IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND WORKING ROCKS AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES CHIEPLY DESIGNED FOR MINING, TUNNELLING, AND OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND WORKING ROCKS AND
OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES CHIEPLY DESIGNED FOR MINING, TUNNELLING, AND
OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS."-A communication from abroad by James
Asbury M°Kean, of Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 18th June 1869, and dated the 21st December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st December 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND WORKING
ROCKS AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES CHIEPLY DESIGNED FOR MINING, TUNNELLING,
AND OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS," a communication, to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the machinery described in

page_text: the Specification of an Invention for which Letters Patent were granted
to me, bearing date the Eighth day of April 1868, No. 1183. In the
said machinery the drill or cutting implement is carried by a
reciprocating piston which is operated by steam or other power within
a cylinder. The said cylinder is supported upon an adjustable frame
which allows the machine to work horizontally, vertically, or obliquely,
and the drill is fed forward automatically as it penetrates the rock.
This Invention consists in the novel construction of the frame to
render the same more convenient for supporting and adjusting the
drilling mechanism, and in the peculiar means employed in connection
with the feeding devices to prevent the injurious effects of the vibration
and concussion occasioned by the rapid action of the drill. The frame
is preferably constructed of two side plates of wrought iron or other
suitable metal secured together by strong tie rods. The drill cylinder
is formed with a trunnion at one side which is fitted to turn in an eye
or boss formed on a plate which extends across the frame. The said
plate is formed with flanges or projections on each side, whereby it is
secured inside the frame. The said projections are provided with
apertures or slots to receive curved arms or sectors, which are attached
to the cylinder cover. These arms extend downward and form part of
a circle whose centre is the cylinder trunnion, so that if the cylinder is
turned on its trunnion they will slide freely through the slots in the
flanges of the plate. When the cylinder is adjusted to the desired
angle upon its trunnion, the curved arms are secured in the slots by
pinching screws or other tightening devices. The trunnion plate is
hinged or pivotted by its flanges to the side plates, and the said flanges
are provided with studs or bolts which extend through curved apertures
or slots in the side plates. These apertures form rather more than a
quarter of a circle, whose centre is the joint or pivot, whereby the flanges
of the trunnion plate are supported. When it is desired to adjust the
cylinder to any angle upon these pivots the bolts or studs are slackened
to allow them to move freely in the curved apertures, and when the
*required adjustment has been effected the said bolts are again tightened
to secure the cylinder in that position. The frame is supported upon
adjustable pointed metal bars or rods, which pass through sockets at the
corners of the frame. The said sockets are provided with pinching
screws or other devices for securing the said bars or rods at any desired
height in the sockets. I sometimes construct the frame of a single
hollow column or tube, which is provided at the lower end with a

page_text: hinged or jointed foot, and at the upper end with an adjustable screw.
The said foot and screw have steel points, which when the frame is to
be secured in a shaft or adit are forced into the sides or top and bottom
by the adjusting screw, which may be turned by means of. any convenient
key or lever. The hinged or jointed foot allows the column to be
secured at any desired angle in the shaft or tunnel. The said column
is provided with a toothed rack, and the trunnion of the cylinder is
supported in a carriage which by means of a small wheel or pinion
geared into the said rack is raised or lowered upon the column. When
properly adjusted the said carriage may be secured by a pawl and
ratchet wheel or other convenient locking device.
In the said machines as hitherto constructed the feed or advance of
the drill or tool into the rock has been effected by means of a rotating
nut fitted upon a screw thread formed on the tool bar or holder which
passes through the piston rod. As described in the said former
Specification the feed nut which is fitted within a box or socket is
formed with ratchet teeth on its periphery, and is rotated by a pawl
which is carried on a block working in an inclined guideway arranged
at the side of the feed box, the said pawl being arranged to take into
the teeth on the nut. By means of this pawl the nut is turned
forward at each stroke of the piston rod and thereby causes the drill to
advance into the rock. The concussion of the drill upon the rock is
transmitted to the feed nut and box, and as the machine sometimes
works with a velocity of five hundred strokes per minute the rapid
succession of blows may cause excessive vibration of the feeding
mechanism.
To reduce the effects of the rapid action of the machine upon such
mechanism I place at the rear of the feed nut a cushion or buffer of
india-rubber, hair, or other clastic material, which though hard enough
to ensure the full effect of the drill upon the rock is sufficiently yielding
to prevent the transmission of the injurious effects of the shock to the
feed mechanism. The said elastic cushion is preferably made of hard
india-rubber, and is interposed between the feed nut and the back nut
which closes the rear of the feed box. In the front face of the said nut
I turn an annular recess to receive the elastic cushion, the said recess
being of such a size and form as to support the cushion firmly, and to
permit a slight lateral expansion of the same. On the rear end of the
feed nut I form a ring or projection which lies in contact with the face

page_text: of the cushion, so that the latter at each stroke of the drill is compressed
between the said ring and the bottom of the recess. The back nut is
kept from turning and coming loose in the feed box by a spring catch
which is fixed outside the box and takes into a recess or notch on the
periphery of the nut. The threads of the feed screw are made square
at the back and inclined or bevelled on the front surface, and the threads
of the nut are of corresponding shape. By this method of forming the
threads the full strength of the metal of the nut and screw is retained.
The drill or tool is formed with a shank which is extended through the
feed screws, and is secured by a nut whose exterior is made conical and
fitted into a countersunk recess in the end of the said screw.
Instead of producing the feed or advance of the drill by means of
the inclined guideway I may form spiral grooves upon the end of the
piston rod, which end is increased in thickness for that purpose. A
ring is fitted to work freely over the piston rod with a feather on cach
side corresponding with the grooves in the piston. A pawl or catch is
arranged to take into notches on the ring, the said pawl being held in
place by a small spring coiled round the supporting arm of the ratchet.
A triangular shaped plate of metal held by nuts is provided for the
purpose of keeping the ratchet ring in its proper position while the
hollow grooved piston rod works through it. Supports are provided for
carrying a ring which supports the valve guide and also a guide to steady
the point of the drill in commencing a hole. The valve is actuated by
a tappet, when the piston rod moves in a forward direction the spiral
grooves turn the ratchet ring partially around the pawl, then falls into
a notch and prevents the turning back of the ring on the return stroke
of the piston. The said ring being thus held the piston rod must make
a partial revolution at each successive return stroke of the piston.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,.
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
my 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 of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND WORKING ROCKS AND OTHER.
HARD SUBSTANCES CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR MINING, TUNNELLING, AND OTHER LIKE.
OPERATIONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Robert Lake, 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 Scal 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 Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed,. to be particularly described and ascertained in and.
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying,
Drawings forming, a part of this Specification:-
My Invention relates to improvements: in the machinery described
in the Specification of an Invention for which Letters Patent were
granted to me, bearing date the Eighth day of April,. in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, No: 1183. In
the said machinery the drill or cutting implement is carried by a
reciprocating piston which is operated by steam or other power within
a cylinder. The said cylinder is supported upon an adjustable frame
which allows the machine to work. horizontally, vertically, or obliquely,.
and the drill is fed forward automatically as it penetrates the rock or
other substance.
This Invention consists in the novel construction of the frame,.
whereby it is rendered more convenient for sunporting and adjusting

page_text: the drilling mechanism, and in the peculiar means employed in connection
with the feeding and rotating devices described in the said former
Specification to prevent the injurious effects upon the machine of the
vibration and concussion occasioned by the rapid action of the drill.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of the said rock drilling machine mounted upon
a frame constructed according to a part of these improvements; Figure 2
is an end elevation thereof; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same
with the machine in a different position; Figure 3 is a side elevation of
the said rock drilling machine mounted upon a vertical column according
to a modification of my improvements; Figure 4 is an end elevation of
the same; Figures 5 and 6 are sections on the line x, x, and y, y,
Figure 3; Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of the feeding mechanism
for the. said drilling machine; Figure 8 illustrates the method of
effecting the rotation of the drill in the said machine; Figure 9 is
a section on the line 2, 2, Figure 8; Figures 7, 8, and 9 are drawn
to an enlarged scale. Like letters indicate the same parts throughout
the Drawings.
The frame, Figures 1 and 2, is preferably constructed of two side
plates a of wrought iron or other suitable metal secured together by
strong tie rods a*. The drill cylinder 6 is formed with a trunnion 6' at
one side, which is fitted to turn in an eye or boss formed on a plate a¹
which extends across the frame. The said plate is formed with flanges
or elbow pieces a³ on each side, whereby it is secured inside the frame.
The said projections are provided with apertures or slots to receive
curved arms or sectors a³, which are attached to the ears or projections a*
on the cylinder or to the cylinder cover. These arms a extend down-
ward and form part of a circle whose centre is the cylinder trunnion b¹,
so that if the cylinder is turned on its trunnion they will slide freely
through the slots in the flanges a² of the plate a'. When the cylinder is
adjusted to the desired angle upon its trunnion the curved arms are
secured in the slots by pinching screws a³ or other tightening devices.
The trunnion plate a' is hinged or pivotted by its flanges to the side
plates a, and the said flanges are provided with studs or bolts a
which extend through curved apertures or slots a' in the side plates a;
these apertures form rather more than a quarter of a circle, whose
centre is the joint or pivot a³, whereby the flanges of the trunnion
plate a' are supported'. When it is desired to adjust the cylinder 6 to

page_text: any angle upon these pivots the bolts or studs a' are slackened to allow
them to move freely in the curved apertures a', and when the required
adjustment has been effected the said bolts are again tightened to secure
the cylinder 6 in that position. The frame is supported upon adjustable
pointed metal bars or rods c, which pass through sockets d at the
corners of the frame. The said sockets are provided with pinching
screws e or other devices for securing the said bars or rods at any desired
height in the sockets.
of
I sometimes construct the frame of a single hollow column or tube f,
as shewn in Figures 3 and 4, which is provided at the lower end with a
hinged or jointed foot g, and at the upper end with an adjusting screw h.
The said foot and screw have steel points g', h', which when the frame is
to be secured in a shaft or adit are forced into the sides or top and
bottom thereof by adjusting the screw h, which may be turned by means
any convenient key or lever. The hinged or jointed foot g allows the
column f to be secured at any desired angle in the shaft, adit, or tunnel.
The said column is provided with a toothed rack f¹, and the trunnion b¹
of the cylinder 6 is supported in a carriage i, which by means of a small
wheel or pinion j geared into the rack f¹ is raised or lowered upon the
columnf. When properly adjusted the said carriage may be secured
by a pawl k and ratchet wheel or other convenient locking device.
As described in the said former Specification, and for the purpose
therein stated, I provide the column f with an india-rubber cushion or
buffer. The part to which this buffer is attached works up and
down inside the column, and is kept in place by a screw f³ whose
point projects into the groove or slot f. The cushion f is provided
with bands or hoops f³ to confine it laterally. The feed or advance
of the drill or tool into the rock is effected by means of a rotating nut
fitted upon a screw thread formed on the tool bar or holder, which
passes through the piston rod.
As described in the said former Specification, the feed nut which is
fitted within a box or socket attached to and moving with the piston
rod is formed with ratchet teeth on its periphery, and is rotated by a
pawl which is carried on a block working in an inclined guideway
arranged at the side of the feed box, the said pawl being arranged to
take into the teeth on the nut. By means of this pawl the nut is turned
forward at each stroke of the piston rod, and thereby causes the drill to
advance into the rock. The concussion produced by the blows of the

page_text: drill upon the rock is transmitted to the feed nut and box, and as the
machine sometimes works with a velocity of five hundred strokes per
minute, the rapid succession of blows may cause excessive vibration of
the feeding mechanism.
To reduce the effects of this rapid action upon such mechanism I
employ the means illustrated in Figure 7, and which I will now
describe.
At the rear of the feed nut n I place a cushion or buffer o. of india-
rubber, hair, or other clastic material which though hard enough to
ensure the full effect of the drill upon the rock is sufficiently yielding
to prevent the transmission of the injurious effects of the shock to the
feed mechanism. The said elastic cushion, which is preferably made of
hard india-rubber, is interposed between the feed nut n and the back
nut 2, which closes the rear of the feed box q. In the front face of
the back nut p I turn an annular recess p¹ to receive the elastic cushion o,
the said recess being of such a size and form as to support the
cushion o firmly, and to permit the slight lateral expansion of the
same which takes place when it is under pressure. On the rear end of
the feed nut n I form a ring or projection n', which lies in contact with
the face of the cushion o, so that the latter at each stroke of the drill
is compressed between the said ring and the bottom of the recess p'.
The back nut p is kept from turning and becoming loose in the feed box
by a spring catch ", which is fixed outside the box q, and takes into a
recess or notch on the periphery of the nut p. The threads of the feed
screw & are made square at the back, and inclined or bevelled on the
front surface, as shewn, and the threads of the nut n are of corresponding
shape. By this method of forming the threads great strength is
imparted to the nut and screw, each thread forming a square shoulder or
abutment to resist the pressure, and the full strength of the metal of
both the nut and screw being retained, so that the threads will not strip,
and there being no tendency to split or burst the nut at the sides. The
drill or tool is formed with a shank t which is extended through the
feed screw 8, and is secured by a nut t¹ whose exterior surface is made
conical, and fitted into a countersunk or taper recess in the end of the
The friction of these conical surfaces prevents the accidental
turning of the nut on the shank t.
screw 8.
It will be obvious from the foregoing description and from the former
Specification herein referred to that the drill or cutting tool moves to and

page_text: fro with the piston rod, while at the same time it has an independent motion
through the said rod by means of the feeding mechanism illustrated
in Figure 7. In addition to these movements the said tool has another
movement around its axis. This axial rotation of the drill has been
hitherto produced by means of an inclined guideway formed in a bar
arranged at the side of the piston rod. Instead of producing the
circular advance or rotation of the drill by means of this inclined guide-
way I form spiral grooves u upon the end of the piston rod, which end
is increased in thickness for that purpose. A toothed ring or ratchet v
is fitted to work freely over the piston rod with a feather v' on each side,
as shewn in Figure 9, corresponding with the grooves u in the piston
rod. A pawl or catch wo is arranged to take into the notches or teeth on
the ring v, the said pawl being held in place by a small spring coiled
round the supporting arm 20¹ of the ratchet v. A triangular shaped
plate 3 of metal held by nuts v³ is provided for the purpose of keeping
the ratchet ring in its proper position while the hollow grooved piston
rod works through it. The rods wo* are provided for carrying a ring w³,
which supports the bar w³ in which the valve guideway is formed, and also
a guide which steadies the point of the drill in commencing a hole. The
valve is actuated by the tappet 1 which works in the said guideway, and
operates the bar as described in the said former Specification, but
causes the desired action of the valve by means much more simple than
those heretofore used. When the piston rod moves in a forward
direction the spiral grooves u turn the ratchet ring v partially around;
the pawl w is thereby raised out of the notch in which it lies and falls
into the next notch, preventing the turning back of the ring v on the
return stroke of the piston. The said ring being thus held fast the
piston rod must make a partial revolution on its return stroke, and
this is repeated at cach successive reciprocation of the piston. By this
improved method of causing the rotation of the drill the working parts
of the mechanism therefor are much simplified, and the piston rod
is relieved of the weight of the parts employed in the old method of
rotation.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice, I wish it understood
that I limit my Invention of machinery for cutting and working rocks
and other hard substances to that which I have herein set forth as new

page_text: or as an improvement upon what is described in the former Specification
above referred to, and I claim the said improvements whether used
separately or in combination together, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)