AN IM- PROVED MACHINE FOR STAMPING OR CRUSHING ORES, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Henry Fortnom Cox, of the Parish of Saint Columb
Major, in the County of Cornwall, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVED MACHINE FOR STAMPING OR CRUSHING ORES, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 4th October 1878, and dated the 24th April 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Henry Fortnom Cox
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th April 1878.
SAMUEL HENRY FORTNOM Cox, of the Parish of Saint Columb Major, in the
County of Cornwall, Engineer. "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR STAMPING OR
CRUSHING ORES, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to improved stamping machinery for crushing ores and
other materials, and is designed to furnish more efficient means for performing such
operation than the machinery and apparatus heretofore known.
In practising my Invention I construct a machine as follows, that is to say:-
The said machine is provided with a steam cylinder fitted with a trunk piston.
The trunk is on the upper side of the said piston, and works through a stuffing in
the top of the said cylinder; the said trunk therefore so diminishes the effective area
of the upper side of the piston as to render it considerably less than that of the
lower side of the same. A piston rod is connected to a cross head in the upper
end of the said trunk and extends through the same and the piston and through the
cylinder bottom to the piston of another cylinder which I term a compressor. This
compressor communicates by means of suitable passages with a third cylinder,
which is of smaller diameter than the said compressor. In this third cylinder is a
piston, whose rod is extended either through the top or bottom of the said cylinder,
and is connected by a cross head or other suitable means with the stamp head
which works in an ordinary coffer. Side levers are connected with the said cross head
by suitable rods, and the valves for admitting and exhausting the steam into and
from the steam cylinder are operated by means of tappets and bars, rods, or levers,
connected with the said side levers.

page_text: High-pressure steam is admitted by the valves into the said steam cylinder above
the piston. One of the said valves is properly arranged for cutting off the steam at
any part of the stroke of the said piston. As this piston descends the piston of the
compressor also descends and compresses the air below it in the said compressor.
This compressed air passes through the aforesaid passage to the space below the
piston of the third cylinder, thereby raising the said piston, and with it the stamp
head.
During the descent of the compressor piston and the compression of the air
below it the air in the space above the said piston is being expanded or rarefied, so
that a partial vacuum is produced; in this space suitable inlet and outlet valves are
provided for regulating this compression and expansion of the air, the said valves
being controlled by means of weighted levers or otherwise.
The piston of the steam cylinder and the cross, head connected therewith in
ascending and descending cause the said side levers to rock or oscillate, and by means
of these levers an ordinary condenser and feed pump can be operated.
When the piston in the first or steam cylinder has completed a stroke, the afore-
said valves allow the high-pressure steam above the said piston to pass into the
space below the same, and then by reason of the greater area of piston surface in
the lower side of the same the said piston, and with it the compressor piston; will
be raised, and the piston of the third cylinder will be at the same time forced down
by the combined action of the compressed air above the said piston, and partial
vacuum below the same, and the stamp head will strike the ore or other material
in the aforesaid coffer.
To prevent any injurious effect by the heat produced by the compression of air
in the said condenser I place the said condenser and third cylinder in a cistern
containing water.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Samuel Henry Fortnom Cox in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th October 1878.
SAMUEL HENRY FORTNOM Cox, of the Parish of Saint Columb Major, in the
County of Cornwall, Engineer. "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR STAMPING OR
CRUSHING ORES, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to improved stamping machinery for crushing ores and
other materials, and is designed to furnish more efficient means for performing such
operations than the machinery and apparatus heretofore known.
According to my said Invention I compress the air in one chamber and use it in
another chamber, or two or more chambers, to actuate the stamp head or weight
which pulverizes or reduces the material placed under it.
In practising my Invention I construct a machine, as shewn in the accompanying
Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section of my Invention; Figure 2 is a
similar section illustrating a modified construction of the same for the purpose
herein-after specified.
The said machine, as shewn in Figure 1, is provided with a suitable vessel a
fitted with a trunk piston b. I prefer to use high-pressure steam as the actuating
fluid or medium in this vessel a, but I wish it understood that I may use any other
suitable source of motive power for working my machine. The trunk b' is on the
upper side of the said piston, as shewn, and works through a stuffing box a¹ in the
top of the vessel a, the said trunk therefore so diminishes the effective area of the
upper side of the piston as to render it considerably less than that of the lower
side of the same. A piston rod c is connected to a cross head d in the upper end
of the said trunk, and extends through the same, and the piston 6 through the
bottom a² of the vessel a, and through the top of another vessel e to the piston f of
the same.
This vessel e I term a compressor; the said compressor e communicates
by means of suitable passages e¹, e2, with a third vessel g. I prefer that the vessels
a, e, g, should be cylinders, as shewn in the Drawing. The vessel g is of smaller
diameter than the said compressor e. In this third vessel g is a piston h whose rod
i is extended through the top of the said vessel, and is connected by a cross head
or by other suitable means with the rod or rods k of the stamp head which works
in an ordinary coffer l, and stamps the ore or other material placed therein; this
material, when crushed, stamped, or pulverized, is removed from the coffer by the
employment of water in the ordinary manner.
Side levers m are connected by suitable rods or links m¹ with the cross head d,
and the valves a* for admitting the steam or other fluid into the cylinder a are
operated by means of tappets and bars, rods, or levers connected with the said side
levers m or with the cross head d.
When steam is to be used these side levers are also connected with the air pump
of a condenser placed in a cistern n, and with a feed pump or feed pumps for
supplying a steam boiler or for other like purposes. The said condenser is
connected with the vessel a by a pipe n', which is provided with a suitable valve
at n³.
The steam or other fluid at a suitable pressure is admitted by the said valves
into the vessel a above the piston b. One of the said valves is properly arranged
in a manner well understood for cutting off the steam at any part of the stroke of
the said piston. As this piston descends, the piston f of the compressor e also
descends and compresses the air below it in the said compressor. This compressed
air passes through the aforesaid passage to the space below the piston h of the
vessel g, thereby raising the said piston h, and with it the stamp head. During the
descent of the compressor piston f and the compression of the air below it the air in
the space above the said piston fis being expanded or rarefied, so that a partial
vacuum is produced in this space. Suitable inlet and outlet valves are provided at

page_text: '
e for regulating this compression and expansion of the air, the said valves being
controlled by means of weighted levers or otherwise.
The piston b of the vessel a, and the cross head d connected therewith, in
ascending and descending cause the said side levers m to rock or oscillate, and these
levers actuate the said air pump in the condenser tank n and the feed pumps either
directly or by or through some of the aforesaid shafts, bars, rods, or levers.
When the piston b in the vessel a has completed a stroke the aforesaid valves
allow the steam or other fluid above the said piston to pass into the space below the
same, and then, by reason of the greater area of piston surface on the lower side of
the piston ; the said piston, and with it the compressor piston f will be raised, and
the piston h of the vessel g will be at the same time forced down by the combined
action of the compressed air above the said piston h and the partial vacuum below
the same, and the stamp head will strike the ore or other material in the aforesaid
coffer. When steam is used as the actuating fluid the condenser will greatly assist
the steam acting on the piston b.
To prevent any injurious effect from the heat produced by the compression of air
in the said compressor e I place the said compressore and the cylinder g in a
cistern p, through which cold water is caused to flow.
Instead of using a direct-acting cylinder and piston for operating the said com-
pressor I may operate the same for supplying air to the cylinder g by a crank or
other mechanism acting under the pressure of steam or other power.
In the modification of my Invention illustrated in Figure 2 of the Drawing I
have shewn how I apply my apparatus for dry stamping, that is to say, the air
that drives or actuates the stamp head is used for removing the stamped or crushed
material from the coffer or chamber in which it has been subjected to the action of
the said stamp head.
Where steam power is conveniently obtainable I prefer to employ the high-
pressure engine and condenser, as shewn in Figure 1; but otherwise I may employ
the arrangement shewn in Figure 2, or other suitable means for driving the said
apparatus, both for wet or dry stamping and similar purposes.
In Figure 2 the compressor is preferably a cylinder e, provided with a piston f,
whose rod c is attached to a cross head d, to whose extremities are fitted the upper
ends of two connecting rods, whose other ends connect with cranks on the shaft o;
this shaft also has on it a toothed wheel o' and an excentric. Another shaft q,
arranged parallel with the shaft o, is geared with the wheel o' by a toothed wheel
g', and the said shaft q also carries a driving pulley q³, or in its place another gear
wheel.
The driving power is applied to this driving pulley or gear wheel, and thereby
through the aforesaid gearing q¹, o', and the cranks and connecting rods a
reciprocating or to-and-fro movement will be given to the piston ƒ of the
compressor.
is
Air is admitted into the said compressor e through inlet valves es at the upper
and lower ends of the same, and after or during its compression in the said vessel it
is forced through valves et into a chamber or compartment r. This chamber
fitted with an ordinary D slide valve r' or with two or more of such valves having
the usual reciprocating motion imparted to the same through the medium of suitable
rods and levers by the aforesaid excentric on the shaft o.
The vessel g, as in the apparatus shewn in Figure 1, is fitted with a piston h,
whose rod i is attached to a cross head j, to which I attach the rod or rods k of the
stamp head; but in this case, and also in the apparatus shewn in Figure 1, the
piston rod i, instead of extending up through the top of the cylinder g may pass
through the bottom of the same, directly to the stamp head.
Below the said chamber r, or in any other convenient position, I arrange a
chamber, which extends downward, and surrounds the anvil block 8, or if
desirable, terminates in the coffer above the anvil block in one or more pipes or
passages.
The compressed air passes from the chamber r through the said slide valve and

page_text: the admission ports in the usual manner, but instead of being exhausted or dis-
charged into the atmosphere it is conducted through the exhaust port, and the valve
and exhaust passage into the chamber *, whence it passes into the coffer, and
drives out of the same, through the openings &', the crushed, pulverized, or reduced
material, which is conducted through the passage into any convenient receptaclo
or receptacles.
The pressure of the air in the chamber is regulated by the valve t, which is
arranged between the chamber r and the chainber 7. The said valve is held to
its seat by a weight or spring or other suitable devices, and may be so arranged and
adjusted that light or heavy blows of the stamp head can be given thereby at pleasure,
and the speed of the said stamp head can be regulated as desired; and the excess of
compressed air, if any, is also conducted into the chamber *, and together with the
exhaust air assists in driving out of the coffer the crushed, pulverized, or reduced
material.
"
In both Figures I have shewn an ordinary "pass or hopper, in which the
material to be treated is first placed, the said "pass" being provided with doors or
shutters to regulate the supply of such material to the coffer.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. In a machine for stamping, pulverizing, or crushing ores, and for similar
purposes, the cylinders or other vessels fitted with pistons, and so arranged in com-
bination with each other and with the other parts of the said machine that the air
is compressed in one of the said vessels, and the compressed air is employed in the
other vessel or vessels in such a manner that a stroke of the compressing piston
causes a stroke of the other piston or pistons, and the power thus obtained is
utilized for actuating the stamp head or heads, as above set forth.
Second. The machine or apparatus in which steam is used, comprising the com-
pressor, whose piston is moved to and fro therein by the direct action of the steam
engine, with or without the aid of a condenser, or which piston is operated
indirectly in any suitable manner, and is caused, to force compressed air into the
vessel that drives the stamp head, as shewn in Figure 1 of the Drawing; or the
said machine or apparatus modified to adapt it for the use of water or other power,
either alone or in combination with the said steam engine for actuating the stamp
head, as above set forth.
Third. The modification of the said machine or apparatus in which I combine
with the said compressor and the vessel whose piston drives the stamp head, and
with the other parts, shewn in Figure 2 of the Drawing, the means whereby the
compressed air, whether it has or has not passed through the said vessel, is utilized
as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Henry Fortnom Cox, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.