Improvements in Boring or Tunnelling Machines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 9th June, 1890--Accepted, 12th July, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Boring or Tunnelling Machines.
I, REGINALD STANLEY, of Nuneaton Colliery and Engineering Works, Nuneaton,
in the county of Warwick, Colliery Proprietor and Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of machine for tunnelling or
assisting to make tunnels in coal, marl, stone or other substances described in the
specifications of former Letters Patent granted to me No. 335, dated 10th January
1885, No. 1449, dated 1st February 1886, No. 2312, dated 14th February 1887,
No. 8375, dated 10th June 1887 and No. 1763, dated 6th February 1888.
In forming tunnels in different substances, especially in coal, stones and other hard
substances are frequently found embedded in the soft material, or the strata is found
to vary, the coal, for example, giving place to hard or sandy material which besides
requiring greater power to cut through it, also requires a slower speed to be adopted
to prevent the cutters becoming broken or worn away too rapidly. In such cases
I find it a great advantage to revolve the arms and cutters of the said machines more
slowly and at the same time increase the power for driving the cutters in proportion
to the piston speed of the engine or engines.
The object of the present improvements is to provide means whereby the rate of
speed of cutting and the power of the machine can be varied for the above stated
purpose. Also to provide more efficient and convenient means for conveying the
fine material or cuttings from the front to the back of the machine.
In carrying out my invention I arrange the gearing working between the crank
shaft of the engine or engines, and the central shaft carrying the arms and cutters
in such a manner that, by changing one or more of the wheels or by other suitable
means, either a part or the whole of the said gearing may be brought into work and
thus in the same engine or engines of a machine two or more rates of speed and power
of cutting in proportion to the piston speed of the engine or engines may be obtained
by simply slipping one wheel out and another in gear, or by any other suitable means
without seriously delaying the cutting operations.
I attach a conveyor or frictionless or other worm instrument working in a trough
to the side of the tunnelling machine which conveyor is driven from the engine or
engines of the machine by a chain belt or belts and wheels or other suitable gearing,
so that when the fine material and cuttings are placed in the front end of the conveyor
trough either by hand or by the action of the arms and scrapers or by other means,
they are quickly carried back by the action of the worm and forced out at the back
end of the trough.
The advantages of this improvement are that less space is occupied by this means of
conveying the material than hitherto and consequently more room
afforded for men
to pass and for other purposes, a saving of power required for the conveyance of
material is effected and, by the worm being covered over, there is less danger of large
material falling on to and hindering and damaging the conveying apparatus than
hitherto.
T21
1
1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Boring or Tunnelling Machines.
I, REGINALD STANLEY, of Nuneaton Colliery and Engineering Works, Nuneaton, in
the county of Warwick, Colliery Proprietor and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of machine for tunnelling or
assisting to make tunnels in coal, marl, stone or other substances described in the
specifications of former Letters Patent granted to me No. 335, dated 10th January
1885, No. 1449, dated 1st February 1886, No. 2312 dated 14th February 1887,
No. 8375 dated 10th June 1887, and No. 1763 dated 6th February 1888.
In forming tunnels in different substances, especially in coal, stones and other hard
substances are frequently found embedded in the soft material, or the strata is found
to vary, the coal for example, giving place to hard or sandy material which besides
requiring greater power to cut through it, also requires a slower speed to be adopted
to prevent the cutters becoming broken or worn away too rapidly. In such cases
I find it a great advantage to revolve the arms and cutters of the said machines more
slowly and at the same time increase the power for driving the cutters.
The object of the present improvements is to provide means whereby the rate of
speed of cutting and the power of the machine can be varied in inverse proportion
to each other for the above stated purpose. Also to provide more efficient and con-
venient means in such machines, when provided with arms and cutters adapted to cut
away the whole face of a tunnel, for conveying the fine material or cuttings from the
front to the back of the machine.
In carrying out my invention I arrange the gearing working between the crank
shaft of the engine or engines, and the central shaft carrying the arms and cutters in
such a manner that, by changing one or more of the wheels or by other suitable means,
either a part or the whole of the said gearing may be brought into work and thus in
the same engine or engines of a machine two or more rates of speed and power of
cutting may be obtained by simply slipping one wheel out and another in gear, or by
any other suitable means without seriously delaying the cutting operations.
For conveying the cuttings to the rear of machines of the kind above referred to
I attach a frictionless or other worm conveyor, working in.a trough, to the side of the
tunnelling machine, which conveyor is driven from the engine or engines of the
machine by a chain, belt or belts and wheels or other suitable gearing, so that, when
the fine material and cuttings are placed in the front end of the conveyor trough
either by hand or by the action of the arms and scrapers or by other means, they are
quickly carried back by the action of the worm and forced out at the back end of the
trough.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can be carried
into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boring or tunnelling machine having arms and
cutters adapted to cut an annular groove in the face of the tunnel, and provided with
my improved gearing for enabling the speed and power of the cutters to be varied,
the machine being shewn at work in a tunnel or heading:
Figure 2 is a similar view of a boring or tunnelling machine having arms and
cutters adapted to cut away the entire face of the tunnel, and provided with a trough
and worm-conveyor according to my present improvements and with a spur wheel
with threaded boss or bush arranged and working on the threaded portion of the
central shaft in the manner described in the specification of my said former Patent
No. 1763 of 1888.
Figure 3 is a front elevation; and
Figure 4 is a rear elevation of the same:

page_text: Figure is a side elevation of so much of a horing or tunnelling machine as is
necessary to illustrate a modifiel arrangement of the trough and worm-conveyor.
Figure 7 is a transverse vertical section on the line A B of figure 6.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar or corresponding parts.
Referring to figure 1 a. a are the radial arms of the machine provided with hori-
zontally extending arms, adapted to cut an annular groove in the face of the tunnel
by means of cutters arranged upon the said horizontal arms. The arms a. a
are carried on the central shaft c working in the frame d, which latter is fixed in the
tunnel during the cutting operation as described in my said former patents.
This
figure illustrates the driving gear of a machine constructed according to my said
former patents, the said driving gear being so arranged that the crank cog-wheel 62
can be slipped into gear with the wheel c or with the wheel d². In the former case
the power is transmitted through three pair of wheels and in the latter case through two
pairs only. In a similar manner four pairs of wheels can be introduced. The result
of this arrangement of change gear is that the more the power is multiplied the slower
will be the speed of the cutters and vice versa. This arrangement can also be
applied to a machine adapted to cut away the whole face of the tunnel.
This is a most important consideration when working in a faulty seam with varying
hard and soft, material, requiring at one time a fast ent and little cutting power and at
another, especially when stones are met with, a slow speed and great cutting power,
the slow speed to keep the cutters cool and the greater power to cut through hard
material.
Referring to figures 2, 3, and 4 e is the trough with which I provide this kind of
boring machine, the said trough extending alongside the machine and having a
worm-conveyor frevolving therein, the top front end of the trough being open to
admit the cuttings and fine debris produced by the action of the cutters upon the face
of the tunnel.
The worm is arranged upon a worm-shaft g, which is carried in bearings and i, and
bas a chain-wheel j keved on its front end and driven by a chain k passing over an
intermediate chain-wheel 1, and by a chain m, passing over another intermediate
wheel n (fixed to the wheel 1), from a chain-wheel o secured on an intermediate
shaft P of the machine, by the action of a friction pin or screw brake 9, (illustrated
more clearly in figure 5) which prevents breakage of the gearing, if a sudden strain
arises from any cause, as the shaft p would then rotate without operating the
gearing.
As the cutting proceeds the attendant, by means of a shovel or the like, lifts them
into the trough e through an opening d (shewn in figure 3). The cuttings are then
carried along the trough by the worm f and expelled at the back end whence they are
removed in tubs or in any other suitable manner.
The cuttings are prevented from getting into the chain and wheel-gearing and under
the machine by a plate el figure 2 attached to the frame and turned over the front
edge of the trough e. This plate is not shewn in figure 3, it being removed for the
purpose of clearly illustrating the gearing situated behind it. With the exception of
the opening d for the admittance of the cuttings the trough e is covered over with a
plate which extends horizontally to the circumference of the tunnel and allows of
men travelling upon it or of material being passed backwards and forwards. The
worm-trough e is attached to the side of the frame d by means of brackets g¹, gl which
allow of the trough being raised or lowered as required.
In the modified arrangement of the trough and worm-conveyor illustrated in
figures 6 and 7, the trough and worm-conveyor and gearing instead of being fixed to
the frame d and remaining stationary while the cutter-arms are advancing, are
advanced in the tunnel as the cutting proceeds, the cuttings being lifted into the trough
by the action of the cutter-arms a. In this arrangement I employ a steel bracket n'
held upon the central shaft c and upon the boss o' of the arms a by means of a
groove p¹ in the said boss into which the two halves of the boss q' of the bracket fit
and are secured by screw bolts and nuts ¹, 71, whereby the bracket is not only

page_text: held steady but is caused to advance with the arms and cutters without rotating
therewith.
The
This bracket carries below the shaft the gearing for operating the worm f which
conveys the cuttings to the rear of the machine. The worm-conveyor is driven from
the central shaft c by the chain-wheel o which in this arrangement is keyed thereon,
and by the chain m is connected to the smaller or intermediate chain-wheel n working
on the small shaft p on which it is held by a friction pin 7, similar to that described
when referring to figures 2 to 5, and which is tightened just enough to drive the
small shaft the chain-wheel n and chain-wheel on the other or front side of the
P.
bracket n', but allows the brake to slip if any unusual strain comes upon the worm-
conveyor or any of the parts connected therewith and thus prevents breakage.
wheel is connected by the chain & with an drives the small wheel which being
keyed on the worm-shaft g causes the worm to revolve at the same time the
shaft and cutters advance in the heading. The steel bracket n¹ being attached to the
front of the conveyor and the conveyor-shaft, draws the trough e and worm-
conveyor along with it as the arms and cutters advance in the tunnel. The
trough e is carried by two hanging brackets ¹, s attached thereto at about the
middle of its length, which brackets are adapted to slide along a bar t¹ carried by
brackets u', u' on the front and back uprights of the machine. The weight of the
trough e, bracket n', radial arms a, etc., is partly borne by a wheel or roller vl
which is attached to the bottom of the steel bracket n¹ by a spring bar wl secured
by pins, to the bracket. The said pins work in slots in the spring bar and
thereby allow it to yield slightly when extra strain comes upon it.
A wheel y' attached to the front bracket and working over the cover f¹ of the
worm-trough e prevents the trough from rising through any extra strain. I sometimes
dispense with the wheel. The plate e' is carried forward in the tunnel as the cutting
proceeds and a portion of it laps over the front of the worm trough e, and
chain-wheel with chain k, and thereby keeps the cuttings from getting into the
gearing.
The construction otherwise is the same as that herein before described with reference
to figures 2, 3 and 4. The front ends of the radial arms a are splayed and advan-
tageously provided with scrapers a² attached as shewn, so that the cuttings are carried
back to the sides of the tunnel by the arms, whence they are drawn by an attendant
by means of a rake in o the open end of the worm-trough e, the attendant being on
the cover of the trough e when the arms are working near the frame d; and by a
shovel when he takes his place between the frame d and arms a, the latter having
advanced sufficiently far in the tunnel to allow him sufficient room to do so.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. In a tunnelling machine, the combination with a central screw-threaded shaft
carrying arms with cutters adapted to advance and cut away the face of the tunnel or
an annular groove around the face of the tunnel while the frame, engine and gearing
are fixed in the tunnel, of driving gear for operating the said central shaft so arranged
that the speed and power of the cutters can be varied in inverse proportion to each
other according to the nature of the substance to be cut through, substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.
2. The combination with a tunnelling machine having a central screw-threaded
shaft carrying arms and cutters for cutting away the whole face of the tunnel while
the frame, engines and gearing are fixed, of a worm-conveyor working in a trough
attached to the machine and driven by gearing from the engines of the machine,
substantially as set forth.
3. In a tunnelling machine, the combination with a central screw-threaded shaft
carrying arms and cutters adapted to advance and cut away the whole face of the
tunnel, while the frame, engines and gearing are fixed, of a trough and worm-conveyor

page_text: attached to the machine and driven by gearing from the engines, substantially
as set forth and illustrated in figures 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
4. In a tunnelling machine, the combination with a central screw-threaded shaft
carrying arms and cutters adapted to advance and cut away the whole face of the
tunnel, while the frame, engines and gearing are fixed, of a bracket attached to the
said central shaft at the back of the cutter-arms, so that it will not revolve therewith
and carrying driving gear for working a worm-conveyor from the central shaft, the
said bracket being attached to the front of the conveyor-shaft or of the trough con-
taining the conveyor, so that as the arms and cutters advance, the worm-conveyor
advances therewith, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in figures 6
and 7 of the accompanying drawings.
5. The improved boring or tunnelling machines herein before described with reference
to the various figures of the accompanying drawings.
Datad the 0th day of June 1800
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.