IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR CUTTING OR GETTING MINERALS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Simpson, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Civil and Mining Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR CUTTING
OR GETTING MINERALS."
Scaled the 16th August 1870, and dated the 21st May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Simpson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st May 1870.
I, GEORGE SIMPSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark; North
Britain, Civil and Mining Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND ARRANGEMENTS
FOR CUTTING OR GETTING MINERALS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object to facilitate and render more efficacious
and convenient the application of machinery actuated by manual or
other power, for cutting or getting minerals, and it consists mainly in
arranging machinery so that the power may be applied at a distance
from the point where the actual cutting operation is effected.

page_text: The Invention is to be carried out according to one plan by arranging
a horizontal shaft in bearings on standards jammed by screwing or
otherwise between the floor and roof of the mine, such shaft having at
one end a lever by which a rocking motion may be imparted to it either
by hand or by any suitable engine or prime mover acting directly or
through belts and pulleys. A hammer or mallet is hung on the shaft,
and also a lever with a socket or tool holder, at the bottom in which a
tool or tools for cutting into the coal or other mineral is or are fixed.
The rocking motion of the shaft causes the mallet to strike the tool or
tool holder, and also to draw back the tool after each stroke, whilst by a
ratchet movement and screw thread on the shaft or on a separate shaft
the mallet and tool holder are made to progress gradually along the
shaft.
According to another modification a long plate with a V guide on its
under side is fixed along the face of the coal or other mineral, and a
slide with a tool holder is moved gradually along by a screw shaft which
is actuated by manual or other power at one end. A cutting tool is
held in the tool holder so as to project laterally and it forms a groove in
the coal face acting like the tool of a planing machine. The screw shaft
may be partly right-handed and partly left-handed, with separate tool
holders on each part which will be moved in opposite directions by the
rotation of the shaft and so neutralise each others strain. Or instead of
the slide carrying a plain tool holder or tool it may be fitted with a cross
slide movable by a screw spindle into the excavated part of the mineral
and having on its inner end a set of revolving cutters on a wheel turned
by a worm. Or the cutters may be fixed upon an endless chain carried
by the cross slide.
The Invention also comprises an improved form of tool for cutting
minerals when worked with a reciprocating stroke or by percussion as
in the plan first herein-before described. The improved tool is made
in one piece with a series of chisel points which project in steps, the
more projecting points being slightly behind the others, so that the tool
presents an appearance somewhat like a line of saw teeth placed at a
slight inclination to the line of action.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Simpson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SIMPSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Civil
and Mining Engineer, send greeting.
'
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and gran unto me, the said George Simpson, Her special licence that
I, the sail George Simpson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Simpson, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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
AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR CUTTING OR GETTING MINERALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Simpson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing, under nry, 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 George Simpson, 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 in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say:―
My said Invention has for its object to facilitate and render more
efficacious and convenient the application of machinery actuated by
manual or other power for cutting or getting minerals; and it consists
mainly in a ranging machinery so that the power may be applied at a
distance from the point where the actual cutting operation is effected.
In existing machines for the same purpose the engine or apparatus by

page_text: which the motive power is developed is applied directly to the tool
.which acts on the mineral, and is made to move progressively along
with the tool, an arrangement involving difficulties and inconveniences
in the construction and adaptation of the machinery hitherto never
satisfactorily overcome. These difficulties and inconveniences are
avoided by my Invention by separating the motive power details and
the tool so that the former do not require to accompany the progressive
motion of the latter, and are only slifted at comparatively long intervals.
The framing or carrying parts can in consequence be rigidly fixed, and
the action of the tool is rendered the more effective in consequence of
the absolute steadiness thus obtained. The power for actuating my
improved machinery may be that developed by a compressed air or other
similar engine, and be applied close to the machinery or be transmitted
to it from a greater distance by belts and pulleys. My Invention
however also includes the working of my improved machinery by
manual power, as I believe that it will enable such power to be employed
to greater advantage and with much more comfort to the miner than it
has hitherto been.
One plan of carrying out my Invention consists in arranging a
horizontal shaft in bearings on a framing jammed by screwing or
otherwise between the floor and roof of the mine, such shaft having at
one end a lever by which a rocking motion may be imparted to it either
by hand or by any suitable engine or prime mover acting directly or
through belts or pulleys. A hammer or mallet is hung on the shaft,
and also a lever with a socket or tool holder at the bottom, in which a
tool or tools for cutting into the coal or other mineral is or are fixed.
The rocking motion of the shaft causes the mallet to strike the tool or
tool holder, and also to draw back the tool after each stroke, whilst by a
ratchet movement and screw thread on the shaft or on a separate shaft
the mallet and tool holder are made to progress gradually along the shaft
so as to act successively upon different parts of the mineral in a line
parallel to the shaft, whilst the motive force is applied at one point,
namely, at the end of the shaft. In this way the tool is made to
act along a space corresponding to the length of the framing, and when
this is accomplished the framing is shifted and another similar space is
acted upon, the frame again shifted, and so on.
According to another mode of carrying out my Invention a long plate
with a V guide on its under side is fixed along the face of the onl

page_text: other mineral, and a slide with a tool holder is moved gradually along
by a screw shaft which is actuated by manual or other power at one
end. A cutting tool is held in the tool holder so as to project laterally,
and it forms a groove in the coal face, acting like the tool of a planing
machine. The screw shaft may be partly right-handed and partly left-
handed, with a separate tool holder on each part, and the two tools will
be moved in opposite directions by the rotation of the shaft and so
neutralise each other's strain. Or instead of the slide carrying a plain
tool holder or tool it may carry a revolving cutter or drill, or it may be
fitted with a cross slide movable by a screw spindle into the excavated
part of the mineral, and having on its inner end a set of revolving
cutters on a wheel turned by means of a worm or otherwise. Or the
cutters may be fixed upon an endless chain carried by the cross slide.
It will be obvious to those acquainted with the various cutting or
excavating tools that have been used or proposed for getting minerals,
that most of them may be advantageously arranged in relation to the
driving power in the improved modes constituting the main features of
my present Invention; but in order that my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same may be properly understood, I have
hereunto appended a Sheet of explanatory Drawings to be hercin-after
referred to, and representing various examples of my improved arrange-
ments, such examples constituting what I at present consider to be the
best means for carrying my Invention into practical effect. In all the
Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or
like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 is a sectional plan, indicating the arrangements for trans-
mitting motive power for working mineral cutting machinery from such
a distance as to require pulleys and belts, wire ropes, or chains. Thus
the power may be transmitted from a steam engine or other prime
mover on the surface by means of belts or ropes 1 which extending
from the prime mover down the mine shaft 2 are guided by pulleys
3, 4, placed at the entrances to the workings and at other requisite
points, and thus led to the locality at which the cutting or excavating
is proceeding. One endless driving belt or rope 1 may communicate
power to more than one piece of cutting machinery, the power being
taken from it at any point by means of a pulley 5 running loose on a
vertical spindle. 6, which can be jammed by screwing between the floor
and the roof. This arrangement is shown in section and enlarged in

page_text: Figure 2. A small guide pulley 7 is provided for leading the rope 1
properly from the pulley 5, and this pulley 5 is formed with an
clongated boss on which there is fixed a pulley 8, and a separate driving
belt 9 transmits the power thence to the cutting machinery 10.
Figures 3, 4, 5, are a plan, a back elevation, and a transverse vertical
section of a modification of cutting machinery as arranged for carrying
out my Invention, the cutting tool 11 being one with a combined
drilling and rotatory cutting action. The details are carried by a long
horizontal frame 12, which is set on the floor of the mine and jammed
by means of screwed telescope pillars applied between it and the roof,
and which is formed with longitudinal guide surfaces for a slide or
saddle 13. The slide 13 is at its under part formed with a bearing for
a tubular spindle 14, having pinion teeth on its inner end, and which
carries the tool or drill spindle 15, turning the latter by means of a
groove and key, whilst allowing it to move on end. The pinion spindle
14 is actuated by a spur wheel 16 or a shaft 17 carried in the upper part
of the slide 13, and this shaft 17 is driven by means of bevil wheels 18
from a shaft 19 carried in brackets upon the frame 12. The shaft 19
has a fly wheel or pulley 20 on one end and may be driven by hand or
by power transmitted by belts or ropes, or applied directly from a com-
pressed air or other motive-power engine. The bevil wheel on the
shaft 19 is geared thereto by a groove and key, but is made to move
along by brackets on the slide 13, so as to accompany the latter in its
progressive motion along the frame 12. The said progressive motion
is produced by a screw shaft 21 which acts on a nut fixed to the slide,
and which is driven by bevil gearing 22 from the shaft 19, as will be
easily understood from the Drawing. In this modification the tool 15
is made to revolve rapidly at a depth in the coal face at which it can
cut with sufficient case, and is simultaneously moved along the face so
as to cut out a groove; the tool is then screwed deeper into the coal
and traversed along the face again, and this is repeated until the desired
depth is attained. The tool is fed inwards or adjusted as regards its
penetration into the coal face by screw gearing at its back end, and
which will be easily understood from Figures 3 and 5. I, however,
prefer a modification which will be understood from the enlarged section,
Figure 6, and in which an internally screwed tube 23 is fixed to the
slide 13 in the line of the tool spindle 15, whilst a spindle 24 with a hand
.wheel at. its outer. cnd and a screwed enlargement at the inner end is
.

page_text: provided to be adjusted in the tube 23 by screwing. The back end of
the tool spindle 15 is made with a screwed socket for coupling on a
length, such as is shown in Figure 7, and which has a screwed socket
for another similar length. A projecting point formed on the inner end
of the spindle 24 bears against the bottom of the screwed socket. of
the spindle 15, and without interfering with the rotation of that spindle
presses it forward as far as may be required, any length being
obtainable by coupling on short lengths (Figure 7) as they are required,
and without any part of the machinery projecting inconveniently on
the side away from the coal face.
Figure 8 is a plan of a modification of mineral cutting apparatus, in
which an arm 25 with cutters at its outer end is arranged to vibrate
about a vertical pin or axis upon the slide 13, being actuated by means
of a toothed quadant 26 formed in continuation of it on the opposite
side of its centre. The quadrant is acted upon by a pinion driven from
the shaft 19 corresponding to the part similarly marked in Figures 3, 4,
and 5, as do also other parts, as indicated by like reference numerals.
The screw shaft 21 is arranged to be worked by hand for feeding forward
the slide 13, and the slide is to be fed forward after each inward stroke
and after each outward stroke, the arm 25 being fitted with cutters to
cut both ways. The nut on which the screw shaft acts is made in two
halves which can be opened by handles to clear the screw when moving
back the slide 13 after it has reached the end of the frame 12.
Figure 9 is a plan of a modification in which a reciprocating motion
is given to the tool, the tool shown being of an improved form. The
tool is a broad bar 27 arranged to slide across beneath the frame 12 in
guides formed for it in the bottom of the slide 13, and it is made to
reciprocate by a crank on the bottom of a vertical shaft driven by bevil
gearing from the shaft 19 in a manner which will be easily understood
from Figure 10, this Figure being a transverse vertical section turned a
quarter round, so as to correspond with Figure 9.. The bar 27 is fitted
with a series of steel chisel points 28 which project in steps, as shown,
so that the tool presents an appearance somewhat like a line of saw
teeth, placed at a slight inclination to the line of action. At each stroke
inwards of the bar 27 every chisel point 28 takes a cut, those nearer
the outer end of the bar being set in succession a little behind each other
relatively to the progressive motion of the slide 13. The progressive

page_text: motion is arranged to take place at the time when the bar 27 is drawn
outwards for a fresh stroke.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what
I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
1. The arranging or combining together of the parts of machinery for
cutting or getting minerals in any of the modes herein described or
delineated.
2. The arranging of machinery for cutting or getting minerals so
that the power may be applied at a distance from the point where
the actual cutting operation is effected, as herein-before described.
3. The arranging or combining together of the parts of machinery for
cutting or getting minerals so that the parts by means of which the
motive power is communicated thereto do not partake of the progressive
motion of the tool, as herein-before described.
4. The constructing of a reciprocating tool for cutting minerals as
herein-before described with reference to Figure 9 on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Simpson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
GEO. SIMPSON. (L.S.)