IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS AND IN TRAMWAYS TO BE USED THEREWITH, ALSO IN ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY COMPRESSED' AIR OR OTHER FLUID
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edmund Donisthorpe, of Leeds, in the
County of York, Top and Noil Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER
MINERALS AND IN TRAMWAYS TO BE USED THEREWITH, ALSO IN ENGINES TO BE
WORKED BY COMPRESSED' AIR OR OTHER FLUID!"
Sealed the 24th September 1867, and dated the 26th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edmund Donisthorpe
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th March 1867.
I, GEORGE EDMUND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds,, in the County, of York, Top
and Noil. Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS
AND. IN TRAMWAYS TO BE USED THEREWITH,, ALSO IN ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY
.COMPRESSED AIR OR OTHER FLUID," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, firstly, in an improved combination or arrangement
of machinery for cutting coal and other minerals. In this combination a bar
carrying cutting tools which are to cut a groove in the coal is attached to the-

page_text: exterior of the cylinder of an engine, the cylinder being capable of sliding end-
wise to and fro in guides whilst the piston is fixed. To attach the cutter bar to
the exterior of the cylinder the bar is attached to a plate resting on a flat table
or surface formed on the upper side of the cylinder; the forward end of the plate
turns on a pin projecting up from the flat table or surface, and through the other
end of the plate slots are formed through which bolts pass, by which this end
also can be held down to the table; the slots allow of the angle at which the
cutter bar is connected to the cylinder being somewhat varied; they also allow of
the plate carrying the cutter bar being, if desired, caused to turn on its pin joint
after each stroke of the cutter bar, so as to cause the bar to clear or push back the
pieces of coal cut away by the cutting tools. To allow of the to-and-fro motion
of the cylinder rollers or guides are applied to the two sides of the cylinder, which.
rollers or guides work in grooves formed in the two side bars of a frame, the
bars being capable of turning near their centre on horizontal axes, so that the
angle at which the frame is set may at any time be varied to vary the angle
at which the cutting tool is working. The back end of the piston rod is fixed
in a socket carried by the back end of the frame, and passages are formed from
end to end of the rod to allow the air or fluid with which the engine is worked
to pass into and out of the cylinder on either side of the piston; the air or
fluid is admitted to or allowed to escape from the passages in the rod through
ports formed in the socket above mentioned; the passage of air or fluid
through these ports is governed by an equilibrium valve working in a cylinder
in connection with the socket. The axis of the valve passes through both
euds of the cylinder, and each end of the axis is connected to à lever handle
by which the valve can be moved to and fro. The axis of the frame which
carries the cylinder and cutter is supported on a carriage or truck in such
manner that the frame may incline in any direction and also rise and fall on
pillars, the lower ends of which are fixed in sockets at the four corners of the
machine;
the truck or carriage is supported on wheels which run on rails laid
along the front of the face of coal to be worked. The height of the pillars
fixed in these sockets can be varied to suit the height of the pit in which the
machine is to be worked. On the truck is a cylinder, the ram or plunger of
which supports the rising and falling frame, and thus by admitting air or fluid"
under pressure to the lower end of this cylinder the frame can be pressed
upwards and will carry with it the frame carrying the cylinder and cuiters, or
other arrangements may be employed for pressing up the frame.
of this latter frame are four rollers, one at each of its corners, which rollers
when the frame is pressed upwards bear against the roof of the mine. When
On the top

page_text: the machine is at work this frame will therefore be kept up to and parallel
with the roof; the machine is also steadied when at work by a bar which runs
across the top of the rising and falling frame entering a groove previously cut
for it in the roof of the mine, as described in the Specification of a former Patent
granted to me, dated Twenty-first day of April 1866 (No. 1136). When the
machine is at work it is moved forward by a toothed wheel gearing into a rack
formed by one of the rails upon which the machine runs; the toothed wheel is
driven from a hand wheel- by a worm and worm-wheel gear, which can be dis-
connected from the axis of the toothed wheel when it is desired to move the
machine from place to place. The pieces of coal cut away by the cutting tool
may be cleared away by forming on one side of the bar that carries the cutting
tools sockets to receive these tools, these sockets being formed at the forward
edge of the bar, and at the back of the bar a rib is formed between which
and the sockets is a space into which the pieces of coal cut away by the tools
enter, and on the back stroke of the bar they are drawn back with it and removed
from the groove. In order that the rails of the rail or tram ways used with
coal-cutting machines may readily be moved from place to place and be quickly
brought into the desired position in front of the face of the coal to be worked
I joint or link the ends of the rails one to another so as to form a chain of
rails, the two ends of which I connect up with pillars that can be set fast
between the floor and roof of the mine, and when so set fast the chain of rails
may be drawn straight by screws or other suitable mechanism applied to the
pillars; the rack rail with which the pinion on the cutting machine is to gear
I form of two plates of wrought iron held together at a short distance apart.
from one another by studs or pins placed at suitable distances to form the teeth
of the rack.
Another part of my Invention relates to the construction and arragement
of engines to be worked by compressed air or other fluid which is not capable
of condensation, and has for its object to so construct the engine that it shall
exert a large amount of force during the forward stroke with a comparatively
low amount of pressure of compressed air or fluid. The arrangement is
specially applicable to engines employed for giving motion to the 'picks or
cutting tools of coal-cutting machines, or to the drilling or boring tools of boring
machines employed for boring holes in rock or mineral.
The Invention consists in employing in conjunction with the main cylinder
of the engine one or more other cylinders to act to bring back the piston of
the main engine after it has made its forward stroke, or it may act to bring
back the cylinder of the engine according as the piston or the cylinder be the

page_text: 'moving part of the engine; by this means a vacuum will be formed in front
of the piston, which will on the forward stroke act together with the pressure
.of the compressed air or fluid at the back of the piston to force forward the
cutting tool; by this arrangement; a large effective force will be exerted
during the forward stroke with a comparatively low pressure of compressed
air or fluid..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Edmund Donisthorpe in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
EDMUND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds, in the County of York, Top and Noil
Manufacturer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, Her special license that I, the
said George Edmund Donisthorpe, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Edmund Douisthorpe, 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 for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN
GETTING COAL AND OTHER MINERALS AND IN TRAMWAYS TO BE USED THEREWITH,
ALSO IN ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY COMPRESSED AIR OR OTHER FLUID," upon, the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under ny, 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 per-
formed, 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 George Edmund Donisthorpe, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention consists, firstly, in an improved combination or arrangement;
of machinery for cutting coal and other minerals. In this combination a bar
carrying cutting tools which are to cut a groove in the coal is attached to the
exterior of the cylinder of an engine, the cylinder being capable of sliding.
endwise to and fro in guides whilst the piston is fixed. The cutter bar is
attached to a plate resting on the upper surface of the cylinder; the forward
end of the plate turns on a pin carried by the cylinder; other pins or bolts
carried by the opposite end of the cylinder pass through slots formed in the
rear end of the plate. To allow of the to-and-fro motion of the cylinder
rollers or guides are applied to the two sides of the cylinder, which rollers or
guides work in grooves formed in the two side bars of a frame, which side
bars are capable of turning near their centres on horizontal axes, so that the
angle at which the frame is set may any at time be varied to vary the angle at
which the cutting tool is working. The back end of the piston rod is fixed
in a socket carried by the back end of the frame, and passages are formed
from end to end of the rod to allow the air or fluid with which the engine is
worked to pass into and out of the cylinder on either side of the piston. The
air or fluid is admitted to or allowed to escape from the passages in the rod
through ports formed in the socket above mentioned; the passage of air or
fluid through these ports is governed by an equilibrium valve working in a
cylinder in connection with the socket. The axis of the valve passes through
both ends of the cylinder, and each end of the axis is connected to a lever
handle, by which the valve can be moved to and fro. The axis of the frame
which carries the cylinder and cutter is supported on a carriage or truck in
such manner that in addition to being able to set the frame to any desired
angle it may also rise and fall on pillars, the lower ends of which are fixed in
sockets at the four corners of the truck; the truck or carriage is supported
on wheels which run on rails laid along the face of the coal or mineral to be
worked. The height of the pillars fixed in these sockets can be varied to
suit the height of the pit in which the machine is to be worked.. On the
ruck is a cylinder, the ram or plunger of which supports the rising, and: falling
rame, and thus by admitting air or fluid under pressure to the lower end of
his cylinder the frame can be pressed upwards and will carry with it the
rame carrying the cylinder and cutters, or other arrangements may be.
mployed for pressing up the frame. When the machine is at work it is
noved forward by a toothed wheel gearing.into a rack formed by one of the

page_text: rails upon which the machine runs; the toothed wheel is driven from a hand
wheel by a worm and worm-wheel gear, which can be disconnected from the
axis of the toothed wheel when it is desired to move the machine from place
to place.
Figure 1. shews a back view, Fig. 2 an end view, and Fig. 3 a plan of a
machine constructed as above described.
a is the bar carrying the cutting tools, the stem of which bar is bolted to a
plate b carried on the upper side of a cylinder c, on the two covers or ends of
which rollers d are carried, which run in grooves or guides in the frame e; the
plate b, to which the cutter bar is affixed, is, as above mentioned, capable of.
turning on a pin marked 6' at its forward end, and at its rear end it is held
down by bolts 62, so that the angle at which the cutters are set to work may
be varied. The 'back end of the piston rod f is fitted into a socket f at the
back end of the frame e, and is held into the socket by a nut screwed on to
its end, as clearly shewn by the Drawing. In connection with 'the socket f¹
is the valve box ġ, in which is an equilibrium valve. Separate views of the
piston and valve box and valve are shewn at Figs. 4, 5, and 6; these views
shew clearly the manner in which fluid under pressure, by preference com-
pressed air, is admitted to and allowed to pass from the two ends of the
cylinder c, hollow passages being formed for this purpose from end to end, or
nearly so, of the piston rod, which passages at the rear end of the piston rod
correspond with ports formed in the socket and valve box. The direction in
which the air enters and leaves the cylinder when the valve is in one position
is shewn by one set of arrows, whilst another set of arrows shews the direc-
tions of the streams of air when the valve is in the opposite position. The
valve can be worked by one or other of two lever handles h which are
connected to the two ends of the valve stem. In order that the cutters may
be worked at any desired angle the side bars of the frame e turn at their
centres on horizontal axes i, and the frame can be set fast by lock nuts k;
the axes i are carried by a frame l, which can be raised or lowered as desired,
so that the cutter may cut its groove into the coal or mineral at any desired
height from the floor of the mine; the frame moves up and down on
pillars m¹ at the four corners of a truck m furnished with wheels to run on a
rail or tram way laid on the floor of the mine along the face of the coal or
mineral to be worked; the lower ends of the pillars are held in sockets, as
shewn, so that pillars of any height may readily be applied to the machine to
suit different heights of mines.
In the machine shewn at Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the rising and falling frame 1

page_text: is supported by a plunger or ram m³ working in an air cylinder m³, and when
the machine is at work the frame is by this means pressed up towards the
roof of the mine; the height at which the cutters shall work is also in the
machine, shewn in these Figures, governed by four rollers at the corners of
the frame e, and the machine is steadied when at work by a bar o entering by
preference into a groove previously cut for it in the roof of the mine; this bar
is carried by the rising and falling frame 1. In place of this arrangement for
supporting the rising and falling frame 7 this frame may be otherwise supported,
as, for example, the frame may be supported by a screw, as in the arrangement
shewn at Figs. 7 and 8. The bar o for steadying the machine when at work
may also, as shewn in these Figures, be pressed upwards from the truck m
independently of the frame 1, and the rollers at the four corners of the frame e
may be dispensed with. For this purpose the bar is connected at its ends to
two plungers or rams 1, 1, which work in air cylinders 2,2; this arrangement
gives greater facilities for raising and lowering the cutting apparatus whilst
the machine is at work, as the frame can at any time be raised or lowered by
turning the wheel 3, which carries a nut working on the screw by which the
frame is supported; by this latter arrangement the machine when at work
will cut a groove parallel with the floor of the mine, whilst in the machine
shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 it will cut parallel with the roof.
The machine shewn at Figs. 7 and 8 may in other respects be made in a
similar manner to the machine shewn at Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and may also be
caused to travel forward when at work by a toothed wheel p gearing with one
of the rails, the toothed wheel being driven from a hand wheel p¹ by a worm
and worm-wheel gear as shewn; when it is desired to move the machine from
place to place the worm may be raised out of gear with the worm wheel by
turning the handle r.
What I claim in respect of this part of my Invention is,-
First, the general combination or arrangement of machinery above
described.
Secondly, the affixing the picks or cutters, as above described, to the
exterior of a cylinder which has a to-and-fro reciprocatory motion imparted
to it.
Thirdly, the combination of apparatus above described for admitting air to
such moving cylinder, consisting of the hollow rod f held at its end in a socket f¹
in connection with a, valve, by preference an equilibrium valve, worked by a
lever handle, as above described.
Another part of my Invention relates to the clearing away of the pieces of

page_text: coal cut away by the cutting tools. For this purpose I form at the back of
the bar that is to carry the cutters a rib or flange, as shewn at Fig. 9, whilst
the cutters are held in sockets formed on the forward edge of the bar, a space
being left between the back of the sockets and the flange, into which the
pieces of coal are received as they are cut away by the cutters during the
forward stroke; on the back stroke the pieces will be drawn back with the
eutter, bar, and at the next forward stroke they will pass away at the back of
the cutter bar; means of closing the ends of the space between the sockets and
the flange may be provided, if desired, so as to ensure the drawing back of
the pieces of coal. In order that the rails of the rail or tram ways used with
coal-cutting machines may readily be moved from place to place, and, be
quickly brought into the desired position in front of the face of coal to be
worked, I joint or link the ends of the rails to one another-so as to form a
chain of rails, the two ends of which I connect up with pillars that can be set
fast between the floor and roof of the mine, and when so set fast the chain of
rails may be drawn straight by screws or other suitable mechanism applied to
the pillars; the rack rail with which the pinion on the cutting machine is to
gear I form of two plates of wrought iron held together at a short distance
apart from one another by studs or pius placed at suitable intervals to form
the teeth of the rack.
The mode in which I prefer to link the rails together and to stretch or
hold them between pillars is clearly seen in the Drawings, Figures 10
and 11; these Figures also shew clearly my improved method of constructing
the rack rail.
Another part of my Invention relates to the construction and arrangement
of engines to be worked by compressed air or other fluid which is not capable
of condensation, and has for its object to so construct the engine that it shall
exert a large amount of force during the forward stroke with a comparatively
low amount of pressure of compressed air or other fluid. The arrangement is
specially applicable to engines employed for giving motion to the picks or
cutting tools of coal-cutting machines, or to the drilling or boring tools of boring
machines employed for boring holes in rock or mineral.
The Invention consists in employing in conjunction with the main cylinder
of the engine one or more other cylinders to act to bring back the piston of
the main engine after it has made its forward stroke, or it may act to bring
back the cylinder of the engine according as the piston or the cylinder be the
moving part of the engine; by this means a vacuum will be formed in front
of the piston, which will on the forward stroke act together with the pressure

page_text: of the compressed air or fluid at the back of the piston to force forward the
cutting tool; by this arrangement a large effective force will be exerted during
the forward stroke with a comparatively low pressure of compressed air or
fluid.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
G. E. DONISTHORPE. (L.S.)