AN IMPROVED MODE OF GETTING COAL, SLATE, OR OTHER MINERALS, AND AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE PURPOSE, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER USES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles John Chubb, of Canterbury House, West
End, Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF GETTING COAL, SLATE, OR OTHER MINERALS, AND AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE PURPOSE, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER USES."
Sealed the 21st July 1868, and dated the 6th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles John Chubb
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th May 1868.
I, CHARLES JOHN CHUBB, of Canterbury House, West End, Hampstead,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF GETTING COAL, SLATE, OR OTHER
MINERALS, AND AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE PURPOSE, WHICH
APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER USES," to be as follows:-
The Invention, as respects working coal, slate, or other minerals,
consists in a mode of getting the material by means of novel apparatus

page_text: herein-after referred to, which renders unnecessary the usual operations
of hewing or cutting the material at the top, bottom, or sides, or what
is ordinarily termed "holing," "kirving," or "nicking," and enables
those operations, and also that of blasting, to be dispensed with,
inasmuch as masses of the material operated upon are detached in
pieces by the agency of the direct pressure exerted by my apparatus.
The mode of working which I adopt is as follows:--Without any
previous "holing," "kirving," or "nicking" of the material to be
gotten or split, or separated from the solid, I make in it by boring,
drilling, or jumping in the usual way a hole of sufficient depth and
diameter to admit of the insertion of a pressing apparatus of a peculiar
and novel construction, which is capable of being expanded by direct
hydraulic or fluid pressure, and which when expanded splits or separates
the material to be gotten from the solid, so that it can be readily
removed.
I construct my pressing apparatus in the following manner:-I make
of cast steel or other metal a strong trough or elongated cell, by
preference with rounded ends, in which I fit an elongated plunger
having a cup or packing of leather to form a water-tight joint, and a
rounded external face, which acts as an elongated presser in the manner
herein-after described. When the plunger is fitted in the trough or
cell the exterior form of the apparatus is cylindrical, or it may be
somewhat flattened at the sides; it is by preference made of a size to
enter a hole bored to the requisite depth in the coal, slate, or mineral
by a boring tool or jumper. In the front end of the trough is formed
a passage communicating with the cavity of the press, into which liquid
is forced through the passage from a force pump. The cavity in the
trough is made as large as the part in which it is formed will admit,
whilst retaining sufficient strength in the sides. The plunger does not
fit quite closely within the cavity, but is left slightly free to move more
at one end than at the other. When the plunger has been pressed
out nearly to its full extent an escape passage becomes uncovered,
which allows any further excess of fluid which may be forced into the
cavity to escape from it, and prevents the plunger from being wholly
separated from the trough or cell in which it works.
Having made a hole in the coal, slate, or other mineral to be operated
upon, I insert in it my pressing apparatus, which I connect with an

page_text: ordinary force pump; liquid is then pumped in and forces the two parts
of the apparatus apart, so as to apply a very powerful pressure against
the sides of the hole, which is increased until the material in which
the hole is made yields to the pressure and splits off in masses.
If
owing to the soft nature of the material operated upon, or for other
causes, the two parts of the pressing apparatus are pressed apart to
their full extent without causing the mass in which the hole is made
to give way or split off, the liquid is withdrawn from the cavity of the
press and the plunger is again fitted down in its place in the trough
or cell. Filling pieces made of suitable shape and materials are then
placed between the sides of the apparatus and those of the enlarged
hole which it will have made by the expanding pressure exerted at the
previous operation. Liquid is again forced into the cavity of the press,
and the operation is repeated until the sides of the hole give way.
Instead of using a press having an elongated plunger working in a
trough or cell in the manner which I have described, and which I
prefer, a series of cells may be used in each of which a plunger may
be made to work, the cells being connected and filled by liquid forced
into them simultaneously from the force pump, so as to cause each
plunger through the bar to which they are all connected to exert a
pressure upon the sides of the hole in which the series may be inserted.
In some cases I employ for the same purpose an apparatus consisting
of a hollow rod with two discs upon it at a distance apart; these discs
are of the same diameter as the hole which is bored, or only slightly.
less, and with the rod are inserted into the hole. Between the discs
and surrounding the hollow rod there is a water-tight and flexible
tube or bag, the ends of which are turned inwards and made to embrace
the rod closely, then when liquid is forced into the flexible tube or bag
through the hollow rod it presses against the sides of the hole until
the coal, slate, or mineral yields to the pressure. In order that the
flexible bag or tube may not be driven by the pressure into any crevice
there may be in the side of the hole it is surrounded from end to end
by a sheet of steel bent round into a scroll with its edges overlapping,
but not joined, so that it may expand with the bag or tube. The ends
of the bag or tube are backed up by the discs already mentioned on the
hollow rod, but to prevent the flexible bag or tube being pressed into
any space which there may be between the discs and the sides of the
hole the ends are protected by metal cups resting against the discs and
notched at their peripheries, so that they may be able to expand.

page_text: My pressing apparatus may be applied to other uses where the agency
of pressure may be exerted to move or rend materials in a manner similar
to that above described by me.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles John Chubb in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
JOHN CHUBB, of Canterbury House, West End, Hampstead, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles John Chubb, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles John Chubb, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles John
Chubb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF GETTING COAL, SLATE, OR OTHER MINERALS, AND AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE PURPOSE, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER USES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Charles John Chubb, 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 Charles John Chubb, 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, that is to say :-

page_text: The Invention, as respects working coal, slate, or other minerals,
consists in a mode of getting the material by means of novel apparatus
herein-after referred to, which renders unnecessary the usual operations
of hewing or cutting the material at the top, bottom, or sides, or what
is ordinarily termed "holing," "kirving," or "knicking," and enables
those operations and also that of blasting to be dispensed with, inasmuch
as masses of the material operated upon are detached in pieces by the
agency of the direct pressure exerted by my apparatus.
The mode of working which I adopt is as follows:-Without any
previous "holing," "kirving," or "nicking" of the material to be gotten
or split, or separated from the solid, I make in it by boring, drilling, or
jumping in the usual way a hole of a sufficient depth and diameter to
admit of the insertion of a pressing apparatus of a peculiar and novel con-
struction which is capable of being expanded by direct hydraulic or fluid
pressure, and which when expanded splits or separates the material to
be gotten from the solid, so that it can be readily removed.
I construct my pressing apparatus, of which several modifications
may be employed, as hercin-after described, in the following manner:-
I make of cast steel or other metal a strong trough or elongated cell, by
preference with rounded ends, in which I fit an elongated plunger
having a cup or packing of leather to form a water-tight joint, and a
rounded external face which acts as an elongated presser in the manner
herein-after described. When the plunger is fitted in the trough or
cell the exterior form of the apparatus is cylindrical, or it may be
somewhat flattened at the sides; it is by preference made of a size to
enter a hole bored to the requisite depth in the coal, slate, or mineral
by a boring tool or jumper. In the front end of the trough is formed
a passage communicating with the cavity of the press, into which liquid
is forced through the passage from a force pump. The cavity in the
trough is made as large as the part in which it is formed will admit
whilst retaining sufficient strength in the sides. The plunger does not
fit quite closely within the cavity, but is left slightly free to move more
at one end than at the other. When the plunger has been pressed out
nearly to its full extent an escape passage becomes uncovered, which
allows any further excess of fluid which may be forced into the cavity
to escape from it and prevents the plunger from being wholly separated
from the trough or cell in which it works.
Having made a hole in the coal, slate, or other mineral to be operated

page_text: upon I insert in it my pressing apparatus, which I connect with an
ordinary force pump; liquid is then pumped in and forces the two parts
of the apparatus apart, so as to apply a very powerful pressure against
the sides of the hole, which is increased until the material in which the
hole is made yields to the pressure and spits off in masses. If owing to
the soft nature of the material operated upon, or for other causes, the
two parts of the pressing apparatus are pressed apart to their full extent
without causing the mass in which the hole is made to give way or split
off, the liquid is withdrawn from the cavity of the press, and the plunger
is again fitted down in its place in the trough or cell. Filling pieces
made of suitable shape and materials are then placed between the sides
of the apparatus and those of the enlarged hole which it will have made
by the expanding pressure exerted at the previous operation. Liquid is
again forced into the cavity of the press, and the operation is repeated
until the sides of the hole give way. Another hole can then be made at
a convenient distance from and in a convenient position relative to
the hole previously made, and the operation is repeated until the
required amount of material is separated from the solid in the required
direction.
Figure 1 is a plan, one half in section; Figure 2 a longitudinal
section, and Figure 3 a transverse section of apparatus thus con-
structed.
a is a strong metal trough or elongated cell, having a socket a¹ at
one end, in which a screw thread is cut to receive a pipe which serves
both as a handle for the apparatus and also for the injection of water
into the trough or cell through the passages a²; these passages are drilled
in the metal and their ends closed by screw plugs a³. A small force
pump, such as is used with hydraulic presses, may be employed for
forcing the water into the trough or cell. 6 is an elongated plunger,
having rounded ends and fitting, but not tightly, within the trough or
cell a; b¹ is a cupped leather attached to the bottom of the plunger by
means of a clamping plate 62 and screws 63; 6 is a cover fixed by
screws 65 to the top of the plunger, and overlapping the sides of the
trough or cell a; it serves to prevent the small coal or material from
entering between the working parts; a' is a strap fixed to the sides of
the trough, and tying them together so as to prevent them bulging at
the pressure; the strap passes through a hole formed for it in the
plunger b; a are small holes in the sides of the trough or cell a to

page_text: allow the escape of the water when the plunger has been moved
sufficiently far to uncover them.
My apparatus is conveniently used in the following manner :-
Supposing the work to be commenced from a face either in what is
technically termed a stall, wide heading, or on a long wall, a hole
is bored in it obliquely, say at an angle of about 45 degrees and to a
depth of about four feet six inches, more or less, according to the
hardness of the material, and the diameter of the hole is such as to admit
of the apparatus entering freely when collapsed. The apparatus is
inserted to the bottom of the hole, occupying from one-half to two-
thirds of its length; it is placed in the hole in such a position that when
expanded the direction of the pressure may be outwards, the force
pump is then set to work and the coal or material soon yields to the
pressure. Another hole is then similarly bored beyond the first, and in
the face produced by the result of the first operation, which is then
repeated, and so the work goes on.
The form of apparatus above described may be conveniently used
where the nature of the material is such that great resistance has not
to be overcome. In other cases where stronger apparatus is needed to
overcome great resistance, I employ the apparatus constructed in the
following manner, of a series of cells, in each of which a plunger is made
to work, the cells being connected and filled by liquid which is forced
into them from the force pump, so as to cause each plunger by acting
through the bar to which all the plungers are connected to excrt a
pressure upon the sides of the hole in which the series may be inserted.
Figure 4 is a plan partly in section, Figure 5 is a longitudinal section,
and Figure 6 a transverse section of my apparatus thus constructed.
a is a strong metal bar, in which are formed in place of the single cell
of the apparatus shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3 a number of separate cells
communicating by the inclined drill holes a*, but each containing its
own plunger 6 with its cup leather; c is a strong bar on which all these
plungers abut, and a screw c' attaches it to the central plunger; this bar
is formed with side checks, which serve both to exclude the small coal
or material from the working parts, and also to strengthen the bar. In
order to prevent the bar c separating from the part a holes are bored
in this part, which receive bolts d passing up into the bar c, and there
receiving nuts which lie in recesses in the bar and are enclosed by screw
plugs c. The bolt holes in the part a are of such a size that the heads

page_text: of the bolts are able to traverse in them for the full stroke of the plungers,
but shoulders in the holes, then stop them, and so prevent the parts
separating.
Figure 7 is a plan, one half in section; Figure 8 is a longitudinal
section, and Figure 9 a transverse section of another form of my appa-
ratus, which is a modification of that just described, inasmuch as the
plungers are arranged on both sides of the bar a in which the cells are
formed. These cells as will be seen are open at both ends, but the
opening at one end is somewhat larger than that at the other end, and
the cells are arranged alternately with their larger ends on either side of
the bar. Near the mouth of each cell at either end a ring groove is
formed, into which a cup leather f is inserted. 9, g, and h, h, are the
plungers inserted into the cells, the larger one g of each pair is hollow and
receives the smaller partially within it; i, i, are strong bars on which
the ends of the plungers abut; they have cover plates k, k, fixed to them
by screws, and the cover plates overlap at the sides of the instrument,
and slots are formed in them, through which screws inserted into the sides
of the part a pass; these slots whilst allowing the plungers to make
their full strokes prevent the parts of the instrument from separating.
The cells are connected the one to the other by a passage A, bored
through their partition walls from end to end, and when water is forced
into the cells through this passage the plungers on either side of the bar
move out simultaneously.
In some cases I find it convenient to employ another form of my
pressing apparatus consisting of a hollow rod with two discs upon it at
a distance apart; these discs are of the same diameter as the hole which
is bored, or only slightly less, and with the rod are inserted into the hole.
Between the discs and surrounding the hollow rod there is a water-tight
and flexible tube or bag the ends of which are turned inwards and made
to embrace the rod closely; then when liquid is forced into the flexible
tube or bag through the hollow rod it presses against the sides of the
hole until the coal, slate, or mineral yields to the pressure. In order
that the flexible bag or tube may not be driven by the pressure into any
crevice there may be in the side of the hole it is surrounded from end.
to end by a sheet of steel bent round into a scroll with its edges over-
lapping, but not joined, so that it may expand with the bag or tube.
The ends of the bag or tube are backed up by the discs already
mentioned on the hollow rod, but to prevent the flexible bag or tube

page_text: being pressed into any space which there may be between the discs
and the sides of the hole the ends may if requisite be protected by metal
cups resting against the discs and notched at their peripheries so that
they may be able to expand. This form of my pressing apparatus is
shewn in Figure 10 in longitudinal section, and Figure 11 in transverse
section. a is a strong bar with a water passage a¹ in it; b is a stout
tube or bag which I make of india-rubber surrounding the bar a and
secured at its ends to discs c, c, which are firmly screwed to the bar a.
Within the tube or bag bare half rings of metal d, into which bolts e
passing through the discs bare screwed. f is a tubular scroll of sheet
steel bent round and overlapped at the edges, but not joined up; it
encases the bag or tube 6 and preserves it from injury when at work.
The instrument is introduced into a hole in the coal or mineral in the
manner already described with respect to the other apparatus, and water
is forced in through the passage a¹; it expands the bag 6 and the scroll f
until the full water pressure comes upon the sides of the hole, which
yielding the coal or mineral is thrown out from the working face.
My pressing apparatus may be applied to other uses where the agency
of pressure may be exerted to move or rend materials in a manner similar
to that above described by me, and any person having experience in the
use of pressing apparatus and in carrying on operations of the nature
above referred to will be able to select and use that modification of my
apparatus that may be adapted to the position and character of the
material to be operated upon according to my process.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim,
the getting coal, slate, or other minerals or materials by the process
above described, in which the necessity of having recourse to the ordinary
operations of holeing, or kirving, or nicking, or blasting may be obviated
by employing, in the manner above indicated, a pressing apparatus so
constructed that it is capable of being expanded by direct hydraulic or
fluid pressure, as herein described.
I also claim the constructing pressing apparatus suitable for use in
getting coal, slate, and other minerals or materials with a strong metal
trough or elongated cell and an elongated plunger working within it,
such parts being adapted to enter a hole formed in the material to be
gotten or split, or separated from the solid, and to be caused to bear

page_text: forcibly on the sides of such hole by injecting water or liquid into the
said trough or cell, substantially as herein described.
I also claim the constructing pressing apparatus suitable for use in
getting coal, slate, and other minerals or materials with a strong metal
bar having a series of cells formed in it, such cells communicating the
one with the other and receiving plungers connected at their outer ends
by another strong bar or bars which cover them, such parts being adapted
to enter a hole formed in the material to be gotten or split, or separated
from the solid, and to be caused to bear forcibly on the sides of such
hole by injecting water or liquid into the said series of cells, substantially
as herein described.
I also claim the constructing pressing apparatus suitable for use in
getting coal, slate, and other minerals or materials with a strong rod
having two discs upon it and a water-tight and flexible tube or bag
surrounding the rod between the two discs, such parts being adapted to
enter a hole formed in the material to be gotten or split, or separated
from the solid, and to be caused to bear forcibly on the sides of such
hole by injecting water or liquid into the said water-tight and flexible
tube or bag, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles John Chubb, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
CHARLES JOHN CHUBB. (L.S.)