Double Safety-apparatus for Cages.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Oct., 1394-Accepted, 17th Nov., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Double Safety-apparatus for Cages.
I, DIEDRICH BRAUCKMANN, Master-smith, of Holzwickede in the Province of
Vestfalia and Kingdom of Prussia do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
scertained in and by the following statement :-
The safety-apparatus hitherto in use for cages in the event of the breakage of a
rope are all single-acting. They either consist of two pairs of toothed cams, one of
which is arranged at each side of each guide-lath, and which by the action of strong
springs press this lath between them, while the teeth are to prevent the further
descent of the cage. On the other hand, for instance, toothed levers are in use,
which being attached to the rope-hook of the basket and pointing downwards in a
slanting direction, lie close to the guide-laths, and on the rope breaking are pressed
by the force of springs against these laths, which action is intended to hold the
cage fast in the shaft.
Practice has however in numerous sad examples given ample proof that all these
different kinds of safety-apparatus refuse to act in the moment of danger, either on
account of different parts having rusted, or perhaps on account of their breaking;
in short, up to the present, none of the existing safety-apparatus can be called
perfect and attempts are being still made to construct suitable safety-apparatus.
The invention which we shall now describe is based on the idea of using a double
safety-apparatus instead of one acting singly. This double apparatus acts simul-
taneously on the same spot viz. the draw-hook, so that if the one refuses to act, the
other will not fail.
In Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing the safety-apparatus is represented
in a side-view and upper view, Fig. 3 shows a section at the line x y of Fig. 2 and
finally Figs. 4 and 5 give some details of the appliance.
The rope is attached to the draw-hook, which is fastened to the upper eud of the
slide-piece a. The latter is guided in a vertical slit which is formed by the two
rails and the pieces ca (Fig. 2), and has the cross-piece d diagonally to the
longitudinal direction.
To the cross-piece d are attached four chains e effi of which each pair controls
one of the double safety-apparatus.
The chains ff are each suitably attached to a grooved wheel g 91. These wheels
are mounted on the axles h h' which move in bearings i, i secured below the slide-
surfaces i i. At the ends opposite to the grooved wheels, the axles h h₁ bear the
chain-pulleys k k₁, the chains of which are fastened on the one hand to the wheels
and on the other to a piston-rod, which carries a piston actuated by a spring in a
casing. Each of the two axles h h₁ carries in the centre, as will be seen from
Fig. 5, a lever m provided with an angle-shaped slip. This lever gives a
reciprocating motion to a rod ni ny guided in horizontal slits of the cross-pieces b br.
By each of these rods n n a pair of bolts o o o, o, is actuated, which are situated
on the side of the guide-laths, and can be pushed on the slide-surfaces i i.
The first safety-apparatus acts in the following manner:
When the cage hangs attached to the rope, the slide-piece a, reckoning from the
cage, is drawn up and therefore also the cross-piece d'secured to the part a and
bearing the chains.
From the chains the grooved wheels ff receive a rotary motion in opposite
directions, which is imparted to the axles h, and the chain-pulleysk k₁. The
chains of the latter at the same time draw the piston-rods connected with them out

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of the spring casings, and the pistons attached to them press down the spiral
springs contained in the spring-casings.
By the rotary motion of the axles ₁ the levers attached to them have
simultaneously moved towards each other and thereby the pairs of bolts o o oï º1
which are connected by the rods n n guided in the angle-shaped slits of the levers,
are pushed back so as not to hinder the free motion of the cage. The whole
mechanism remains in the position just described, i.e. the pairs of bolts 0 0 0 0
remain drawn back as long as the guide-piece a is drawn upwards by the rope, that
is, as long as the cage is hanging to the rope.
As soon as the tension in the rope ceases, which takes place either on the rope
breaking or when the cage rests on the mouth of the pit or on the bottom of the
shaft the following action takes place.
On the rope ceasing to pull, the state of equilibrium which existed between the
In
contracted springs in the casings and the draught of the rope also ceases.
consequence of this the springs which have been released expand again suddenly
and thus press back their pistons with the rods and the chains attached to them.
By this action the chain-pulleys k ki as well as the axles h h₁ are also moved in the
opposite direction and the levers m attached to the axles strike out and push the
pairs of bolts out of the cage, so that they strike on the nearest cross-bar and
thereby prevent the further descent of the cage. In order during the hauling to
prevent the pairs of bolts from acting when it is not desired, the rod N is provided
at both its ends with a notch into which, on the cage going up, an equally shaped
projection of the lever m (Fig. 5), enters, thus preventing any motion of the
lever.
Besides the safety-apparatus which we have just described, there is a second oue,
based on the action of catch-teeth, which, in case of the rope breaking, strike from
both sides into the guide-laths and thereby effect an immediate stoppage of the
cage.
As may be seen from Fig. 4, these catch-teeth are each separately and movably
attached in a casing at the sides of the cage and connected with each other by
cross-pieces qy so they are all raised or lowered at the same time. The uppermost
catch-teeth are severally placed in the ends of axles r₁, on which two chain-
pulleys are fastened. The former have each a chain, which, in the same manner as
in the safety-apparatus first described, actuate the spiral springs enclosed in the
cases tt; the chain-pulleys 81, however, are in connection with the cross-piece d by
means of the chains e, as will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2.
This second apparatus acts in the following manner:
are
On the rope being pulled the cross-piece d and with it the chains e e are raised.
The latter cause the wheels s₁ and thereby also the chain-pulleys as to rotate. By
the rotation of the axles the uppermost catch-teeth are directly made to rotate and
the other catch-teeth which are connected with them by the cross-piece
likewise made to rotate in such a manner that, as is shown in Fig. 4, they go back
into the case and allow the cage to move freely. At the same time however the
springs have been pressed together by the rotation of chain-pulleys
8 and the
pulling out of the chains consequent thereon as well as of the piston rods and
pistons connected with them and contained in the spring-casings. If the pull on
the rope ceases, the spiral-springs in the cases suddenly expand and thereby move
the chain-pulleys ss in the opposite direction. This rotation of the pulleys sa is
transferred to the axles and thus also to the catch-teeth pp, which now come
out of their casing and are pressed into the guide-laths, causing the cage to be
immediately arrested in its progress.
Should the apparatus we have just described not act properly from any cause, so
that the catch-teeth are unable to effect a stoppage of the cage, the cage at the
outside can only fall as far as the next cross-beam, as the bolts always effect their
object. Thus in every case the certainty exists in case of a breakage of the rope
that the cage will be safely arrested by one of the two safety-apparatus, and will
not be able to fall down the shaft.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
Double safety-apparatus for cages, distinguished by:
1. The arrangement of two pairs of bolts which are actuated by chain-gear and
levers from the draw-rod of the frame and as long as the rope is undamaged are
contained inside the frame of the cage, but which in case of a breakage of the rope
are driven out of the casing by springs and lay themselves on the cross-beams of
the shafting.
2. The arrangement of a catch-teeth mechanism acting simultaneously with the
first contrivance and like it actuated by the draw-rod, consisting of a number of
catch-teeth movably attached at the sides of the guide-laths and connected by
cross-pieces, the catch-teeth being drawn by lever and chain-gear while the cage is
being hauled, but in case of a breakage of the rope occurring being driven by
springs against or into the wood of the guide-laths.
All essentially as drawn and described.
Dated this Tenth day of Sentember 1894.
For DIEDRICH BRAUCKMANN,
B. Brockhues.