IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING HEAVY BODIES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Sinclair Robson, of Sunderland, in the County
of Durham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA-
Sealed the 21st March 1862, and dated the 26th September 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Sinclair Robson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th September 1861.
I, SAMUEL SINCLAIR ROBSON, of Sunderland, in the County of Durham, do
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OF APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING HEAVY BODIES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of direct
acting or gravitating crane capable of being worked either by steam, air, gas,
or water, and consists in the employment of a cylinder of a length equal to the
greatest lift required by the crane in combination with a piston and counter-
weight, the piston working accurately within the cylinder, and the counter-
weight being heavier than the heaviest weight to be raised. The cylinder may
be open at the top, and the hoisting rope or chain (to one end of which the
heavy body to be elevated is to be attached) is passed down the cylinder and
secured to the piston thereof, the counterweight, which may be made in several

page_text: sections, being attached to the piston. At the bottom of the cylinder are
suitable inlet and escape pipes provided with valves, so arranged that the
steam, air, gas, or water may be admitted below the piston, and force it with
the counterweight upwards, at the same time lowering the opposite end of the
twisting rope or chain. When the article to be elevated is attached to this
rope or chain the escape valve is opened and the inlet valve closed, whereupon
the counterweight will descend by its own gravity, and being heavier than the
article or body to be elevated will raise the same, and may be made to support
it at any desired height by simply closing the escape valve and confining the
steam, air, gas, or water within the cylinder beneath the piston. By again
opening the inlet valve the article may be obviously lowered by raising the
piston and counterweight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Sinclair Robson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th March 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
SINCLAIR ROBSON, of Sunderland, in the County of Durham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Samuel Sinclair Robson, Her special license that I, the
said Samuel Sinclair Robson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Samuel Sinclair Robson, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING
OR LOWERING HEAVY BODIES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Samuel Sinclair Robson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my band and seal, or under the hand and seal of
one of them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and

page_text: 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 Samuel Sinclair Robson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
direct acting or gravitating crane capable of being worked either by steam,
air, gas, or water, and consists in the employment of a cylinder of a length
equal to the greatest lift required by the crane in combination with a piston
and counterweight, the piston working accurately within the cylinder, and the
counterweight being heavier than the heaviest weight to be raised. The
cylinder may be open at the top, and the hoisting rope or chain (to one end of
which the heavy body to be elevated is to be attached) is passed down the
cylinder and secured to the piston thereof, the counterweight, which may be
made in several sections, being attached to the piston. At the bottom of the
cylinder are suitable inlet and escape pipes or passages provided with valves,
so arranged that the steam, air, gas, or water may be admitted below the
piston and force it with the counterweight upwards, at the same time lowering
the opposite end of the hoisting rope or chain. When the article to be
elevated is attached to this rope or chain the escape valve is opened and the
inlet valve closed, whereupon the counterweight will descend by its own
gravity, and being heavier than the article or body to be elevated will raise the
same, and may be made to support it at any desired height by simply closing
the escape valve and confining the steam, air, gas, or water within the cylinder
beneath the piston. By again opening the inlet valve the article may be
obviously lowered by raising the piston and counterweight.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both the Figures.
Figure 1 represents a vertical section of the ordinary mode in which I
propose to carry out my Invention, the traverse of the piston being equal to
the greatest lift required; and Figure 2 is a similar view of the crane, as
adapted to situations where long cylinders cannot conveniently be employed, in
which latter case the traverse of the piston need only be one-half of the
greatest lift required.

page_text: A represents a vertical cylinder, accurately bored throughout its entire
length, and B is a piston, working steam or fluid tight therein, or nearly so;
C, C, are portable weights (Figure 3), of any convenient size resting upon
the piston, and capable of being shipped or unshipped, as required; D is a
balance weight, consisting of a block of metal suspended beneath the piston,
and tending to steady the same in the traverse in the cylinder, whilst it at the
same time balances the weight of the pendant chain, and serves to overcome
the friction of the piston in the cylinder; E is the hoisting chain, which is
secured at one end to the piston rod or stem F, whilst its other end is provided
with a hook, gripper, or slings for facilitating its attachment to the body to be
elevated; G, represents one of a pair or series of fixed guide pullies, over
which the chain is passed, and which lead it to the locality where the goods to
be elevated are situate. Steam is introduced underneath the piston by the
steam pipe H, and a suitable valve I is employed for alternately directing the
steam into the cylinder beneath the piston and allowing it to escape therefrom,
the valve being worked by a lever J. When the steam is admitted it elevates
the piston and counterweights, and correspondingly lowers the opposite end of
the chain, so as to enable it to be attached to the weight to be raised. The
valve is then reversed, so as to close the steam inlet passage H, and open the
outlet or escape passage K, whereupon the piston and counterweight being
no longer supported by the steam pressure beneath descend by their own
gravity, and as their weight is greater than that of the load attached to
the chain, it follows that the latter will be elevated a distance proportionate to
the downward traverse of the piston. By attaching the inner end of the chain
to some fixed point L above the cylinder, and fitting a pulley M into. the top
of the piston rod, round which pulley the chain is passed, as shewn in Figure 2,
the lift obtained will be double the traverse of the piston. The valve is
worked by the attendant, which gives him complete control over the crane. By
confining the steam within the the cylinder, the weight may be kept suspended
and stationary at any desired height, and raised or lowered at will by the
simple adjustment of the regulating valve by the hand of the attendant.
It is obvious that goods can be raised and lowered by this apparatus much
more quickly and safely, and with less friction and wear and tear, than occurs
in the ordinary steam crane. I propose also to enclose the cylinder in a steam
jacket, or to cover it with wood, felt, or other good non-conductors of heat, or
to exhaust into a casing or jacket in lieu of into the atmosphere direct,
whereby the cylinder is constantly maintained whilst in use at an elevated
temperature, and hence loss from condensation is avoided.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
1st, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of machinery or
apparatus for raising and lowering heavy bodies, as herein-before described.
2nd, the system or mode of raising heavy bodies by the aid of a counter-
weight, which acts upon the hoisting chain or rope, and is first elevated by
steam, hydrostatic, or other pressure, and then allowed to descend by its own
gravity and lift the load to be elevated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Sinclair Robson, have to this my
Specification hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day
of March, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
SAMUEL SINCLAIR ROBSON. (L.S.)