Iм- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Grafton Jones, of the Blaina Iron Works,
near Newport, in the County of Monmouth, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS,
Sealed the 28th June 1867, and dated the 30th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Grafton Jones at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th March 1867.
I, JAMES GRAFTON JONES, of the Blaina Iron Works, near Newport, in the
County of Monmouth, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS,
AND IN RAIL OR TRAMWAYS TO BE USED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
Heretofore in machinery employed for cutting grooves in coal and other
mineral the cutting tools employed which have been carried by lever or
sliding picks have been formed with one cutting edge of the width of the groove
to be formed.
According to my Invention in place of employing a single cutting edge to
bring the groove to the width desired I employ two or more cutting edges
to act in succession, one cutting edge being employed first to form a narrow
groove in the coal or mineral, and after that another edge or edges to increase

page_text: the width of the groove, and again another edge or edges if desired; and the
cutting edges are by preference so placed on the pick or bar that carries them
that the groove formed by the first cutting edge at one stroke of the pick is
enlarged by the next cutting edge at the next stroke of the pick, as I have
found that it requires less power first to form by one cutting edge a narrow
groove in coal or mineral and afterwards by another cutting edge increase the
width of the groove than if a single cutting tool of the width of the groove
were alone employed. When lever picks are used one or more of the cutting
edges employed for increasing the width of the groove may be placed at the
rear end of the pick so as not to enter so far into the groove as the other
cutting edges, and thus the front of the groove will be of a greater width than
the back of the groove.
In order that the pick or bar which carries the cutting tools may at each
backward stroke draw back out of the groove some of the pieces of coal out
away by the cutters I form the back of the bar or pick with projections
like ratchet teeth which catch against the pieces of coal and draw them
back.
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me, dated 18th April
1866 (No. 1091), was described the employing in connection with the air
cylinder employed for actuating the pick another smaller air cylinder to give
to the machine after each forward movement of the pick a slight backward
movement, and after each backward movement of the pick a greater forward
movement to enable it to make the next cut.
The next part of my Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
mechanism for transmitting the to-and-fro motion of the piston of the small
air cylinder to one of the axles of the machine. For this purpose there is
fixed on one axle of the machine a worm wheel into which a worm gears; on
the axis of the worm is a toothed wheel with which a pawl or driver works;
the pawl is carried at one end of a lever which turns freely around the axis of
the worm; the opposite end of the lever is connected to the piston rod of the
small air cylinder, by which means a to-and-fro rocking motion is imparted to
the lever. The pawl is so formed that when it is moved in the direction to
drive the machine forward it catches in the teeth of the toothed wheel, and by
turning the wheel gives a forward motion to the machine; when the pawl is
moved in the opposite direction it slips over the teeth without turning the
wheel unless it be held into them; the pawl may thus be held into the teeth
by being brought against a cam surface, and when so held the wheel will be
caused to turn back with the pawl, so giving a backward movement to the
machine, the amount of which can be varied by varying the position of the

page_text: cam surface. I also couple the axles (which support coal cutting machines)
by a chain gearing with a chain wheel on each axle, so that when one axle is
turned the other will be turned with it, and thus the whole weight of the
machine may be made available for moving it when one or other of its axles
is turned. In order to aid in moving the machine I also employ a chain which
by guide pulleys is led over and gears with a chain wheel on one of the axles
of the machine, one end of the chain is led out to a distance in the direction
the machine is to travel, and is held securely whilst the other end of the chain
is secured in rear of the machine; by this means when the chain wheel is
turned either backwards or forwards, it will move along the chain and draw
the machine with it. In order to arrange the rail or tramways employed with
coal cutting machines in such manner that they may be quickly removed or
laid in place I employ a hollow or bridge rail formed thus in section.
The rail is carried by transverse sleepers of wrought iron which have projecting
flanges on their under sides to enter the surface on which they are laid on
their upper side. The sleepers have blocks or filling pieces secured to them
which enter into and fit the hollow in the rail; on the upper surface of the
sleepers are also clips to project over one of the flanges of each rail. In order
to fix the rail or tramway in position all that is necessary is to put the sleepers
in place, then to insert one flange of the rail under the clips, and afterwards
turn down the rails to cause the hollow of the rail to fit over the projections
on the sleepers; the rails will then be securely held and yet can at once be
removed by again turning up the rail.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said James Grafton Jones in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GRAFTON JONES, of the Blaina Iron Works, near Newport, in the County of
Monmouth, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Grafton Jones, Her special licence that I, the said James Grafton
Jones, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Grafton Jones, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should

page_text: 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS. IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS, AND
IN RAIL OR TRAMWAYS TO BE USED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Grafton Jones, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 James Grafton Jones, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
Heretofore in machinery employed for cutting grooves in coal and other
mineral the cutting tools employed which have been carried by lever or sliding
picks have been formed with one cutting edge of the width of the groove to be
formed.
According to my Invention in place of employing a single cutting edge to
bring the groove to the width desired I employ two or more cutting edges to
act in succession, one cutting edge being employed first to form a narrow
groove in the coal or mineral, and after that another edge or edges to increase
the width of the groove, and again another edge or edges if desired, and the
cutting edges are by preference so placed on the pick or bar that carries them
that the groove formed by the first cutting edge at one stroke of the pick is
enlarged by the next cutting edge at the next stroke of the pick, as I have
found that it requires less power first to form by one cutting edge a narrow
groove in coal or mineral and afterwards by another cutting edge increase the
width of the groove than if a single cutting tool of the width of the groove
were alone employed. When lever picks are used one or more of the cutting
edges employed for increasing the width of the groove may be placed at the rear
end of the pick so as not to enter so far into the groove as the other cutting
edges, and thus the front of the groove will be of a greater width than the
back of the groove.
Figure 1 is a plan of a lever and pick with its cutting edges arranged
according to my Invention. a is the axis on the carriage which carries the
pick; it receives as is usual a partial rotation first in one direction and then in

page_text: the other. 6 is the pick lever or arm, and c the pick head keyed upon it; it
has two sockets formed in it at c¹, c', into which cutters d, e, are fixed.
An edge view of the parts c, d, and e is shown at Figure 2. The first
incision into the coal or mineral fis made by the narrow cutting edge of the
cutter d, and this cut is enlarged by the wider edge formed at the extremity
of the pick head c, and afterwards the cut is further widened for the greater
part of its depth by the edge of the cutter e which again is of an increased
width.
Figure 8 is a transverse section of the cut formed in the mineral f. For
cutting headings a shorter pick head is employed, and in this case I only
employ two cutting edges, a plan and edge view of a pick head and cutter
suitable for working headings is shewn at Figure 4.
Figure 5 is a plan, and Figure 6 an edge view of a sliding pick with cutting
edges arranged according to my Invention. a, a, is the sliding pick with a
cutting edge at its end, and sockets a', a', formed in it; it has an endwise
movement given to it somewhat exceeding one-third of the depth of the cut
which is formed in the mineral; b, b, are cutters fitted into the sockets a¹;
thus there are three pairs of cutters, and in each pair the narrower edge
produces the first incision, and the succeeding broader edge widens the cut;
the form of the groove produced in the coal or mineral is shewn in the
transverse section Figure 7.
In order that the pick or bar which carries the cutting tools may at each
backward stroke draw back out of the groove some of the pieces of coal cut
away by the cutters I according to my Invention form the back of the bar or
pick with projections like ratchet teeth, which catch against the pieces of coal
and draw them back; these teeth or projections are represented in Figure 1,
and are marked 9, 9; they assist materially in clearing the groove or cut of
the small pieces and dust which the cutting edges detach.
In the Specification of a Patent granted to me dated 18th April 1866
(No. 1091), there was described the employing in connection with the air
cylinder employed for actuating the pick another smaller air cylinder to give
to the machine after each forward movement of the pick a slight backward
movement, and after each backward movement of the pick a greater forward
movement to enable it to make the next cut.
The next part of my Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
mechanism for transmitting the to-and-fro motion of the piston of the small
air cylinder to one of the axles of the machine. For this purpose there is
fixed on one axle of the machine a worm wheel into which a worm gears, on
the axis of the worm is a toothed wheel with which a pawl or driver works,

page_text: the pawl is carried at one end of a lever which turns freely around the axis of the
worm, the opposite end of the lever is connected to the piston rod of the small
air cylinder, by which means a to-and-fro rocking motion is imparted to the
lever. The pawl is so formed that when it is moved in the direction to drive
the machine forward it catches in the teeth of the toothed wheel, and by
turning the wheel gives a forward motion to the machine; when the pawl is
moved in the opposite direction it slips over the teeth without turning the wheel,
unless it be held into them; the pawl may thus be held into the teeth by being
brought against a cam surface, and when so held the wheel will be caused to
turn back with the pawl, so giving a backward movement to the machine, the
amount of which can be varied by varying the position of the cam surface. I
also couple the axles (which support coal-cutting machines) by a chain gearing
with a chain wheel on each axle, so that when one axle is turned the other
will be turned with it, and thus the whole weight of the machine may be
made available for moving it when one or other of the axles is turned. In
order to aid in moving the machine I also employ a chain which by guide
pulleys is led off and gears with a chain wheel on one of the axles of the
machine, one end of the chain is led out to a distance in the direction the
machine is to travel, and is held securely whilst the other end of the chain is
secured in rear of the machine; by this means when the chain wheel is turned
either backwards or forwards it will move along the chain and draw the
machine with it.
Figure 8 is a side view, and Figure 9 is a plan of a coal cutting machine
arranged to traverse along a chain according to my Invention; the chain is
secured at its two ends in front and rear of the machine to two posts or trees,
which are wedged between the floor and roof of the mine, and apparatus is
provided for taking up the slack of the chain, as is shown. The chain passes
over guide pulleys on the machine and under the chain wheel on the leading
axle, as is shown on a larger scale at Figures 10 and 11, which show re-
spectively a longitudinal and a transverse section of a portion of the leading
end of the machine. In these Figures a, a, is the bed of the machine, and b
is the front axle of its carrying wheels; c is a chain wheel thereon; and d, d
are two guide pulleys carried by brackets from the bed, as is shown.
Figure 12 is an edge view of part of the chain wheel c. The front and rear
axles of the machine are geared together by means of a pitch chain, as shown
at Figure 18. On the rear axle of the machine I fix a worm wheel, and this
gears with a worm on a vertical axis e, shown in Figure 14, and the position of
which is also indicated in Figure 9. f is a toothed wheel fixed on this axis;
and g is a lever capable of turning freely thereon at its upper end; it is jointed

page_text: to a connecting rod h passing to the fore part of the machine underneath the
main cylinder, and it is there jointed to a rocking lever centred to the bed at
one end, and at its other receiving motion from the piston rod of the secondary
cylinder i, Figures 8 and 9. This cylinder may be such as is described in
the Specification of my former Patent before referred to; it contains a piston
the length of the stroke of which is capable of adjustment. Air is admitted to
the cylinder i at the same time as it is admitted to the main cylinder. The
lever g carries a pawl k taking into the teeth of the wheel f, and so formed as
to turn the wheel and move the machine forward when turning in one direction,
but to slip off the teeth when moving in the opposite direction; 1 is a cam
piece capable of turning around the axis e, and of being locked in any desired
position; it acts upon the pawl when it is moving back out of the teeth, and
Dear the end of its stroke it puts it down into the teeth so as to rotate the
wheel and move the machine back. The amount of this motion is adjusted
to what is found necessary to admit of the free return of the pick after it has
made its stroke. A clutch is provided, as will be seen, by means of which the
chain wheel can be set free on the axle b to admit of the chain being drawn
forward and refixed at the end of a traverse. There is also a hand wheel on
the top of the axis e to admit of the machine being traversed by hand; the
pawl is in this case thrown out of gear; and I would remark that coal cutting
machines may advantageously be arranged to traverse along a chain when
self-acting feed gear is not employed.
In order to arrange the rail or tramways employed with coal cutting
machines in such manner that they may be quickly removed or laid in place I
employ a hollow or bridge rail formed thus
in section. The rail is
carried by transverse sleepers of wrought iron, which have projecting flanges
on their under sides to enter the surface on which they are laid on their upper
side. The sleepers have blocks or filling pieces secured to them which enter
into and fit the hollow in the rail; on the upper surface of the sleepers are
also clips to project over one of the flanges of each rail. In order to fix the
rail or tramway in position all that is necessary is to put the sleepers in place,
then to insert one flange of the rail under the clips, and afterwards turn down
the rails to cause the hollow of the rail to fit over the projections on the
sleepers; the rails will then be securely held, and yet can at once be removed
by again turning up the rail. Figure 15 is a plan of a portion of a tramway thus
laid; Figure 16 is a transverse section of the same. a, a, are the sleepers; they
are made of trough iron, and have the flanges downwards. a¹, a', are wrought
iron clips rivetted to these sleepers; and a³, a³, are cast-iron blocks, also
rivetted upon them; b, 6, are the rails; and c, c, are spikes which are used

page_text: to hold down the sleepers when the nature of the bottom admits, but other
means may be resorted to as heretofore for holding the sleepers when the
bottom is too hard to receive spikes.
Figure 17 is a side view, full size, of the end of one of the sleepers a, with
the clip a', the block a³, and the rail 6 in section; Figure 18 is a similar view
shewing the way in which the rail drops into its place.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Grafton Jones, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
J. GRAFTON JONES. (L.S.)