IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sturgeon, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 31st December 1867, and dated the 2nd July 1867...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sturgeon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on. the 2nd
July 1867.
I, JOHN STURGEON, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS,
AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:
2
My Invention relates to certain improved arrangements of machinery and
apparatus to be used in mines for the purpose of cutting coal or other minerals.
When mining for coal it is usual to make a drift or tunnel into the solid
material, after which the coal is removed by cutting it away in straight lengths,
as in the system known as "long wall," and the coal is also frequently
removed in short stages, as in the system known as "pillar and stall." Here-
tofore cutting machines have been for the most part confined to the one
operation of holing or undercutting on the long wall system, and are
inapplicable
for tunnelling or working in pillar and stall.

page_text: The chief object of my Invention is to produce a machine capable of per-
forming any or all of the various operations required in tunnelling or making
a drift, long wall cutting, or pillar and stall cutting, or to work at an irregular
face of coal of any length.
In order to accomplish this I employ a cutter or cutters actuated by an
engine worked by compressed air or other power which instead of being as
heretofore traversed bodily along rails or guides to impart the necessary feed
to the cutter is so arranged that the cutter may have an independent forward
motion imparted to it for a certain convenient length without shifting the
engine which works it from its original situation during the process of
cutting.
One mode of effecting this is to arrange the cutter so that it may in being
fed along its work describe a curve from a fixed or partially moveable centre
placed at such a distance from the point of the cutter that the latter may be
at liberty to travel through a curve approximating sufficiently near to a
straight line for all practical purposes. Although many different forms of
cutting tools may be used in combination with this arrangement I prefer to
employ cutters to which a rocking or angularly vibrating motion on a centre is
imparted by the engine through a lever arm, toothed segment, or other suitable
contrivance, the cutters being suitably attached to the vibrating bar in such a
way as to present a bent form similar to that of an ordinary pick. The axis
of the vibrating cutters may be carried in bearings suitably mounted on the
barrel of the working cylinder or engine, which is so arranged that the vibrating
cutter may be caused to travel forward in its work by swivelling the engine,
together with the cutters carried thereon, step by step from a centre point placed
at a convenient distance from the working point of the tool, to enable the latter
to describe a long curve sufficiently flat for the purpose, the centre or pivot
on which the whole turns being carried on a bracket fixed for the time being,
but capable of being readily shifted as soon as the cutter has arrived at the
end of its course. Or the required feeds may be imparted to the cutter without
moving the engine in the following manner :-The vibrating cutter instead of
being attached to the same axis as the lever arm, which works in conjunction
with the piston rod of the engine, and receiving its motion direct therefrom, is
attached to another axis carried in bearings capable of being moved forward or
backward independently of the engine, so that the cutter may be traversed
trough its work or advanced or withdrawn without disturbing the engine.
The motion of the piston rod is communicated by a lever arm or other suitable
contrivance to the first motion axis, from which motion is transmitted to the
cutter axis in such a way that both may be always in gear in any position of

page_text: the moveable cutter axis; this may be accomplished by carrying the cutter
axis in suitable bearings on a swing frame or radial arm arranged so as to
turn on the same centre as the first motion axis, so that it may be always at
the same distance therefrom, in order that the mechanism connecting the two
centres of motion may be always in gear. The cutter may thus be traversed
along or caused to advance deeper into the coal without advancing the machine
which works it. It may sometimes be convenient that the arc described by
the cutter should gradually change its situation in respect to the first motion
axis as the work proceeds in order that when the position of the cutter is
changed in its progress along the work it may still maintain the most-con-
venient angle of vibration to suit such change in position; I accomplish this
by simply using toothed segments or other suitable appliance to transmit the
motion from the first motion axis to the cutter axis, so that in moving the latter
forward or backward it is at the same time partly turned by the action of the
teeth so as to throw it into a different angle in respect of the first motion axis.
I may also apply a traverse to the cutter in a straight line, or nearly so, without
disturbing the engine in the following way :-Instead of the simple swing frame
or radial arm above described, I employ two or more radial arms -suitably
jointed together so as to form a kind of flexible frame carrying the cutter axis
at one end, and geared in such a manner from joint to joint as to maintain the
connection between the first motion axis and the cutter axis in any position of
the latter, the flexibility of the framework allowing the cutter axis to travel
in a straight line, varying its distance from the first motion axis, and at the
same time keeping in gear therewithi.
".
. In combination with the above arrangements I may also connect the cutter
axis together with the framework carrying it to the motive-power cylinder in
such a way that the angular position of the said axis may be varied as described
in the Specification of a Patent granted to myself and others, dated the 28th
day of November 1864; and numbered 2962, and I may also carrry the
working cylinder by trunnions so that the angle of the cylinder, together with
the axis or axes and cutters carried thereon, may be varied in a direction at
right angles to the plane of the angular adjustment above referred to.
By means of the arrangements above described the machine may be used
for long wall boring or undercutting without the aid of rails or guides, as the
whole length 'to be cut may be performed in a series of short stages, the
machine remaining stationary while the cutter is being traversed through a
imited portion of the work, and then shifted into a fresh position after the
utter has arrived at the end of its range until the whole length is completed.
In this way the machine can be readily applied to. work at an irregular face

page_text: of coal where it could not be conveniently worked along guides or rails, and
the inconvenience arising from the unsteadiness of a machine working on such
guides or rails is entirely obviated. When tunnelling, or making a drift into
a solid material, and also in pillar and stall work it is necessary to hole or
undercut for the required width and also, to cut vertical side openings, To
enable the machine to perform the undercutting portion of the work within
the limited space to which its action is confined, I connect the vibrating cutter
bar in such a way that it may be turned round so as to vibrate either, along
side or in front of the space occupied by the engine which, actuates it, that is
to say, so that it may work on that side of its fulcrum which is towards, the
machine instead of on. the side away from the machine; by which arrangement
a great saving of room is effected, as. compared with the usual arrangement of
an ordinary pick swinging in .advance of the engine actuating it; the cutter
may
then be set to start about the middle, of the course it has to travel through,
and traverse say from left to right, the arm carrying the vibrating, cutter, may
then be turned round to the opposite side, the gear reversed, and the cutter
traversed from right to left, thus completing the required, width. To perform
the vertical cuts at. each side the.. arm may be turned at right angles to the
above-named positions, and the requisite feed may be imparted to the cutter by
means of a gradual angular movement from the trunnions above described as a
centre of motion or from the moveable frame or frames above described.
In combination with the above arrangements I apply to the part of the
machine which carries the cutter a self-acting feed motion for advancing the
cutter along its work while the body of the machine remains stationary, and
so arranged that the cutter must first penetrate to a certain determinate depth.
into the coal before in can advance. In the Specification of a Patent granted
to me, dated the 24th day.. of September 1863, and numbered 2357, is
described a self-acting feed motion on a similar principle, but in that case
applied to move the whole machine bodily along rails.
;.
In conjunction with. the above-named feed motion I also apply self-acting
releasing motion to the cutter to loosen it from the coal after it has made its
stroke preparatory to withdrawing it for the next stroke, as described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to me and others, dated the 28th day of
November 1864, and numbered 2962, and the valve of the engine may be
worked self-acting; as described in my Specification above referred to of the
24th day of September, 1863. .
I prefer to work the engines for the machines above described by compressed
air, but they may be arranged by slight modifications to be worked by water
pressure or other suitable power. In working such machines by compressed

page_text: air it is usual to condense the air in a large receiver placed at a distance..
from the machine, and containing sufficient compressed air in reserve to keep.
the machine in motion for some time, the air being supplied to the cutting,
engine through tubes and flexible pipes. But in some cases it may be
inconvenient to apply the power in this way, as for instance in distant workings
where the power of the air would be too much.. reduced by friction in the,
pipes and by leakage; or for temporary purposes for which it would not be
worth while to lay pipes specially. Instead, therefore, of the above arrange-
ment I apply a small air pump or pumps to the cutting engine itself either
as forming a part of the cutting engine or separate and accompanying it, by
which the air may be either compressed or exhausted in small quantities as
required for each separate stroke of the cutter, and capable of being worked by,
hand or other convenient power. In some cases, these pumps may be worked >
with advantage by means of a small compressed. air engine in connection,
therewith, and supplied with air through. pipes in the usual way.
:
T
. Another improvement consists, in the application of a vertical cylinder.
engine to actuate the cutter or cutters; to effect this. I connect the vertical,
piston rod of the engine to, one end of an L-lever, the other end of which is
connected to a horizontal bar in such a way that the vertical to-and-fro move-
ment of the piston rod may transmit a horizontal. to-and-fro movement to the
bar, which movement the latter is made to transmit to the cutters in the usual.
way. This arrangement of the motive-power engine may be conveniently used.
in combination with the curvilinear mode of feeding the cutters, as the barrel:
of the cylinder may be arranged to serve as the pivot or centre around which
the bracket carrying the cutter axis is arranged so as to be capable of turning,
concentrically with the piston.of.the engine, so that the L-lever.maybe always.,
in gear therewith in any position of the cutter axis;. the cutter axis may also:;
be carried on a bracket in such a way as to be capable of turning round the
horizontal bar in a similar manner so as to be always in gear therewith; the,
vertical position. of the cylinder, moreover, prevents any oscillation of
the machine from the motion of the piston, especially. where the machine.is,
guided along rails.
....
. The modes of carrying out the principles of action above described may be,
considerably, varied, and machines may be made for cutting coal arranged to
perform all the various operations described by the one machine, or separate.
machines may be used for the different operations specially adapted for. each.
particular purpose.
All of the above-named methods of working the cutters may also be applied.
either separately or in suitable combinations to coal-cutting machines, which

page_text: are worked and guided along rails, trams, or other guides. For instance, a
machine made after one or any of the modes above described may be mounted.
on a low truck or carriage, or have wheels attached to it, so that when used
for long wall cutting it may be more easily moved from place to place at each
stage of the cutting; or the machinė may be so arranged that the independent.
cutter feed motion above described may be locked and kept-out of action, and
the self-acting motion transferred to suitable gearing carried on the machine,
whereby the cutter may be traversed along its course by moving the whole
machine bodily along rails or guides as might sometimes prove convenient in.
long wall cutting along an even face in order to save the time required for
shifting the machine at each stage of the work. Again, for long wall holeing
the independent feed of the cutter may be applied to a machine working along
the usual rails or guides for the purpose of starting or opening the groove
for the entter before setting the machine on its regular traverse.
The mode of carrying the working cylinder in trunnions for the purpose of
varying the angle of the cut may also be applied, the cylinder being placed
transversely to the rails to prevent oscillation from the motion of the 'piston.
The inverted position of the vibrating cutter bar when working may also be
employed with advantage, as also the mode of pumping the air for each
separate stroke of the cutter by a small pump close to the engine. The
advantage of the vertical position of the cylinder in a machine traversed
along rails has already been referred to. To enable such machines to be
applied to tunnelling or irregular work I employ instead of the usual rails a
short frame having rails along which the machine can travel transversely in a
drift or tunnel. The inverted position of the vibrating cutter already
described reduces the amount of space taken up by the machine and the
cutter, so that they are enabled to travel along the frame about half way
across the width of an ordinary drift or tunnel, and consequently to perform
the boleing part of the work in two shifts of the cutter, as has been already
described, the vertical cuts being made in the manner before mentioned. This
short frame may be used with advantage when the machine is required to
work at a very uneven face, as it can be easily shifted from place to place as
the work proceeds and fixed down inclined at the most convenient angle for
the face at which the machine has to work. The frame may also have
suitable guides fixed underneath it so that it may be carried on the ordinary
truck rails or trams, and may be arranged to swivel on a centre like a turn-
table to enable it being set at any angle that may be required to suit the
nature of the work.
•
In coal-cutting machines intended to work along rails or guides, instead of

page_text: making the machine to suit a particular guage of rails, as has heretofore been,
usual, I arrange the guides on the machine whether they be flanged wheels or;
skids, so that they may be adjusted under the machine to suit any guage of
rails; these guides are arranged to be separately attached to the machine, and
are capable of being slided in or out and fixed in any required position
thereon. I also apply to the traversing gear of the machine, or of the cutter,
suitable gear for reversing the action of the same, so that the cutter may be
caused to travel either from left to right or from right to left as may be found
convenient without having to turn the machine bodily round, as has heretofore
been necessary...
.I have already referred to certain arrangements. by which the oscillation.of:
the machine caused by the motion of the piston may be obviated, this, oscil-}
lation is chiefly felt in machines. working along rails where the motion of the
piston takes place in the direction of the rails; to obviate which in such cases
I use a chain, rack, or other contrivance along which to propel the machine
in combination with a brake or grip on the machine, constantly acting against,
any. convenient portion of the propelling gear so as to keep it locked. until,
released by a tappet or other contrivance through the action of the machine>
for the moment. when the propelling gear is required to: act. I form the
cutters out of a piece of thin steel, bent round longitudinally, so as to present a
circular or curved section having the cutting end sharpened and rounded..off:
in the manner of a gouge, and the other end arranged to fasten on the cutter
bar, the end of which is shaped to fit the curved form of, the cutter!! The:
cutter may be fastened on by a ring, cotter, bolt, or other suitable fastening,
or the end which is attached to the bar may be made barrel-shaped, having a.
slit up the barrel, so that when placed on the end of the bar it may be held
fast thereon by its own elasticity. The cutter may also be forged so, as.to.be
of a T-section throughout the greater. part. of its;. length, and. changing
gradually into a. spoon or gouge-shaped form and its cutting end,..so as to
combine,a sharp cutting edge with, strength and lightness, and to diminish.the
resistance from the slack left in the groove as the cutter enters...
I also employ an improved apparatus for projecting air mixed with watery
spray into the groove formed by the cutter, as claimed in the Specification.of
a. Patent granted to me and others, dated the 27th day of October 1863, and:
numbered 2659. For this purpose I carry a pipe from the exhaust port off
the engine, so as to point towards the groove formed by the cutter, and allow
the exhaust air from the engine, to rush into the groove; and I apply another:
pipe leading from a small tank or reservoir of water carried on the machine:
to the mouth of the exhaust pipe in such a way that the rush of air from the

page_text: '
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
1. by the said John Sturgeon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
. 1st January 1868.
3. :...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME; I JOHN.
STURGEON, of Bolton-le-Moors; in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting:
''
1
WHEREAS Her 'most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters!
Patent, bearing date the Second day. of July; in the year of our Lord. One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the. said:
John Sturgeon, Her special licence that I, the said John Sturgeon, my:
executors, administrators; and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Sturgeon, 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 MACHINERY EMPLOYED
IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Sturgeon,
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..
་་
NOW KNOW YE, that I; the said John Sturgeon; 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 'state-
ment:"
.
My Invention relates to certain improved arrangements of machinery and
apparatus to be used in mines for the purpose of cutting coal or other
minerals.
When mining for coal it is usual to make a drift 'or tunnel into the solid
:

page_text: material, after which the coal is removed by cutting it away in straight
lengths, as in the system known as long wall, and the coal is also frequently:
removed in short stages, as in the system known as "pillar and stall."
Heretofore cutting machines have been for the most part confined to the one'
operation of holing or undercutting on the long wall system, and are in-
applicable for tunneling of working in pillar and stall:
The chief object of my Invention is to produce a machine capable of pér
forming the principal operations required in tunneling or making a drift, long
wall cutting, or pillar and stall cutting, or to 'work at an irregular face of cual'
of any length.
'
'
In order to accomplish this I employ a cutter or cutters actuated by an
engine worked by compressed air or other power, which 'instead of being as
heretofore traversed bodily along rails or guides to impart the necessary feed
to the cutter is so arranged that the cutter may have an independent.forward:
motion imparted to it for a certain convenient length without shifting the
whole machine bodily from its original situation during the process of cutting..
One mode of' effecting this is to arrange the cutter so that it may in being
fed along its work describe a curve from 'a fixed or partially moveable centre
placed at such a distance from the end of the cutter that the latter may be
caused to travel through a curve approximating sufficiently near to a straight
line for all practical purposes. Although many different forms of cutting
tools niay be used in combination with this arrangement, I prefer to use
cutters to which a 'rocking or angularly vibrating motion on a centre is'
imparted by the engine through a lever arm, toothed segment, or other
suitable contrivance, the cutters being suitably attached to the vibrating bar
in such a way as to present a bent form, similar to that of an ordinary pick.
The axis of the vibrating cutters may be carried in bearings suitably mounted
on the barrel of the working cylinder or engine, which is so arranged that the
vibrating cutter may be caused to travel forward in its work by swivelling the
engine, together with the cutters carried thereon; step by step from a centre
point placed at a convenient 'distance from the working end of the tool to
enable the latter to describe a long curve sufficiently flat for the purpose, the
centre or pivot on which 'the whole turns being carried on 'a bracket 'fixed for
the time being, 'but capable of being readily shifted as soon as thẻ cutter has
arrived at the end of its 'course; or the required feeds may be imparted to the
cütter without swivelling the engine in the following 'manner :-The vibrating
cutter instead of being attached to the same axis as the lever arm which
works in connection with the piston rod of the engine, and receiving its
motion direct 'therefrom, is attached to another axis carried in bearings

page_text: capable of being moved forward or backward independently of the engine,
so that the cutter may be traversed through its work, or advanced or with-
drawn without disturbing the engine. The motion of the piston rod is
communicated by. a lever arm or other suitable contrivance to the first
motion axis, from which motion is transmitted to the cutter axis in such a
way that both may be always in gear in any position of the moveable cutter
axis; this may be accomplished by carrying the cutter. axis in. suitable
bearings on a swing frame or radial arm arranged so as to turn on the same
centre as the first motion axis, so that it may be always at the same distance
therefrom in order that the mechanism connecting the two centres of motion
may be always in gear. The cutter may thus be traversed along or caused to
advance deeper into the coal without advancing. the machine. which works it.
It may sometimes be convenient that the are described by the cutter. should
gradually change its situation in respect to the first motion axis as the work
proceeds, in order that when the position of the cutter is changed. in its
progress along the work it may still maintain the most convenient angle of
vibration to suit the change in position. I accomplish this simply using
toothed segments or other suitable appliance to transmit the motion from the
first motion axis to the cutter axis, so that in moving the latter forward or
backward.it is at the same time partly turned by the action of the teeth so as
to throw it into a different angle in respect of the. first motion axis. I may
also apply a traverse to the cutter in a straight line or nearly so without
disturbing the engine in the following way:-Instead of the simple swing
frame or radial arm above described, I employ two or more radial arms
suitably jointed together so as to form a kind of flexible frame carrying the
cutter axis at one end, and geared in such a manner from joint to joint as to
maintain the connection between the first motion axis and the cutter axis in
any, position of the latter, the flexibility of the framework allowing. the cutter,
axis to travel in a straight line, varying its distance from the first motion axis,
and at the same time keeping in gear therewith. In combination with the
above arrangement I also connect the cutter axis together with the framework
carrying it to the motive-power cylinder in such a way that the angular
position of the said axis may be varied, as described in the Specification of a
Patent granted to myself and others; dated the Twenty-eighth day of November
1864, and numbered 2962; and I also carry the working cylinder by trunnions,
so that the angle of the cylinder, together, with the axes or axis and cutters
carried thereon, may be varied in a direction at right angles to plane of the
angular, adjustment above, referred to..
By means of the arrangements above described the machine may be used

page_text: for long wall boling or undercutting without the aid of rails or guides, as the
whole length to be cut may be performed in a series of short stages, the machine.
remaining stationary while the cutter is being traversed through a, limited:
portion of the work, and shifted into a fresh position' after the cutter has
arrived at the end of its range. In this way the machine can be readily!
applied to work at an irregular face of coal where it. could not be conveniently
worked along guides or. rails, and the inconvenience arising from the un-
steadiness of a machine. working on such guides, or rails is entirely obviated.,
When tunnelling or. making a drift into solid, material, and also in pillar and
stall work, it is necessary to.hole or undercut for the required width, and also to
cut vertical side openings.. To enable the machine to perform the undercutting:
portion of the work within..the limited space to which its action is confined I.
connect the vibrating, cutter. bar in such a way that it may be turned round soi
as to vibrate either alongside or in front of the space occupied by the engine!
which actuates it, that is to say, so that it may work on that side of its fulcrum:
which is towards the machine, by which arrangement a great saving of roomi
is effected, as compared with. the usual arrangement of an ordinary pick
swinging in advance of the engine actuating it; the cutter may.then be set:
to start about the middle of the course it has to travel through, and traverse,:
say, from left. to. right; the arm carrying the vibrating cutter may then. ber
turned round to the opposite side, the gear reversed, and the cutter traversed
from right. to left, thus completing the required width. To perform the
vertical cuts at each side. the arm may be turned at right angles to the above->
named positions, and the requisite feed may be imparted to the cutter by:
means of a gradual angular movement from the trunnions above described as
a-centre of motion, or from the moveable frame or frames above described.
. In combination with the above arrangements I apply to the part of the
machine which carries the cutter.a self-acting feed motion for advancing the:
cutter along its work while the body of the machine remains stationary, and,
so arranged that the cutter must first penetrate to a certain determinate>
depth.into the coal before it can advance.
In the Specification of a Patent granted to me, dated the Twenty-fourth:
day of September 1863, and numbered 2357, is described a self-acting feed.
motion on a similar. principle, but in that case applied to move the whole.
5 machine bodily along rails. In conjunction with the above-named motion I.
also apply the self-acting releasing motion to the cutter to loosen, from thei
coal after it has made its stroke. preparatory to, withdrawing it for the next.
stroke, as described in the Spécification of a Patent granted to me and others,
dated the Twenty-eighth day of .November 1864, and numbered. 2962, and

page_text: the valve of the engine may be worked self-acting, as described in' my Speci
fication above referred to of the Twenty-fourth day of September 1863,
No. 2357.
:...'.
I prefer to work the engines of the machines above described by com-
pressed air, but they may be arranged by slight modifications to be worked
by water pressure or other suitable power. In working such. machines by
compressed air it is usual to condense the air in a large receiver placed at a
distance from the machine, and containing sufficient compressed air in reserve
to keep the machine in motion for some time, the air being supplied to the
cutting engine through tubes and flexible pipes; but in some cases it may
be inconvenient to apply the power in this way, as, for instance, in distant
workings, where the power of the air would be too much reduced by friction
in the pipes and by leakage, or for 'temporary purposes, for which it would
not be worth while to lay pipes specially. Instead therefore of the above
arrangement I apply a small air pump or pumps to the cutting engine itself,
either as forming a part of the cutting engine, or separate and accompanying
it, by which the air may either be compressed or exhausted in small.quantities
as required for each separate stroke of the cutter, and capable of being worked.
by hand or other convenient power. In some cases the pumps may be
worked with advantage by means of a small compressed air engine in con-
nection therewith, and supplied with air by pipes in the usual way.
4
Another improvement consists in the application of a. vertical cylinder
engine to actuate the cutter or cutters. To effect this I connect the vertical-
piston rod of the engine to one end of an L-shaped lever, the other end of.
which is connected to a horizontal bar in such a way that the vertical to-&-
fro movement of the piston rod may transmit a horizontal to-and-fro-move-
ment to the bar, which movement the latter is made to transmit to the cutters
in 'the usual way. This arrangement of the motive-power engine may be
conveniently used in combination with the curvelinear mode of feeding the
cutters, as the barrel of the cylinder may be arranged so as to serve as the
pivot or centre round which the bracket carrying the cutter axis is arranged
so as to be capable of turning concentrically with the piston of the engine, so
that the L lever may be always in gear therewith in any position of the cutter
axis. The cutter axis may also be carried on a bracket in such a way as to
be capable of turning round the horizontal bar in. a similar manner, so as to
be always in gear therewith. The vertical position of the cylinder moreover
prevents 'any oscillation of the machine from the motion of the piston,.
especially where the machine is guided along rails.
་
The modes of carrying out the principles of action above described may be,

page_text: considerably varied, and machines may be made for cutting coal arranged to
perform all the various operations described by the one machine, or separate
machines- may
be used for the different operations, being specially adapted for
each particular purpose.
1
All the above-named methods of working. the cutters may also be applied
either separately. or in suitable combinations to coal-cutting machines which
are worked and guided along rails, trams, or other guides. For instance, a
machine made after one or any of the modes above described may be mounted
on a low truck or carriage, or have wheels attached to it, so that when used
for, long wall cutting it may be more easily moved from place to place at each
stage of the cutting. Or the, machine may be so arranged that the inde
pendent cutter feed motion above described may be locked and kept out of
action, and the self-acting motion transferred to suitable gearing carried on
the machine, whereby the cutter may be traversed along its course by moving
the whole machine bodily along rails or guides as might sometimes prove
convenient in long wall cutting along an even face in order to save the time
required for shifting the machine at each stage of the work. Again for long
wall holing the independent feed of the cutter may be applied to a machine
working along the usual rails or guides for the purpose of starting or opening
the groove for the cutter before setting the machine on its regular traverse. The
mode of carrying the working cylinder in trunnions for the purpose of varying
the angle of the cut may also be applied, the cylinder being, placed transversely
to the rails to prevent the oscillation from the motion of the piston. The
inverted position of the vibrating cutter bar, when working may also be
employed with advantage, as also the mode of pumping the. air for each
separate stroke of the cutter by a small pump close to the engine. The
advantage of the vertical position of the cylinder in a machine traversed along
rails has already been referred to. To enable such machines to be applied to
tunneling or irregular work I employ instead of the usual rails a short, frame
having rails along which the machine can travel transversely in a drift or
heading.. By this means it is evident that the machine will be enabled to
travel transversely along the end face of a drift or heading in the same
manner as it is traversed on rails along a face of coal in long work, the
flanges of the wheels or other guides combined with the rails affording the
required resistance to the thrust of the cutter. The inverted position of the
vibrating cutter, already described reduces, the amount of space taken up by
the machine and the cutter, so that they are enabled to travel, along, the
frame about half way across the width of an ordinary drift or heading, and
consequently to perform the holing part of the work in two shifts of the

page_text: cutter, as has been already described, the vertical cuts being made in the
manner before mentioned. This short 'frame may be used with advantage
when the machine. is required to work at a very uneven face, as it can be
easily shifted from place to place as the work proceeds, and fixed down
inclined at the most convenient angle for the face at which the machine has
to work. The frame may also have suitable guides fixed underneath it, so
that it may be carried on the ordinary truck rails or trams, and may be
arranged to swivel on a centre like a turntable to enable its being set at any
angle that may be required to suit the nature of the work. "I am aware that
it has been before proposed to apply a short frame having rails to support the
machine while cutting a drift or heading, but such frame has been so arranged
that the machine when set thereon for cutting is in a position which affords
no resistance to the thrust of the cutter, which acts in the same direction as
the running wheels of the machine, whereby the flanges of the latter cannot
act in the same manner as when the machine is used for long work.
..
}
I do not therefore claim any novelty in the use of a short rail framework
generally to be used for headings, but what I claim is the particular arrange-
ment or any modification thereof described in reference to Fig. 3, Sheet 2,
by which the relative positions of the machine when cutting and the rails
supporting it combine to resist the thrust of the of the cutter."
I
In coal-cutting machines intended to work along rails or guides instead of
making the machine to suit a particular gauge of rails, as has heretofore been
usual, I arrange the guides on the machine whether they be flanged wheels or
skids, so that they be adjusted under the machine to suit any gauge of rails.
These guides are arranged to be separately attached to the machine, and are
capable of being slided in or out, and fixed in any required position thereon.
I also apply to the traversing gear of the machine or of the cutter suitable
gear for reversing the action of the same, so that the cutter may be caused to
travel either from left to right, or from right to left, as may be found con-
venient, without having to turn the machine bodily round, as has heretofore
been necessary.
4
:
1. have already referred to certain arrangements by which the oscillation of
the machine caused by the motion of the piston may be obviated; this oscil-
lation is chiefly felt in machines working along rails where the motion of the
piston takes place in direction of the rails, to obviate which in such cases
I use a chain, rack, or other contrivance along which to propel the machine
in combination with a brake or grip on the machine constantly acting against
any convenient portion of the propelling gear, so as to keep it locked until
released by a tappet or other contrivance through the action of the machine

page_text: for the moment when the propelling gear is required to act. I form the
cutters out of a piece of thin steel bent round longitudinally, so as to present
a circular or curved section, having the cutting end sharpened and rounded off
in the manner of a gouge, and the other end arranged to fasten on the cutter
bar, the end of which is shaped to fit the curved form of the cutter; the
cutter may be fastened on by a ring, cotter, bolt, or other suitable fastening;
or the end which is attached to the bar may be made barrel-shaped, having a
slit up the barrel, so that when placed on the end of the bar it may be held
fast thereon by its own elasticity; the cutter may also be forged so as to be of
a T-section throughout the greater part of its length, and changing gradually
into a spoon or gouge-shaped form at its cutting, so as to combine a sharp
cutting edge with strength and lightness, and to diminish the resistance of
the slack left in the groove as the cutter enters. I also employ an improved
apparatus for projecting air mixed with watery spray into the groove formed
by the cutter, as claimed in the Specification of a Patent granted to me and'
others, dated the Twenty-seventh day of October 1863, and numbered 2659.
For this purpose I carry a pipe from the exhaust port of the engine so as to
point towards the groove formed and allow the exhaust air from the engine
to rush into the groove; and I apply another pipe leading from a small vessel
containing water to the mouth of the exhaust pipe in such a way that the
rush of air from the exhaust pipe may pass across the mouth of the water
pipe, drawing up 'with it through the pipe a small quantity of water and
blowing it into the groove in fine spray.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In the accompanying Drawings, Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is a plan of a machine, in
which are combined some of the improvements above described; Fig. 2 is an
elevation, and Fig 3, a partial end view of the machine..
In these views A is the working cylinder; B is the piston rod which
connected to the short lever C working on the fulcrum D, and thereby
actuating the vibrating bar E which carries the cutter F. The cylinder is
mounted on the frame G by means of trunnions H working in the bearings I, I,
so that it may be set to any required angle and locked by the bolt K: The
steam is admitted' into the cylinder at L; and passes out through the exhaust
port formed in the trunnions H and through the pipe M (Figs. 1 and 5).
Near the mouth of the pipe M a small pipe N is carried leading from a vessel
containing water; the rush of the air through the pipe M draws up a small
quantity of water through the pipe N, splitting it into fine spray 'and 'driving it
towards the groove formed by the pick. For certain kinds of work this.

page_text: "
machine may
be fed from a centre or pivot fixed for the time being instead of
being fed bodily along the rails, as already described; this fixed centre or pivot
is shewn at O, and is attached to the plate P, which is secured in its required
temporary situation by means of the props Q, Q, which are wedged in between
the roof of the pit and the plate, so, as effectually, to hold the latter in its
place. Various modes of working the valve may be adopted, but perhaps the
most convenient method will be by means of the ordinary knee-jointed tappet
motion, which is clearly shewn in the Drawing in Figs. 1 and 2. A similar
arrangement may be applied, to work traverse or feed motion, which has the
characteristics described in a former Patent and herein-before referred to ; . by
means of this feed motion the machine is traversed along the chain R, R, and
this motion may be caused to take place either from left to right or from
right to left as required, by means of the adjustable connecting rod S, (Fig. 4)
which may be secured to the rocking lever T in any position along the slot,
either above or below the centre U, the catch V being also reversed. The
cutter may be formed of a piece of thin steel lapped round the end of the pick,
as shewn in Figs. 1 and 6, or may be formed as shewn in Figs. 7 and 8, and
in section, Fig. 9. The position in which the vibrating lever works with
regard to the machine,. whereby a saving of room is effected, is also shewn in
Fig. 1.
.
Fig. 10 is an outline plan shewing the manner in which skids or wheels
may be attached to the machine so as to be adjustable to any gauge of rails
when the machine is applied to working on rails.
.
:
In Sheet 2, Fig. 1 is a ground plan shewing the position of a. machine
when cutting a heading. A small hole is first made by hand in the coal in
order to facilitate the entrance of the cutter; the machine is then set so
that the cutter may start about the middle of the heading and traversed from
A to B, undercutting the coal from a to b; the cutter is then reversed and
traversed from C to D, undercutting the coal from c to d. To cut out the
corners the machine is shifted so as to work in the positions shewn by the blue
lines and traversed from Ę to F, undercutting from e to f; the other corner
is cut out in a similar manner; the coal thus undermined is then brought
down by wedging, blasting, or otherwise. G, G, are the props to which the
traversing chain is secured; and H, H, the props holding the centre or pivot
on which the machine turns.
.
•
Fig. 2 shews a section of a heading and a side elevation of machine.
Fig. 3 shows the mode of cutting the heading where a rail frame is used,
as above referred to.

page_text: .. The machine is carried on a plate I, on which it is capable of turning
from the centre K independently of the longitudinal movement of the plate
on rails L, L. By means of this independent motion the cutter can be
worked backwards, and forwards until it has gradually entered the coal to the
required depths before setting the machine on its regular traverse along the
rails. The machine may also be worked at a long face without rails by the
curvilinear feed motion in the manner already described, the machine being
set and worked as indicated by the blue 'lines.
In Fig. 5 the engine is shewn to be fixed, being held by the prop M against
the roof, and the curvilinear traverse of the cutter effected' by means of the
frame N working from the centre O. Motion is communicated from the
lever arm P to the cutter Q through the train of wheels R, R. As the
frame N is moved the wheels are caused to turn partly round, thereby
altering the angle of the cutter to suit the axial movement of the frame.
The requisite feed is imparted to the frame by the screw S, which passes
through bearings T, T, between which works a nut having a ratchet wheel
attached thereto, which takes its motion from the piston of the engine at the
proper times, as before referred to. The bracket carrying the centre or pivot
of the cutter frame and the bracket carrying the feeding screw are both
mounted on the cylinder of the engine concentrically with the piston rod.
In Fig. 6 the arrangement is similar to that shewn in Fig. 5, except that
instead of the feed being curvilinear it is effected in a straight line. The
screw is pinjointed to the cutter frame and imparts a rectilinear traverse to
it, the centre on which it turns being carried on a radius bar U which allows
it to adapt itself to the motion. The power is transmitted through the
levers V, V.
Fig. 7 shews a mode of actuating the pick by alternately compressing and
exhausting the air in the working cylinder itself. W is the working cylinder,
and X the larger cylinder communicating therewith, and in which the large
piston Y is worked backwards and forwards by means of the hand levers Z, Z,
(Figs. 7 & 8), actuating the small crank shaft a, which is connected by the
eccentric 6 to the piston. The air in the large cylinder is forced into the
smaller one, attaining increased pressure and propels the small piston forward,
thereby actuating the cutter. In the return stroke the air is exhausted
behind the small piston, causing it to draw the cutter back. A regulating
valve is placed at c by which the tension of the air between the two pistons
may be regulated as required. Instead of working the larger piston by hand
it may be driven by a small compressed air engine in connection with the
apparatus.

page_text: Fig. 9 shews one mode of applying a vertical cylinder engine to actuate
the pick. is the piston rod; e, e¹, the L lever, the arm e¹ working outside
the cylinder f, and giving motion to rod 9 passing through the guide h on
the outer cylinder and jointed to the lever i which works the cutter axis.
The cutter axis is carried in a revolving frame k which is arranged to turn
concentrically with the rod 9; a circular feed motion may be imparted to the
cutter by means of the worm wheel Z.
Fig. 10 shews another application of a vertical cylinder which is in this
case a moving cylinder. m is the moving cylinder; n is the piston rod, the
end of which is formed into a ball-and-socket joint at o, and the upper part
secured against the roof at any required angle by the wedge p. The frame q
carries the cutter axis and cutter, which is traversed by imparting a feed
motion to the frame at r.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sturgeon, have hereunto set my
•
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our
'
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.