IM- PROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF MINERALS, PUMPING, AND OTHER PURPOSES IN MINES IN WHICH MOTIVE POWER IS REQUIRED
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Atkinson Longridge, of 17, Fludyer Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER FOR THE CONVEYANCE
OF MINERALS, PUMPING, AND OTHER PURPOSES IN MINES IN WHICH MOTIVE
POWER IS REQUIRED."
Sealed the 19th December 1856, and dated the 23rd June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Atkinson Longridge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd June 1856.
I, JAMES ATKINSON LONGRIDGE, of 17, Fludyer Street, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF MINERALS,
PUMPING, AND OTHER PURPOSES IN MINES IN WHICH MOTIVE POWER IS REQUIRED,"
to be as follows:--
My improvements in obtaining & applying motive power for the conveyance
of minerals & other purposes in mines consist in the use of compressed air
forced into suitable reservoirs by means of a head of water acting on pumps,
or other apparatus suitable for the purpose. The water may be pumped up
by the ordinary pumping engine of the mine, or a separate engine may be used
for the purpose. Instead of obtaining compressed air in mines as a motive

page_text: power by a head of water, as above described, the air may be compressed by an
engine or suitable machinery above ground, & then conveyed by pipes to the
reservoirs in the mine.
After the air is compressed I sometimes further augment its expansive force
by the application of heat, and I employ the force of the air so compressed and
heated in mines for the purpose of haulage by the use of locomotive engines
actuated by such compressed air, or stationary engines actuated by such com-
pressed & heated air may be employed in haulage or for other purposes in mines
in which motive power is required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Atkinson Longridge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ATKINSON LONGRIDGE, of 17, Fludyer Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by IIer Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Atkinson Longridge, Her special licence that I, the said James
Atkinson Longridge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Atkinson Longridge, 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 OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER FOR THE CONVEYANCE
OF MINERALS, PUMPING, AND OTHER PURPOSES IN MINES IN WHICH MOTIVE POWER IS
REQUIRED," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Atkinson Longridge, my executors or administrators, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Atkinson Longridge, 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 two Sheets of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention of improvements in obtaining and applying motive power for
the conveyance of minerals and other purposes in mines consist in the uso of
compressed air forced into suitable reservoirs by means of a head of water.
acting on pumps or other apparatus suitable for the purpose. The water may
be pumped up by the ordinary pumping engine of the mine, or a separate
engine may be used for the purpose. Instead of obtaining compressed air in
mines as a motive power by a head of water, as above described, the air may
be compressed by an engine or suitable machinery above ground, and then con-
veyed by pipes to the reservoirs in the mine. After the air is compressed I
sometimes further augment its expansive force by the application of heat, and
I employ the force of the air so compressed and heated in mines for the purpose
of hauling by the use of locomotive engines actuated by such compressed air,
or stationary engines actuated by such compressed and heated air may be
employed in hauling or for other purposes in mines in which motive power is
required.
My Invention relates, first, to the obtaining of motive power by means of
compressed air, and the means of compressing the same. I compress the air
by the following means:-First, by means of a compressing pump or pumps
placed either at the surface of the earth or in the mine. When these pumps
are placed in the mine, and when the situation admits of it, I work them by an
engine actuated by water pressure; the water after being used in this engine
being again lifted by means of the ordinary pumping engine in the mine. In
other cases I work these pumps by means of a steam engine or by animal
power. Second, by means of one or more hydraulic presses, to the rams of
which pump plungers are attached working in pumps or cylinders, in which
the air is compressed. In this case the ram of the hydraulic press is driven
by a column of water obtained from the rising column of the ordinary mine
pumps, and communicating with such rising main or column as nearly at the
level of the hydraulic press cylinder as may be. As the water enters the
cylinder of the hydraulic press it forces the ram out, and thus forces the plunger
into the air cylinder in which the air is compressed; this air so compressed
then passes by means of a valve or valves into the reservoir, which I term a
station reservoir, where it is stored up for use.

page_text: Sheet 1, Fig. 1, represents in elevation the arrangement of hydraulic ram
and force
pump according to my Invention; and Figure 2, a vertical section
of the same.
A represents the rising column of the pump, or it may be a stand pipe
connected with it at or below the level of the press; B, a pipe leading from A
to the bydraulic press cylinder C, and furnished with a cock or valve at D;
E is the ram; F, the pump plunger, which is hollow, and furnished with
openings ff, and a valve g, opening outwards; G is the air cylinder, in which
the plunger F works, fitting it exactly, and made tight by means of a cup
leather at the top; II is the outlet valve, through which the air passes by the
pipe I into the station reservoir J, in which it is stored up for use; K is an
outlet pipe attached to the hydraulic press cylinder, and furnished with a cock
or valve; when the cock or valve D is open, and the outlet K shut, the water
flowing from rising column A through pipe B raises the ram E, and with it the
plunger F; the air in G is thus forced into reservoir J; when the plunger
reaches the top the valve D is shut. The valve K at the same time opens,
when the ram descends by its own weight. During the descent the air passes
through the valve into G, till the ram descends to the bottom, when tho
up-stroke is repeated, and so on. By thus alternately opening and shutting
valves D and K, which may be done either by hand or by rendering the same
self-acting by the machine, the ram and plunger make successive strokes, by
which means the air is accumulated at a high degree of pressure in J, accor-
ding to the column of water and the proportions observed between the ram E
and plunger F.
I do not confine myself to the particular arrangement shewn in the Draw-
ings, Figs. 1 and 2. The presses may be arranged in pairs connected by a
beam or lever, so that the rams and plungers mutually balance each other, or
there may be two plungers and two air cylinders, one on each side of a solid
piston working in the hydraulic press cylinder (as shewn in section in Fig. 3),
which may be placed either vertical or horizontal, or in any convenient
position.
In some cases, instead of deriving the pressure from the rising column of
the pumps, it may be obtained from a stand pipe, into which the water is
forced by a small steam engine placed in the mine. The station reservoir J
may communicate by pipes with other similar reservoirs placed at convenient
places in the mine, so that compressed air may be stored up for use at various
places, and near to where it is required to be applied.
My improvements consist, secondly, in the application of the air, so com-

page_text: pressed and stored up, to various purposes, such as driving pumps, stationary:
engines, and locomotive engines.
In the case of locomotive engines the portable reservoirs may be carried
upon the engine or on a separate carriage, which is brought to one of the.
station reservoirs, where it takes in a charge of compressed air by means of
a pipe and coupling joint, which is screwed on to a pipe communicating with
the station reservoir. After receiving its charge of air the coupling joint is
unscrewed, and the engine is ready for work.
In the case of fixed engines the compressed air may be brought in pipes
from the nearest station reservoir, or it may be brought from time to time in
a succession of the portable reservoirs, which, as they become expended, are
taken back again to the nearest station reservoir, and recharged with com-
pressed air, so that a constant supply of such air may be availablo when it is
required.
In some cases apply the air direct to the engine which it has to actuate..
In other cases I reduce it to a uniform pressure by means of a regulating.
valve, herein-after described, so that, although the pressure in the portable,
reservoir varies as the work proceeds, the air is admitted at any uniform
pressure required into the working cylinder.
}
In some cases, before admitting the air into tho working cylinder, I heat it.
after it has left the portable reservoir, so as to render it warm and better,
adapted for use in an engine, and also by heat to increase its volumin, and,
thereby utilize its expansive force so developed. I heat the air by exposing,
it in a pipe or chamber to the heat of a lamp or fire enclosed in a close,
furnace fed with air which has passed through the working cylinders, that is,
to say, the lamp or furnace is enclosed by wire gauze or other suitable medium
to prevent the passage of fire, as well understood.
:
I will now proceed to describe the equalizing valve, whereby the pressure
of the air is rendered uniform before entering the working cylinder, which is.
represented in Drawing, Sheet 2, hereunto annexed.
Fig. 4 is a section of the valve through the centre, showing the inlet and
egress appertures; Fig. 5 is a partial section of the internal cylinder or,
chamber of the valve; Fig. 6 is a plan of the valve complete; while Fig. 7
is a horizontal section on the line 1, 2, Fig. 4; and Fig. 8, a similar section,
on the line 3, 4, Fig. 4.
A, Figs. 4 and 5, is a pipe leading from the portable reservoir, and fur-
nished with a flange a, a. The end of this pipe is closed, but it has lateral,
openings B, B. D is a cylinder bored truly concentric with the pipe A, and

page_text: áttached to it by the flanges at a, a. F is a piston accurately fitting the
cylinder D, and made air-tight either by packing or by a cup leather in
the usual way. This piston is formed with a pendant part f, which part
émbraces the upper part of the pipe A, and moves freely upon it, the sur-
faces being truly fitted so as to be air-tight. C, C, are lateral openings in f, f
G, a helical spring bearing on the upper part of the piston F, and set
up to any required degree of pressure by the screw II or other convenient
means. The section is as follows:-If the spring be set up so as to exert
any given force upon F, and if the pressure in chamber D be less than such
given force, then it is obvious that the piston will descend when the openings
B, B, and C, C, will coincide, thus opening a passage for the compressed air,
which passes from the reservoir by the pipe A, and through C, C, and B, B,
into D. So soon, however, as the pressure in the chamber D exceeds the
force of the spring, the piston F will rise, and the parts B, B, will again be
closed, by which means the pressure in D is kept uniform, or may be altered
at will by means of the screw II. The air passes from D by the passage E
to the working cylinder or heating chamber. Instead of the screw H and
the spring G, I sometimes use a lever and weights, or spring balance similar
to that used in locomotive engines, the pin of the lever bearing in this case
upon the piston F. In some cases, instead of the piston F, I use a diaphragm
of india-rubber, to which the lower or valvular part f, f, of the piston F, before
described, is attached. This arrangement is shewn in section at Fig. 9. In
this case the tension of the india-rubber diaphragm K may itself be so
adapted as to regulate the pressure in chamber D, or it may have a spring
& set screw in addition.
I claim, first, obtaining compressed air in mines by means of air pumps
actuated by hydraulic presses, or pumps placed in the mines and worked by
means of a column of water, which may be either the rising column of the
pumps or from other columns of water maintained for that purpose.
Second, I claim the arrangement of distributing and storing up the com-
pressed air in various reservoirs, which I call station reservoirs, placed in
various convenient positions in the mine, from which station reservoirs the air
is afterwards conveyed by portable reservoirs to such places as it may be
required for actuating machinery.
Third, claim the application of heat to the air previous to entering the
working cylinders by exposing it in a pipe or chamber to the heat of a lamp
or close furnace fed with the air which has passed through the working.
cylinder.

page_text: Fourth, I claim the application of compressed air so heated to locomotive
engines for the conveyance of minerals underground in mines.
Fifth, I claim the construction of the regulating valve, as above described,
and illustrated by the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Atkinson Longridge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
JAS. A. LONGRIDGE. (L.S.)