IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PILE DRIVERS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Jeffrey Bennett, of Hyde Terrace, New Cross,
in the County of Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PILE DRIVERS."
Sealed the 13th December 1864, and dated the 17th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Jeffrey Bennett at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th June 1864.
I, JOSEPH JEFFREY BENNETT, of Hyde Terrace, New Cross, in the County
of Kent, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PILE DRIVERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to increase the efficiency of pile drivers by
providing a ready means of attaching the hammer to and detaching it from
the lifting chain, and of regulating the depth of fall of the hammer as the
driven pile enters the ground. The hammer which slides in vertical guides
as usual is cast with a recess through the middle of such shape as will admit
of a cranked catch for engaging with the lifting chain being mounted therein,
and of a line or cord attached to the tail end thereof for the purpose of
operating the catch depending therefrom within reach of the attendant. The
back plate of the hammer is fitted with wedges, which are intended to act upon
bowles mounted on a horizontal spindle having its bearings in a pendent
frame. This frame is hinged to a sliding piece that embraces the vertical
guides that form the front framing of the pile driver. The sliding piece is

page_text: supported by a line which passes over a pulley at the top of the framing, and
by this line it may be raised and lowered at pleasure for the purpose of
adjusting the length of lift of the hammer. The spindle that carries the
bowles before mentioned carries also a third which is intended to bear
against the lifting chain, and while acting as an antifriction roller to thrust
the chain out of line, so that when the link that has engaged the catch of the
hammer comes near this roller it will be thrust back off the catch and leave
the hammer free to drop; this operation is effected by the wedges on the back
plate of the hammer coming under the bowles as the hammer attains its
highest position, and thus forcing forward the roller of the hinged frame that
is in contact with the chain, and causing it to act on the chain as described.
The catch which is now left free will drop within its recess, being assisted in
that movement by the recoil of a block of rubber fitted in the recess for that
purpose. The hammer will then fall on to the pile head below. To effect the
re-engagement of the catch the attendant pulls the line of the catch, and
thereby rocking it on its fulcrum causes it to protrude from its recess, and
catch again into the lifting chain at a part not affected by the protruding
antifriction roller of the hinged frame. The pile driver frame I prefer to
mount on its carriage, so that it may turn freely thereon by the action of
gearing or otherwise, to present the hammer the more readily to its work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Jeffrey Bennett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
JEFFREY BENNETT, of Hyde Terrace, New Cross, in the County of Kent,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, 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 Joseph Jeffrey Bennett, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Jeffrey Bennett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Jeffrey Bennett, 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

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PILE DRIVERS," upon the
condition, amongst others, that I, the said Joseph Jeffrey Bennett, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Joseph Jeffrey Bennett, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to increase the efficiency of pile drivers by
providing a ready means of attaching the hammer to and detaching it from
the lifting chain, and of regulating the depth of fall of the hammer as the
driven pile enters the ground.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn my improved pile driver in
partial side elevation at Fig. 1, in partial sectional elevation on an enlarged
scale at Fig. 2, and in partial back elevation at Fig 3. A is the hammer
which slides in vertical guides B, B, as usual. These guides form the front
of the main framing, and they rise from a platform C, and are braced
together at top by cross timbers which form the head of the pile-driver frame.
This frame carries the upper of the chain wheels D, the lower wheel being
mounted in the casting which carries the steam winch. The head frame is
itself supported by the guides B and struts E, which also rise from the plat-
form C. The hammer A is cast with a recess a through the middle. This
recess is intended to receive a cranked catch F for engaging with the lifting
chain D, and thereby lifting the hammer, and this recess is therefore so
shaped as to allow of the catch freely rocking on its fulcrum f from the dotted
to the drawn position of Fig. 2. The recess is further elongated and carried
through the hammer to admit of a line or cord f1 being attached to the tail
end of the catch, and led down through the hammer to the platform, or within
reach of the attendant. The object of this attachment of the cord is to throw
the catch F up into contact with the chain D¹, so that it may engage there-
with as the chain is running in the direction of the arrows, and cause the
hammer to be lifted. The hammer is prevented from falling away from the
guides B, B, by means of back plate a', a', one of which is provided with wedge-
shaped projections. These projections are intended to act upon a pair of

page_text: bowles G mounted on a horizontal spindle g, having its bearings in a pendent
frame H. This frame is hinged to a sliding piece I, which embraces the
vertical guides B, B, and is pendent from a line i passed over a pulley at
the top of the framing. By means of this line the sliding frame may be raised
and lowered at pleasure for the purpose of determining the length of lift of
the hammer, as will be presently explained. The spindle that carries the pair
of bowles G before mentioned, carries also at the middle of its length a third
bowle G' of somewhat larger diameter which bears against the rising links of
the lifting chain D* for the purpose of thrusting the links between it and the
catch out of line, and thereby causing that link which has engaged the catch
of the hammer as it comes near the roller to slip off the catch, and leave the
hammer free to drop. This action of the bowle G¹ is effected by the wedges
on the back plate a¹ of the hammer coming under the bowles G as the hammer.
attains its highest position, and thus rocking the hinged frame, and forcing
forward the bowle G¹ against the chain until it slips past the catch. The
catch being now left free will drop within its recess, and be clear of the chain
during the descent of the hammer. This is a very important matter, for if
while the hammer is falling the catch were again by any accident to catch
the chain it would instantly snap it and stop the action of the machine. In
order to ensure the rapid recession of the catch within its recess I assist the
gravitating action of the catch by the recoil of a block of vulcanized india-
rubber f fitted in the recess for that purpose. To effect the re-engagement
of the falling hammer with the chain the attendant pulls the line f¹, and
thereby rocks the catch on its fulcrum f, and causes it to protrude from its
recess. One of the ascending links of the lifting chain, at a part not affected
by the protruding bowle G¹, will again engage with the catch and lift the
hammer as before. As the disengagement of the hammer from the chain
occurs on the close proximity of the hammer to the bowle G it will follow that
the height of the lift and the consequent fall of the hammer will be deter-
mined by the position on the guides to which the sliding piece I is adjusted.
The pile driver frame and platform I prefer to mount on its carriage so that it
may turn freely thereon by the action of gearing as shewn at Fig. 1, in order
that it may present the hammer the more readily to its work, and that its
weight may be brought to a central position so as to balance the pile driver,
and remove the tendency for it to fall over when being moved along a
railway.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of improvements in the
construction of pile drivers, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, I claim the means above described for operating the hammers of pile
drivers with a variable or regulated length of fall in connection with the
ordinary lifting chain.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Jeffrey Bennett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOSEPH JEFFREY BENNETT. (L.S.)