket of the brace a drill cutter is
placed; it is turned and fed forward into the coal by levers connected
with the cross head of the piston rod. The levers thus receive a
pendulous motion, and they carry pawls working with the ratchet
pinions of the brace. The two ratchet pinions are rotated at a somewhat
different speed, and as the one gives motion to a nut and the other to a
screw the forward feed motion is obtained. Drills of different lengths
are employed to complete the hole to its full depth.
To press down the coal I employ an hydraulic apparatus consisting of
a tube made in two lengths screwed together, and of a size to enter the
hole produced by the drilling machine. The portion of the tube which
penetrates to the bottom of the hole contains water and receives a
plunger which enters through cupped leathers, and can be forced forward
by a screw acting with a nut formed within the outer end of the plunger

page_text: screw.
which is hollow and receives the screw within it. The outer length of
the tube which forms a guide for the plunger (in which it can slide,
but is prevented from turning) carries the bearing and abutment for the
The stem of the screw receives on its outer end a ratchet pinion
and a hand lever and pawl by which it can be rotated, and so the plunger
is forced forward and pressure is applied to the water contained in the
inner end of the tube. This portion of the tube terminates in a chamber
in the side of which are three holes in which three small rams working
through cupped leathers are fitted. These are forced outwards as the
plunger enters, and by the pressure which they apply to the side of the
hole the coal is forced down. The rams receive cap pieces to distribute
their pressure over a sufficient area of the coal, and these cap pieces can
be readily changed to adapt the machine to work in holes of varying
sizes.
In loading coal into railway wagons, instead of the corve or carriage
in which the coal has been brought from the pit being turned over on
the bank into the screen by the workman, I run the corve or carriage
on to a frame mounted on trunnions. On these trunnions I fix a spur
wheel working into a rack, which rack is moved by hydraulic pressure,
compressed air or steam, and by these means the corve or carriage is
gently turned over, so preventing the coal from being broken.
In order to obviate or lessen the fall into the wagon I lower the end
of the screen or raise the railway wagon into which the coal is being
loaded, and as the wagon fills I prevent the breakage of coal by avoiding
the fall from the screen into the wagon.
I also arrange weighing apparatus in connection with the table on
which the wagon stands.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Firth, Her
special license that I, the said William Firth, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Firth,
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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR WORKING AND LOADING COAL," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Firth, 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 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 Firth, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for
working and loading coal.
In order to give a self-acting forward motion to coal-cutting machines
in which the cutter receives a reciproating motion from an air engine
I lay a chain or rope along the line of work, and fix it at both ends; I
mount chain wheels on the machine to gear with the chain, and these
chain wheels are driven by a ratchet wheel on the axis of one of them
acting with a pawl which receives a to-and-fro motion. The forward
motion of the machine takes place when the cutter is out of the coal,
but only when the cutter at the previous stroke has penetrated to the
full depth, as it is during the last portion of the effective stroke that
the pawl is drawn back sufficiently to take another tooth of the ratchet.

page_text: Figures 1 and 2 show a machine for working coal arranged according
to my Invention. a, a¹, a³, are the frame and other parts of the machine;
they are mounted upon a pair of axles b, b, which have at their ends the
eccentrics 6¹, 6¹, and flanged wheels c are mounted upon the eccentrics;
d, d, are the rails upon which the machine stands. The height of the
frame from the rails can be varied by turning the axles b, which for this
purpose are provided with arms 62, 63, coupled together by connecting
rods e, e.
On one side of the machine the connecting rods e, e, carry a
trunnion nut f, and a screw f¹ which works with the nut is held by a
bracket a¹ projecting from the side of the cylinder a². The cylinder a
is furnished with a piston and piston rod g, to which the cross head / is
fixed. At the fore corners of the frame are mounted the levers i, i, by
which the motion of the piston rod is communicated to the pick. These
levers turn upon fixed axes ", ", and one only of them is in use at a
time. The lever which is in use is connected with the piston rod by a
double connecting rod k; there are two holes in the lever, either of
which may receive the joint pin, according to the angular position in
which it is desired that the pick should work. Each lever i has a square
boss upon it to receive the pick box or socket 1, which is rendered fast
upon it by the key P. The pick box may be placed on the square in
different positions, and so a further control is obtained over the position
of the arc in which the pick works. The pick box may also be put on
cither way up, and so further control is obtained of the height of the
pick. h¹ is a swivelling pin on the cross head h; through it the lever m
passes. This lever is fixed on an axis m¹ which has an arm m². The
connecting rod n is jointed to the arm m³, and this at its further end is
jointed to links o², o². The link o¹ is connected with the arm p, which is
on the axis of a semi-rotary valve which controls the admission and
exhaust of compressed air to and from the cylinder a³. The link o is
connected with the arm q' on the hand lever q, so that by shifting the
hand lever the rod n and link o¹ can be thrown into a more or less
inclined position, thereby altering the position of the valve in relation to
the piston, so as to obtain an earlier or late exhaust, as may be required.
The axis m¹ is provided with another arm m³, which through the rod r
actuates the lever & carrying the pawl s¹. This pawl works with the
ratchet wheel t, taking a fresh tooth each time that the piston reaches
the outer end of its stoke and the pick strikes home. On the axis of
the ratchet wheel t is a bevilled wheel t¹ gearing with a pinion u. The
pinion u has on its axis a hand wheel w³, and also a worm u². The worm

page_text: drives a worm wheel v, and gives motion to a chain wheel ¹ on the same
axis. This wheel is cupped on the periphery to receive the links of a
chain, the ends of which are securely fixed before and behind the
machine. w, w, are guide pulleys for the chain; they keep it in contact
with the wheel ¹ around the greater part of its circumference; x is the
hand lever which actuates the starting valve.
I make the point of the pick loose in a manner that saves coal by
reducing the breadth of the cut. I use a flat piece of steel jumped up
at the cutting edge, and keyed into a slotted hole made in the pick or
hammer bar.
I construct the pick with moveable cutters, having stems entering into
sockets, and there secured by binding screws, which are inserted in such
a direction as to lie in the cut or groove. This method of securing the
tools allows of the groove in the coal being cut narrower than heretoforo,
and no wider than is requisite to admit the stem of the tool and a socket
of adequate strength. I sometimes make the cutting tools with points
of a V form.
Figure 3 is a side elevation, and Figure 4 is a front elevation, shewing
the pick and cutting tools which I employ; other detail views are also
shown. a is the pick box; b, the pick arm; b', 6', the tool sockets;
and c the cutting tools; d, d, are the binding screws.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the construction of coal
cutting machinery, substantially as described.
I also claim the construction of the pick and cutting tools, substan-
tially as described.
To work coal by drilling, and afterwards pressing or forcing it down, I
employ an air engine mounted on a carriage running on rails parallel to
the working face. On the carriage is a standard constructed in the
manner of a screw jack. When the machine is in operation this standard
is jammed against the roof of the working. In the head of the standard,
as close to the roof as is convenient, are bearings, in which a ratchet
brace is mounted. In the socket of the brace a drill cutter is placed;
it is turned and fed forward into the coal by levers connected with the
cross head of the piston rod. The levers thus receive a pendulous motion,
and they carry pawls working with the ratchet pinions of the brace. The
two ratchet pinions are rotated at a somewhat different speed, and as the

page_text: one gives motion to a nut and the other to a screw the forward feed
motion is obtained. Drills of different lengths are employed to complete
the hole to its full depth.
Figure 5 is a side elevation, Figure 6 is an end elevation, and Figure 7
is a plan of a machine constructed according to my Invention for
drilling coal. a is the frame of the carriage mounted on four wheels 6
running on rails c. d is a standard, in construction like a screw jacket, so
that its head can be jammed fast against the head of the working. The
head carries a screw e with a socket at the end to receive the drill f.
The screw with the drill can be rotated and advanced after the fashion
of a ratchet drill. The screw passes through the sleeve g, which is
rotated by a ratchet pinion and a pawl and lever h. There is a longi-
tudinal groove in the screw, and a feather within the sleeve, so that the
screw is compelled to rotate. The screw also passes through the nut i,
which is similarly rotated by a ratchet wheel, pawl, and lever k, but at a
slightly different speed from the screw, that the drill receives a slow
forward motion. The levers h and k take their movement from an air
engine upon the carriage. " is the fly wheel and eccentric shaft of the
air engine.
l
To press down the coal I employ an hydraulic apparatus consisting of
a tube made in two lengths screwed together, and of a size to enter the
hole produced by the drilling machine. The portion of the tube which
penetrates to the bottom of the hole contains water, and receives a
plunger which enters through cupped leathers, and can be forced
forward by a screw acting with a nut formed within the outer end of the
plunger, which is hollow and receives the screw within it. The outer
length of the tube which forms a guide for the plunger (in which it can
slide but is prevented from turning), carries the bearing and abutment
for the screw.
The stem of the screw receives on its outer end a ratchet
pinion and a hand lever and pawl by which it can be rotated, and so the
plunger is forced forward and pressure is applied to the water contained
in the inner end of the tube. This portion of the tube terminates in a
chamber, in the side of which are three holes in which three small rams
working through cupped leathers are fitted. These are forced outwards
as the plunger enters, and by the pressure which they apply to the side
of the hole the coal is forced down. The rams receive cap pieces to
distribute their pressure over a sufficient area of the coal, and these cap

page_text: pieces can be readily changed to adapt the machine to work in holes of
varying sizes.
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section (quarter size) of hydraulic pressing
down apparatus constructed according to my Invention. The barrel of
the apparatus is made in two lengths screwed together at a, and cupped
leathers bare inserted in the joint. The ram c works through the
cupped leathers b; d is a chamber formed at the end of the portion of
the barrel which penetrates to the bottom of the hole. Into the side of
the chamber d the small rams e, e, are inserted, they work through
cupped leathers. The chamber d and the portion of the barrel on which
it is formed are filled with water or other liquid, so that when the ram c
is forced forward, the pressure is conveyed by the liquid to the portion
of the side of the hole against which the caps on the plungers e abut.
The ram c receives within it the screw f, which although free to rotates
is securely held in the outer end of the barrel of the apparatus, the
screw having upon it a collar which is confined by a screw cap has the
Drawing shows. On the outer end of the stem of the screw a ratchet
pinion is fixed, and motion is given to it by a hand lever i free to turn
on the screw stem, and carrying a pawl which engages with the teeth of
the ratchet wheel.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention, the construction of
machinery for drilling and for pressing down coal, substantially as
described.
In loading coal into railway wagons from a screen or shoot in order to
obviate or lessen the fall into the wagon, I raise and incline the platform
on which stands the wagon into which the coal is being loaded by
hydraulic or other mechanism. As the wagon fills it is lowered, and so the
fall from the lower end of the screen or shoot into the wagon is obviated
or lessened.
Figure 9 is a front elevation, and Figure 10 is a side elevation of the
apparatus I employ. a is the lower end of the screen or shoot; b is the
railway wagon; c is the platform on which the wagon stands, it is able
to turn about trunnions c¹; d is an hydraulic cylinder the ram of which
sustains the platform on one side.
When the empty wagon is first brought under the shoot it is tipped
by admitting water under pressure into the hydraulic cylinder until it
assumes about the position indicated by the red lines, and as the wagon

page_text: fills the water is gradually drawn off from the cylinder until the wagon
again stands upright.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention, the construction of
machinery for avoiding breakage in loading coal into wagons, sub-
stantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Firth, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.