IMPROVEMENTS IN ELEVATORS FOR LIFTING LOADS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Betty, of Madrosfield, near Malvern, in the
County of Worcester, Farm Steward, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ELEVATORS FOR LIFTING LOADS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE AND FOR
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 15th June 1877, and dated the 16th April 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Betty at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th April 1877.
JAMES BETTY, of Madresfield, near Malvern, in the County of Worcester, Farm
Steward. 56 IMPROVEMENTS IN ELEVATORS FOR LIFTING LOADS OF AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCE AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in constructing
and arranging the parts of the said elevators, whereby great simplicity in manu-
facture and efficiency and economy in use are secured.
I will describe my Invention in connection with an elevator for lifting
agricultural produce. I make the body of the elevator of a framing of wood
supported upon wheels, so as to facilitate its transport from place to place. The
said framing is of a height approximating to the height to which it is wished to
lift the load of material. The said framing carries at its top a pair of rails of a
size suitable for the four wheels of a wagon, or other like vehicle, to travel and
rest upon. The said rails are not truly horizontal, but incline slightly downwards
at the ends by which the vehicle arrives at them. To the higher end of the framing
a pair of arms or brackets are attached; these arms or brackets turn upon joints,
and when the elevator is not in use may be turned over, so as to lie upon the top
of the elevator. When the elevator is in use the said arms or brackets are turned
from off the top of the elevator and take a nearly horizontal position, in which
position they are fixed by clamping screws. These arms carry at their free ends
an axle, having in its middle a pulley, and a drum of much less diameter than the
said pulley is situated on each side of the said pulley. At the other or lower end
of the top of the elevator are attachments for connecting with the lower ends of
the rails of the said elevator other and portable rails, each in two, three, or other

page_text: number of pieces; which portable rails, when their parts are connected together by
the means of attachment with which they are severally provided and supported at
their junctions, constitute an inclined railway, by which the wagon or vehicle can
be drawn in the manner herein-after described on to the rails fixed on the top of
the elevator frame. The bottom of the inclined railway rests upon a cross piece
or support, which is by preference fixed to the ground when the elevator is in use
by means of pointed bolts or stakes.
Each of the small drums described is provided with a wire or other rope or chain
fixed at one end to the drum, and furnished at its loose end with a hook. By
means of these hooks the said ropes or chains can be looked to the shafts of the
wagon or vehicle. To the middle pulley a wire or other rope or chain is connected
by one of its ends, its other end having a hook by which a horse can be connected
with it. This rope or chain is coiled upon its pulley when the ropes or chains of
the drums are uncoiled, and the reverse, the coiling on the pulley being in the
reverse direction to that on the drums. The length of the rope or chain on the
pulley is such that by wholly uncoiling it the ropes or chains on the drums are
wholly coiled up.
The elevator is used as follows:-Having been brought to the place where the
load is to be raised it is fixed by four blocks being placed under its four corners.
Wedges are forced under these blocks, and the elevator is thereby slightly raised
from off its wheels and supported firmly on the said blocks. The inclined railway
is fixed to the elevator and to the ground, and the arms or brackets carrying the
pulley and drums turned from off the elevator and clamped. The wagon being
brought to the bottom of the inclined railway, and the horses removed, the hooks
on the ends of the drum ropes are hooked to the shufts. A horse is connected to
the pulley rope and driven in a direction proper to uncoil the rope from the pulley,
the drums are thereby made to rotate in a direction proper to coil up the ropes,
and consequently to draw the wagon up the inclined railway on to the rails of the
elevator. The wagon may be fixed there by means of a brake consisting of brake
blocks on either side of the pulley. These brake blocks may be made to press
upon and arrest the motion of the pulley; or may be relaxed, so as to leave the
pulley free by the action of a lever worked by an attendant. After the wagon has
been fixed by the brake the horse may be detached from the pulley rope. When
the wagon has been unloaded it will pass from the inclined top of the elevator
and descend the inclined railway by its own weight, the descent being controlled
by the brake described. By the descent of the wagon the drum ropes are uncoiled
and the pulley rope coiled ready for the raising of another load. The moveable
rails and other separate parts pack conveniently in the body of the elevator for
transit.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Betty in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th October
1877.
JAMES BETTY, of Madresfield, near Malvern, in the County of Worcester, Farm
Steward. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELEVATORS FOR LIFTING LOADS OF AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCE AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in constructing
and arranging the parts of the said clevators, whereby great simplicity in manu-
facture and efficiency and economy in use are secured.
I will describe my Invention in connection with an elevator for lifting
agricultural produce. I make the body of the elevator of a framing of wood
supported upon wheels, so as to facilitate its transport froin place to place. The
said framing is of a height approximating to the height to which it is wished to
lift the load of material. The said framing carries at its top a pair of rails of a

page_text: size suitable for the four wheels of a wagon or other like vehicle to travel and rest
upon. The said rails are not truly horizontal, but incline slightly downwards at
the ends by which the vehicle arrives at them. To the higher end of the framing
a pair of arms or brackets are attached. These arms or brackets turn upon joints,
and when the elevator is not in use may be turned over so as to lic upon the top
of the elevator. When the elevator is in use the said arms or brackets are turned
from off the top of the elevator and take a nearly horizontal position, in which
position they are fixed by clamping screws. These arms carry at their free ends
an axle, having in its middle a pulley, and a drum of much less diameter than the
said pulley is situated on each side of the said pulley. At the other or lower ond
of the top of the elevator are attachments for connecting with the lower ends of
the rails of the said elevator other and portable rails, cach in two, three, or other
number of pieces, which portable rails, when their parts are connected together by
the means of attachment with which they are severally provided and supported at
their junctions, constitute an inclined railway, by which the wagon or vehicle can
be drawn, in the manner herein-after described, on to the rails fixed on the top of
the elevator frame. The bottom of the iuclined railway rests upon a cross piece
or support, which is by preference fixed to the ground when the elevator is in uso
by means of pointed bolts or stakes.
Each of the small drums described is provided with a wire or other rope or chain,
fixed at one end to the drum, and furnished at its loose end with a hook. By
means of these hooks the said ropes or chains can be hooked to the shafts of the
wagon or vehicle. To the middle pulley a wire or other rope is connected by one
of its ends, its other end having a hook by which a horse can be connected with
it. This rope or chain is coiled upon its pulley when the ropes or chains of the
drums are uncoiled, and the reverse, the coiling on the pulley being in the reverse
direction to that on the drums. The length of the rope or chain on the pulley is
such that by wholly uncoiling it the ropes or chains on the drums are wholly
coiled up.
The elevator is used as follows:-Having been brought to the place where the
load is to be raised it is fixed by four blocks being placed under its four corners.
Wedges are forced under these blocks, and the elevator is thereby slightly raised
from off its wheels and supported firmly on the said blocks. The inclined railway
is fixed to the elevator and to the ground, and the arms or brackets carrying the
pulley and drums turned from off the elevator and clamped. The wagon being
brought to the bottom of the inclined railway, and the horses removed, the hooks
on the ends of the drum ropes are hooked to the shafts. A horse is connected to
the pulley rope and driven in a direction proper to uncoil the rope from the pulley,
the drums are thereby made to rotate in a direction proper to coil up their ropes,
and consequently to draw the wagon up the inclined railway on to the rails of tho
elevator. The wagon may be fixed there by means of a brake consisting of brako
blocks on either side the pulley. These brake blocks may be made to press upon
and arrest the motion of the pulley, or may be relaxed, so as to leave the pulley
free, by the action of a lever worked by the attendant. After the wagon has been
fixed by the brake the horse may be detached from the pulley rope. When the
wagon has been unloaded it will pass from the inclined top of the elevator and
descend the inclined railway by its own weight, the descent being controlled by
the brake described. By the descent of the wagon the drum ropes are uncoiled,
and the pulley rope coiled ready for the raising of another load. Instead of
two drums, a single drum may be used, and instead of supporting the drum
or drums and pulley by arms or brackets, as described, the said drum or
drums and pulley may turn in bearings in the elevator frame. The moveable rails
and other separate parts pack conveniently in the body of the elevator for transit.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention may be carried into effect.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in plan, an elevator for lifting
loads of agricultural produce and for other like purposes, the parts of the said elevator

page_text: being constructed and arranged according to my Invention; Figure 3 represents an
end elevation of the same drawn to a larger scale.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
a, a, is the elevator frame or body made by preference of wood and supported
upon the wheels b, b, b, b, so as to facilitato its transport from place to place. When
the elevator is in use, the wheels are raised from the ground by forcing wedge sup-
ports c, c, under the bottoms of the uprights of the frame a, a. The elevator
has thereby a very firm bearing given to it. On the top of the elevator frame a, a,
is a pair of rails d, d, of a size proper for the four wheels of a wagon or vehicle to
travel and rest upon. The said pair of rails d, d, slightly incline downwards from
the rear or higher end of the elevator frame a, a, as seen in Figure 1. The inclined
railway, situated at the lower end of the elevator frame up which the wagon is
drawn on to the rails d, d, of the said frame, consists of two (or more) pairs of
portable rails e, c, and f, f, supported by the cross stay or prop g, the pieces or bars
of which the said rails e, e, f,f, are made being connected together and to the clevator
frame a, a, in the following way :-The lower ends of the rails d, d, on the clevator
frame and the lower ends of the rails e, e, are furnished with plates d², c³, respectively,
which plates project beyond the said rails, and the upper ends of the rails c, e, and f,f.
are furnished with screw bolts h, h.
When the portable rails c, c, and f, f, have been fitted together and to the elevator
frame, the plates d², d, e, e, overlap the junctions of the rails e, c, ff, respectively,
and the screw bolts h, h, on the said rails c, e, f, f, pass through holes in the said
overlapping plates d², d, e, e. By then screwing screw nuts i, i, on the protruding
ends of the screw bolts h, k, the rails are firmly secured in their places. The lower
pair of rails ff, is supported upon the blocks or ground rails k, l, which blocks or
rails, l, are connected to the pair of rails f, f, above them by overlapping plates
and screw bolts and nuts as described with respect to the junctions of the pairs
of rails c, e, and f.f. A bar m having eyes at its ends passes across the ground
rails k, k, and by means of the bolts or spikes n, n, passed through the said eyes and
also through eyes in the said rails h, k, and driven into the ground, the inclined
railway is securely fixed to the ground.
Turning in bearings at the rear end of the elevator frame a, a, is a drum p, and
on the same axis as the said drum p is a pulley q. On the drum p, a wire or other
rope (or chain) * is coiled, and on the pulley q a similar but independent rope (or
chain) q is coiled. The said ropes p, q, are so coiled around their respective drun
and pulley, that on the coiling of one rope upon its pulley or drum the other. rope is
uncoiled from its pulley or drum, and the reverse, that is, when the pulley rope q² is
uncoiled from its pulley 2, the drum rope p is coiled upon its drum, as indicated by
the arrows in Figure 2. The free end of the pulley rope q which is furnished with
a hook, to which the horse or other drawing power is to be applied, passes through
the clevator frame to a guide pulley q³, and then passes out at the side of the said
frame, as illustrated in Figure 2. When however there is space sufficient at the
rear of the elevator for the horse or other power to work, the pulley rope q* may
pass in the direction indicated by the dotted lines at 2, Figure 2. Or the direction
of the pulley rope 7 may be otherwise changed by the use of a pulley or pulleys.
The free end of the drum rope p, which is secured to the loaded wagon to be drawn
on to the elevator, passes over the guide pulley carried by the bracket or arm s.
This bracket or arm is hinged at 8, s, to the top and rear end of the elevator
frame a, a, so that when the elevator is not in use, the said hinged bracket or arm
may be folded down upon the top of the said clevator frame. The said bracket or
arms is supported firmly when in its raised position for use by the side stay rods 8³, 8³,
and by the under stay rods. This under stay rod 8 is detachable, the said rod s
being hooked at one end to an eye on the bracket or arm 8, and is secured at the
other end by a screw bolt and nut to the elevator frame (see Figure 3). To the
pulley ga brake is applied; this brake consists of two brake blocks t and u pressing
on opposite faces of the said pulley q. These brake blocks are pivotted to and are
capable of a sliding motion upon the cross bar or rod v. To the brake block u a

page_text: connecting rod w is secured, the outer end of the said connecting rod having a loop
to which the end of the actuating lever x is hooked. When the lever x occupies the
position represented in Figure 3, the brake is out of action. When however the
lever is pressed inwards by the attendant into the position indicated in dotted
lines and fixed in that position by the catch at ³, the break block u is drawn
forward and made to press against one face of the pulley 9, and the other block t is
pressed by the action of the curved end of the said lever against the opposite face
of the pulley q. The pulley 9 is thereby gripped between the two break blocks t, u,
and its motion arrested. By returning the lever to the position represented in
Figure 3, the brake is taken out of action and the pulley 9 is free to rotate.
In using the elevator, the elevator frame a is brought to the place where the load
is to be raised, and is fixed by the wedge blocks c, c, forced under the elevator frame
so as to lift the wheels b, b, froin the ground and support the said frame firmly.
The bracket or arms is next raised from the elevator frane and supported in the
position represented, and the drum rope på is passed over its guiding pulley r and the
pulley rope arranged as represented. The portable inclined railway e, e, f, f, k, k,
having been fixed to the clevator frame and to the ground, the loaded wagon or
vehicle is brought to the bottom of the inclined railway and the horses removed. A
hook or other attachment on the free end of the drum rope p* is fixed to the
whipple-tree on the wagon, or other means of attachment, and a horse is connected
to the end of the pulley rope q and drawn in the direction of the arrow q³, Figure 2,
or in one of the other directions herein-before indicated. By this means the pulley
rope q is uncoiled from the pulley 2, and the drum rope p² coiled upon its drum p,
as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. The wagon attached to the drum rope ³
is theroby drawn up the inclined railway k, k, ff, e, e, on to the rails d, d, of the
elevator frame. By putting the brake t, u, into operation by means of the lever x
the wagon is fixed securely on the said elevator frame and may be unloaded, the
horse having been detached from the pulley rope q². When the wagon has been
unloaded, the brake is released so as to liberate the pulley q when the wagon will
pass from the top of the elevator and descend the inclined railway by its own
weight, the descent of the wagon being controlled by the attendant depressing more
or less the lover of the brake. By the descent of the wagon the drum rope p² is
uncoiled from its drum p, and the pulley rope q² is coiled upon its pulloy q ready
for the raising of another load.
The portable railway e, e, f, f, k, k, may be packed upon the top of or within the
body of the elevator for transit.
Instead of using a single drum p and a single drum rope p³, two drums and ropes
may be employed in conjunction with a pulley and pulley rope q, q³. In this
modification it is preferred to place the pulley q in the middle of the axis and the
two drums on either side of it, the two drum ropes being connected to the shafts of
the wagon to be drawn on to the elevator. Or the drum or drums and pulley,
instead of being supported by the elevator frame as represented, inay be carried by
arms or brackets which are jointed to the elevator frame. In this arrangement the
jointed brackets and guiding pulley are dispensed with. I prefer however to
carry my Invention into effect in the manner herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the
precise details herein described, as the same may be varied without departing from
the nature of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in
elevators for lifting loads of agricultural produce and for other like purposes, herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, con-
structing the said elevators by a frame supported upon wheels, the top of the elevator
frame carrying a pair of rails, and combining with the said elevator frame a drum
(or drums) and pulley carried by the same axle around which drum and pulley
ropes (or chains) are so coiled that the coiling of the drum rope upon its drum
effects the uncoiling of the pulley rope from its pulley, and the reverse, the free end

page_text: of the said drum rope being connected to the wagon or vehicle to be elevated, and
the free end of the pulley rope being connected to the horse or other drawing power,
the several parts being constructed, combined, and used substantially as described
and illustrated; also the combination with the elevator frame and its drum (or
drums) and pulley of a portable inclined railway, constructed as described and
illustrated, for connecting the lower ends of the rails on the elevator frame with tho
ground.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Betty, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
JOHN HILL,
Madresfield,
Near Malvern.
JAMES BETTY. (L.S.)