IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CHANNELLING OR QUARRYING STONE, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th June 1879. A communi-
cation from abroad Grégoire Wincqz, of Paris, France.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR CHANNELLING OR QUARRYING
STONE, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES." [A communication from abroad
by Grégoire Wincqz, of Paris, France.]
This Invention relates to machinery for channelling or quarrying stone, applicable
also for tunnelling and other analogous purposes. This improved machine possesses
the following distinguishing features.
1st. The tool holder is operated direct by the rod of a piston actuated by steam,
compressed air, or other clastic or incompressible fluid.
2nd. The penetration of the tools is effected by the combined action of the motive
power and of the weight of the tools themselves, and the frame is suitably arranged
to enable the tools to operate in all directions, the weight of the tools supple-
menting the action of the motive power when operating beneath the horizontal
plane passing through the centre of gravity of the cylinder, and the motive power
alone having any useful effect in all other cases.
3rd. The groove or channel formed in the rock by the action of the tools is made
of uniform depth throughout the whole duration of the work by means of a simple
apparatus, whereby the cylinder and the tool holder are maintained at a greater
or less distance from the rock to be attacked.
4th. The advance of the carriage is governed by the progress of the work itself,
and is the direct consequence of the work done by the tool, so that the latter will
continue to act on the same spot until it attains the minimum depth the groove
or channel is to have at any part.
5th. No breaks are employed to retain the carriage on its rails in boring vertical
or inclined rocks, the advance of the carriage being effected by rack endless screw
and clutch gear.
6th. The tool holder is mounted in a position outside the frame which guides
and supports it, thereby enabling it to operate close up to the vertical face of the
rock and thus lessen the waste considerably.
7th. A special arrangement of the tool which facilitates the work of channelling
and quarrving

page_text: The advantages a machine thus constructed presents are numerous, and it is
only necessary to enumerate them to show their importance.
The tool carrier being operated directly by the piston and being parallel to the
piston rod, the motive power will be almost entirely consumed in useful work, the
penetration of the tool being then due to the combined action of the piston and of the
weight of the tools. As the machine is not dependent for its operation on the latter
force alone, the weight of the tool carrier may be considerably reduced, and for the
same reason the machine may work horizontally and even at inclinations above
the horizontal plane provided the machine frame is constructed accordingly.
The depth of penetration of the tool being regulated once for all by the distance
at which the front end of the cylinder is fixed from the face of the rock, there will
be no interruption in the progress of the tool, which is not the case when the latter
is operated by cams acting on a tappet which requires to be raised in proportion
as the tool descends in the groove.
The advance of the carriage being dependent on the attainment by the tool of
the predetermined limit of penetration, it will be evident that the machine cannot
leave behind it any defective work, as is frequently the case with other machines,
which when the tools come to an unusually hard place pass on, leaving the obstacle
unremoved in consequence of the constant advance of the carriage.
The advance of the carriage being in this case effected by combination of clutch,
endless screw, and rack parallel to the guide rails, it follows that the machine will
remain in position whatever may be the inclination of the rails without the use of
breaks to hold it stationary. By dispensing with brakes the force which only
served to overcome the resistance of the brakes to the progress of the carriage is
economized.
The tool holder being arranged to project from the frame the rock may be
attacked close up to the vertical face, it only being necessary to allow for the
projection of the bolts and nuts beyond the tool.
Having enumerated the distinguishing features which in combination constitute
the improved machine for channelling or quarrying stone, and the advantages
thereof, I will proceed to describe the same in detail with reference to the annexed
Drawings which illustrate an example of the Invention.
Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2, a plan; Figure 3, a transverse section
through the middle of the machine; Figures 4, 5, and 6 are an elevation, plan, and
section of the cutting end of a single tool serving as a substitute for the gang of
chisels generally used.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
The machine consists of a carriage running on rails and carrying two standards
tied together at top, and each provided with two parallel guides for the cylinder
and tool carrier which are adjusted to the desired height by means of a screw
gearing with a pinion worked by a crank. The machine also comprises the auto-
matic mechanism, by which it is fed up to its work as the operation progresses.
23
The carriage consists of a cast iron frame p mounted on rollers p¹, running on
guide rails of any length fixed firmly to the bed of the quarry. At the side of the
machine opposite to that at which the working parts are situate, other rollers 2¹4
take under the flange of the rail; to compsensate for the difference of friction at the
two sides of the machine and give the requisite stability notwithstanding the
overhang of the tools. !g are two strong standards bolted on the carriage p tied
together at top and provided on their inner faces with two parallel guides 7, 8, for
the motor cylinder a and the tool holder e.
The steam distribution to the cylinder is governed by means of the head c¹ on
the piston rod striking the tappet lever c connected to slide valve d. The cylinder
can be raised and lowered in guides 8 by means of a screw w, operated by a crank
handle t at top through the two pinions u, v. This screw works through a nut b
mounted in an upright connected to the top of cylinder a, the screw rod being also
received freely in the piston rod which is tubular.
The piston and its rod are made of steel and firmly bolted to the tool holder.

page_text: The latter is a frame in which the cylinder is partly received. The tool 2 is a
single jumper or chisel of the same form as five or more separate chisels combined;
it is bolted to the tool holder by two clamps f, each provided at its centro with a
locking device.
The automatic mechanism controlling the advance consists of a rock g on the
tool carrier frame with which gears an idle wheel h mounted on a stud carried by
standard q, and gearing with a wheel i provided with clutches ; at either side of
its hub. The two clutches are right and left handed respectively, and connect
the wheel with its shaft by means of a feather or spline on the latter on which
the moveable halves of the clutches are fitted to slide. They are thrown into gear,
the one or the other with wheel i by means of the double forked lever y, and are
held in gear by india rubber or spiral springs k. A spur wheel is keyed on the
same shaft and gears with a pinion m, on whose spindle is also keyed a worm n
which works into a rack o bolted on the girders z. It will be seen that the worm n
is caused to advance along the rack o by the descent of the tool holder, and the
arrangement is such that the worm is only actuated when the rack g, and con-
sequently the tool, descends to a certain point, so that until the tool has pene-
trated to a certain depth it is not operated and no advance of the carriage can take
place.
I will now describe two particular arrangements of tool. In one, composed of a
gang of five chisels, the centre one is longer than the others which are symmetrically
arranged at either side in the form of a V. In the other arrangement shown in
Figures 4, 5, 6, a single tool replaces the gang of chisels. The cutting portion of
the tool is fluted or corrugated on each side, and is thereby strengthened both
transversely and longitudinally, or in the direction of its advance, and is rendered
capable of resisting better the strains which may come upon it, and without
repairs of performing three times as much work as the tools heretofore used.
Another advantage is that this form of tool avoids hand forging, as it can be
formed in a mould. Instead of the cutting part only the whole shank of the tool
may be similarly fluted by rolling.
The machine above described may by a suitable adjustment of the frame and its
supports be adapted to form straight, curved, horizontal, or inclined grooves, and
may therefore be advantageously applied for tunnelling, to which purpose however
its use is no. way limited.