Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1898-Accepted, 25th Feb., 1899
New York City, 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: —
My invention relates to an improved carrier, especially adapted for use in
digging trenches, ditches and the like. Among the main objects of my invention
are, the provision of a cheap and easily adjusted device for raising and trans-
porting the excavated materials from one place to another together with simple
and easily operated means for controlling the several different motions of the
same.
In the preferred embodiment of my device, Fig. 1 represents my structure as
a whole in side elevation;
Figure 2 is a sectional view thereof on the line - looking in the direction of
the arrow, showing the arrangement of the pulleys at this part.
Fig. is a plan view of the device.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a carriage on the line y-y, looking
in the direction of the arrow.
Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the carriage on the line z-, looking in
the direction of the arrow.
Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified construction of the carriage.
Fig. 7 is a sectional view of Fig. 6 showing the arrangement of the means for
raising the bucket.
In excavating trenches, cellars and the like, especially in the case of deep
excavations, difficulty is found in properly removing the material excavated, and
no device which properly answers the requirements has as yet been constructed.
In the case of deep excavations, for instance, of a trench for a sewer or the like,
the man in the trench cannot throw the dirt outside of the trench without great
difficulty, after the trench is more than five feet deep, and by the time that this
depth has been reached, the pile of dirt at the side of the trench is so high, that
the laborer cannot without great difficulty prevent the dirt from falling back
into the trench. As a consequence, two or more sets of excavators are necessary;
one set on a staging a little above the other to receive the dirt excavated by the
lower set as thrown upon the staging, and to throw the same outside of the trench.
In excavating dirt by this means, the successive stages are usually staggered, that
is, one set on one side of the trench and the next one above set on the opposite
side of the trench. The consequence of this arrangement is that the men in the
trench below are almost completely hidden, and, as a result, the foreman cannot
oversee them as well and prevent them from shirking their work. This trouble
has been avoided in part by certain traveling carriages which move back and forth
over the trench, carrying a hoisting bucket for removing the dirt. This construc-
tion is objectionable, however, for several reasons. When the bucket, which is
usually large and heavy, is passing over the trench, the men below are constantly

page_text: on the watch to see that the same does not fall, and, in consequence, much time
is lost to the contractor. It is also necessary in the usual form of carriage to
transport this excavated dirt to a considerable distance down the trench to fill in
the completed part with the dirt excavated ahead of it. In my construction
these objections are avoided. The dirt may be shoveled into the bucket at the
bottom of the deepest trench, raised up, the travelers together with the bucket run
to one side of and beyond the trench, and then the carriage as a whole may be
started and moved in either direction desired, with the bucket passing along, not
over the trench, but entirely to one, side thereof, and the dirt may be deposited
at any point desired, and the necessity of any staging, as above explained, is
avoided, and consequently the workmen in the trench are in full view of the
foreman and can therefore be overseen by him to better advantage.
In the construction shown, A A are posts and C C are cross beams thereon for
supporting the carriage track and certain of the other parts. B B constitute, in
this embodiment, the carriage track which may be in the form of wire cables
as shown fastened to a suitable anchorage and passing over and held by the
chucks W. Upon this track runs a carriage D as shown. This carriage has
extended longitudinally across the same a supplemental track or guide G for the
traveler L which carries the bucket. R is a rotatable drum controlled by a
brake r.
Around this drum is wound flexible means P and Q, which, in the
preferred form of my construction, consists of an endless rope of which the part P
passes over the pulley, 2, shown in Fig. 2 on the top of one of the cross-bars, from
said pulley to the onnosite pulley p₁ on the opposite cross-bar, and back to the
carriage where it is attached at 72. The other end Q of this endless rope passes
up and over the pulley 7, shown in Fig. 2 direct to the carriage where it is attached
at . The bucket hoisting and other controlling mechanism consists of two
drums N and O1 which are rotated by any suitable means either separately or
together in the well-known manner of analogous constructions. Over the drum N¹
runs a rope U, over the pulley u shown in Fig. 2, across either over or under said
carriage to the pulley on the opposite cross-bar, back to the carriage, where
it passes over the pulley u², as shown in Fig. 5, from thence over, the pulley u³
and from there over to the traveler to which it is attached at u, as shown in
Fig. 4. This rope I designate as the traveller rope. Over the drum 0¹ runs
the rope O and from this over the pulley o, shown in Fig. 2, to the carriage
where it passes over the pulley o¹, shown in Fig. 5, and over the pulley o2 on the
carriage, and o³ on the traveller, to the bucket H. This last rope is designated
as the bucket rope. This traveller runs back and forth on the traveler rod G
by means of the wheels I held in the strap K and may have at the ends thereof
the cushions M. It must be seen that by rotating the drum 0' in the proper
direction while the drum N¹ is still, the bucket will be drawn up until it reaches
the traveler; by then rotating the drum N' in the proper direction and slacking
away on the rope 0, or by hauling in on the rope O and slacking away on the
rope N, the traveler together with the bucket may be carried outside of and away
from the ditch. The drum R in my preferred construction is not power driven
to shift the carriage back and forth, but this movement of the carriage is accom-
plished by means of the ropes O and U, the drum R and the ropes P and Q running
thereover being shifted by such movement, and when the proper position of the
carriage has been reached, the brake r is applied to the drum R locking the
same from further movement, and, consequently, holding the carriage fixed to
allow of further manipulation of the traveler and bucket at this point.
In the modified construction shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the principle of operation
is substantially the same, but the embodiment is slightly different.
In this con-
struction the main part of the carriage is substantially the same as in my former
embodiment,, but in this case, two traveler rods G₁ G₁ instead of one are provided,
each of which has a carriage running thereon and from one of which carriages to
the other extends a suitable support, such as a shaft S upon which are fixed
drums s S over which run the ropes s¹ s¹, to which are attached buckets. The

page_text: shaft. S also carries fixed to it a drum T over which the hoisting rope runs in the
opposite direction from which the bucket ropes s run over their respective drums.
By pulling on this hoisting rope the drams T and s are rotated and. the buckets are
hoisted. Over the shaft S is also loosely fitted a yoke t to which the traveler rope
is attached. It will thus be seen that the bucket may be raised and the traveler
manipulated by the two ropes in the same manner that the corresponding parts
in the other figures are manipulated. Besides merely an additional bucket, this
construction has especial advantage from the peculiar construction of trenches,
especially of those which are particularly deep, for instance, such as are used in
the construction of sewers. Where some friable material, such as dirt, or more
especially, loose sand is encountered, in such construction it is necessary that the
trench be lined with planking and that suitable shores therefore should extend
across from the planking on one side of the trench to that on the other to prevent
the dirt from caving into the trench. These shores must be placed more or less
closely together, dependent upon the condition of the material forming the sides
of the trench, and said shores are usually set one above the other in a vertical
plane, so that buckets and construction materials may be raised from or lowered
into the trench with the least possible difficulty. In the usual construction of
analogous carriages only one bucket is ordinarily used. As a result of this con-
struction, only the section between two planes of shores can be excavated at once,
but by my construction shown in this modification Figs. 6 and 7, two or more
buckets can be arranged upon the shaft at suitable distances so that one bucket
may be dropped into two or more sections of the trench, and in this way time is
saved and the excavation may go on more rapidly. The danger that the bucket
might fall upon and injure the workmen in the trench is avoided by my construc-
tion as the bucket can be passed along the trench entirely outside of the same,
which is not the case in the usual construction of such devices.
Many different arrangements and modifications of my device and also of the
buckets will occur to any one skilled in the art, and I therefore do not limit myself
to the particular construction shown or to the particular number or arrangement
of the buckets to be used.
What I claim is:
1. In a carrier in combination, a track, a carriage movable thereon, a traveler
movable transversely of said track on said carriage, identical supporting means
passing to said traveler to manipulate the same and also said carriage.
2. In a carrier in combination, a track, a carriage movable thereon, a traveler
movable transversely of said track on said carriage, identical supporting means
passing to said traveler to manipulate a weight and also said traveler.
3. In a carrier in combination, a track, a carriage movable thereon, a traveler
movable transversely of said track on said carriage, identical supporting means
passing to said traveler to manipulate a weight and also said carriage and
traveler.
4. In a carrier in combination, a track, a carriage therefor, a transverse traveler,
a weight support and identical supporting means to move said weight longi-
tudinally, transversely and vertically of said track.
5. In a carrier in combination, a track, supporting means movable longi-
tudinally, transversely and vertically of said track and operated from one drum.
6. In a carrier in combination, a track, a carriage thereon, a traveler movable
with relation thereto and transversely of said track, flexible means running to
said carriage and traveler and adapted to actuate both in one direction and to sup-
port a weight, and a second flexible means to actuate the carriage and traveler in
an opposite direction.
7. In a carrier in combination, a track, a carriage thereon, a traveler on said
carriage movable transversely of and below said track, having a plurality of
vertically adjustable weight supporting means arranged longitudinally of said
track.

page_text: 8. In a carrier in combination, a track, a carriage thereon, a traveler on said
carriage movable transversely of said truck having a plurality of vertical and
simultaneously adjustable weight supporting means arranged longitudinally of
said track and separated one from the other.
9. In a carrier in combination an elevated track, a carriage movable thereon,
a traveler movable on said carriage transversely of said track, identical supporting
means passing to said traveler and adapted to manipulate a weight and also said
carriage and traveler, a drum to control said means, and means, to stop the move-
ment of said carriage over said track, controllable from near said drum.
Dated this 1st day of December 1898.
CHARLES HENRY SHIPMAN,
By George Barker,
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents,
Agent for Applicant,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham.
CHARLES HENRY SHIPMAN,
By George Barker,
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents,
Agent for Applicant,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham.