IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN COAL, SLATE, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jones, of Chesnut House, Stratford, in
the County of Essex, and Samuel Parker Bidder, the younger,
of Hillfield, Mitcham, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN COAL, SLATE, STONE,
AND OTHER MINERALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jones and Samuel
Parker Bidder at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 17th November 1868.
We, JOHN JONES, of Chesnut House, Stratford, in the County of
Essex, and SAMUEL PARKER BIDDER, the younger, of Hillfield,
Mitcham, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN
COAL, SLATE, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention has reference to apparatus whereby the breaking down
of coal, slate, stone, and other minerals is effected by hydraulic or screw
power combined with a wedging action. We have found that in

page_text: breaking down coal and other comparatively soft or yielding minerals
the action of one single wedge as heretofore proposed is not sufficient to
effect the required purpose.
Now one part of our present Invention consists in breaking down
coal, slate, stone, and other minerals by means of apparatus wherein
two or more wedges are caused to be driven consecutively by hydraulic
or screw power between the surfaces of the substances to be broken
down.
The arrangement of apparatus for this purpose may be variously
modified, but by preference we employ apparatus constructed as
follows: Two tension bars or rods either formed of two separate pieces
or of one looped piece, are inserted into the hole cut in the coal or
other substance, the outer ends of which bars are connected to the
cylinder of a hydraulic ram or press, or to the framing or screwed nut
or boss carrying a screw spindle. Between the tension bars at their
innermost end is placed a clearance box, and then two metal pressing
blocks, between which is afterwards forced, first, a single wedge by the
action of the ram of the hydraulic press or of the screw spindle; the
ram or screw spindle is then withdrawn and a second wedge is inserted
either between the one side of the first wedge and that of one of the
pressing blocks, or the first wedge may be made as a split wedge, and
the second wedge be driven between the two parts thereof. If requisite
a third wedge may in like manner be driven in, and so on until a
sufficient wedging action is obtained to effect the breaking down of the
mass desired to be removed. The wedges and pressing blocks may be
formed either so as to cause the pressing blocks, while expanding, to
retain a position parallel to each other, or they may be arranged to form
a gradually increasing angle with each other. The wedges can pass
beyond the pressing blocks and into the clearance box, which thus
allows them to impart à greater lateral motion to the pressing blocks
than would be the case were the clearance box not employed; it may
however in some cases be dispensed with when no great lateral motion
is required. The ends of the tension bars are, by preference, made
detachable from the hydraulic press for introducing the wedges con-
secutively.
Another part of our Invention consists in the employment of the
before described particular arrangement of apparatus, whether actuated
by hydraulic or by screw power, for driving one single wedge only

page_text: When the apparatus is worked by hydraulic power we prefer to construct
the hydraulic press with the force pump formed in one therewith or
fixed directly thereto, and it may also be constructed with a closed
receptacle containing the requisite charge of water for working it, but
we prefer to supply the water through a suction pipe from a separate
reservoir.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Jones and Samuel Parker Bidder in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
JONES, of Chesnut House, Stratford, in the County of Essex, and
SAMUEL PARKER BIDDER, the younger, of Hillfield, Mitcham, in the
County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the.
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Jones and Samuel
Parker Bidder, Her special licence that we, the said John Jones and
Samuel Parker Bidder, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said John Jones and Samuel Parker Bidder,
our executors, adininistrators, 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 APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN COAL, SLATE, STONE, AND
OTHER MINERALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said John Jones and Samuel Parker Bidder, our executors or adminis-.
trators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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

page_text: months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Jones, on behalf of myself
and the said Samuel Parker Bidder, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :--
Our Invention has reference to apparatus whereby the breaking
down of the coal, slate, stone, and other minerals is effected by
hydraulic or screw power combined with a wedging action. We have
found that in breaking down coal and other comparatively soft or
yielding minerals the action of one single wedge as heretofore proposed
is not sufficient to effect the required purpose.
Now our present Invention consists in breaking down coal, slate,
stone, and other minerals by means of apparatus wherein two or more
wedges are caused to be driven consecutively by hydraulic or screw
power between the surfaces of the substances to be broken down. The
arrangement of apparatus for this purpose may be variously modified
but by preference we employ apparatus constructed as follows:-Two
tension bars or rods, either formed of two separate pieces or of one
looped piece, are inserted into the hole cut in the coal or other substance,
the outer ends of which bars are connected to the cylinder of a
hydraulic ram or press or to the framing or screwed nut or boss
carrying a screw spindle. Between the tension bars at their innermost
end is placed a clearance box, and then two metal pressing blocks,
between which is afterwards forced first a single wedge by the action
of the ram of the hydraulic press or of the screw spindle; the ram
or screw spindle is then withdrawn, and a second wedge is inserted
either between the one side of the first wedge and that of one of the
pressing blocks, or the first wedge may be made as a split wedge, and
the second wedge be driven between the two parts thereof. If requisite,
a third wedge may in like manner be driven in, and so on until a
sufficient wedging action is obtained to effect the breaking down of
the mass desired to be removed. The wedges and pressing blocks may
be formed either so as to cause the pressing blocks while expanding to
retain at first a position parallel to each other by making these with
janer inclined surfaces similar to the inclined surfaces of the wedges,

page_text: or they may be arranged to form from the commencement a gradually
increasing angle with each other. The wedges can pass beyond the
pressing blocks and into the clearance box, which thus allows them
to impart a greater lateral motion to the pressing blocks than would be
the case were the clearance box not employed; it may, however, iu
some cases be dispensed with when no great lateral motion is required.
The ends of the tension bars are by preference made detachable from
the hydraulic press for introducing the wedges consecutively. When
the apparatus is worked by hydraulic power we prefer to construct the
hydraulic press with the force pump formed in one therewith or fixed
directly thereto, and it may be constructed either with a closed
receptacle containing the requisite charge of water for working it, or the
water may be supplied through a suction pipe from a separate
reservoir.
This arrangement of apparatus may also be employed in some cases
with effect with one wedge only, as by forming the pressing blocks
parallel, that is, without inclined surfaces corresponding to those of
the wedge, as heretofore proposed, we are enabled to obtain an expansion
equal to the entire thickness of the wedge instead of equal to only a
small portion thereof, as would otherwise be the case.
The advantages resulting from the employment of our improved ap-
paratus, in addition to the absence of the noxious vapours in the mine and
the danger resulting from the use of blasting powder are, firstly, a great
saving in the time employed in effecting the breaking down of the coal
or other material, owing to the almost unlimited power which is available
by our system, enabling us to break down at one operation far greater
masses than can be effected by blasting; and, secondly, the avoidance
of the great deterioration of the coal or other mineral which takes place
when blasting powder is used, owing to the large quantities of small
fragments or "slack" which are produced thereby.
But in order that our Invention may be perfectly understood and
readily carried into effect we will now proceed more particularly to
describe the manner of performing the same, for which purpose we shall
refer to the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figures 1 to 8, on Sheet I. of the Drawings, shew the arrangement
of our improved apparatus when worked by hydraulic power. Figure 1
shows a part sectional side clevation of the apparatus; Figure 2 shews a

page_text: plan of the same; and Figures 3 to 8 shew details to an enlarged scale.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in each of the
Figures.
A, A, are the tension bars of wrought iron, steel, or other metal
capable of withstanding considerable tensional strain. These bars may
either be formed of one piece bent round at a so as to form a loop, or
they may be two separate bars connected together at a; these bars are
inserted into a hole cut in the coal or other mineral B to be broken
down in the manner shewn, the ends thereof, which project beyond the
face of the mineral, being widened out for the reception of the cylinder D
of the hydraulic press between them, to which they are connected by
T heads formed at their extremities, being made to catch against
lugs c, c, on a collar C secured to the cylinder. Before the tension bars
are placed in the hole a clearance box E is first placed between them at
the extreme end of the loop, after which the two pressing blocks F, F,
are inserted, the sectional form of which blocks is shewn more clearly
at the enlarged section at Figure 3; lastly, the two wedges, or the
double or split wedge G, G, shewn enlarged at Figure 6, are introduced
between the bars A, A, so that their points just enter the small interstice
between the pressing blocks. The parts A, E, F, and G thus put
together are then inserted into the hole in the material B, and the
hydraulic press D is connected to the bars A, A, as above described.
The press D has a plunger d, d', the front part d¹ of which projects
between the tension bars A, A, as shewn, and is formed either as shown
in enlarged cross section at Figure 4 or as at Figure 5. To the back
end of the press D is fixed the pump H worked by means of the
bandle L, and enclosed in the reservoir I containing the water required
for working the press. The press being put in action the plunger forces
the double wedge G forward between the pressing blocks F, thereby
forcing these asunder in an angular direction, and consequently causing
them to exert a powerful bursting strain upon the sides of the hole.
By forming the inner surfaces of the pressing blocks inclined, corre-
sponding more or less with the taper of the wedge, this first expansion
of the blocks may be effected in a more or less parallel direction instead
of angular. The object of the clearance box is to allow of the points of
the wedges being driven past the inner ends of the pressing blocks so as
to effect an increased expanson of these ends; where this is not required
the clearance box may be dispensed with. The double wedge G having
been driven into the required extent the press is detached from the

page_text: tension bars A, A, which is effected by first opening a passage of com-
munication between the reservoir I and cylinder D by means of the
screw J, so as to allow the water to flow from the latter back into the
former, after which the press is pushed forward slightly so as to release
the T heads of the tension bars from the lugs c, whereupon the tension
bars are sprung open and the press removed. Another wedge G', shown
enlarge at Figure 7, is now placed between the tension bars A, A, so
that its point fits into the space g (Figure 6) formed between the two
parts of the double wedge G. To facilitate the correct insertion of the
wedge for this purpose a handle K, Figure 8, is screwed into the rear
end thereof, which is removed when the wedge is in position. The
press is then again attached to the tension bars, and the wedge G¹ is
forced in between the two parts of the double wedge, thereby effecting
a still greater expansion of the pressing blocks; and in like manner
one or more other wedges may be consecutively forced in, as indi-
cated at Figure 2, until the accumulated pressure thus produced is
sufficient to break down the mass of coal or other material operated
upon.
Figures 9, 10, and 11, on Sheet II., shew respectively a plan, a part
side elevation, and an end view of an arrangement in which the forcing
in of the wedges is effected by screw power. The arrangement of the
tension bars A and pressing blocks is similar to that before described,
but the hydraulic press is here replaced by a frame M in a slot m in
which is a worm wheel N fitting with a female screw thread upon the
screw spindle O formed with flat upper and lower surfaces, as shown in
Figures 9 and 11, and passing through correspondingly formed holes in
the bosses m', m³, of the frame M, so that it can move through but
cannot turn in the latter. In gear with the worm wheel N is the
worm P, the spindle of which is carried by brackets Q on the frame, the
ends of the spindle being formed to receive a ratchet lever for rotating
the same.
The ends of the tension bars A are formed with lugs a, a,
which catch behind keys R, R, bearing against lugs m³ formed on the
frame M, so that the frame is by this means connected to and dis-
connected from the frame by merely inserting the keys R, and without
having to spring-open the tension bars. As the projecting ends of the
tension bars may thus be made considerably shorter than in the pre-
viously described arrangement this mode of connecting the tension bars
might with advantage be employed in that case also. By rotating the

page_text: worm wheel N by means of the worm the screw spindle O is advanced,
and is caused to force the wedge G between the pressing blocks, as in
the previous arrangement.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details and arrangements of
apparatus herein-before described, with reference to the accompanying
Drawings, as these may be variously modified without departing from
the nature of our Invention. Thus, for instance, where only one wedge
requires to be driven in the arrangement may be reversed, that is, the
wedge may be placed at the inner end of the tension bars with its
point facing the pressing blocks situated at the front end, and which.
are then forced in by the press so as to cause the wedge to enter
between them, or the wedge might in that case be drawn forward by the
press against the pressing blocks; but what we claim is,-
First. The construction and employment of apparatus for breaking
down coal, slate, stone, and other minerals wherein two or more wedges
are caused to be driven consecutively by hydraulic or screw power
between the surfaces of the material to be broken down in such manner
that the pressure exerted at one and the same point can thereby be
increased at will, substantially as herein-before set forth.
Second. We claim the arrangement of tension bars connected in a
readily detachable manner to a hydraulic press or frame carrying a
screw spindle operating in combination with pressing blocks and one-
or more wedges, substantially as herein-before described with reference
to the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Jones, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JOHN JONES. (L.S.)