IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN CONSTRUCTING BUILDINGS, AND IN RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS AND MATERIALS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WILKINSON, of Pall Mall, in the County of Middlesex, Gun Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Ninth day of December, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry
Wilkinson, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Henry Wilkinson, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Wilkinson, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN CONSTRUCTING BUILDINGS,
AND IN RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS AND MATERIALS," partly invented by
myself and partly communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad;
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Henry
Wilkinson, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months' next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will inore fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Wilkinson, do hereby declare that the nature of the Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):-
:-
In raising, lowering, and moving weights for building and other purposes,
where the power used is at different times required to be at different places,
the power heretofore employed has been manual labor, working a winch
handle to give motion to a windlass or cylinder, on which a chain or rope is
wound. Now the object of my Invention is to apply the power of a steam
engine for such purposes, by placing a steam engine on wheels capable of
moving on a railway properly laid, so as to allow of the steam engine being
moved from time to time to the positions where power is required for raising,
lowering, or moving weights for building and other purposes. And in order
that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into effect,
I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the machine as applicable to building or other
purposes, when weights or materials are required to be raised, lowered, or
removed; Figure 2 is a plan. or bird's-eye view of the same; Figure. 3 is an
enlarged view of the winding machinery, shewing a steam engine attached.
The machinery as here arranged consists of a strong wooden platform a, a, a, a,
elevated on wheels b, b, b, on which platform is placed a cast-iron turn-table A
revolving on friction rollers; by applying a rope to one of the four loops c, c, c, c,
and taking two or three turns of the rope around one of the pulleys d, d, d, d,
a man holding at the other end of the rope, the engine will cause the turn-
table to revolve by the revolution of the pulley round which the rope is coiled,
carrying with it a large mast B, firmly fixed in the turn-table A, and stayed
down to it by the four stays e, e, e, e, and likewise to the platform a, a, a, a, by
the two stays ff, affixed at the top of the mast to a cap which-turns. On this
mast a yard C (fixed into an iron ring or frame D) travels by means of the lifts
9,9, or any other power of ropes or chains so constructed that the engine may be
employed in raising or lowering the yard by coiling the rope round one of the
pullies d, d, d, d. A combination of wedges or other mechanical means may
if necessary be applied to the ring or frame D, to enforce its constant contact
to the mast. There is a short arm h, projecting on each side of the mast (at
right angles to the main yard), from the ends of which braces, j,j, proceed to

page_text: the two stays ff, for the purpose of steadying the yard. On the frame
a, a, a, a, is placed a boiler E, and an engine of two cylinders F, F, &c., &c.
The engine communicates motion to the cranked axles G, G, supplied with
means of working the slides, pumps, &c.: (and cranked at right angles), on which
are placed two wheels K, K, into which the two wheels L, L, work. These
wheels are supplied with clutch boxes H, H, by means of which motion can
be given to the two drums I, I. Each drum is furnished with a ratchet wheel
m, and a friction band n. The click of the ratchet wheel must be attached to
the lever of the friction band in such a manner that the click may be thrown
out just before the friction band touches the periphery of the wheel. Round
the drums I, I, the ropes for lifting the weight or load coil; thus the rope o
proceeding from one drum to one end of the short arm h, passes over a
pulley, and then directly down to the weight or load; and the rope p pro-
ceeding from the other drum to the other end of the short arm h, passes over
another pulley to the end of the main yard C, and then over a third pulley
down to the weight or load, so that by winding the rope on both drums or
cylinders equally at the same time the load will ascend perpendicularly. By
winding on one drum only while the other remains at rest, the load will not
only ascend but move in the direction of the yard, according to whichever
drum is in motion or at rest. By winding round one drum while the other
drum is allowed to unwind in an equal ratio, the load will advance horizontally
until it arrives under one or other extremity of the main yard C, without
altering the position of the machine. When the work to be performed is too
heavy for the mast, yard, and tackle to be connected with the platform, larger
masts or framings of timbers, fixed into the ground and properly stayed by
chains or ropes, must be employed, the engine moving on wheels from one to
another as may be required, by which in either case much heavy scaffolding is
avoided, and the work performed cheaper and more expeditiously. The whole
machine may be caused to move backwards or forwards on a railroad or any level
road, with guides, by affixing a rope to a post or to any object sufficiently fixed
and solid in the required direction, and then making a few coils round one of the
pulleys d, d, d, d, while a man holds on at the other end of the rope. Or a pair of
driving wheels may be connected with the cranked axles, so as to communicate
motion to the platform and whole machinery, as in any locomotive railroad
carriage; but as the motions required are only very slow and for short spaces at
a time, the truck, wheels, and rope will be less expensive and for most purposes
equally efficient. The weight to be raised being suspended on three points,
two of which always keep the centre of gravity in the direct perpendicular line
of the mast, the platform cannot overturn with any ordinary weight; but when

page_text: necessary the platform may be loaded with stones on the opposite side to the
direction of the yard and weight to be raised, or the base of the platform may
be extended by means of timbers passing through iron loops in the platform, or
the mast may be propped and supported by crossed scaffolding poles, or by
various other contrivances.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the arrangements of
parts which I consider best for the purposes, yet I do not confine myself to the
various details, provided steam power on wheels, and capable of transport from
place to place, be used in raising, lowering, or moving weights and materials
for building and other purposes, be retained; my object being to employ steam
power in place of manual labor to cranes, windlasses, or other suitably
arranged mechanical apparatus, either carried by the same carriage as the
steam engine or separate therefrom.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Wilkinson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
HENRY (L.S.) WILKINSON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of June, in the year
of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid Henry Wilkinson came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.