APPARATUS TO FACILITATE AND IMPROVE THE EXCAVATION OF GROUND AND THE FORMATION OF EMBANKMENTS
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BRUNTON, of Charlotte Row, in the City of London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Second day of November, in the fourth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Brunton, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Brunton, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Brunton, my exors, admors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "APPARATUS TO FACILITATE AND
IMPROVE THE EXCAVATION OF GROUND AND THE FORMATION OF EMBANKMENTS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William
Brunton, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled
in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Brunton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are described and ascer-
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The apparatus to facilitate and improve the excavation of ground and the
formation of embankments is ascertained and described in manner following,
that is to say-It consists, first, in an apparatus whereby the excavation of
ground is affected by cutting from the face of the excavation successive thick-
nesses or strata by means of a plough or series of ploughs so applied that the
specific gravity of the ground will aid the operation of cutting it; and,
secondly, in an apparatus whereby the same advantage is obtained to assist
hand labor, that is, the specific gravity of the ground is brought in aid of
loosening it or rendering it easier to dig by workmen using the ordinary exca-
vating tools. Thirdly, an apparatus whereby earth in the formation of
embankments may be conveyed for the extension of the base to a greater
horizontal distance from the place where it is discharged from the waggons or
barrows than it would be conveyed by running down its own natural slope.
Fourthly, an apparatus for consolidating the materials of embankments, as
they are formed, to prevent the ordinary shrinking thereof. Fifthly, in an
apparatus for propelling the waggons between the cuttings and the embank-
ments by a continuous or endless rope or chain moved by a fixed steam engine
or other suitable power.
The first consists in a cutter or series of cutters fixed to a beam, which on
its being moved longitudinally urges the cutters into the ground and displaces
it after the same manner as a plough; in which movement the cutter beam is
guided by what I call the guide frame, which lies upon the face of the cutting,
and is moveable in the direction across the line in which the cutters act in
order to bring them into fresh hold of the ground every succeeding cut. This
guide frame is supported at one end upon a moveable standard, furnished with
a cradle with suitable rack and wheel-work or chain and barrel, whereby the
guide frame with the cutter beam and its appendages may be moved in the
direction of its length to suit the nature and shape of the excavation. On
this moveable standard I fix a vertical spindle and chain barrels, from which
chains passing over suitable guide pulleys and fixed to the cutter beam; a
reciprocating motion is given to it when the chain barrels are turned back-
wards and forwards. The other end of the guide frame is supported upon the
face of the cutting, suspended by a chain from a moveable crane fixed upon.
the surface of the ground at the head of the cutting ; this crane the guide
frame is raised whilst the cutters are at the extremity of their back range, in

page_text: If
order that they may take sufficient ground for another cut. That this may be
done with ease, I attach the cutters upon the cutter beam at distances one
foot or thereabouts less than I make the cutter beam to move; and I cause
the cutter beam to move in a line so much oblique to the line of the cutters,
that the excavation made by the last cutter in the beam shall make room for
the next cutter in advance to be raised up when at the extremity of the back
range, as described, and enter another cut, and so the excavation of this cutter
makes room for that next before it, and so on. I apply three cutters or
ploughs together, and attach them all to one gudgeon, so that they project
different distances, and, of course, cut different depths into the ground for the
purpose of one relieving the other in cutting, and offer less consistence.
the stratum or thickness to be cut be eighteen inches, then I make the first
cutter project into the ground six inches, the next twelve inches, and the last
eighteen inches, and I attach them to a gudgeon which rests in a cast-iron
saddle screwed to the under side of the beam, as represented in Figure 4,
No. 4 Sheet, so that in the event of a stone falling; the cutters, while they are
held up to their work, are not irresistibly so, but will yield and give way with
undue pressure; by turning the gudgeon also the cutters are thrown out of the
way, whilst the guide frame and cutter beam descend the face of the cutting
to begin a new stratum of excavation; previous to the application of this
apparatus, the face of the cutting must be brought to a proper slope by hand
labor (in stiff clay it may be nearly perpendicular, in loose ground at a flatter
angle); and there are two such apparatus as I have described, one on one
side of the cutting, the other on the other, and the chain barrels, by means of
which the cutter beams are moved, are operated upon by the same power, and
in such a manner that whilst one cutter beam is going up the other is going
down. I also excavate the lower six or seven feet of the cutting by hand
labour, and I construct a moveable stage or platform about seven feet high
from the bottom of the cutting, which defends the men in cutting the lower
part and receives the stuff cut from the upper part of the excavation, whence
it is discharged into waggons below. The annexed Drawing will further
explain the construction and application of the machinery described; the
names of the parts being either written upon the Drawing of such parts, or
referred to in the marginal reference. The operation of excavating is conducted
in the following manner:-I project the cutters so far from the cutter beam
that they enter the ground on the face of the cutting 18 inches or any other
depth it may be found best to cut at one thickness or stratum, which I begin at
the bottom of the cutting, having previously excavated a groove or space into
which the cutters are projected, and by their reciprocating motion cut from the

page_text: top or roof of this space or groove which is constantly enlarged upwards until
the cutters reach the upper surface of the ground and the whole stratum has
been removed from the face of the cutting. (By thus continually cutting the
roof of the excavation, the specific gravity of the ground is brought to assist
the cutting of it.) Then the standards bearing the moveable frames and other
parts of the apparatus, together with the cranes by which the guide frames
are elevated and lowered, are to be drawn onward by means of cranes pro-
vided for the purpose to take another stratum, and the guide frames and cutter
beams lowered down until the cutters can enter the groove or space, as before.
Whilst the excavation is proceeding as described, I prepare the space or groove
to begin another stratum, by means of a bar of wood or of iron, which I cause
to move up and down upon the slope by the same power and means that I
move the cutter beam. In this bar or rod I fix strong pins about 1 foot each
asunder along its whole length, any one of which acting against an excavating
tool enserted into the face by a workman, will, by the motion of the bar, urge
such tool onward through the ground with the power applied to moving the
bar or rod, whilst the outer end of the tool is held by the workman who walks
along the slope during this operation; also by the reciprocating motion of this
rod the stuff which falls upon the slope from the upper cutting, and would not
slide down upon the slope by its own gravity, is moved downwards by rakes
which the workmen attach to any of the said pins during the descent of the
rod, and disengage the same during its ascent. The tool I use for excavating
are represented in Fig. 4 (No. 1 Sheet.) In order to communicate power to
the machinery I have now described I fix upon the vertical spindle E, No. 1
and No. 4 Sheets, on which the chain barrels which move the cutter beams
and also the sliding rod are attached, a pulley of 3, 4, 5, or 6 times the dia-
meter of the said chain barrels, from the circumference of which large pulley
I bring two ropes or chains to a barrel placed at any convenient distance in
advance of the cutting, to which barrel I give motion by the power of a horse
or horses or of a steam engine, and make the same revolve first in one direction
then in another, so as to produce the motion of the drums or chain barrels
fixed to the standards, and the reciprocating motion of the cutter beams and
of the sliding rods; and in order to adjust the length of the said chain for
connecting the chain barrels on the standards with the moving power placed
in advance, I make one of the barrels loose upon its spindle, with facility to
shorten or lengthen the chain by turning round the barrel and fixing the same
upon the shaft as circumstances require, which no competent mechanic will
find difficult to do. The purpose for which I enlarge the pulley for commu-
nicating power to the vertical shaft is to avoid drawing the standards sideways

page_text: I
with a greater force than they would be likely to resist by their own weight
resting on the beams laid for their support and progressive movement.
construct the stage for receiving the stuff cut from the upper face of the cut-
ting with holes, through which it is discharged into the waggons, and I support
that stage upon frames, as represented (Fig. 1 and 2, Sheet 1), which whilst
one of them bears the stage the other frame can be relieved and projected
forward and then wedged or screwed up again to sustain the weight. The
stage itself is brought forward as required by the power of a crane barrel fixed
to one of the said supporting frames, and turned by the workmen below.
Both the moveable standards and the moveable cranes described are supported
and move progressively along beams of timber laid for that purpose as the
work goes on.
Secondly, in order to obtain the means of digging ground by hand labor,
where its specific gravity assists the workmen, I construct a series of stages or
platforms suited to the dimensions and shape of the excavation intended, as
represented by Fig. 1 and 2, Sheet No. 2. The stages are from 7 ft. 6 in. to
9 ft. asunder, and are united to beams (B, B, B, B), and also supported by
the chains (m, m, m, m); the whole are suspended upon levers resting upon
moveable carriages, which are supported and moved upon beams of timber laid
for this purpose upon the ground in advance of the cutting. The stages are
borne off the face of the cutting by the gye chains or ropes (n, n,) attached
to the lower end of the stage frame by the cranes (i, i). The operation of
excavating by this apparatus is thus conducted: first, the men in the lowest
space undercut the ground in the usual manner to the proper depth of the
thickness intended to be excavated as high as (a), where the men on the first
stage prosecute the same stratum as high a (b), when it is containued by the
men on the second stage to (c), and at last cut out to surface by the men on
the third; but as the workmen on the stages as well as those in the bottom
carry on their work simultaneously, therefore, where there are three stages in
operation, as shewn, Fig. 1 and 2, Sheet 2, there are parts of 4 strata or
different thicknesses cutting at the same time, that is, the men on the third
stage are removing the remains of the first of the 4 strata or thicknesses
shewn, those on the second stage are cutting the second, and those on the first
the third, and those at the bottom the fourth. Whilst the workmen cut the
ground and discharge it by wheelbarrows into the waggons by the shoots (d),
(e), (f), (g), the stages are gradually raised so as to elevate the men to their
work, as shewn by the dotted lines (h, h, h), and when each set of men have
extended their cutting to the limited height, then the stages are lowered and
the gye rope lengthened, so that each set of men exchange their places of

page_text: work upon the face of the cutting with those immediately below them. The
means of elevating these stages will be very evident to every competent
mechanic, as well as the means of lengthening the gye rope by the cranes (2),
as shewn in Fig. (1 and 2); but the levers which support the stages whereby
the ground is cut over the slopes, which I for distinction call wing stages, must,
whilst they are raised, have also a side motion to suit them to the degree of
slope. This side movement I give by the pinion and segment (k, Fig. 3) similar
to the ordinary method used for turning wharf craves, also applying side ropes
which are wound upon the same crane barrel, one winding on whilst the other
winds off, which crane I place at the bottom stage and under the management
of the men there at work. In order that there be a continuous stage for the
men to work upon, between the wing stage and the middle stage I construct
light platform hinged or fastened to the wing stage, which rests and moves
upon the middle stage during the said lateral movement.
a
Thirdly, for the conveyance of stuff to a greater horizontal distance than it
will run on its own slope, I construct a number of rollers, about 3 or 4 feet
long, moveable round their axis, which I make one twelfth of the diameter
of the roller, and fit them into a frame composed of two sides to receive
and support the pivots or gudgeons of the rollers at distances as close as
consistent with their working perfectly free of each other. In each of these
rollers I make two or more grooves for chains to work in, and the rollers
being fitted into the frame I apply two or three endless chains, each passing
round the two end rollers and along the sides of the intermediate rollers and
through the links of the chains; and at 3 or 4 inches asunder I insert lathes,
each being 2 or 3 inches shorter than the rollers (Fig. 1 and 2, Sheet No. 3,).
I then cover the lathes with thicknesses of strong sacking cloth, upon
which, when the frame of rollers is laid at a slope rising one in 5, if
earth or other matter be laid, it will descend the plane and fall off at the
lower end. In applying this roller inclined plane to the formation of em-
bankments I construct 2 or more of them and place them under each other a
so that the earth may either be conveyed to the distance of their agregate
length (excepting so much as the lower end of the upper must overlay the
upper end of the lower), or to any intermediate distance beyond the length of
the upper one.
Fourthly, for the purpose of consolidating embankments as they are
formed, I construct two or more hollow cylinders, which by the application
of the power of horses or of a steam engine are made to pass over and by
their weight crush and consolidate the stuff as it is laid into the embankment.
The cylinders I prefer making of about 4 feet diameter and 5 feet long each,

page_text: and to have a space of 15 inches between them. I construct a frame
large enough to enclose both the cylinders so placed, and I make one of the
cylinders to work or revolve in this frame, having its axis at right angles
thereto; but the other cylinder I revolve in a frame large enough to enclose
itself only, which second frame I connect to the middle bar of the first frame,
with permission to move (about twenty) degrees round its centre, similar to
the transome of a waggon; by this I obtain the means of putting the axis
of each cylinder to an angle one to the other at pleasure, and thereby to
make them traverse in a straight line or curved one on either hand; the
mechanism of this will be obvious to every competent mechanic on inspecting
(Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, Sheet 3.) I communicate power to these cylinders by
a rope or chain passing round the pulley (a), and I prefer the proportion
of the parts to be such that for every 30 feet of rope passing round the
pulley (a) the cylinders should proceed about one foot. The rope I make to
pass over a pulley on each side the embankment, and then round the drum of
the steam of engine or horse wheel (Fig. 7, Sheet 3), which drum I make with
a sharp grove, and in order that it may take sufficient hold of the rope to
turn the machinery attached to it, I apply rollers, round is circumference
which shall press the rope into the groove with sufficient force to produce the
effect as Fig. (7). The operation of this apparatus is thus conducted: a
steam engine with a suitable drum being placed upon a carriage and beams
laid for it to be moved upon as the embankment proceeds, also a pulley fixed
upon each side of the intended embankment across the cylinders are intended
to operate, a rope is then made to extend from the drum of the steam engine
to one of the side pulleys, and then round the pulley (a) of the cylinders,
and from thence to the opposite side pulley, and thence again to the engine,
constituting an endless rope or band, which communicates the power of the
engine to the rollers, by which means they proceed in either direction in a
curved or straight line, according to the will of the conductor, who by the
handles (b, c,) controls the machine.
Fifthly, for the purpose of propelling the waggons between the cutting and
the end of the embankment, I fix a steam engine or other suitable power in
any convenient situation by the side of the line at the entering of the cutting
and the beginning of the embankment; and upon a shaft driven by the said
power I fix a drum or sheeve, similar to that represented in (Fig. 7), with
the rollers round its circumference; from this drum I carry a rope to the
railways laid for the conveyance of the waggons, as represented in (Fig. 8),
and passing the said rope round the pulley (h), then round the pulley (i) at
one end of the railways, from thence to the opposite end at the pulley (k),

page_text: then to the other end again, pass round the pulley (i), which has two grooves,
as shewn at (i, elevation), and from thence returning to the drum at the
engine; by turning the pulley (m), this arrangement of the rope will constitute
two continuous ropes the whole distance between the pulleys (i and k), which
when moved by the engine one rope will move in one direction and the other
in the opposite direction. I make the two end pullies so large that these
ropes shall be sufficiently distant so as to run in the middle of two lines of
railway (A, A, and B, B,) one of which shall convey the loaded and the
other the empty waggons; the end pullies are fixed in frames easily moved
onward as the cutting and the embankment extend, and I run the rope either
over pullies or over the upper sides of the wooden sleepers laid for supporting
the railway, and I attach the waggon to the rope by putting the latter into
the jaws of a wooden vice or tongs, as (Fig. 9).
Having fully described the nature of my Inventions, and the manner in
which the same are to be used, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do
not claim as my Invention the application of ploughs to cut or excavate
ground; but I claim the application of ploughs or cutters for excavating
ground in successive strata in such manner as to render the specific gravity of
the ground so cut serviceable to the operation. Nor do I claim as new the
invention of stages on which men may excavate ground; but I claim as
new the adaptation of them under the circumstances described, whereby the
workmen are brought to dig or loosen the ground in successive strata where
the specific gravity of it continually assists the operation. Nor do I claim as
new, rollers applied in manner described as in No. 3 Sheet; but I claim the
adaptation of such an apparatus to the removal of earth in making an
embankment. Nor do I claim originality in the construction of any of the
mechanism of the machine for consolidating embankments, nor of the drum
for giving it motion; but I claim the application of it to the consolidation of
embankments. Nor do I claim as new the arrangement of the endless rope
for propelling waggons by the power of a fixed engine; but I claim the
application of it to the purposes of conveying earth from a cutting to the
formation of embankments.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brunton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.
WILLIAM (L.S.) BRUNTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1834, the aforesaid William Brunton came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-four.