IMPROVEMENTS IN HOISTS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bellhouse, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanician, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HOISTS."
Sealed the 30th November 1866, and dated the 14th June 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bellhouse at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th June 1866.
I, WILLIAM BELLHOUSE, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Mecbani-
cian, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HOISTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in an arrangement for preventing the cage of
hoisting apparatus from falling should the rope or chain break. For this
purpose I use weighted levers turning upon centres fixed to the cage, the
said levers are connected at one end to the winding rope or chain, and their
other ends are capable of acting upon inclined pieces or wedges capable of
sliding between projections on the cage and the ordinary guide rods. Suppose
the rope or chain to have broken, the weighted levers being no longer sup-
ported turn upon their centres and bring the inclined pieces or wedges
between the above-named projections and the guide rods and thereby prevent
the falling of the cage. Springs may be used to give a starting impulse to
the wedges.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bellhouse in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BELLHOUSE, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanician, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of June, 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
William Bellhouse, Her special license that I, the said William Bellhouse,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Bellhouse, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
'MENTS IN HOISTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Bellhouse, my executors or administrators, 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 William Bellhouse, do hereby declare
the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in an arrangement for preventing the cage of hoisting
apparatus from falling should the rope or chain break. For this purpose I
use wedges or inclined pieces capable of sliding between projections on the
cage and the ordinary guide rods, such wedges being brought into action by
means of weighted levers or weights with or without springs.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the accompanying Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of a cage with my Invention applied, and
Fig. 2 represents a front elevation of the same.

page_text: A is the cage; B is a rope used to raise and lower the cage; C, C, are chains
used to connect the rope with the cage; D are the guide rods used to keep
the cage in its right position. The parts above enumerated may be made
according to any approved design, my Invention having reference only to
the apparatus for preventing the cage from falling should the, rope or chain
break; E, E, is a bar which is securely fastened to the cage, and on this bar
are fastened the studs or projections F, F, on which are hung the links H, H,
that carry the weighted levers i, i, which are made to turn upon centres K, K;
L, L, are inclined pieces or wedges hung on the projections or studs F, F;
m, m, are chains used to connect the weighted ends of the levers i, i, with the
chains C, C, in order to elevate such weighted ends whilst the hoisting rope or
chain remains unbroken; N is a spiral spring fastened to the serrated ends
of the levers i, i, and is distended so long as the hoisting rope or chain is
unbroken.
The apparatus can be applied to both sides of the cage, as indicated by
the Drawing Fig. 2, where there are two conductors, but in the case of more
conductors than two being used a separate apparatus must be applied to each
conductor.
The mode of operation is as follows:-Suppose the rope B or chain to have
broken the weighted ends of the levers i, i, fall and the serrated ends of the
levers rise and push up the inclined pieces or wedges L, L, between the studs
or projections F, F, and the guide rods D, and thereby prevent the falling of
the cage. The spring N contributes to the rapidity of the action of the levers
on the wedges by bringing the serrated ends of the levers i, i, more speedily
against the guide rods. It will be observed that the wedges are merely
hung upon the projections F, F. These wedges are attached to the lever O,
by chains P, P, and this lever O works on the fulcrum S, which is attached to
a bracket t, which is fastened to the bar E, E. This lever O is adapted so as to
enable a person within the cage to stop its motion by weighting or pulling
down the loose end of the lever O with the hand, and thus raising the wedges
and causing them to act on the guide rods whenever it is found desirable.
Having thus particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same may be applied, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the details herein set forth, as in some cases these
may be considerably varied or modified without departing from the
peculiar character of my Invention; but what I do claim is the preventing
the cage of hoisting apparatus from falling should the rope or chain break
by means of wedges or inclined pieces capable of sliding between projections

page_text: on the cage and the ordinary guide rods, such wedges being brought into
action by means of weighted levers or weights with or without springs, and
whether such wedges be attached to the weighted levers or weights or not.
'In witness whereof, I, the said: William Bellhouse, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM BELLHOUSE. (L.s.)