A METHOD OR METHODS OF REDUCING THE WEAR AND PROLONGING THE DURATION OP ROPES USED IN DRAWING OF COALS OR OTHER MINERALS FROM PITS OR SHAFTS OF MINES
Year: 1807

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CHAPMAN, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Third, by His most
gracious Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Eighth day of April, in the forty-seventh year of His
reign, did give and grant unto me, the said William Chapman, His especial
licence that I, the said William Chapman, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Chapman, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the
Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"A METHOD OR METHODS OF REDUCING THE WEAR AND PROLONGING THE DURATION
OP ROPES USED IN DRAWING OF COALS OR OTHER MINERALS FROM PITS OR SHAFTS OF
MINES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said William Chapman, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one
calendar month next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that my Method or Methods of Reducing the Wear and
Prolonging the Duration of Ropes used in Drawing Coals or other Minerals
from Pits or Shafts of Mines are principally of use where great quantities
are to be drawn from deep pits in a short period of time, and where steam
engines are made use of. The methods are independent of each other, and
may be used either together or separately; they are simply as follows,
videlicet:-
First, the reducing the shock arising from suddenly putting the basket or
tub of coals or minerals in motion, and diminishing the effect of any other
shocks which may be received during the ascent or descent of the coals or
other minerals, or of the empty baskets or vessels in which they are or may
be contained;
And, secondly, in causing the rope to wear more equally throughout from
end to end, and preventing its fibres being torn or deprived of their elasticity
by the rope being kept on full stretch round the winding barrel, after ceasing
to suspend the weight raised..
In the deep coal mines of Northumberland and Durham baskets of about
eight hundredweight of coals are frequently drawn up with a mean velocity
exceeding ten feet per second, and the lifting of the coals and baskets is
almost instantaneous; the shock is therefore considerable in starting the
loaded basket, or corf, as it is technically called, and it is also great when the
loaded corf chances to strike underneath the light one, which from its size
and the quantity of iron in it generally weighs near two hundredweight, con-
sequently, as they approach each other with a velocity frequently exceeding
twenty feet per second, the shocks they give by striking each other shorten
the duration of the ropes. My method of remedying the evil arising from
these or any other sudden tensions of the rope is, to cause the pullies over
which the rope passes immediately above the pit, or any pulley in the approach
to it, to recede and slack out the rope on its receiving increased tension, and
to return when the tension is lessened. If pullies in the approach be used as
by Figures IV. and V., or by any other mode, then those over the pit may be
stationary as they are at present, and the moving pulley may progressively
lift or lower a chain or series of weights, the whole of them equal to or
exceeding the greatest gravitating resistance; on this principle various modes
may be used to answer the end, but these examples are sufficient for any
mechanic. Where the pullies suspending the ropes over the pits are made
to descend or ascend according to circumstances, they may be suspended from
or sustained on anything elastic, either of metal or wood, or they may be
counterpoised by a weight on a spiral, or by a series of weights capable of

page_text: resisting the varying pressure on the pulley, and of giving way or receding
on receiving a sudden impulse, so as to divide and reduce the effect of the
shock; or the springs and weights may be combined in these and in other
instances. The explanation of Figures I., II., and III. will be sufficient to
shew any mechanic the means of carrying this method into effect, and enable
him to vary it according to his pleasure.
Another method of reducing the sudden shock on the ropes, and which
may either be used separately or combinedly with the preceding, is to give
motion to the rope, wheel, or barrel by the intervention of strong springs,
either by the axis being in two parts, connected by springs and a coupling
bar, or by the wheel or barrel turning on its axis, and being held by springs
fixed to it, which on any sudden shock would suffer the wheel momentarily
to have its motion retarded, or to move through a lesser arc or portion of a
circle than the axis which follows the uniform motion of the engine; these
methods are explained in Figures VI. and VII.
My method of causing ropes to wear more equally throughout from end to
end when employed in raising minerals up a pit or shaft, where they are
drawn over a sheave or pulley, to which case only it extends, differs from the
ordinary method in which two separate ropes attached to the rope barrel
pass each of them over a pulley, one winding upon the rope barrel, whilst
the other is unwinding from it, in place of which I pass the two ends of the
same rope each over its separate pulley, so that one end is at the top whilst
the other is at the bottom of the pit, and the bight or loop of the rope going
to and from the pit over the two pulleys is passed over a grooved wheel or
round a rope barrel, so that when at work no part of the rope is stationary
on the wheel or barrel. If the rope be only passed over a grooved wheel it
should, to prevent it slipping, be pressed or held down by one or more holding
rollers, as shewn in Figure IV. But if a barrel be used along which the rope
may travel towards both ends as it winds or unwinds, then one or more turns
of it may be taken round the barrel, and holding rollers may either be used
or dispensed with as circumstances may point out.
EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES.
Figure I. is a ground plan. P is the pit up which the minerals are drawn.
x and y are the sheaves or pullies over which the ropes pass on which
the minerals or vessels containing them are suspended. n is the landing.
place for the minerals, and B the barrel round which the rope has one or
more turns, sufficient to prevent its slipping. The above references are appli-
cable to all the other Figures.

page_text: Figure II. is an elevation (as seen from the side v in Figure I.) of the pullies
and frame, with the machinery to reduce the effect of sudden shocks, by
means of the pulleys x and y lowering and rising, according to the tension of
the rope passing over them. These pulleys are each fixed on a separate
moving frame, capable of traversing up or down the uprights of the great
frame, at the head of which are m, m, the wheels or sheaves, over which pass
the chains or ropes that communicate between the moving pulley frames and
the springs or weights that are to counterbalance the varying pressures on
the pullies and y; in this instance springs and weights are combined.
Having determined the extent of motion which the pulleys are to pass through
between the two extremes, one of which is, when the loaded corf is just
landed and the rope slacked out by reversing the motion of the engine, viz,
the position of the pulley y, in which the highest of the series of weights w, w,
is landed over the others. The uppermost weight should barely be more than
a counterbalance to the weight of the frame, pulley, wheel, and portion of
rope over it, so that when the empty corf is thrown down, which it often is
for a height of ten or twelve feet, it will cause the sheave to give way by
acting first upon the double springs s, 8, and then upon the uppermost of the
series of weights; also in its passage down, as the rope increases in weight it
will lift more of the series of weights, so that if the loaded corf chance to
strike under the light one, these weights, by returning, will ease the shock, at
the same time that the loader corf, by the increased resistance upon it, will
abate its velocity by lifting more of the weights w, w, than it has in counter-
poise at half its ascent. The pulley is supposed to be near its greatest
descent, which is at the moment the loaded corf receives the shock of the
rope which raises it from the ground, in which it will ascend any determi-
nate space, according to the distances at which the counterpoise of the whole
pit rope, and that of the pit rope and loaded corf combined, are placed from
each other, and so much further as the intensity of the shock requires,
because the last of the weights may be moved from the ground, as it will be
sufficient that the whole of them be superior to that of the loaded corf and of
the rope from the pulley to the bottom of the pit, inclusive of the pulley and
frame. B is the rope barrel, which here is shewn out of its position to pre-
vent the Drawing appearing complicated. The rope has one turn round the
barrel, and has travelled to one end of it, r, y, being the part which has
raised the corf to the top, and r, a, the other, which in raising the next corf
will travel towards the opposite end of the barrel.
Figure III. is a side elevation of the two preceding Figures, in which the
letters of reference are the same. The frames carrying the pulleys x and y

page_text: may have a small wheel on each end of the axis of the pulley, or small wheels
on any proper part of the sliding frame to pass up and down in a channel, so
as to prevent friction.
Figure IV. is a side elevation, and has the same references as the preceding,
the only difference being, that, in place of the pulley a descending or ascend-
ing according to the variation of the stress on the rope, the intermediate
pulley t, to which the weights are attached, ascends and descends as circum-
stances require, the rope passing over the pulley o to give it a direction for
lifting the weights on t, and likewise that in place of the rope barrel a grooved
wheel W is shewn, with two holding rollers H, H, to press it into the groove;
the lower of the rollers is pressed upwards by a lever and a weight at the
opposite end.
Figure V. is also a side elevation, in which, in place of the pulley a per-
forming the necessary movements, they are produced by the retiring or
advancing of the pulley Z from or to s, its stationary position when the corf
is landed. The Drawing shews that the frame supporting the pulley Z
moves upon a centre at a, and is sustained in its different positions by the
chain or rope b, c, which may either pass over a pulley at d and raise a
series of weights, or wrap round a barrel, having upon the same axis a spiral
wheel sustaining a weight which increases its power by its progressive increase
of distance from the centre it moves on, or the weight may be suspended from
the barrel, and the rope b, c, be attached to the spiral, as shewn in the Plan.
One of the most simple, and in many instances a sufficiently perfect method,
is, to fix each of the pullies to the end of an elastic piece of timber supported
in the middle, and the opposite end attached to a weight a little superior to
the weight of the full corve and greatest length of rope, each end being
properly tapered. As it is ineligible to alter materially the line of suspension
of corves or buckets, it is necessary, if much vertical motion be intended to be
allowed to the pullies, that the rope be prevented getting out of its vertical
position, which may be done by a roller or sheave below the pullies, as shewn
by a, Figure V., and with this precaution the outer ends of of the elastic beams
may either lift a series of weights, or a weight on a spiral. In any of the
preceding instances the rope or chain which lifts a series of weights (or one
weight with the intervention of a spiral) may be attached to a sheave or
barrel connected with a loaded lever on the same axis, in which case the
stress on the chain or rope would be encreased or diminished accordingly as
the lever became more horizontal or verticle during the motion of the barrel
or sheave, which generally should be limited to less than a quarter of a circle..
Also, the purpose of producing a diversity of resistance on the pit ropes with
uniformity of weight of counterbalance may be obtained by placing the two

page_text: wheels o and x, in Figure IV., at a considerably greater distance from each
other than the diameter of the wheel t on which the weight is suspended, as
by this means the two parts of the rope which raise the wheel t will pull more.
and more obliquely as the latter rises.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Chapman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seven.
WILL" (L.S.) CHAPMAN.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named William Chapman
(being first duly stamped), in the
presence of us,
PEREGRINE GEO. ELLISON.
Sworn at the town and county of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne aforesaid, the
Second day May, One thousand
eight hundred and seven, before me,
ROBT WALTERS,
A Master Extr in Chancery.
Talled the Sin11] C
GEO. AYRE.