IMPROVEMENTS IN ARRANGING AND WORKING MINING ENGINES AND MACHINERY.
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Barclay, of Kilmarnock, in the County of
Ayr, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARRANGING AND WORKING MINING ENGINES AND MACHINERY.'
Sealed the 16th May 1854, and dated the 2nd March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Barclay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
March 1854.
I, ANDREW BARCLAY, of Kilmarnock, in the County of Ayr, North Britain,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVE
MENTS. IN ARRANGING AND WORKING MINING ENGINES AND MACHINERY" to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the so arranging and managing the winding
engines of coal and other mines that such engines may be more safely managed
than at present, whilst all chance or "over-winding" and injury to the mining
mechanism may be avoided. These improvements are effected by adapting the
ordinary and well-known "link motion" to the hand gear of the engine, so
that the attendant can easily stop and reverse his engine at the exact moment
required in the action of winding. To do this, the engineman has only to
work a hand lever up or down, and this lever being suitably connected with
the "link motion," correspondingly effects the position of such motion, and
therefore either stops or reverses the engine, as is at present done in locomotive
and marine engines. By such a system of gearing, the motion is entirely
Duise

page_text: unbroken, and the attendant has always a safe and perfect command over his
engine; and to add still further to the safe working of the system, it may be
contrived so that a self-acting movement shall come into play at the precise
moment required for the purpose of stopping or reversing the engine, in case
the engineman should be careless, or absent at the proper instant. For this
purpose, a tumbler is so connected with the engine or winding mechanism, that
it shall be slowly wound up or elevated to its falling centre at the time that
the motion of the engine is to be changed. Thus, as this tumbler falls over it
acts through suitable connections upon the reversing or stopping link, and
effects the intended movement. Various means may be adopted for securing
this self-acting effect, disengaging pins or stops being so set as to actuate the
link movement at the proper time. As adapted to direct-acting horizontal
cylinder winding and pumping engines, for instance, a small shaft passes away
back from the main shaft to the steam cylinder, at which end this small shaft
carries a worm in gear, with a worm wheel set on a horizontal stud. This
wheel has a ring groove in its side to receive adjustable stud pins, which are
set at the proper distances in the wheel, so as to act upon the adjusting lever
of the valve link motion; provision is also made by a separate adjusting slide
or belt for allowing the engineman to set the engine to go constantly in one
direction, as when used for pumping. When so set, the adjustable pins of the
worm wheel no longer affect the engine, so as to set the valves for back and
forward actions, or the up and down winding. Should the engine accidentally
run slightly beyond the intended point, an eccentric piece on the stud spindle
carrying the worm wheel acts upon a sliding piece carried round by the wheel,
and this movement acting upon the under side of the valve link lever sets this
lever to its central position, so as to prevent the return of the engine. These
gearing details are obviously capable of being modified in various ways,
and the arrangements are suitable for beam or other kind of engines. To
prevent accidents from the main gearing getting disengaged, a frictional brake
apparatus is provided to stop the engine's movement. Thus, should the wheels
fly out of gear, owing, for instance, to the attendants leaving out the fastening
key when changing from pumping to winding, this friction strap will be brought
into play to prevent the engine from running away. The brake pulley is so
set upon the shaft, which is liable to slip back, and being loosely incircled by a
friction strap, the lateral traverse, owing to the disengagement, makes the
pulley press itself hard against the interior of the strap. This strap encircles
three-fourths of the wheel, and is workable as well from both its ends. These
two opposite ends are each connected to one of the two opposite cages, that is,
the ascending and descending cages; for instance, when one of the cages

page_text: arrives at its proper stepping point, it acts upon a pin or stop in connection
with one end of the friction strap, and draws the strap tight round the pulley
in the direction of the revolution of the pulley at the time being; hence,
whichever way the engine is running, the friction strap has a tendency to be
forced down into frictional contact by the pulley movement; when once
started, the engineman can also work such friction brake by a separate hand
or foot gear movement. To prevent danger from the breakage of winding
ropes,
the cage carries a bearing frictional pulley, contrived to be adjusted by
spring pressure upon the pit slides or tumber guides. This pulley carries on
one side of it a ratchet wheel, with which a catch from a clipping detent for
binding upon the pit slide is made to gear. As the cage ascends the pit, the
pulley revolves freely by its pressure upon the slide, but should the winding
rope break, the attempted descent of the cage causes the pulley to begin to
turn in the reverse direction, when its ratchet wheel pulls the detent piece
forward and clips the slide, thus securing the cage from falling.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andrew Barclay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st September 1854.
TO ALL ΤΟ WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
BARCLAY, of Kilmarnock, in the County of Ayr, North Britain, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Andrew Barclay, Her special license that I, the said Andrew Barclay,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew
Barclay, my executors, administrators, or 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 ARRANGING AND
WORKING MINING ENGINES AND MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Andrew Barclay, 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

page_text: 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 Andrew Barclay 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 accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say --
My said Invention relates to the so arranging and managing the winding
engines of coal and other mines, that such engines may be more safely managed
than at present, whilst all chance of "over-winding" and injury to the mining
mechanism may be avoided. These improvements are effected, in the first place,
by adapting the ordinary and well-known "link motion" to the hand gear of the
engine, so that the attendant can easily stop and reverse his engine at the exact
moment required in the action of winding. To do this, the engineman has
only to work a hand lever up or down, and this lever, being suitably connected
with the "link motion," correspondingly affects the position of such motion,
and therefore either stops or reverses the engine, as is at present done in
locomotive and marine engines. By such a system of gearing the motion is
entirely unbroken, and the attendant has always a safe and perfect command
over his engine. And to add still further to the safe working of the system,
it may be contrived so that a self-acting movement shall come into play at the
precise moment required, for the purpose of stopping or reversing the engine,
in case the engineman should be careless or absent at the proper instant.
For this purpose, a tumbler is so connected with the engine or winding
mechanism that it shall be slowly wound up or elevated to its falling centre at
the time that the motion of the engine is to be changed; thus, as this tumbler
falls over, it acts through suitable connections upon the reversing or stopping
link, and effects the intended movement. Various means may be adopted for
securing this self-acting effect, disengaging pins or stops being so set as to
actuate the link movement at the proper time.
As adapted to direct-acting horizontal cylinder winding and pumping en-
gines, for instance, a small shaft passes away back from the main shaft to the
steam cylinder, at which end this small shaft carries a worm in gear, with a
This wheel has a ring groove in its side,
worm wheel set on a horizontal stud.
to receive adjustable stud pins, which are set at the proper distances in the wheel,
so as to act upon the adjusting lever of the valve link motion. Provision is
also made by a separate adjusting slide or bolt, for allowing the engineman to
set the engine to go constantly in one direction, as when used for pumping.
When so set, the adjustable pins of the worm wheel no longer affect the engine,

page_text: so as to set the valves for back and forward actions, or the up and down
winding. Should the engine accidentally run slightly beyond the intended
point, an eccentric piece on the stud spindle carrying the worm wheel acts
upon a sliding piece carried round by the wheel, and this movement, acting
upon the under side of the valve link lever, sets this lever to its central position,
so to prevent the return of the engine. These gearing details are obviously
capable of being modified in various ways, and the arrangements are suitable
for beam or other kinds of engines. To prevent accidents from the main
gearing getting disengaged, a friction brake apparatus is provided to stop the
engine's movement; thus, should the wheels fly out of gear, owing, for in-
stance, to the attendant's leaving out the fastening key when changing from
pumping to winding, this friction strap will be brought into play to prevent
the engine from running away. The brake pulley is set upon the shaft, which
is liable to slip back, and being loosely encircled by a friction strap, the lateral
traverse, owing to the disengagement, makes the pulley press itself hard against
the interior of the strap. This strap encircles three-fourths of the wheel, and
is workable as well from both its ends. These two opposite ends are each
connected to one of the two opposite cages, that is, the ascending and de-
scending cages. For instance, when one of the cages arrives at its proper
stopping point, it acts upon a pin or stop, in connection with one end of the
friction strap, and draws the strap tight round the pulley in the direction of
the revolution of the pulley at the time being; hence, whichever way the
engine is running, the friction strap has a tendency to be forced down
into frictional contact by the pulley movement when once started. The
engineman can also work such friction brake by a separate hand or foot
gear movement.
To prevent danger from the breakage of winding ropes, the
cage carries a bearing frictional pulley, contrived to be adjusted by spring
pressure upon the pit slides or timber guides. Thus pulley carries on one
side of it a ratchet wheel, with which a catch from a clipping detent for
binding upon the pit slide is made to gear. As the cage ascends the pit the
pulley revolves freely by its pressure upon the slide, but should the winding
rope break, the attempted descent of the cage causes the pulley to begin to
turn in the reverse direction, when its ratchet wheel pulls the detent piece
forward and clips the slide, thus securing the cage from falling.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Draw-
ings hereunto attached. Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation
of a horizontal cylinder winding and pumping engine, represented with certain
modifications of my improvements adapted thereto; and Figure 2 is a plan of

page_text: the same corresponding; Figure 3 is a side elevation; and Figure 4 is a plan
of a slightly modified form of a portion of the stopping and reversing gear;
and Figure 4 is a side elevation of the details for preventing over-winding.
The engine details are carried upon the elongated rectangular sole plate A.
The horizontal steam cylinder B is bolted down by flanges to one end of this
sole plate, whilst the pedestal bearing C, for the end of the main shaft D, is
fixed at the other end. The valve of the steam cylinder is worked by the
eccentrics E, F, keyed upon the main shaft D, and jointed to the opposite ends
of the slotted segment G. This segment works upon the end of the valve
rod H, and communicates the motion of the eccentrics directly to it. The
segment is suspended by the pair of links I to a lever J, which oscillates upon
a fixed stup pin K, and serves as a means of altering the position of the seg
ment G, so as either to stop or reverse the engine. The lever J is either
actuated by hand, or by means of self-acting mechanism, consisting of a worm
wheel L, carried loosely on the stud pin K, and driven by a worm M on a
shaft N, driven by the main shaft D, by means of the bevil wheels O. The
wheel I, has an annular groove formed on its inner face, in which groove is
fixed a pin P, this pin being adjusted at a point to suit the number of revo-
lutions the engine has to make in one direction. When the pin P comes round,
it depresses or raises the link motion lever J, and causes the requisite change
of valve movement. The pin does not act directly upon the lever itself, but
upon a sliding bolt Q, carried by the lever. This bolt Q is jointed to a bent
thumb lever R, by means of which it can be drawn back, so as not to be acted
upon by the pin P, this being done when it is required to work the engine
continuously in one direction. The bolt Q passes through a strap or bracket S,
fixed upon the lever J, and is held between a pair of blade springs T, so as not
to shift accidentally. The wheel L carries a sliding bolt t, arranged in radial
guides u, and a small eccentric or cam piece v is fixed upon the stud pin K,
which forces out the bolt t; as the wheel L comes round when so forced out,
this bolt t projects under the bolt Q of the reversing lever, and prevents its
shifting beyond its central position by any means. When not forced out by
the cam v, the bolt t is kept inwards, clear of the bolt Q, by means of the
blade spring w. In Figures 3 and 4 is represented a slightly different form of
a bolt Q¹, the end on which the pin P acts being formed with segmental pro-
jections forming a step, which enables the attendant to give the engine a little
steam without altogether releasing the bolt. The other end is curved, and is
jointed to a thumb lever R', formed with a curved lower end, upon which a
blade spring T' acts, instead of the springs T, which act upon the bolt Q
itself, in the modification previously described. To prevent over-winding, a

page_text: friction pulley U is keyed upon the winding shaft V, or on any shaft in gear
with the winding shaft, and this pulley is embraced by a strap W, which is
drawn tight upon the pulley in one direction or the other by a weighted lever.
When this lever is released from a detent by the cage on its being raised too
high, one end of the strap W is passed through a beam or fixture X, being
held by a screw nut Y, which prevents its yielding towards the pulley, although
it can be drawn through the beam X in the opposite direction. The other
end of the strap W is jointed to the lever Z, which vibrates on a fixed centre
at a.
This lever carries a heavy weight b near its other end, and it is
ordinarily supported in the notch of a pendant detent lever c. This lever c is
connected by a rod d to a bell crank lever e, which is in its turn connected by
a rod f to a catch lever g, placed in such a position over the mouth of the
pit as to be lifted by one of the cages when this is raised too high. By these
means, when over-winding occurs, the weighted lever Z is released, and forcibly
pulls down the strap W upon the friction pulley U. When the lever Z is in
action, the pulley U is always turning in the direction of the arrow, and con-
sequently assists in binding round the strap upon itself, the strap being drawn in
the same direction by the weighted lever Z. When the pulley U is turning in the
contrary direction, that is, when the other cage is being raised, the other end
of the friction strap W is acted upon by a similar arrangement, but in which
is likewise comprehended a means whereby the attendant can act upon the
friction strap independently of the weighted levers. The weighted lever h
oscillates on a fixed centre at i, and acts upon the friction strap W by means
of an arm j, at right angles to the body of the lever, and entered into a slot
formed in the end k of the friction strap. The lever his prolonged as at 1, past
its centre of oscillation, and is ordinarily held up by the detent lever m, the
end being entered into the notch of the latter. The detent lever m, which
vibrates on the fixed centre n, is connected by the rod o to a system of levers
similar to the details e, f, g, already herein-before described, and arranged to
be acted upon by the cage, which is being raised when the pulley U is turning
in the reverse direction to that of the arrow. The attendant acts upon the
friction strap by means of a bent lever p, jointed to the end k of the strap, and
turning upon a centre q upon the lever h, so as to move with this last when
it moves. A vertical rod is jointed to the lever p, and a foot plate s is
fixed upon the top of the rod, by means of which the attendant depresses the
lever when he wishes to bring the brake into action. One modification of my
improved arrangements for preventing the fall of the cage on the suspensory
rope giving way is represented in elevation in Figure 6 on the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto attached. In this Figure, A is the guide, passing down

page_text: the side of the pit shaft; but instead of arranging a single frictional pulley to
act upon this guide, as herein-before mentioned, I find it better to employ two
pulleys B, which act on opposite sides of the guide. These pulleys B are
carried loosely on centre pins upon cranked levers C, which oscillate on stud
pins D, fast upon the upper cross piece E of the cage frame. It is by the
ends of the upper and outer arms of the levers C that the cage is connected
to the suspensory rope, and stop pins F are fixed in the cross piece Ę to act
as abutments for the levers. The ends of the lower arms of the levers C are
drawn towards each other by a strong spiral spring G, which pulls the pulleys
B against the guide A, when the levers C are released from the action of the
cage's weight, on the suspensory rope giving way. Each of the pulleys B has
fixed upon, or cast in one piece with it, a small ratchet wheel H, and the two
ratchet wheels act upon curved detents or catch levers I, J; one I of these
details is jointed to the upper end of a lever K, which oscillates on a centre
pin L, fixed to an intermediate cross piece M of the cage frame. The lever K
is linked to a pair of friction straps or levers N, jointed at their lower ends to
the bottom cross-piece O of the cage frame, and arranged so as to press
forcibly on each side of the guide A when acted upon by the lever K. The
catch lever J is jointed to the lower end of the lever C on the opposite side of
the guide A. The following is the action of the apparatus :-When the cage
is duly suspended by its rope, its weight acts on the levers C, so as to keep the
pulleys B off the guide A; when the suspensory rope gives way, however, the
spring G forces the pulleys B tightly against the guide A; their frictional
action upon this guide causes them to turn, and the ratchet wheel H. of one
of them draws over the lever K, powerfully compressing the friction levers.N
against the guide, whilst the other ratchet wheel H assists in more effectually
binding the pulleys D upon the guide. Plain wheels may be substituted for
the ratchet wheels H, and chains or cords may be substituted for the catch
levers I, J, such chains or cords being permanently fixed to the wheels H.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,---
First, the general arrangement and construction of engines and machinery
for mining purposes, as herein-before described.

page_text: Second, the application and use in mining engines of the link motion as
employed in locomotive and marine engines for stopping or reversing the
movements of the steam valve or valves, such link motion being arranged to
act directly on the valve rod, as herein-before described.
Third, the system or mode of stopping or reversing the valve gearing of
mining engines, by means of a slowly-revolving stop, actuated by the engine
itself, and acting upon the reversing lever, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the system or mode of stopping or reversing the valve gearing of
mining engines by means of a weighted tumbler, which is slowly raised or
turned over by the engine itself, and, on descending, acts upon the reversing
lever, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the application and use in mining engines of a friction brake, arranged
to be acted upon either by hand or by weighted levers, which levers are
arranged to be set free to act by the over-winding of the engine, or by the
ascent of the cages above their proper height, as herein-before described.
Sixth, the system or mode of preventing the fall of the cage, in coal pit or
other shafts, when the suspensory rope gives way, by means of a pulley or
pulleys acting frictionally on the guide, and arranged to force a lever or levers
into frictional contact with the guide, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Barclay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
ANDREW BARCLAY.
(L.S.)