IMPROVEMENts in Signal Apparatus FOR COLLIERIES AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Leech, of Wigan, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENts in Signal Apparatus
FOR COLLIERIES AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Leech at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd December 1874.
I, WILLIAM LEECH, of Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNAL
Apparatus for COLLIERIES AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to the construction of signal apparatus for
collieries, mines, and other underground works, the object of the Inven-
tion being to combine visible and audible signals from the persons at the
bottom of the shaft to the engineer at the pit mouth, such signal
remaining visible until the engine has commenced to wind up, and then
returning automatically to zero.

page_text: For the audible signal I employ a bell provided with a hammer con-
nected by a lever to a cord or wire, which extends to the bottom of the
pit or shaft, and the audible signals are given by one or more strokes (or
as they are called "knocks") on this bell.
The visible signal is given by means of a pointer and dial placed in
front of the bell, and connected with the lover above named by a ratchet
wheel and pawl (or otherwise) in such a manner that cach time the wire
is pulled the pointer is moved one division on the dial, so that the pointer
indicates the number of "knocks" given on the bell. The pointer
remains at the particular division corresponding with the number of:
"knocks" given until the engine commences to wind up, when a finger
raised by a cam or excentric in direct connection by worm or other
gearing with the engine lifts the pawl out of the ratchet wheel, and a
coiled spring on the axis of the pointer brings the latter back to the
"zero" point ready' to indicate another signal.
]
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
.
filed by the said William Leech in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LEECH, of Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,,
give and grant unto me, the said William Lecch, Her special license
that I, the said William Lecchi, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Leech, my 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 SIGNAL
APPARATUS FOR COLLIERIES AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Lecch, my executors or admini-

page_text: SERVIS, by an instrument in writing under my, or unenr, 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 William Leech, my 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, and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to the construction of a signal apparatus for
collieries, mines, and other underground works, the object of the Inven-
tion being to combine visible and audible signals from the persons at
the bottom of the shaft to the engineer at the pit mouth, such signal
remaining visible until the engine has commenced to wind up, and then
returning automatically to zero.
-
For the audible signal I employ a bell provided with a hammer con-
nected by a lever to a cord or wire, which extends to the bottom of the
pit or shaft, and the audible signals are given by one or more strokes (or
as they are called "knocks") on this bell.
The visible signal is given by means of a pointer and dial placed in
front of the bell, and connected with the lever above named by a ratchet
wheel and pawl (or otherwise) in such a manner that each time the wire
is pulled the pointer is moved one division on the dial, so that the
pointer indicates the number of knocks given on the bell. The pointer
remains at the particular division corresponding with the number of
"knocks" given until the engine commences to wind up, when a finger
raised by a cam, excentric, or other equivalent device in direct connection
by worm or other gearing with the engine lifts the pawl out of the
ratchet wheel, and a coiled spring on the axis of the pointer brings the
latter back to the "zero" point ready to indicate another signal.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to
be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that
the same may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of
Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and

page_text: letters of reference corresponding with those in the following explanation
thereof :-
having nine teeth, and fixed upon
In the annexed Drawing Fig. 1 is a face view of my improved signal
apparatus; Fig. 2, a side elevation shown partly in section; and Fig. 3,
a back view with the bell removed. a, a, is the dial, and b, b, the pointer;
c, c, is the bell. The pointer is moved by means of a lever d, d, to the
upper end of which is attached a cord e, e, which passes over pulleys or
otherwise to the bottom of the shaft. The lever d, d, carries a pawl f£
which acts upon a ratchet wheel g, g,
the axis of the pointer b, b. Thus each time that the cord is pulled the
pointer is moved one division of the dial, a retaining pawl keeping it
in its place till released, when a coiled spring j,j, brings the pointer
back to zero. To prevent the pointer from moving beyond the figure 8
the ninth tooth is partly cut away, so that the pawl does not act upon it.
The apparatus may of course be constructed so as to give any other
number of signals more or less than cight. Each time that the lover d, d,
is pulled over it comes against a projection on the hammer i, i, and
causes it to strike the bell, and thus the number of times that the cord
has been pulled is indicated both by the position of the pointer and the
number of strokes sounded upon the bell. Beneath the pawls fand h is
a finger 1, 1, which is placed in direct connection with the engine in
such a way that as soon as the engine commences to wind up it causes
this finger to raise the pawls f and out of the teeth of the ratchet
wheel g, g, when the coiled spring ; on the axis of the pointer imme-.
diately returns the latter back to zero ready for another signal. This
may be done in a variety of ways, but in the arrangement shown in the
Drawing the finger 1, 1, is attached to or forms part of a lever m, m, the
other end of which carries a bowl, which at each revolution of the
upright spindle n, n, is depressed by a pin or projection o, o. At the
lower end of the spindle n, n, is a toothed wheel, which is driven by
worm or other gearing from the engine.
It will be evident therefore that as soon as the engine commences to
wind up, the pin o, o, depresses one end of the lever m, m, and causes the
finger 1, 1, at its other end to raise both of the pawls fand h, and allows
the coiled spring to return the pointer back to zero.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed

page_text: or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as
my Invention, the combination for such purposes of a dial and bell,
substantially in the manner and for the purposes above mentioned, the
pointer of the dial being so arranged as to move one division at cacli
stroke of the bell, and to return automatically to zero as soon as the
engine commences to wind.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Leech, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.