IMPROVEMENTS IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edmund Donisthorpe, of Leeds, in the
County of York, Top and Noil Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE."
Sealed the 19th October 1866, and dated the 21st April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edmund Donis
thorpe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st April 1866.
I, GEORGE EDMUND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds, in the County of York, Top
and Noil Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in getting coal and other
minerals, and in machinery employed for that purpose, and is applicable when
machines are employed for cutting grooves either into, or above, or below the
coal or mineral to facilitate its being got, in order to steady the machines
which are employed for cutting these grooves. I now propose, first, to cut;
into the roof of the mine a shallow groove at a short distance from the face of
the coal that is being worked, and parallel with it, and from this groove in the
roof I obtain the requisite holding for steadying the machine and preventing
it from being forced back away from the face of the coal into which the grooves
are being cut. Wheels or guides at the top of the machine may for this
purpose be caused to run in the groove in the roof, or wooden beams or rails
may be fixed in the groove, and the requisite holding or steadying of the

page_text: machine be obtained from these beams or rails. In order to cut the groove
in the roof I employ a truck or carriage which runs on the rails upon which
the machine for cutting the horizontal grooves in the coal is to travel; this
truck or carriage carries a cutter, to which a reciprocating to-and-fro motion
is by preference given, and as the truck moves along the rails the cutter is
caused to form the groove along the roof of the mine, and since an equal
length of stroke is at all times given to the cutter the bottom of the groove
in the roof will be parallel with the rails. A similar machine may be employed
for forming grooves in the floor of the mine into which the rails upon which
the machine is to run are to be inserted. In some cases in place of forming
a continuous groove along the roof I bore holes into the roof at intervals
apart, and then, in order to stendy the cutting machine when at work, I cause
the upper ends of pilars or uprights from the carriage or bed of the machine
to be inserted into the holes, and thus hold the carriage fast; in this case the
carriage or bed of the machine is formed with slides or guides upon which the
portion of the machine which carries the tool or tools for cutting the grooves
into, or above, or below the coal or mineral is capable of sliding in order that
they may be moved forward progressively to enable them to form the groove
or grooves. When this sliding portion of the machine has travelled from one
end of the bed or carriage to the other the bed or carriage is moved forward
a distance, and is then again held fast by means of fresh holes in the roof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said George Edmund Donisthorpe in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
EDMUND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds, in the County of York, Top and Noil
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, 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 me, the
said George Edmund Donisthorpe, Her special licence that I, the said George
Edmund Donisthorpe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, 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

page_text: Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN
MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, 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 George Edmund Donisthorpe, 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:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in getting coal and other
minerals, and in machinery employed for that purpose, and is applicable when
machines are employed for cutting grooves either into, or above, or below the
coal or mineral to facilitate its being got. In order to steady the machines
which are employed for cutting these grooves I now propose, first, to cut into
the roof of the mine a shallow groove at a short distance from the face of the
coal that is being worked, and parallel with it, and from this groove in the
roof I obtain the requisite holding for steadying the machine and preventing
it from being forced back away from the face of the coal into which the grooves
are being cut. Wheels or guides at the top of the machine may for this
purpose be caused to run in the groove in the roof or wooden beams, or rails
may be fixed in the groove, and the requisite holding or steadying of the
machine be obtained from these beams or rails. In order to cut the groove
in the roof I employ a truck or carriage which runs on the rails upon which
the machine for cutting the horizontal grooves in the coal is to travel; this
truck or carriage carries a cutter, to which a reciprocating to-and-fro motion
is by preference given, and as the truck moves along the rails the cutter is
caused to form the groove along the roof of the mine, and since an equal
length of stroke is at all times given to the cutter the bottom of the groove in
the roof will be parallel with the rails. A similar machine may be employed
for forming grooves in the floor of the mine into which the rails upon which
the machine is to run are to be inserted. In some cases, in place of forming
a continuous groove along the roof I bore holes into the roof at intervals
apart, and then in order to steady the cutting machine when at work I cause
the upper ends of pillars or uprights from the carriage or bed of the machine
to be inserted into the holes, and thus hold the carriage fast; in this case the

page_text: carriage or bed of the machine is formed with slides or guides upon which the
portion of the machine which carries the tool or tools for cutting the grooves
into, or above, or below the coal or mineral is capable of sliding in order that
they may be moved forward progressively to enable them to form the groove
or grooves. When this sliding portion of the machine has travelled from one
end of the bed or carriage to the other the bed or carriage is moved forward
a distance, and is then again held fast by means of fresh holes in the roof. :
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown a machine such as is above
described for cutting grooves in the roof of a mine. Figure 1 shows a side
view of the machine; Figure 2, an end view; and Figure 3, a plan.
a is the framing of the truck or carriage, which is supported on wheels b,
which are to run on the rails upon which the machine used for cutting the
grooves into, or above, or below the seam of coal is to travel, at the front end
of the carriage is the cylinder c of a small air engine; the upper end of the
piston rod of this engine carries the cutter which is to cut the groove into the
roof; and in order that this cutter may be raised or lowered to bring it to the
proper height for cutting a groove of the desired depth in the roof the upper
end of the piston rod is made tubular to receive the stem of the cutter, and a
screw thread is cut on this stem which screws into a nut d, as shewn. The
screw stem of the cutter is prevented from turning by a feather e, and the
nut d has handles upon it by which it can be turned when it is desired to raise
or lower the cutter. In order to work the slide valve of the engine the to-
and-fro motion of the piston rod gives a rotary motion to the axis fin the
manner shewn, and motion is communicated to the valve from an excentric f¹
on this axis; or the slide valve can be disconnected from the eccentric, and
be worked by the hand lever g. The working the valve from an eccentric
ensures the cutter always cutting to an even depth into the roof, as the cutter
ceases to work unless each blow given by it is of sufficient strength to enable it
to complete its stroke. As the cutter is being moved to and fro the truck or
carriage is simultaneously slowly moved forward along the rails by a toothed
wheel h gearing with a rack formed in the face of one of the rails; the toothed
wheel is for this purpose turned by a worm k, which has on its axis a hand
wheel k³, as shown. The toothed wheel h and worm k are carried by a slide,
which can be raised or lowered on the frame of the carriage or truck by
turning the screw 1; the toothed wheel h can thus be raised out of gear with
the rack formed in the face of the rail when it is desired to shift the machine
from place to place. In order to steady the machine when at work the back
of the truck carries an air cylinder fitted with a piston or plunger, which
carries at its upper end a roller, and the plunger presses this roller against

page_text: the roof of the mine when the machine is at work. When a groove has been
cut in the roof of a mine I employ it for steadying the machine which is to
cut a groove or grooves into, or above, or below the seam of coal by preference
by causing a strip or feather carried by the machine to enter the groove and
slide along it as the machine moves forward, and by this means I prevent the
machine from being driven back away from the face of the coal into which it
is cutting a groove or grooves; or in place of this arrangement strips or
beams of wood or metal may, as above mentioned, be placed in the groove,
and the machine may then be steadied by flanged pulleys carried by the
machine, being caused to run on these strips or beams, or other arrangements
may be resorted to for steadying the cutting machine by a groove in the roof.
When cutting a groove into or above the seam of coal close to the roof of the
mine by a machine such as is described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to me on the 8th day of March, 1866 (No. 703), I by preference
attach to the frame that carries the cutters a strip or feather to run in the
groove in the roof, and place on each side of this feather rollers which are to
bear against the roof; the groove formed by the cutters will thus follow the
line of the roof, and at the same time the machine will be steadied by the
feather, which is received into the groove. If a machine such as is described
in the before-mentioned Specification be employed for cutting a groove below
the seam of coal or near to the floor of the mine, then I in a similar manner
employ a groove in the floor of the mine to steady the machine. A machine
for cutting grooves into the floor of the mine may be constructed in a similar
manner to the machine shewn in the Drawings for cutting grooves into the
roof, and such a machine may also be employed for cutting grooves in the floor
to facilitate the fixing of the rails upon which the cutting machine is to run.
The cutter shewn in the Drawings is suitable for cutting grooves; when
however it is desired to cut holes in the floor or roof, then a suitable boring
tool is employed, and provision is made for giving a partial rotation to the tool
after each stroke or blow, as is well understood.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
G. E. DONISTHORPE. (L.S.)