IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS.
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edmond Donisthorpe, of Leeds, in the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
USED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS.".
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edmond Donis-
thorpe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st January 1864.
I, GEORGE EDMOND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
USED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery used in
getting coal, stone, and other minerals. For these purposes, when actuating
picks or cutters by engines worked by compressed air or other fluid, I so
arrange the picks or cutters and apparatus that two picks or cutters, or two
sets of picks or cutters, may be caused by the engine to act alternately. In
order that the compressed air or other fluid may not as heretofore at the back
or return stroke be employed to waste, simply acting to bring back the pick or
cutter, or set of picks or cutters, and only actuating the pick or cutter, or set of
picks or cutters, so as to do work when the engine is making its forward stroke,
I employ two picks or cutters, or two sets of picks or cutters, receiving motion
from the piston of an engine worked by compressed air or other fluid. The
engine is mounted on a suitable truck with the picks or cutters, the piston rod
of the engine gives motion to a lever turning on a centre intermediate of its

page_text: length, and to the ends of which the two picks or cutters, or the two sets are
respectively attached, so that as one pick or cutter, or one set acts, the other
pick or cutter or set retires, consequently the movement of the piston in either
direction gives motion to or actuates one cutter or pick or set, whilst at
the same time the other pick or cutter or set retires. In place of a lever
being thus interposed between the piston rod of the engine and the picks
or cutters, other mechanical arrangements may be employed to cause the
picks or cutters to act alternately in the manner above explained. The
picks or cutters used may be lever picks or sliding picks, and they may be
arranged to work at right angles, or at other suitable angle to the face of the
work, or the cutters may be caused to move parallel with the work, and cut
grooves deeper and deeper therein by being set up after making each cut.
In place of the trucks on which the engines and picks or cutters are mounted
having flanged wheels suitable for running on a regular gauge of rails, as is
now usual in coal getting machinery, I employ rollers which will run on rails
whether they are laid to a fixed or regulated gauge or not. One rail only acts
to guide the truck, and this is laid with care, whilst the other rail on which the
truck moves may be out of truth or gauge therewith; and in order that the
rail which is laid correctly may be the means of guiding the truck, I apply a
clip at each end of the truck, which fits over and partly embraces the head of
the rail, the clips being made suitable to slide freely along the rail. On the
surface of the guiding rail teeth may be formed to receive a worm or screw
by which the truck is moved, and at the same time the truck is thereby
securely retained from moving back during the action of the picks or cutters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Edmond Donisthorpe in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st July 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, GEORGE
EDMOND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, Her special licence that I,
the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, my

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED
IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, 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 George Edmond Donisthorpe, 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 has for its object improvements in machinery used in getting
coal, stone, and other minerals. For these purposes, when actuating picks
or cutters by engines worked by compressed air or other fluid, I so arrange the
picks or cutters and apparatus that two picks or cutters, or two sets of picks
or cutters, may be caused by the engine to act alternately. In order that the
compressed air or other fluid may not as heretofore at the back or return
stroke be employed to waste, simply acting to bring back the pick or cutter, or.
set of picks or cutters, and only actuating the pick or cutter, or set of picks or
cutters, so as to do work when the engine is making its forward stroke, I
employ two picks or cutters, or two sets of picks or cutters, receiving motion
from the piston of an engine worked by compressed air or other fluid. The:
engine is mounted on a suitable truck with the picks or cutters, the piston rod
of the engine gives motion to a lever turning on a centre intermediate of its
length, and to the ends of which the two picks or cutters,. or the two sets, are
respectively attached or connected, so that as one pick or cutter or one set
acts the other pick or cutter or set retires, consequently the movement of the
piston in either direction gives motion to or actuates one cutter or pick.or.
set, whilst at the same time the other pick or cutter or set retires. In place.
of the trucks on which the engines and picks or cutters are mounted having
flanged wheels suitable for running on a regular gauge of rails as is now
usual in coal-getting machinery, I employ rollers which will run on rails
whether they are laid to a fixed or regulated gauge or not.
to guide the truck, and this is laid with care, whilst the
One rail only acts
other rail on. which.

page_text: the truck moves may be out of truth or gauge therewith; and in order that
the rail which is laid correctly may be the means of guiding the truck, I apply
a clip at each end of the truck, which fits over and partly embraces the
head of the rail, the clips being made suitable to slide freely along the rail.
On the surface of the guiding rail teeth may be formed to receive a worm or
screw, by which the truck is moved, and at the same time the truck is
thereby securely retained from moving back during the action of the picks or
cutters.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 an end view, and Figure 3 a plan of a
machine constructed according to my Invention for getting coal, stone, and
other minerals.
a, a, are the side frames of the machine, they are connected together at
their ends and at top and bottom by the cross bars b, b, this frame is carried
by the rollers c, c, the axes of which turn in bearings d, fitted into lugs on
the frame; e, e, are claws or clips on one of the side frames embracing the
guide rail f, these keep the carriage on the rails, the rollers being made
without flanges; the guide rail f has teeth cut in it, and a worm k mounted in
bearings on one of the side frames gears therewith; it has a bevilled pinion on
its axis, which gears with another bevilled pinion on the vertical axis i, having
a handle i¹ at its upper end, by which it can be turned, and by turning this
axis the carriage can be caused to travel either forward or backward; k is a
ram working in a cylinder mounted and secured on the top of the carriage,
the compressed air or fluid which works the apparatus can be admitted to this
cylinder by a suitable passage and valve so as to raise the ram, by this means
the wheel m, which is carried in bearings at the top of the ram, is caused to
press against the roof or top of the working, and the apparatus is thus steadied
whilst at work; the ram k is made to work air-tight in the cylinder by means
of a cup leather such as is used in packing hydraulic rams. Whilst the appara-
tus is out of work, and the carriage is being taken from place to place, the ram
is allowed to descend by cutting off the supply of compressed air or fluid from the
cylinder and opening a passage for the escape of the compressed air or fluid it
already contains. The worm h can also be raised up out of gear with the rack
teeth on the guide rail by screwing down the screws g, the ends of these screws
then press on bars or frames that rest on the top of the bearings of the roller
c; is the cylinder for working the picks or cutters, it has a piston within it,
and on the end of the piston rod the cross head o is fixed, and from this con-
necting rods or links p, p, pass back and are jointed to the double lever q, q,
which has a strong upright axis q' at the centre of the carriage, where it is
carried in bearings. The extreme ends of the compound lever q carry friction

page_text: rollers r, r, which lay in recesses made to fit them in the pick or cutter
frames s, s, these frames are each made with three shelves or brackets s¹, s¹,
which may be provided with picks or cutters, the pick frames are, in order
that they may run freely to and fro on the ends of the carriage, supported on a
number of friction pulleys u, u, mounted on horizontal axes fixed at the top
of the carriage. Other pullies v, v, mounted on vertical axes fixed to the pick
frames, keep the said frames steady laterally by running in guide ways
formed for them on the carriage, whilst a third set of pullies w, w, mounted
on horizontal axes, keep the pick frame from rising by bearing on a flange on
the carraige which is immediately over them.
The picks or cutters shown in the Drawing are such as I prefer to employ,
and are similar to those described in the Specification of a former Patent
granted to me, dated the 28th October 1863 (No. 2671), each pick having
combined with it a clearer (1), as therein described, for withdrawing the
pieces of coal that are cut away by the pick usually when the machine is at
work; one shelf or bracket only of each frame is provided with a pick or picks,
according to the height at which it is desired to work. The pick or cutter at
the leading end of the machine is, as is shown in the Drawings, made shorter
than that at the hinder end, so that the latter may serve to deepen the groove
cut by the former. The cutter frame at the hinder end of the machine may
have two or more cutters on either of its ledges or shelves, although only one
is shown in the Drawing; the rearmost cutter is then made of a suitable
length to deepen the cut made by the cutter in front of it; whilst the machine
is at work it is by hand caused to move on a short distance after each blow of
the rearmost cutter; to do this the workman after every alternate movement
of the valve lever turns the handle . The machine is free to move forwards,
as each of the rearmost picks is capable of turning on a centre or pin at its
rear end, and thus although the rearmost picks will have just completed their
stroke at the time the carriage is to be moved forwards, yet the picks will not
O prevent the carriage from moving, the turning of the pick on its pin in this
manner moves the clearer so as to cause it to enclose the pieces cut away by
the pick.
The turning of the pick on its centre moves the clearer by reason
of the clearer which turns on a centre intermediate of its length being at its
end connected by a link to the pick. When the pick has been withdrawn so
5 as to be clear of the coal, the pick or picks are brought back into their former
positions by the spring that is placed between the clearer and the pick; the
pick is then ready to make another cut. In order (when using clearers such
as are shown in the Drawing) to cause the clearer of the leading pick to
enclose the coal or material removed by the pick, the leading pick is by

page_text: preference made to turn on a centre intermediate of its length, and at its rear
end has teeth formed upon it, into which a pinion (2*) on an axis (2) gears;
on this axis is an arm (8) carrying a pin (4), this pin is received in a slot in
one arm of the lever (5), each time the pick has completed its forward stroke
a roller (6) is caused to be moved against the end (5*) of the lever (5); the
lever is thus turned on its centre, this causes the axis (2) also to turn, and so
turns the pick on its pin, this movement of the pick as above described causes
the end of the clearer to be moved towards the pick. When the pick has
completed its backward stroke another roller (7) is brought against the end
(5*) of the lever (5), so moving the lever in the opposite direction and turning
the pick into its original position; the slot in the lever (5) is so formed as not
to permit the axis (2) to turn by any strain on the teeth of the pinion upon it.
The axis (2) passes, as is shown, from top to bottom of the machine, and
above each of the shelves or brackets of the cutter frame has a pinion upon
it similar to the pinion (2*), in order that a cutter or cutters on any or all of
the shelves may be actuated by it. The rollers (6) that give motion to the
lever (5) are carried by a sliding bar (8); this sliding bar is pin-jointed to an
arm (9) on the axis (10), at the opposite end of the axis is another arm that
is pin-jointed to the lever that works the valve; the valve may be a slide
valve of ordinary construction, and the workman, by means of the hand lever x,
moves it to and fro each time he requires the picks to make a stroke. The
slide valve is arranged so that compressed air or other fluid for working the
engine is only admitted into the cylinder when the valve lever has been moved
to its extreme positions, thus the first portion of the movement of the lever
handle always acts first to turn the axis (10), and when the requisite motion
has so been given to the scraper and pick then air or other fluid is admitted
to the cylinder, and the pick is then so caused either to strike a blow or to
make its return stroke. In place of a lever 9 being interposed between the
piston rod of the engine and the picks or cutters, as above described, other
mechanical arrangements may be employed to cause the picks or cutters to
act alternately in the manner above explained. Also the picks or cutters used
may be lever picks in place of being sliding picks, as they are shown in the
Drawing, and in this case they may be bolted directly to levers arranged like
the levers q, q. The picks or cutters also, as shown in the Drawing, are
arranged to work at right angles to the face of the work, but they may be
arranged to work at other suitable angles, or the cutters may be caused to
move parallel with the work, and cut grooves deeper and deeper therein by
being set up after making each cut.
In arranging a machine for making vertical cuts in the work when two

page_text: picks or cutters or two sets of picks or cutters are employed, so as alternately
to come into action in the manner herein described, I prefer that the two
cutters or sets of cutters should be carried by slides, each of which is carried
by a separate frame, upon which it is capable of moving upwards or down-
wards in guides. The two frames are one above the other, and have a horizontal
to-and-fro motion given to them from an engine, in a similar manner to that in
which motion is given to the cutter frames of the machine just described.
Suitable mechanism is provided for raising or lowering the slides on the
reciprocating frames that carry them. By these means when the machine
has been placed opposite the face of coal to be cut, and has been set to work,
a vertical cut can by raising or lowering the cutter slides be made in the coal
equal in height to the height of the two frames that carry the cutter slides.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
G. E. DONISTHORPE. (L.8.)