IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles James Appleby, of No. 8, Emerson
Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES."
Sealed the 25th September 1874, and dated the 14th April 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION· left by the said Charles James Appleby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on 14th April 1874.
I, CHARLES JAMES APPLEBY, of No. 8, Emerson Street, Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES," to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention relates to an improved form of crane
with a self-acting balance, whereby the load causes a counterpoise to run
out to such a point that a portable crane standing on a narrow gauge of
rails will not be overbalanced by its load, and when the load is released
the counterpoise returns to its original position, thus keeping the centre
of gravity within the base. I propose to accomplish this in the following

page_text: manner: The tension rods of the crane are attached to the short arm of
a pair of bell-crank levers, having for their fulcrum the crane framing.
The long arms of these levers have weights attached to them proportioned
to the relative length of the short and long arm of the levers and the
loads to be lifted. The long ends of the levers have a pair of connecting
rods jointed to them and jointed at their other ends to the axis of a
cylindrical balance weight travelling on two trams formed by the tails
of the crane framing. When no load is being raised or carried by the
crane the balance weight is at the end of its travel nearest to the centre
of the crane framing, and when raising or carrying a load the balance
weight is moved outwards along the trams formed by the tails of the
crane framing. The weight lifted by the crane can also be approximately
weighed by means of a fixed scale or index graduated in tons and
hundredweights, upon which a pointer fixed to the axis of the counter-
balance may indicate the approximate weight of the load. Or the
tension bars of a crane may be divided into two parts and a helical
spring placed between them where the ends of the parts meet so as to
draw the ends towards one another.
In place of the tension rods being themselves connected directly to
the short arms of the weighted levers before mentioned I prefer that
the rods should carry pulleys, over which pass chains connected at one
end to the short arms and at the other to the crane framing.
Each end carries two, three, or more chain pulleys, over which is led
a chain, one end of which is made fast and the other led over guide
pulleys and fixed to a movable balance box travelling on wheels on a 2
plane slightly inclined to the crane body.
When a load is being raised by the crane the spring is compressed
and the two sets of pulleys moved away from each other, so giving a
multiplied movement to the movable balance weight and moving it
outwards away from the centre of gravity. When the load is removed 3
from the crane the balance weight returns down the incline to its
original position. This arrangement can also be used for approxi-
mately weighing the loads lifted by indicating the compression of the
spring or the travel of the weight.
Either of these arrangements may be applied to portable or fixed 3
cranes worked by steam, air, or hydraulic power. In the case of portable
crancs to be worked by steam, hydraulic, or compressed air it is proposed

page_text: to lay down main pipes in the centre of a line of railway or in any other
suitable position; this main to have branches with a hydrant at each
joint or at such intervals as may be found most convenient. The crano
will have a corresponding pipe connection for attaching to any of the
outlets on the main for transmitting the pressure from the mains to the
motive power of the cranes, by preference this is taken through tho
centre of the crane post.
If the crane is required to be moved on the rails whilst at work the
connection between the branches on the main and tho crane will be
made by a self-coiling and uncoiling flexible tube. This arrangement is
especially applicable to cranes travelling for a limited distance, the
wheels of the carriage running on a single line of rail, and the top of the
crane supported transversely by a pair of guides, the lifting cylinder
being carried on the post or in the jib.
Office on the 14th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
JAMES APPLEBY, of No. 8, Emerson Street, Southwark, in the County.
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-.
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles James Appleby, Her special
license, that I, the said Charles James Appleby, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles James
Appleby, 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES," upon the condition (amongst

page_text: others) that I, the said Charles James Appleby, my executors or ad-
ministrators, 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 Charles James Appleby, 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 thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to an improved form of crane with a self-acting
balance, whereby the load causes a counterpoise to run out to such a
point that a portable crane standing on a narrow gauge of rails will not
be overbalanced by its load, and when the load is released the counter-
poise returns to its original position, thus keeping the centre of gravity
within the base. I propose to accomplish this in the following manner :-
The tension rods of the crane are attached to the short arm of a pair of
bell-crank levers, having for their fulcrum the crane framing. The long
arms of these levers have weights attached to them proportioned to the
relative length of the short and long arm of the levers and the loads to
be lifted. The long ends of the levers have a pair of connecting rods
jointed to them and jointed at their other ends to the axis of a cylin-
drical balance weight travelling on two trams formed by the tails of the
crane framing. When no load is being raised or carried by the crane.
the balance weight is at the end of its travel nearest to the centre of the
crane framing, and when raising or carrying a load the balance weight
is moved outwards along the tram formed by the tails of the crane
framing. The weight lifted by the crane can also be approximately
weighed by means of a fixed scale or index graduated in tons and
hundredweights, upon which a pointer fixed to the axis of the counter-
balance may indicate the approximate weight of the load.
In place of the tension rods being themselves connected directly to
the short arms of the weighted levers before mentioned I prefer that
the rods should carry pulleys, over which pass chains connected at one
end to the short arms and at the other to the crane framing. Or the
tension bars of a crane may be divided into two parts and a helical

page_text: Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section; and Figure 2 is a portion
of a plan of a crane provided with a self-acting counterbalance weight
controlled by the tie rod in accordance with my Invention.
The ordinary parts of the crane and its supporting truck or trolly are
clearly shewn in the Drawing, and a detailed reference to them is
unnecessary, but the novel feature in the arrangement is that the tie
bar a is connected by a chain 6 to the shorter arm c of a bell-crank
lever having its fulcrum at d. The longer arms e, e, of the lever are
weighted, and are also connected at their lower ends by the links f, f, to
the heavy rolling counterpoise 9,9, which is able to traverse on ways h, h,
forming part of the turning frame of the cranc.
The chain b passes
from a barrel i (on which it can be wound to adjust the length) around
a pulley a' carried by the tie bar to the arm c of the bell-crank lever, to
which it is attached. As the load is lifted a strain comes upon the
ohain and causes it to raise the weighted arms e, e, more or less,
according to the load, and to a corresponding extent the main counter-
poise g is rolled out along its ways. The point it reaches if observed on
a suitable scale will give roughly the weight of the load in tons and
hundredweights.
Figure 3, is a side elevation of a somewhat different arrangement.
Here the tie rod a is attached at the upper end to the jib and at
the lower end to the crane frame, as is usual, but it is divided inter-
mediate of its length. The two parts are held together by a coiled
spring, and cach part carries three pulleys c, c, as is more fully shewn in
Figure 4. A chain d, which is made fast at one end, passes around the
pulleys c, c, and another pulley f at the end of the crane frame to the
counterpoise g. The counterpoise is mounted on rollers, and is able to
travel along the inclined ways h formed for it on the crane frame.
When a load is lifted a strain comes upon the tie rod a, the spring b is
compressed, and the two sets of pulleys c, c, separate, taking up a length
of chain, more or less, according to the amount of compression of the
spring, and the counterpoise g is drawn outwards away from the crane
post.
An index and scale may be provided to shew the amount of com- ;

page_text: I claim as my improvements in cranes the methods of actuating a
self-acting balance in such manner that as the strain on the tie rods
increases the balance weight is moved outwards from the crane post,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles James Appleby, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
C. J. APPLEBY. (L.S.)