IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAVELLING CRANES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Walker and John Frederick Augustus
Pflaum, both Engineers, of Leeds, in the County of York, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAVELLING CRANES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Walker and
John Frederick Augustus Pflaum at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 22nd January 1866.
We, BENJAMIN WALKER and JOHN FREDERICK AUGUSTUS PFLAUM, both
Engineers, of Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature.
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAVELLING CRANES," to be as
follows:-
In arranging travelling cranes we erect as is usual along each side of the
space to be commanded by the crane suitable supports on which rails are
carried, and on these rails wheels run which carry girders passing across from
the rail on one side to that on the other. On these girders is the lifting
apparatus, and also other apparatus for traversing the load (when lifted) on
these girders and for traversing the girders themselves on the longitudinal
rails. This apparatus according to our Invention consists of pumps put in
motion by a shaft running from end to end of the space over which the crane
[Price 8d.]

page_text: is to traverse, or it may be by an endless rope or engine moving with the
lifting apparatus or otherwise; these pumps force water into cylinders in
which plungers work, and the motion so produced on these plungers being
multiplied by pulleys or suitable gearing is communicated to ropes or chains
by which the weight is lifted or traversed. It is convenient to use two pumps
of different diameter, one or other of which may be thrown into work according
to the speed of working required, which of course will in great part be deter-
mined by the load on the apparatus. More than two pumps may be employed
if desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Walker and John Frederick Augustus Pflaum
in the Great Seal -Patent Office on the 21st July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
WALKER and JOHN FREDERICK AUGUSTUS PFLAUM, both Engineers, of Leeds,
in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Benjamin Walker and John Frederick Augustus Pflaum, Her
special licence that we, the said Benjamin Walker and John Frederick
Augustus Pflaum, executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Benjamin Walker and John Frederick Augustus
Pflaum, 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
TRAVELLING CRANES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Benjamin Walker and John Frederick Augustus Pflaum, executors or ad-
ministrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Walker, on behalf of myself
and the said John Frederick Augustus Pflaum, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularlydescribed and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say:
In arranging travelling cranes we erect as is usual along each side of the
space to be commanded by the crane suitable supports on which rails are
carried, and on these rails wheels run which carry girders passing across from
the rail on one side to that on the other. On these girders is the lifting
apparatus, and also other apparatus for traversing the load (when lifted) on
these girders and for traversing the girders themselves on the longitudinal
rails.
This apparatus according to our Invention consists of pumps put in motion
by a shaft running from end to end of the space over which the crane is to
traverse, or it may be by an endless rope or engine moving with the lifting
apparatus or otherwise. These pumps force water into cylinders in which
plungers or pistons work, and the motion so produced is communicated to
ropes or chains by which the weight is lifted or traversed.
And in order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 is a plan of a travelling crane con-
structed according to our Invention (parts of each of these views it will be
seen are broken out or omitted); Figures 3 and 4 are transverse sections both
taken through Figures 1 and 2, but looking opposite ways.
a, a, are rails fixed on girders or any suitable supports on either side of
the space to be commanded by the crane, and at a height exceeding the
greatest lift which is required. On the rails a the wheels b, b, run, and
these support frames c, c, which are connected together rigidly by the cross
girders d, d; d*, d, are rails mounted on the cross girders d, and on
them a small carriage e, with pullies over which the lifting chain passes, is
able to traverse; e¹, e¹, are the wheels of this carriage, and on the axles
thereof the side cheeks e², e², of the carriage hang, and these support
the pullies e3 and et for the lifting chain; f is the hydraulic cylinder
by which the lifting chain is actuated, its ram f¹ carries at it's end a
pulley f. Water or liquid is forced into the cylinder f by means herein-
after described, and the motion thus communicated to the ram causes the

page_text: lifting chain to raise the load. One end of the lifting chain is made fast to
the hook f³ on the cylinder f, it thence passes over the pulley on the ram
and back to the pulleys c¹, c, on the left-hand end frame, it passes half round
these pulleys, and so the pulley e on the carriage e, then it descends to the
sheave 9, to which the hook for receiving the load is attached, and rising from
this sheave it passes over the pulley et to the right-hand end frame c, where it
is made fast; thus it will be seen that when the ram f¹ is forced out of its
cylinder the sheaveg and the load on the hook attached to it is raised a distance
equal to the length of the stroke of the ram. Or if desired the length of
the lift may be made to exceed distance the ram travels by mounting two or
'more pulleys at the end of the ram and corresponding pulleys at the back of
the cylinder, and passing the chain around this multiplying combination of
pullies, as is well understood. In order to traverse the load sideways another
hydraulic cylinder 4 is employed, it is bored and a piston works within it; the
rods h', h, are fixed to the piston on opposite sides, they carry at their ends
pullies h², h², and on each side a chain is attached to the piston rod and thence
passes over a pulley c² on the end frame, whence it returns, passes around the
pulley h² and back to pulleys c³, c3, on the end frame, from which it passes to
the carriage e and is made fast thereto, so that it will be seen that by traversing
the piston in the cylinder, by forcing water or liquid into the cylinder on one
side or the other of the piston, the carriage e with the load may be made to
travel from end to end of the rails on the cross girders d; is a third hydraulic
cylinder, it is employed to give motion longitudinally along the rails a, a, to
the frames c, c, cross girders d, and all the parts supported thereby, together
with the load when lifted. In the cylinder i is a piston with rods, il, on either
side passing out through stuffing boxes; these rods are fixed to one of the
girders d, whilst the cylinder is free to move when water or liquid is forced
into it; on either side of the piston the piston rods are made hollow, and are
used as passages for the water or liquid, and on the under side of the cylinder
is a rack gearing with a piniou k on the cross shaft ¹, which also carries a
bevilled wheel 2, and one or other of the bevilled pinions can be made to
gear with this wheel by sliding them along on the shaft by means of the
hand lever and rods m, m. The shaft ¹ has at its ends pinions 12, 12, gearing
with spur wheels b', 61, fixed on the carrying wheels b, b, which are thus
rotated, and then, as will be seen, they carry the cross girders c, c, with the
parts supported thereby, and the load along on the rails a, a, and if this
motion is desired to be continued further than one stroke of the cylinder i will
accomplish it can be done by reversing the motion of the cylinder, and at the same
time throwing one pinion out and the other into gear. The shaft is carried

page_text: in bearings on a girder n, which serves also as a further connection between the
end frames c, c; the cross shaft is also supported by a bracket from
the girder n, shown in part only in the Drawings. Water or liquid under
pressure is supplied to the cylinders above mentioned by means of the pumpso,o,
which are worked by the excentrics 1,2', on the shaft p, which is carried in
suitable bearings and is driven by means of a bevilled wheel at its end gearing
with a pinion, which turns with but is able to slide on the shaft 7 running
from end to end of the rails a, and driven from a steam engine or in any
convenient manner. The pumps 0, 0, are by preference of two or more
different sizes, and each draws water or liquid from a tank * and forces it
into a common valve box at s. In connection with each pump barrel is a
safety valve weighted in proportion to the size of the plunger of the pump, so
that when a heavy load is on the crane, the safety valves in connection with
the pumps having the larger plungers open, and let the water or liquid pass
away back into the tank without passing to the valve box, whilst the pumps
with the smaller plungers continuing to act cause the load to be slowly lifted;
or if the load is excessive, all the pumps cease to force into the valve box, and
so damage which would otherwise result is avoided. When the load is light
all the pumps continue in action and the load is moved rapidly. I order to
avoid the loss of power which would result from continually forcing water or
liquid past the weighted valve, springs may be provided to lift the valves and
open the passages wide, so as to give free escape to the water or liquid except
when the pumps are required to act, and then the workman by treadles or
otherwise overcomes the said springs and leaves the weighted valves free to
act. A cock may also be provided to cut off or regulate the supply of water
or liquid to the pumps. In the valve box s are valves, they may conveniently
be slide valves, one for each cylinder; these valves are moved by screws or
otherwise with slow motions to avoid the throwing heavy strains suddenly on
the parts; there are pipes connecting the valve box with the several cylinders,
and so the water or liquid can be allowed to pass to or from either end of the
traversing cylinders h, i, and also to or from the lifting cylinder f, when
the water or liquid is allowed to escape from the lifting cylinder; the weight
of the sheave g is sufficient to cause the return of the ram.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we do not confine
ourselves to the exact details described, as these may be varied; for example,
the force pumps may be driven by a travelling rope or chain in place of by a
revolving shaft, or they may be worked directly by a small steam engine, but
the essential feature of our Invention is the combining hydraulic cylinders (for

page_text: lifting and traversing the load) with the travelling or cross girders and other
parts of the crane connected therewith, such hydraulic'cylinders being supplied
with liquid under pressure by means of pumps mounted and travelling with
the said cross girders.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One.
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
BENJAMIN WALKER (L.S.)