A PORTABLE AIR COMPRESSOR WORKED BY ANIMAL OR MANUAL POWER
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thornhill Simpson, of Thornhill House,
Walton, near Wakefield, in the County of York, Soap Maker, and
Frederick Hurd, of Grove House, Walton aforesaid, Engineer, for
the Invention of "A PORTABLE AIR COMPRESSOR WORKED BY ANIMAL OR
MANUAL POWER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thornhill
Simpson and Frederick Hurd at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 12th July 1872.
We, EDWARD THORNHILL SIMPSON, of Thornhill House, Walton, near
Wakefield, in the County of York, Soap Maker, and FREDERICK HURD,
of Grove House, Walton aforesaid, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "A PORTABLE AIR COMPRESSOR WORKED BY
ANIMAL OR MANUAL POWER," to be as follows:-
The principal object of this Invention is for supplying compressed
air for the working of coal cutting, boring, drilling, hauling, or water
pumping machines in the workings of mines of coal and other minerals,

page_text: thus dispensing with the costly system of fixing main pipes in such
workings.
In performing our Invention we make use of a frame mounted on
wheels, this frame supports an endless oblong rail on which an endless
chain of footboards rests, each footboard having a wheel running on the
rail. The endless chain of footboards is put in motion by one or more
horses or other cattle or by men, and it passes over two drums, in which
are crank pins for working the pistons in two horizontal air cylinders,
and the air that is compressed by the moving of the pistons is collected
in an air chamber from whence it is conveyed by a flexible or other pipe
to the machine to be worked.
The details above given may be considerably varied, our Invention
consisting in making the air compressor portable and worked by animal
or manual power, also fixing the air compressor when at work by
lowering the frame on to the floor or otherwise securing it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thornhill Simpson and Frederick Hurd in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
THORNHILL SIMPSON, of Thornhill House, Walton, near Wakefield, in
the County of York, Soap Maker, and FREDERICK HURD, of Grove
House, Walton aforesaid, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Edward Thornhill Simpson and Frederick
Hurd, Her special licence that we, the said Edward Thornhill Simpson:
and Frederick Hurd, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Edward Thornhill Simpson and Frederick Hurd,
our 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

page_text: Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A PORTABLE AIR
COMPRESSOR WORKED BY ANIMAL OR MANUAL POWER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Edward Thornhill Simpson and
Frederick Hurd, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 we, the said Edward Thornhill Simpson and
Frederick Hurd, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say)
The principal object of this Invention is for supplying compressed air
for the working of coal cutting, boring, drilling, hauling, or water
pumping machines in the workings of mines of coal and other minerals,
thus dispensing with the costly system of fixing main pipes in such
workings.
In performing our Invention we make use of a frame mounted on
wheels, this frame supports two endless oblong rails on which an endless
chain of footboards rests, each footboard having wheels running on the
rails. The endless chain of footboards is put in motion by one or more
horses or other cattle or by men, and it passes over two drums which
communicate motion to the pistons in two horizontal air cylinders, and
the air that is compressed by the moving of the pistons is collected in
an air chamber, from whence it is conveyed by a flexible or other pipe
to the machine to be worked.
The details above given may be considerably varied, our Invention
consisting in making the air compressor portable and worked by animal
or manual power, also fixing the air compressor when at work by
lowering the frame to the floor or otherwise securing it.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
three Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters
marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1, is an elevation partly in section; Fig. 2 is a
transverse section; and Fig. 3 a plan also partly in section of a portable
air compressor constructed according to our Invention.
-

page_text: In these views a is a frame made by preference of wrought-iron plates
connected by side plates and strengthened with angle iron, but which
may be made in any other convenient manner; to the under side of this
frame are fixed bearings for the axles 6 of the wheels c which run on
the rails laid down in the workings of the mine; to the frame a are fixed
the two endless oblong rails d and e, on which the wheels f of the endless
chain of footboards 9 travel, or the semi circular ends of the rails may
be dispensed with, in which case the flanges of the wheels fwould run
on flat plates slightly. dished to raise the outer wheels, thereby facilitating
the turning of the footboards, which are jointed together by the seg-
mental links g¹, shewn in dots in Figs. 3, and to the under side of each
footboard is fixed a frame supporting the axles f¹ of the wheels f. The
endless chain of links g passes round the drums h and i, each of which
is keyed on a crank shaft marked h¹ and i¹.
The crank shaft ¹ gives motion to the piston ¹ in the lower cylinder j
and the shaft ¹ gives motion to the piston k¹ in the upper cylinder k,
each crank being connected to its respective piston rod by means of a
connecting rod jointed to a triangular frame, keyed to the piston rod and
guided by a sliding block working in slides, as in ordinary horizontal
steam engines; the slides are connected to the upper part of the frame a.
The pistons work in water which acts as a lubricant and insures the
full amount of air admitted being forced into the receiver or air chamber.
As the pistons and ³ are moved to and fro in their cylinders the air
is drawn in or admitted through the admission valves 1, 1, and the
compressed air is forced through the valves m, m, and pipes m¹ into a
suitable air chamber which is placed in the frame a or attached to it;
the compressed air is conveyed to the machine to be put in operation
by a flexible tube or otherwise. To the upper end of the crank shaft s¹
is fixed a mitre pinion which drives the horizontal shaft n on which are
the tappets n¹ for opening the admission valves 1, 1, as soon as the
pistons and k¹ begin to move in the direction for admitting air to the
cylinders.
The mode of operation is as follows:- -When the air compressor has
been moved along the rails to the place where it is required it is made
fast by wedging the wheels c or otherwise securing it, or the wheels may
be taken off and the frame a lowered on to the floor, the horse or other
draught animal standing on the foot boards g is then set in motion and
the action of its feet propels the chain of footboards in the direction of
the arrow in Fig. 3, this motion causes the crank shafts h¹ and ¹ to

page_text: revolve, thereby working the pistons to and fro in the cylinders and
drawing the air through the valves 1, 1, and forcing it through the
valves m, m, into the receiver or air chamber.
We wish to observe that by making the footboards wider two or more
horses or other animals may work abreast and by increasing the length
of the endless chain of footboards two or more animals may be yoked so
as to work in advance of each other, also the animals may be yoked to
work on one or both sides of the machine. The outer sides of the
frame a are jointed to the centre plate and can be turned up as shewn
in Fig. 2 to reduce the width of the machine for the convenience of
moving it from one place to another.
On Sheet 2, Figs. 4, 5, and 6, are three views of a portable air
compressor constructed according to a modification of our Invention.
This machine is very similar to the one above described and is con-
sequently marked with corresponding letters of reference, the principal
difference being that the cranks for working the pistons and k¹ are
both on the same crank shaft 8, whereas in the machine before described
each piston is worked by a separate crank shaft, the construction of the
links of the endless chain of footboards is also slightly different, the
links being segmental in Fig. 3 and straight in Fig. 6.
On Sheet 3, Figs. 7, 8, and 9, represent another mode of applying
animal or manual power to a portable air compressor. In these views
the air compressor is similar to that shewn on Sheet 2, but the endless
chain of footboards is dispensed with, and in lieu thereof we apply the
power to the arms o, o, which are fixed to a hollow axle o' supported in
bearings fixed to the bracket attached to the end of the cylinder, and to
the frame a; to the lower end of the hollow axle o' is fixed the spur
wheel p which gears into and drives the pinion s¹ on the double crank
shaft 8.
Within the hollow axles o¹ is a second hollow axle of at the
upper end of which is a crown catch t, and at the lower end is a nut o³
working on the screw o*, which is also provided with a crown catch o³,
projecting slightly below the plate of the air chamber or receiver a¹.
When the machine has been brought on its wheels to the place of action
the wheels c and axles 6 are removed and the crown catch o' rests upon
the floor, and the attendants by turning the nut o³ raise the hollow
axle os until the crown catch & bears against the roof of the mine; by this
means the whole machine is securely held while the horses or other
animals yoked to the arms o, o, turn round.

page_text: The foregoing and other modifications may be made without departing
from the peculiar character of our Invention which consists in making
the air compressor portable and placing it near the machine to be worked
instead of erecting the air compressor on a stationary foundation and
conveying the compressed air through pipes to the machine to be
worked, and which in collieries and most other cases involves a great
outlay in pipes.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention and described three
convenient arrangements of machinery for carrying the same into
operation, we wish to remark that, we do not intend to limit ourselves
to the details as they may be considerably varied; but what we claim is,
a portable air compressor for the purposes described, and the crown
catches o³ and t passing through the hollow axle for staying the machine
as shewn and described in Sheet 3.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Thornhill Simpson and 1
Frederick Hurd, have hereto set our hands and seals, this Seventh
day of January, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
TA M
ATDOO