IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WORKING AND MINING 02 COAL, MINERALS, AND EARTHY MATTERS, AND IN THE MACHINERY. APPARATUS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Locke and John Warrington, of Kippax,
near Leeds, in the County of York, Coal Owners, William Elliot
Carrett, William Ebenezer Marshall, and John Telford, of Leeds, in
the County of York, Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE WORKING AND MINING 02 COAL, MINERALS, AND EARTHY MATTERS,
AND IN THE MACHINERY. APPARATUS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Locke, John
Warrington, William Elliot Carrett, William Ebenezer Marshall, and
John Telford, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 24th October 1863...
We, WILLIAM LOCKE and JOHN WARRINGTON, Coal Owners, of Kippax,
near Leeds, in the County of York, WILLIAM ELLIOT CARRETT, WILLIAM
EBENEZER MARSHALL, and JOHN TELFORD, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE WORKING AND MINING OF COAL, MINERALS, AND EARTHY
MATTERS, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the application of machinery or appartus
actuated by the pressure of water or other liquid to the getting and mining of
coal or other minerals or earthy matters generally, and consists essentially in

page_text: the application and use for those purposes of a longitudinally reciprocating
slotting tool or cutter actuated by the pressure of water or other nearly
incompressible liquid, so as to produce a steady to-and-fro motion or powerful
cut without any striking or percussive action in lieu of employing steam, air,
gas, or other elastic fluid or vapour for such purpose. One or more recipro-
cating tools are actuated by the pressure of water or other non-elastic liquid
so as to produce longitudinal, or horizontal, or upright grooves or narrow
cuttings to any desired extent into the upright face or end of the coal or other
substance to be operated upon, and thus facilitate its subsequent removal or
detachment. The machine or apparatus may be mounted upon or become
part of a carriage having wheels, slides, or skids, traversing on tramways or
rails or guide ways placed parallel or along the face or end of the coal or
mineral working. The actuating pressure of the water or other non-elastic
medium is conveyed to the apparatus by a flexible pipe or pipes which adapt
themselves to the different positions of the machine as the work progresses.
The slotting tool or tools receive an even steady longitudinal reciprocating
motion at any desired angle with the face or end of the working, a set screw
or other device being employed for holding the tool, actuating cylinder, and the
tool itself at the angle required. The mechanism to be employed for actuating
the slotting tool or tools consists of an arrangement of a double or single acting
hydraulic reciprocating motive-power engine provided with proper valves
and with one or more cylinders and pistons or rams, or in lieu thereof with a
moveable diaphram or diaphrams which either directly or indirectly actuate
the cutting tool or tools. In all cases the cutting stroke of the cutting tool or
tools is produced by the pressure of the water or other incompressible liquid.
The return or non-cutting stroke may be effected by the same water pressure
either directly or indirectly or by springs or weights or other agent. Thus
the bydraulic reciprocating engine may be either single or double acting to
effect the desired object, viz., to make a steady cut at the desired angle without
any striking or percussive action.
In some cases, when found requisite, it is intended to hold fast or steady the
machine, as each cut of the tool or tools is being made by causing an hydraulic
ram or cylinder, a cylinder, piston, plunger, or rod, or a combination thereof, to
be forced against the roof of the working place or to force any suitable bar or
feeler against the same and thereby hold the machine firmly down upon its
guiding rails or slides whilst the cut is being made, but to release it again at
the return or back stroke of the cutter or cutters in order to allow the machine
to be moved forward for the succeeding cut. We produce this alternate
fixing" and releasing of the machine by allowing the fluid medium to operate
"

page_text: on the before-mentioned hydraulic ram, cylinder, bar, or feeler, at the time such
liquid medium enters the tool-actuating cylinder, and thus a pressure is
obtained against the roof to hold the machine firm upon its rail or guide
during the cutting operation of the tool or tools. This condition is further
secured by the application of a keep valve or other equivalent contrivance.
The release of the machine from such hold against the roof is effected by
allowing such incompressible liquid medium to escape during the time the
back stroke of the cutting tool or tools is being made. In any other apparatus
having the same object in view, worked by air or other elastic medium, for
which protection is not sought in this Patent, the method herein secured of
holding down against the roof by means of a non-elastic liquid can be brought
about by letting such air or elastic medium operate upon water or other non-
elastic liquid, the latter being subject to the conditions before specified and for
which protection is sought. The entire machine is traversed forward after
each stroke or cut by self-acting or other suitable motion. Thus as longitu-
dinal grooves are made in the end or face of the work they can be deepened by
lengthening out the cutting tool or tools and passing a second or more times
along the same. When such grooves are required to be upright or vertical
the same apparatus, fed by its flexible water or other liquid feed pipe, is
applicable, provision in this case is made to raise and lower the machine in
lieu of traversing along the tram or guide way, and a permanent hold of the
roof is retained until the process is complete. In making a similar groove or
in "ripping the roof" of a mine the same reciprocating tool or tools, and their
hydraulic motive power, actuating cylinder or cylinders, are equally applicable
by transposing them for a vertical slotting action at suitable angle omitting
the adaptation to obtain the downward pressure on the rails, guides, or
slides
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William. Locke, John Warrington, William Elliot Carrett,
William Ebenezer Marshall, and John Telford in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, WILLIAM
LOCKE and JOHN WARRINGTON, of Kippax, near Leeds, in the County of
York, Coal Owners, WILLIAM ELLIOT CARRETT, WILLIAM EBENEZER
MARSHALL, and JOHN TELFORD, all of Leeds, in the same County, Engineers,
send greeting:

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said William Locke, John Warrington, William Elliot Carrett,
William Ebenezer Marshall, and John Telford, Her special licence that we,
the said William Locke, John Warrington, William Elliot Carrett, William
Ebenezer Marshall, and John Telford, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said William Locke, John Warrington,
William Elliot Carrett, William Ebenezer Marshall, and John Telford,
our 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
THE WORKING AND MINING OF COAL, MINERALS, AND EARTHY MATTERS, AND IN
THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Locke, John War-
rington, William Elliot Carrett, William Ebenezer Marshall, and Jobn Telford,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or one
of our 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 William Elliot Carrett, on behalf of
myself and the said William Locke, John Warrington, William Ebenezer
Marshall, and John Telford, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Our said Invention has for its object the application of machinery or appa-
ratus actuated by the pressure of water or other fluid to the getting and
mining of coal or other minerals or earthy matters generally, and consists
essentially in the application and use for those purposes of a longitudinally
reciprocating slotting tool or cutter actuated by the pressure of water or other
nearly incompressible fluid, so as to produce a steady to-and-fro motion or
powerful cut without any striking or percussive action, in lieu of employing
steam, air, gas, or other elastic fluid or vapour for such purpose, One or
more reciprocating tools are actuated by the pressure of water or other

page_text: comparatively non-elastic fluid, so as to produce longitudinal, or horizontal,
or upright grooves, or narrow cuttings to any desired extent into the upright
"face" or "end" of the coal or other substance to be operated upon, and
thus facilitate its subsequent removal or detachment. The machine or appa-
ratus may be mounted upon or become part of a carriage having wheels,
slides, or skids traversing on tramways or rails, or guide ways placed parallèl
or along the "face" or "end" of the coal or mineral working. The actuating
pressure of the water or other non-elastic medium, is conveyed to the appa-
ratus by a flexible pipe or pipes, which adapt themselves to the different
positions of the inachine as the work progresses. The slotting tool or tools.
receive an even, steady, longitudinal reciprocating motion at any desired angle
with the "face" or end of the working, a set screw or other equivalent
device being employed for holding the tool-actuating cylinder and the tool
itself at the angle required. The mechanism to be employed for actuating the
slotting tool or tools consists of a double or single acting bydraulic recipro-
cating motive-power engine, provided with proper valves, and with one or
more cylinders and pistons, or rams, or in lieu thereof with a movable
diaphram or diaphrams, which either directly or indirectly actuate the cutting
tool or tools. In all cases the cutting stroke of the cutting tool or tools is
produced by the pressure of the water or other incompressible fluid. The
return or non-cutting stroke may either be effected by the same water pressure
either directly or indirectly, or by springs or weights, or other agent. Thus
the hydraulic reciprocating engine may be either single or double acting to
effect the desired object, viz., to make a steady cut at the desired angle
without any striking or percussive action.
In some cases, when found requisite, it is intended to hold fast or steady the
machine as each cut of the tool or tools is being made by causing a hydraulic
ram or cylinder, piston, plunger, or rod, or a combination thereof, to be forced
against the roof of the working place, or to force any suitable bar or feeler
against the same, and thereby hold the machine firmly down upon its guiding
rails or slides whilst the cut is being made; but to release it again at the
return or back stroke of the cutter or cutters in order to allow the machine to
be moved forward for the succeeding cut. We produce this alternate
fixing" and "releasing" of the machine by allowing the fluid medium to
operate on the before-mentioned hydraulic ram or cylinder at the time such
fluid medium enters the tool-actuating cylinder, and thus a pressure is obtained
against the roof to hold the machine firm upon its rail or guide during the
cutting operation of the tool or tools: This condition is further secured by
the application of a keep valve or other equivalent contrivance. The release
6.
:

page_text: of the machine from such hold against the roof is effected by allowing such
incompressible fluid medium to escape during the time the back stroke of the
cutting tool or tools is being made. In any other apparatus having the same
object in view, worked by air or other elastic medium, to which we make no
claim, the method berein secured of holding down against the roof by means
of a non-elastic fluid can be brought about by letting such air or elastic
medium operate upon water or other non-elastic fluid, the latter being subject
to the conditions before specified, and which we consider as forming one part
of our said Invention. The entire machine is traversed forward after each stroke
or cut by any self-acting or other suitable motion. Thus, as longitudinal
grooves are made in the "end" or "face" of the work, they can be deepened
by lengthening out the cutting tools, and passing a second or more times
along the same. When such grooves are required to be upright or vertical
the same apparatus, fed by its flexible water or other fluid feed pipe, is appli-
cable; provision in this case is made to raise and lower the machine in lieu of
traversing along the tram or guide way, and a permanent hold of the roof is
retained until the process is complete. In making a similar groove, or in
ripping the roof" of a mine, the same reciprocating tool or tools and their
hydraulic motive-power actuating cylinder or cylinders are equally applicable
by transposing them for a vertical slotting action at suitable angle, omitting
the adaptation to obtain the downward pressure on the rails, guides, or
slides.
66
Having thus set forth the nature of our said Invention, we will now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for the sake of brevity we
shall herein-after term the before-mentioned "fluid medium" water.
Fig. 1, on Sheet 1 of our Drawings, represents a vertical section of one
arrangement of our self-acting machine complete, taken along the centre of
the cutter-actuating cylinder; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 3 is a
side elevation thereof.
In these Figures D is the bydraulic motive-power cylinder fed by water
pressure through a flexible pipe; C is the piston, combined with its hollow
piston rod, or trunk, or ram, within which various lengths of tool bars B can
be inserted and fixed by the pin b, c, and at the end of such bars are fixed the
cutting tool or tools A, which also are removeable for repairs and renewal.
The second and third tool bars are shewn in dotted lines over Fig. 2, the
longest tool bar being supported by a steadying bar N. The axis or spindle
G, G, which is by preference vertical, as shewn, carries the parts above
referred to in such a manner that they shall be adjustable in height, and also
to any desired angle. We also prefer that the apparatus be mounted on or

page_text: become part of a carriage on wheels L, L, provided with additional wheels
M, M, which may be raised for convenience of transport, as shewn at one end
in Fig. 3.
According to our Invention the cutting stroke is in all cases effected by the
water or other non-elastic fluid pressure being admitted by any suitable or
well-known arrangement of valves and passages (see Fig. 1) behind the piston,
thus producing a steady, even, slotting action of the tool or tools into the
coal or mineral, whether the desired depth of slot be produced at one or more
times going over by the cutting tool. The return or non-cutting stroke may
be produced variously by springs or weights, or, which we prefer, by causing
the opposite or inferior area of the piston (which is annular) to be constantly
open to the pressure of the water.
,,
Fig. 1 shews a further method, namely, by making the motive-power
cylinder D double acting, such cylinder being fed and exhausted at each end
alternately, thus producing the required reciprocating action of the piston and
rod, or ram, and its tool bar and cutting tools attached thereto. In order to
further insure the stability of the whole apparatus upon its guides or rails
during the cutting stroke, another hydraulic cylinder, or ram, or plunger may
be added, or any equivalent arrangement giving to a "feeler" or "holding-
on head
a reciprocating motion, which is by preference vertical, so as to be
alternately pressed against and released from the roof by the water pressure.
Thus the water which forces the piston C to make the cutting stroke of the
tool, acts simultaneously upon this holding-down cylinder or ram J, and thus
secures periodically or intermittently the entire machine fast between the
roof and floor. With the return stroke of the tool the water pressure is
released, and thus the machine is free again to be traversed forward for the
next cutting stroke.
It is further sometimes convenient to retain for the time this water or
incompressible fluid in the holding-down cylinder or under the ram J, so that
it has no escape for the time being, and the apparatus is thus "dead fast"
between the roof and floor. This, in Fig. 1, is accomplished by letting the
keep valve v retain the water within the holding-down cylinder J until the
motion of the main valve or slide, or parts j, k, connected therewith open it,
and also provide egress for the water from behind the piston C at the return
stroke. The screw K is for regulating the height of the "feeler " or
"holding-on head" against the roof; thus the machine, with its extended
wheel base, is dead fast upon the rail when the cutting stroke is being made,
but is set free when the cutting tool makes its return stroke, so as to be

page_text: ready to traverse forward as soon as the tool is out of its cut. The traverse
which determines the thickness of cut is produced by the pin b, c, pressing at
the end of its return stroke against a lever d actuating a ratchet motion e, f,
which drives a chain pulley h to the desired amount, and thus progressing the
machine along the chain i, i, which is made fast at its end or ends.
Figs. 4 and 5 on Sheet 2 of our Drawings represent respectively a sectional
elevation and plan in working order of a modified arrangement whereby the
cutting tools are made to operate at a minimum height above the rails or
floor. Figs. 6 and 7 represent respectively a plan and elevation of the same
apparatus in a transportable condition.
According to this modification the motive-power cylinder D is beneath the
carriage I, I, which may be raised or lowered by the screws Y, Y, and this
cylinder is made capable of being turned on its axis G longitudinally with the
carriage for the convenience of transport, as shewn in Figs. 6 and 7. Figs. 8
and 9 represent respectively an end view and side elevation of another method
of raising and lowering the motive-power cylinder D by means of a screw
pivot spindle G, within which is contained the apparatus for intermittently
holding on to the roof, the water being admitted beneath the ram J. Fig. 10
is an end view; Fig. 11 is a ground plan, and Fig. 12 is a side elevation of
another modification, wherein the cutting tool or tools A have a longer stroke,
and are supported by the bar N, which is fast to the motive-power cylinder D,
within which works the piston C with its piston rod and tool holder B. These
Figures also illustrate another mode of adjusting the height of the motive
power cylinder and "feeler" or "holding-on head" F, by right and left handed
screws, the ram J being operated upon as herein-before described.
These several modifications are intended to produce the slot or groove of
the required depth at any height above the rail or floor on which the carriage
is caused to run or slide. The self-acting traverse motion is omitted, as it
may be accomplished in various other ways, or the machine traversed by hand
in lieu thereof; the same letters of reference apply in all illustrations on both
Sheets of Drawings.
Although we have described and referred to the several modifications in the
arrangement of the parts illustrated on Sheet 2 of our Drawings, we claim
only as novel and original, and as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent,-
of
1st, the system or mode of actuating the cutting tools of machines for
working coal and other minerals and earthy matters by the direct
pressure
water or other non-elastic fluid medium admitted by any suitable arrangement

page_text: of valves and passages behind a piston so as to produce a steady, even, slotting
action of the tool or tools at any angle into the substance to be cut.
2nd, the application and use to and in machines for working coal and other
minerals and earthy matters of a "holding-on head" or "feeler," which is
made to reciprocate, it being pressed against the roof during the cutting action
of the tool or tools, and released therefrom to allow the machine to move
forward during the return or back stroke of the tool or tools, the movements
of this head or feeler being obtained from the pressure of water or other
non-compressible fluid medium.
3rd, the application and use to and in machines for working coal and other
minerals and earthy matters actuated by an elastic medium of a "holding-on
head" or "feeler " made to reciprocate by the action of the elastic medium
acting on water or other non-elastic fluid for the purpose of securing the
machine non-elastically between roof and floor during the cutting stroke, and
of releasing it during the return or back stroke of the tool or tools.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Elliot Carrett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM ELLIOT CARRETT. (L.S.)