IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EXCAVATING AND REMOVING EXCAVATED MATERIALS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Lawson, of Crowton, Northwich, in the
County of Cheshire, Contractor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR EXCAVATING AND REMOVING EXCAVATED MATERIALS,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Lawson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd March 1875.
I, GEORGE LAWSON, of Crowton, Northwich, in the County of
Cheshire, Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EXCAVATING AND. REMOVING
EXCAVATED MATERIALS," to be as follows, that is to say :—
This said Invention consists in an endless chain of buckets driven and
carried round over a polygonal chain pulley at top and bottom of a long,
angled, strong, rigid, wood, or iron frame, preferably at about forty
degrees or so to and over its basement or strong sole framing, arranged

page_text: <<
to turn on a turning table frame on a strong framed rectangular carriage,
made to travel on the usual temporary rails laid in the bottom of the
cutting" as formed, on which the trucks or waggons also run, which
carry away the excavated materials when filled by this new machine.
The lower end of the angled chain frame and reversing polygonal drum
or pulley project far out beyond the sides of the turning table and
carriage carrying it, and down to the bottom of the "cutting," while
the upper end and driving drum or pulley project over to the other side
of the carriage with the steam boiler and engine secured to the sole
framing below it, all so as to balance the weight of the whole swivelling
frame with its chain of buckets full or empty on the turntable carriage.
The horizontal crank shaft of the engine is preferred to be carried in
strong bush bearing blocks secured close down to the carrying framing
between the boiler and the angled frame with the cylinders secured
above or horizontal to it, and give motion to a large overhanging
bevelled wheel on the spindle of the upper chain pulley through an
angled side shaft and pinions thrown in and out of gear by an arrange-
ment of clutches and band lever mechanism.
The excavators (or workmen) cut or loosen the earth and stones in a
usual manner in front and at the sides of the cutting and the said new
traversing and swivelling excavating and removing machine, and shovel
them down towards and into the lower buckets, and when so loosened
near them the carriage and buckets can be pushed forward to lift and
fill themselves in the same manner as a dredging machine, and empty
their contents over the top driving drum direct or by an angled spout
into the waggons on the same or other rails beside it, and which when
filled are drawn away by the horses or locomotive engines in a usual
manner, which improvements save the wheeling of all the excavated
matter on hand barrows into the said removing waggons as heretofore
practised; and the swivelling of the frame of buckets in either direction
might be effected by a radial shaft below it with friction rolling pulleys
or a toothed wheel working in an annular rack, this radial shaft being
actuated from the engine crank shaft through a vertical shaft, and bevil
gearing and clutches on the crank shaft, and the engine might also be
made by engaging and disengaging gearing to actuate one of the shafts
and wheels keyed on it of the carrying turntable carriage, so as to
traverse it on the rails when required; or this might be done in either
direction by a strong hand lever fulcrumed on the frame of the carriage

page_text: with two loose actuating pawls working into the square notches of a
large ratchet wheel on one of the carriage shafts, one of the pawls being
disengaged while the other is in action, and both pawls being engaged
would hold the carriage firmly in position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Lawson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LAWSON, of Crowton, Northwich, in the County of Cheshire, Contractor,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, 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 suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said George Lawson, Her special
licence, that I, the said George Lawson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Lawson, 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 EXCAVATING AND REMOVING EXCAVATED MATERIALS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Lawson, 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 George Lawson, 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 and description of the several Figures on

page_text: the Sheet of Drawings, which I have hereunto appended for the purpose
of showing the best modes and means I am at present aware of for
performing or carrying my said Invention into effect or practice,
reference being had to the several letters and numerals which indicate
the same or like parts in all the Figures where shown, that is to
say :-
' Figures 1 and 2 are a side elevation and plan respectively of one
modification or construction and arrangement of my said new or improved
machine or mechanism for excavating and removing earth or other
matters, for making excavations or cuttings for railways, docks, or
foundations, and for other purposes where such is required; and
Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of the travelling carriage for
carrying the whole on a turning table or plate, and shown at right
angles to Figure 1, taken on the line 1---1 on Figures 1 and 2.
Referring to these Figures 1 to 3, the nature, novelty, and mode of
performing my said Invention consist all as follows:-In erecting an
endless chain of buckets A, A¹, (such as are used for dredgers and other
excavating and elevating apparatus) to revolve and be driven round and
over two polygonal chain pulleys or barrels B, B', respectively carried
and revolving in bearing blocks 6, 6', secured to the upper and lower
ends of the long rigid wood (or iron) frame or "sheers" C, C, preferably
set at an angle of about 40° with and over its basement or strong sole
framing C¹, to which the said angular sheers are firmly secured by
upright posts and stays C1, C2, all arranged to turn on a turntable or
circular sole plate D with central spindle or strong stud d, which are
secured on the top of a strong rectangular frame carriage E, E¹, carrying
the whole and travelling on its bearing wheels E, E', which run on the
usual temporary rails Z laid on sleepers Z' in the bottom of the
"cutting" as it is formed, on which rails (or it might be a second set
of rails) the trucks or waggons (not shown on the Drawings) also run,
which carry away the excavated material when filled into them by this
new machine from its endless chain of buckets A, A', over the top
barrel B by an ordinary angled shoot, as indicated in red lines at z,
Figure 1. The upper part or plate of the turntable D¹ is similar to the
lower end D, and is bolted up to the under side of the transverse
frames C of the supporting frame C¹, the eye d' working on the centre
stud d, on which the whole revolves as a centre, but with the whole
weight of the excavator carried upon the ring frame of antifriction

page_text: rollers d¹¹, d³, inserted between the bearing plates D, D¹, of the turning
table over the carriage E, E¹. The lower end 6¹ of the angled chain
frame or sheers C and reversing polygonal chain drum B¹ are made to
project far out beyond the sides of the turntable and carriage D, E, E¹,
so as to be drawn or pushed forward on the rails Z to the bottom and
face X of the bank or cutting being excavated, where it can then be
swivelled laterally on its turntable D, D', to any part of the face ✗ of
the cutting. The upper end 6 of the sheers C and driving drum B
project across the centre d, d', of the turntable to the opposite side of
the carriage E, E', having the steam boiler H and engine (the crank
shaft I only of which is shown in the Drawings) secured to this side of
the sole framing C¹ below it, all so as to counterbalance the weight of
the whole swivelling frame C, C1, C1, C2, with its chain of buckets A, A',
whether full or empty, on the turntable D, D', and carriage E, E¹.
The horizontal crank shaft I of the engine is preferred to be carried
in strong bush bearing blocks I' (Figure 2) secured nearly close down
to the sole framing C¹ between the boiler H and the angled frame C, C¹¹, C³,
having the cylinders secured above; or it might be horizontally or at an
angle to it, as indicated by the red radial lines I, i, in Figure 1, all so
as to give motion to a large overhanging bevelled wheel B" on the
spindle of the upper chain pulley B by a pinion B* on the upper end
of the angled side shaft J driven through the pinions J", J, at its lower
end, which are thrown into and out of gear by the clutch coupling J
and an ordinary engaging and disengaging hand lever not shown in the
Drawings, the pinion J' being keyed on the continuation J' of the crank
shaft I, which may be driven by the connecting rod of the engine
attached to the double crank I", or to an overhung crank pin as I² in
the fly wheel I, Figure 2. The swivelling of the frame C, C', with its
chain of buckets A, A', in either direction is effected by the vertical
shaft K carried in bearing blocks on the frame C¹, C*, below the middle
part of the shaft J', from which it is driven by the pinion K' keyed on
its upper end gearing into the two bevelled pinions K", K2, revolving
loosely on the shaft J¹, and put into and out of gear by the clutch
couplings K, K³, with ordinary hand levers not shown in the Drawings.
A pinion L on the lower end of the shaft K gears into an internal
toothed wheel or annular rack L¹ bolted to the arms of the fixed plate D
of the turntable, so as to turn the frame C¹ in either direction, or
otherwise. This might be effected by a horizontal radial shaft carried

page_text: on the lower part of the frame C*, and driven by bevelled pinions at the
lower end of the shaft K with a friction, rolling, and turning pulley or a
toothed wheel on the outer end of the radial shaft, working in a plain or
toothed surface ring respectively. The engine might also be made by
engaging and disengaging gearing to actuate the carriage E in either
direction by one of its shafts or axles F, F¹, having the wheels E¹, E',
keyed on it, so as to traverse the carriage on the rails Z when required,
or this may be done by the strong hand lever G fulcrumed at g on the
frame E of the carriage, as shown particularly in Figure 3, with two
loose actuating pawls G³, G", working into the square notches f of a
large ratchet wheel F" bolted to one of the wheels E¹, or it might be
keyed on the carriage shaft F¹, one of the pauls G¹ or G" being dis-
engaged while the other is in action, and when both pawls are engaged
in the teeth f they hold the carriage firmly in position, the lever G being
fixed for the time being in a quadrant or other equivalent.
In Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings the boiler is only
indicated in diagram form to show its position and arrangement for
counterbalancing the weight of the sheer frame and buckets as described,
but it has not been considered necessary to show the boiler mounting,
the steam pipes, or the engine, the construction of these forming no part
of the Invention.
Under one mode of operating with this machine the workmen cut or
loosen the earth and stones in a usual manner in front and at the sides
of the cutting, and of the said new traversing and swivelling, excavating,
and removing machine, and shovel them down the breast of the cutting
into the lower buckets A¹ at the lower end A*, or when the earth is so
loosened near the lower buckets or at the bottom X of the cutting the
carriage and the lower end of the sheers C with its chain of buckets A, A¹,
can be pushed forward, or the latter swivelled round so as to lift and fill
themselves in the same manner as a dredging machine, and then empty
their contents over the top driving drum B direct or by an angled spout
at into the removing waggons or trucks on the same rails or other rails
beside it, and when these trucks are filled they are drawn away by
horses or locomotive engines in a usual manner. These improvements
save the wheeling of all the excavated material on hand barrows into the
said removing waggons or trucks as heretofore practised.
When this machine is used for excavating soft earth or material it
could be made to do this and also fill the buckets without hand labour,

page_text: and then remove and discharge the material into the waggons or trucks
for carrying it away, all otherwise as before described.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do
not restrict myself to the precise details herein described, neither on the
other hand do I desire to claim the construction of the parts by
themselves, as many of these may have heretofore been used, but
what I consider novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
general construction or arrangement and combination of parts forming
the machinery for removing excavated materials, or for excavating and
removing the materials excavated, all substantially in the new or
improved manner herein described in reference to and shown in the
accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Lawson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.