IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND BORING COAL AND ROCKS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sturgeon, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING AND BORING COAL AND ROCKS."
Sealed the 22nd March 1864, and dated the 24th September 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sturgeon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
September 1863.
I, JOHN STURGEON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Consulting Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND BORING COAL AND ROCKS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in coal and rock cutting
macbines to be worked by compressed air or other suitable motive power,
whereby the valve gearing will be rendered self-adjusting to suit different
lengths of stroke, and the traverse or feed motion of the machine to keep the
pick or cutting tool up to its work will be so regulated or controlled that the
cutting tool must first penetrate a certain determinate depth into the coal or
material under operation before the machine can advance. The valve gear
which I employ for working the air or other motive-power engine of the coal-
cutting machine is an adaptation from an improved steam hammer for which
Provisional Protection was granted to me on the 23rd May 1863 (No. 1292).
The rapidity of action which this adaptation imparts to the cutting tool
necessitates a self-acting traverse motion, having the characteristics above stated,

page_text: but the self-acting traverse motion may with advantage be employed when the
valves are worked by hand.
To ensure the self-adjustment of the valves for working the engine, I, in the
first place, connect that part of the valve motion which reverses the valve for
the back stroke to the piston rod, so as to cause it to traverse with the piston
rod, and thus be in position for reversing at any point in the stroke; and in
the second place I employ the shock or jerk caused by the cutting tool striking
against the coal, rock, or other substance, to set in motion an arrangement of
rock levers, whose office is to transmit this sudden motion, directly or otherwise,
to the valve rod, and thereby to reverse the stroke. This arrangement of
levers carries a bowle, which, by striking against a fixed stop at or near the
completion of the reverse stroke, again shifts the position of the valves and
produces the return motion of the piston.
The feed motion I have stated is arranged in such a way that the cutting
tool, whether it be a picker or boring tool, is obliged to penetrate to a certain
determinate depth into the material before it can set in motion the gear which
advances the tool. This may be effected in various ways, but an arrangement
of parts which will serve the purpose may be thus described. A pawl or
ratchet actuated directly from the piston rod of the engine or first mover shaft
is so arranged that at any required point in the stroke it will be allowed to fall
into the teeth of and drive a ratchet wheel keyed to a shaft which is connected
by any ordinary arrangement of gear wheels with the carrying wheels of the
machine. The axial motion therefore of this shaft will impart a corresponding
traverse motion to the machine, which may run upon rails or ways. The
ratchet wheel is mounted between two adjustable fixed segment guides, which
are so shaped as to keep the pawl or ratchet out of the teeth of the ratchet
wheel until the determined length of traverse of the cutting tool has been
effected. This pawl is fitted with a compound stud, one end being rigid and
the other capable of yielding to endway pressure. The yielding end slides
upon one of the said segment guides, and the rigid end upon the periphery of
the other. So long as the traverse of the tool is short of the determinate
distance the pawl will be supported by the yielding stud out of action, but
when the proper length of stroke is obtained, the pawl will drop or be forced
inwards, its stud coming in contact with the segment guide of smaller radius.
In traversing over this guide the stud will meet a depression and the pawl will
then be thrust into contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel before mentioned.
In the continued traverse of the pawl, the requisite axial motion will be
imparted to the ratchet wheel for communicating, as before explained, the
traverse motion to the carrying wheels of the machine, and thus giving the

page_text: proper advance to the cutter, and the ratchet will then be raised to its elevated
position, the stud yielding to allow of that elevation. To provide for the proper
traverse of the machine when the stroke of the tool is shortened, the segment
guides are made capable of adjustment of a shorter stroke; the pawl may fall
as above explained into contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Sturgeon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th March 1864.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STURGEON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Consulting Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Sturgeon, Her special license that I, the said
John Sturgeon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Suurgeon, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND BORING COAL AND ROCKS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Sturgeon, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Sturgeon, do hereby declare-
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per--
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following:
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in coal and rock-cutting-
machines to be worked by compressed air or other suitable motive power

page_text: whereby the valve gearing will be rendered self-adjusting to suit different
lengths of stroke, and the onward or progressive motion of the machine to
keep the pick or cutting tool up to its work will be so regulated or controlled
that the cutting tool must first penetrate a certain determinate depth into the
coal or material under operation before the machine can advance. The valve
gear which I employ for working the air or other motive power engine of the
coal-cutting machine is an adaptation from an improved steam hammer, for
which I obtained Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third May One
thousand eight hundred and sixty three (No. 1292). The rapidity of action
which this arrangement of valve gear imparts to the cutting tool necessitates a
self-acting motion for advancing the machine, such self-acting progressive
motion having the characteristics above stated. This self-acting motion may
also with advantage be employed when the valves are worked by hand.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1, Sheet I., represents a partial eleva-
tion of a coal-cutting machine with the combined self-acting valve and pro-
pelling motion adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Figures
3, 4, and 5, represent details of the progressive or advancing motion drawn on
an enlarged scale. In these Figures a, a, is the framing of the machine; b, the
cylinder, which is fixed to the frame which works a piston of ordinary con-
struction, the motive power being either compressed air, steam, or other elastic
fluid; c is the piston rod; and c¹, the joint by which the piston rod is coupled
to a crank arm c², keyed on the vertical shaft c³, which carries the picker arms.
The joint c carries a weighted lever d, which is free to swing upon its axis,
and is provided with an arm carrying a bowl d'. The joint c¹. is connected by
a link to a system of levers g, h, consisting of a rocking lever and a rocking
and shifting lever as described in the Specification of my hammer Patent above
referred to, so that the to-and-fro motion of the piston carries the levers g, h,
with it. As soon as the forward motion of the piston rod is arrested by the
pick striking into the coal, the weighted lever d falls over, and causes the
bowel d¹ to strike back the tappet bar d³, which is connected by a link e to
an excentric e', which gives the shifting motion to the lever g, the requisite
motion being imparted to the valve through the system of levers i, j, k.
Fig. 3 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the propelling apparatus shewn
in connection with the other parts in elevation at Fig 1, and in plan at
Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a front elevation; and Fig. 5 an enlarged section of the
pawle for actuating the ratchet wheel of the advance or progressive motion.
In these Figures 7 is a ratchet lever carrying a pawle m, and connected by a
link n (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) to the piston rod, so as to move to and fro with
it, and at the proper time to act upon the teeth of a ratchet wheel o, shewn

page_text: by dots in Figure 3. This wheel is keyed on to a shaft o', geared by bevil
wheels o' to the axle of the running wheels. This ratchet wheel o is mounted
between two adjustable fixed segment guides p, p. Fig. 4 and the pawle in
Fig. 5 is fitted with a compound stud, one end of which is capable of yielding
to endway pressure, the other being rigid, and fitted into a bowl m³. The
yielding stud m² slides along the ledge på of the segment guide p¹, supporting
the pawle out of gear of the teeth until it comes against the incline at p³,
Figures 2 and 3. The stud m³ is then pressed back, and the pawle m then
drops down by the action of the spring m¹ on to the segment guide p, where
the bowle m³ still keeps it out of the teeth, until in the continued back stroke
it meets the depression in the cam, which allows the pawle m to enter the
teeth of the ratchet wheel as shewn in Fig. 3. By the continued motion of
the lever the catch is again raised so as to allow the stud m³ to be pressed
back again into its place on the ledge of the first segment guide p¹. By this
arrangement the guides may be set so as to ensure the pick penetrating to any
required depth before the cut can be set on, or the machine advanced.
In Sheet II. I have shown various views of a modification of the machine
just described. In the present instance the compressed air or steam cylinder
is constructed on the oscillating or vibrating principle, instead of being fixed
as in the former instance. The arrangement and construction of the several
working parts, such as the valve and propelling gear, must therefore be modified
to suit the vibrating principle of the cylinder.
In Sheet II., Figures 1 and 2, represent plans of a coal-cutting machine
with the combined self-acting valve motion, and traverse or propelling motion
adapted thereto. Fig. 1 represents the valve motion alone, the self-acting
propelling gear (which works directly over the valve gear) being supposed to
be removed, so that the valve gear may be more clearly seen; Fig. 2 repre-
sents the propelling gear alone without the valve gear, which must be sup-
posed to work directly under it in the position shown in Fig. 1, the frame or
body of the machine being the same in both Figures. Figures 3 and 4 are
enlarged views of details of the valve motion. Figures 5 and 5* are
enlarged views of the rock levers which actuate the valve and the propelling
mechanism; and Fig. 6 represents an enlarged view of the pawle and ratchet
arrangement for propelling the machine forward as it cuts its way in
the coal.
In Fig. 1, Sheet II., a, a, is a frame or box containing the vibrating steam
cylinder which is shewn by dots in Figures 1 and 2. On the upper part of
the frame a is placed the propelling gear and valve gear as shewn in. Figures
1 and 2, and the whole is mounted on the running wheels b, b, for the con-

page_text: venience of being moved forward; c, c, are the pick axles or spindles on
which the horizontal picks e are mounted. There is a pick mounted in this
manner on each side of the machine; d is the crank arm which is jointed to
the end of the piston rod as indicated by dots in the Drawing; f is a rod or
bar coupled or connected to the valve spindle, and to which it is intended to
impart motion to work the valve by self-acting means, the several parts being
so arranged that the valve shall always be acted upon independently of the
length of stroke or depth of cut made by the picks. This object may be
effected in the following manner:-The upper part of the spindle c which is
shewn detached at Fig. 5* carries a cam c' (Fig. 4) which may be set and
fixed at any position on the spindle. Above this cam there is another cam
c carried on the boss of a weighted arm or lever c, Fig. 1, and shewn
detached in plan at Fig. 3. This lever c¹ is free to move through a certain
axial distance on the vertical spindle c, and is limited in this movement by a
clutch or stop tooth 9 made fast to the spindle c, and fitting in a corre-
sponding recess or groove of the requisite length made in the boss of the
weighted lever c¹¹. The same tooth or clutch g by acting alternately against
either of the two extremities of the groove carries the weighted lever c
round with it as the piston moves backwards or forwards in the cylinder. As
soon as the motion of the piston is arrested by the pick e (Fig. 1) striking
into the coal in the forward stroke, the weighted lever c swings round as
far as the extent of the groove allows, thereby causing the cam c¹¹ to act upon
the bowl h, which is carried by one of the arms of the rocking lever h¹ which
works on the stud h" and thus imparting motion to the valve through the
link. This at the same time gives motion to a lever f", Fig. 1, working
on a stud f, and connected by a link i to a pawl and ratchet ", attached to
a vertical shaft 2, which is geared by level wheels shewn by dots in the
Drawing to the axle of the running wheels b, b. This gives a slight reverse
motion to the machine sufficient to ease the pick e so as to enable it to be drawn
back out of the coal for the next stroke, and is necessitated by the tendency of
the machine to slip forward on the rails through the momentum of the pick
in giving its blow. This slight forward motion causes the pick to be jammed
up against the solid coal in front, and thereby interferes with the proper
working of the machine. In some cases, however, this reverse action may be
dispensed with. At any required point in the back stroke the valve is again
reversed by means of the adjustable fixed cam or tappet c', (Fig. 1,) which
acts upon the bowl h¹ on the other arm of the lever h', and at the same time
throws tlfe other bowl h back to its former position; and as soon as the back
motion is arrested the weighted lever c again swings back into its former

page_text: position against the fixed clutch tooth 9 so as to be ready for the next forward
stroke of the pick. By this arrangement the cam or tappet will always
act upon the bowl h, and so reverse the valve at whatever part of the stroke
the motion may be arrested. The same arrangement of canis and rock levers
is applied to the other spindle of the machine, both sides being coupled
together by the joint g'. When one of the spindles c is working the cams on
the other spindle are set back so as to allow the arms of the lever full play.
The advance of the machine as the work proceeds is so arranged that the
cutting tool, whether it be a picker or boring tool, is obliged to penetrate to a
certain determinate depth into the material before the propelling or feeding
gear can be set in motion.
This object may be conveniently effected in the manner shown in Figure 2.
a, a, is the frame or body of the machine; b, b, are the running wheels on
which the machine is mounted; ¹ is a vertical spindle geared by hevil wheels
to the axle of the running wheels b, b; to this spindle i', a self-acting motion
bas to be imparted; to the shaft is keyed a ratchet wheel k directly above the
ratchet wheel 2, shown in Figure 1; this ratchet wheel is worked by means of a
pawl and lever k', coupled by a link k" to a lever, which works on the vertical
stud l, and is connected by a link to the rocking levers m, m'; these rocking
levers are carried on the same studs has the rocking levers h', shown in Figure 1;
these levers are acted on by means of two cams n and n', fixed on the vertical
spindle c, shown detached at Figure 5*, and above those shown at c¹ and c¹¹,
in Figure 1 for working the valve. The lower of these cams n is keyed fast
to the spindle c, and has formed on its lower surface the clutch tooth y, as
shown in Figure 1, and already referred to. As the pick e always comes back
the full distance this cam requires no adjustment, but is fixed in such a
position as to act upon the bowl m" at the extremity of the back stroke,
thereby raising the end m" of the lever m, and thus imparting motion to the
ratchet wheel k. In the forward stroke of the pick the upper cam n¹ comes
in contact with the end m¹ of the lever m, and throws the catch back into its
former position, at the same time bringing the bowl m back again within
range of the cam n, so as to be acted upon again at the end of the back stroke.
If, however, the pick should meet with any obstruction in the coal, and thus be
prevented from penetrating to the regular depth, as indicated in Figure 2, the
tappet n will not reach the end m¹ of the lever m, and the machine will
therefore remain stationary until by repeated blows the pick has penetrated
to the set depth, when the cam n' will then come in contact with ml, and
thus throw the bowl m" back within the range of the cam n, to be acted upon
in the back stroke when the pick is clear of the face of the coal. In Figure 2

page_text: is shown the position of the pick and the tappets, where the pick has been
stopped before penetrating to the bottom of the groove. By this arrangement
the machine may be set to give two or more blows before each advance of the
tool, and thus save time by performing at once and in a single course the work
that now requires to be done in two or three courses. The amount taken at
each cut may be regulated by setting the joint of the link to the requisite
position in the slot ". In Figure 5 the rock levers for working the valve,
and for the propelling motion are shown together on an enlarged scale. In
Figure 5 the spindle c is shown in elevation with the two sets of cams c
and c, and n, n¹, mounted thereon. In Figure 6 is shewn an enlarged
view of the ratchet wheel, showing an arrangement by which the catch is
drawn out of the teeth of the wheel at the end of its stroke. The plate o,
which is fixed to the frame by means of a bolt o¹, carries a short link o",
having a slot formed in it, in which works a pin p fast to the catch. As the
catch is moved forward the link o" moves with it until the pin arrives at
the end of the slot, after which the continued movement of the lever draws
the catch out of the teeth.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Machinery for
Cutting and Boring Coal and Rocks," and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, the arrangement of parts herein set forth, or any mere
modification thereof, for actuating the cutting or boring tools; I claim par-
ticularly the mechanical arrangements above described for rendering the gear
for working the valves and advancing the machine or carriage self-acting.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sturgeon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOHN STURGEON. (L.S.)