IMPROVEMENTS IN AP- PARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Clark, of the Firm of Bunnett and Company,
Limited, of 90, Queen Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, and of New
Cross, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AP-
PARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING."
T
aled the 24th April 1877, and dated the 8th November 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th November 1876.
ALEXANDER CLARK, of the Firm of Bunnett and Company, Limited, of 90, Queen
Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, and of New Cross, in the County of Kent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING."
My Invention relates to improvements in lifts and hoists, and such-like apparatus
for raising and lowering, operated by hydraulic, steam, hand, or other power, and
it consists,―
1st. In the application of the principle of the lazytongs to lifts or hoists as
herein-after described, whereby the guides in which the cage or platform works up
and down in lifts of the ordinary construction are dispensed with.
It consists, secondly, in improved means of suspending the cage in hoists of the
ordinary kind, in which the cage is usually suspended by a rope or chain.
It consists, 3rdly, in improved safety apparatus for supporting the cage and pre-
venting it falling in the event of the suspending tackle giving way.
It also consists in connection with such safety apparatus of guides of improved
construction and steadying devices for preventing the vibration of the guides during
the passage of the cage up and down between them.
The first part of the Invention consists in supporting the cage or platform upon
lazytong frames, capable of being applied in various positions for raising and
lowering the cage or platform in a vertical or in an inclined direction according to
the purpose for which the lift is to be used.
For ordinary lifts the platform or cage is mounted on the top of the lazytong
frames, the lowest levers of which are mounted on a fixed horizontal axis upon
which the entire lift is supported, and from which all the levers of the lazytongs
are worked. The lower levers are extended and loaded at their extremities to
counterbalance the weight of the lazytong frames and of the cage or platform, and

page_text: to guide and steady the cage in its ascent and descent short guides may be pro-
vided, for extensions of the middle pivots of the levers composing the lower part of
the lazytong frames to slide in, such guides being however but a few feet in height,
and therefore very short compared with the height to which the lift rises.
The lift may be operated by hydraulic or other power applied in various ways.
Small lifts may be worked by hand by the aid of screw or other gear, and in
certain applications of the lift, whereas in the case of a public-house cellar for
instance, the weight of the load to be lowered always exceeds that of the load to be
raised, the lift may be operated solely by the weight of the descending load,
sufficient power being stored up by means of counterweights or otherwise during
the descent to raise the lift again with a less load.
Instead of being arranged to rise upwards from a base, the whole apparatus may
be in certain cases inverted and suspended from an overhead platform or other
support. It may thus be arranged to extend downwards or in an inclined direction,
as from a wharf to the hold of a ship for instance, for loading and unloading and
such like purposes.
The second part of the Invention consists in suspending the cages of ordinary
lifts by means of one or a number of separate flat bands of steel, that, in the event
of breakage of any one of the bands, the defect will be seen in time to avert an
accident, whereas when one or more strands break in an ordinary rope, the defect
is not perceived, and the rope is kept in use in its defective state until it becomes
liable to give way entirely. Such a danger cannot occur with the separate bands
.as above described. A similar steel band or number of steel bands may be applied
to steam or other cranes for lifting purposes instead of the chain or rope ordinarily
used.
The third part of my Invention consists in the use of safety apparatus, consisting
of eccentric spring jaws in combination with eyes or straps embracing the guides of
the lift, which are fixed only at top and bottom, so that the eyes or straps which
are formed at opposite ends of a horizontal cross bar or frame to which the cage is
connected) can travel freely up and down the whole length of the guides. In this
case the guides are made of tubes screwed together in lengths by means of internal
screw unions or of lengths of solid rod, or of one length of wire rope secured at the
top and bottom ends.
Instead of the eyes or straps passing completely round behind the guides so that
the latter can only be fixed at top and bottom, the guides may may be of T iron, and
the eyes or straps may be replaced by strong tugs or jaws embracing the flanges of
the guides, which may in this case be fixed by their web throughout their entire
length or at intervals. In either case the eccentric jaws operated by spring barrels
are so mounted and connected to the tackle by which the cage is suspended that
under ordinary circumstances they are held back free of the guides; but should the
suspending tackle, break the jaws are instantaneously released and thrown by their
springs against the guides, which are thereupon gripped firmly between the
eccentric periphery of the jaws and the straps or lugs which embrace the guides.
Owing to the eccentric or snail-like shape of the jaws, their grip on the guides
tends to increase and become stronger as the weight of the cage is greater, so that
the cage, however heavy it may be, is immediately arrested and prevented from
falling more than about an inch when the suspending tackle breaks. The periphery
of the jaws may be grooved or otherwise formed to correspond with the shape of
the guides, and may be roughened, if necessary, to prevent all liability of slipping,
and the eyes or guides may be, if desired, lined with leather or equivalent material to
prevent noise. When the guides are fixed only at top and bottom, I provide steadying
devices in the hatchways to prevent vibration of the guides when the lift is in motion.
These devices consist of crank or elbow levers, each weighted and suspended on a
pivot at its elbow in such a position that it will hang with one arm in a horizontal
position, and bearing at its extremity against the guide. Two or three of these
weighted arms may be applied on different sides of the same guide so as to
effectually check any tendency of the guide to vibrate, at same time that they do

page_text: not present any obstacle to the eyes or straps above referred to which move freely
up and down the guides; the weighted levers when struck by the eyes or straps
swinging out of the way to allow the latter to pass.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Alexander Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th May 1877.
ALEXANDER CLARK, of the Firm of Bunnett and Company, Limited, of 90, Queen
Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, and of New Cross, in the County of Kent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING."
My Invention relates to improvements in lifts and hoists and such like apparatus
for raising and lowering, operated by hydraulic, steam, hand, or other power, and it
consists,
1st. In the application of the principle of the "lazytongs" to lifts or hoists, as
herein-after described, whereby the guides in which the cage or platform works up
and down in lifts of the ordinary construction are dispensed with.
2nd. In improved means of suspending the cage in hoists of the ordinary kind
in which the cage is usually suspended by a rope or chain.
3rd. In improved safety apparatus for supporting the cage and preventing it
falling in the event of the suspending tackle giving way.
4th. In a guide or guides of improved construction to be used in connection
with such safety apparatus, and steadying devices. for preventing the vibration
of the guides during the passage of the cage up and down between them.
The first part of the Invention consists in supporting the cage or platform upon
lazytong frames capable of being applied in various positions for raising and
lowering the cage or platform in a vertical or in an inclined direction, according to
the purpose for which the lift is to be used.
For ordinary lifts, the cage or platform is mounted on the top of the lazytong
frames, the lowest levers of which are mounted on a fixed horizontal axis, upon
which the entire lift is supported, and from which all the levers of the lazytongs
are worked. The lower levers are extended and loaded at their extremities to
counterbalance the weight of the lazytong frames and of the cage or platform; and
to guide and steady the cage in its ascent and descent, short guides may be pro-
vided for the crossbars of the middle pivots of the levers composing the lower part
of the lazytong frames to slide in, such guides being however but a few feet in
height, and therefore very short compared with the height to which the lift rises.
The lift may be operated by hydraulic or other power applied in various ways.
Small lifts may be worked by hand by the aid of screw or other gear, and in certain
applications of the lift, where, as in the case of a public house cellar for instance, the
weight of the load to be lowered always exceeds that of the load to be raised, the
lift may be operated solely by the weight of the descending load, sufficient power
being stored up by means of the counterweights or otherwise during the descent to
raise the lift again with a less load.
The second part of the Invention consists in suspending the cages of ordinary
lifts by means of one or a number of separate bands of steel (which may be either
flat, wavy, or corrugated), so that in the event of any one of the bands breaking the
defect will become evident in time to avert an accident; whereas when one or more
strands break in an ordinary rope, the defect is not perceived, and the rope is kept
in use in its defective state until it becomes liable to give way entirely. Such a
danger cannot occur with the separate bands as above described.. A similar steel
band or number of steel bands may be applied to steam and other cranes for lifting
purposes instead of the chain or rope ordinarily used.
The third part of my Invention consists in the use of safety apparatus consisting
of eccentric spring jaws in combination with eyes or straps embracing the guides of
the lift which are fixed only at top and bottom, so that the eyes or straps can travel

page_text: freely up and down the whole length of the guides. In this case the guides are
made of tubes screwed together in lengths by means of internal screw unions (or of
lengths of solid rod screwed together), the guides being secured at their top and
bottom ends.
Instead of the eyes or straps passing completely round behind the guides so that
the latter can only be fixed at top and bottom the guides may be made of
Tiron, and the eyes or straps may be replaced by strong lugs or jaws embracing
the flanges of the guides, which may in this case be fixed by their web throughout
their entire length, or at intervals. In either case the eccentric jaws operated by
spring barrels are so mounted and connected to the tackle, by which the cage is
suspended that under ordinary circumstances they are held back free of the guides;
but should the suspending tackle break, the jaws are instantaneously released and
thrown by their springs against the guides, which are thereupon gripped firmly
between the eccentric periphery of the jaws and the straps or lugs which embrace
the guides. Owing to the eccentric or snail-like shape of the jaws their grip on the
guides tends to increase and become stronger as the weight of the cage is greater, so
that the cage, however heavy it may be, is immediately arrested and prevented from
falling more than about an inch or so when the suspending tackle breaks. The
periphery of the jaws may be grooved or otherwise formed to correspond with the
shape of the guides, and may be roughened if necessary to prevent all liability of
slipping, and the eyes or guides may if desired be lined with leather or equivalent
material to prevent noise. When the guides are fixed only at top and bottom I
provide steadying devices near the hatchways to prevent vibration of the guides
when the lift is in motion. These devices consist of crank or elbow levers, each
weighted and suspended on a pivot at its elbow in such a position that it will hang
with one arm in a horizontal position and bearing at its extremity against the
guide. Two or three of these weighted arms may be applied on different sides of
the same guide, so as to effectually check any tendency of the guide to vibrate at
same time that they do not present any obstacle to the eyes or straps above referred
to which move freely up and down the guides, the weighted levers when struck
by the eyes or straps swinging out of the way to allow the latter to pass.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations of a lift with the platform supported on
lazytong frames and working without the usual guides, the lift which is worked by
hand being shown lowered in Figure 1, and raised in Figure 2.
Figures 3 and 4 show a side elevation (raised) and a front elevation (lowered) of
a lift of the same kind worked by hydraulic power. It may also be worked
by steam power and in other ways than those shown, as will be readily understood.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in these four Figures.
A is the platform (or it may be a cage) supported on the top of a pair of lazy tong
frames B (one at either side) constructed of a number of levers jointed together in
the ordinary manner, the two lowest levers B¹ being supported on a fixed axis C
carried on any suitable base frame or other support. These levers are extended and
have counterweights D attached, as shown. The centre pivots E of the levers are
at the ends of cross bars which brace the two lazytong frames together, and these
cross bars work between short guides F firmly fixed in any suitable manner to the
base frame. The length of these guides may be such as to retain between them one,
two, or more of the lowermost cross bars when the lift is raised to its full height.
F¹ are similar guides depending from the under side of the platform A; they are
long enough to bear against the uppermost cross bar only when the lift is in the
raised position, and serve to prevent the platform tilting. In Figures 1 and 2 the.
lift is operated by a screw rod G connected to the lowest of these cross bars, and
working through a nut in a bevel wheel I which gears with another bevel wheel K
on a shaft L worked by a crank handle. The nut and wheel are confined between
fixed collars, and by their rotation in one or other direction the screw is raised or
lowered, and the lazy tong frames extended or contracted as the case may be.

page_text: In Figures 3 and 4, M is a hydraulic cylinder, and N its ram connected to the
crossbar in the same way as the screw G. The working of the lift will be readily
understood without further description.
The second part of my Invention is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, which repre-
sent two ways of carrying the Invention into effect. Figure 5 shows a section and
a top view of the wheel over which the steel bands by which the cage is suspended
pass, the suspension wheel having a single groove and the bands lying upon one
another as shown, whilst Figure 6 shows' face and side views of a wheel with a
separate groove for each band, the bands being in this case side by side. The bands
may either be flat, with straight or waved edges, or corrugated with transverse cor-
rugations, the periphery of the wheel being correspondingly formed to prevent
slipping, and any number of the bands may be used according to their strength and
the weight of the cage. When applied to cranes these steel bands would be attached
to and wound on a drum, and therefore need not be corrugated, but would be per-
fectly flat and straight; but if the bands lay one upon the other, as in Figure 5, it is
necessary in the case of cranes to allow for the greater speed at which the outer-
most bands are wound up and unwound. I therefore double the steel bands and
attach the two ends to the winding drum, the attachment by which the, load is
lifted being bung from a pulley resting in the bight of the bands as shown in
Figure 7.
The third and fourth parts of my Invention are illustrated in Figures 8 and 9
which respectively show an elevation and plan of a cage provided with the safety
apparatus consisting of eccentric spring jaws and eyes, or straps embracing the
guides, which in this instance are fixed only at top and bottom. A is the cage and
B the guides (of which any number may be used) made of iron tubes screwed to-
gether in lengths, as shown in Figure 10, or of solid rods. They are fixed at top
and bottom, and put in tension as shown above; Figure 8, C are the eccentric jaws
pivoted in strong iron brackets D, supporting the cage and bolted to the top or
other convenient part thereof. The cage is hung by short chains E attached by one
end to the suspending rope or the steel bands (if such be used), and by their other
ends each to one of the eccentric jaws C in such manner as to draw the jaws
back from the guides so long as the chains are kept in tension by the weight of
the cage.
The jaws are constructed with spring barrels, as shown in section, on a larger
scale in Figure 11, the tendency of the springs being to rotate the jaws until they
come against the guides immediately the chains E are relieved of strain; F are
strong metal straps connected to the brackets D, and embracing the guides B,
the eccentric jaws working within these straps as shown. Figure 12 illustrates
the gripping action of the eccentric jaws and straps when the cage falls; the straps
serve to support the guides against the pressure of the jaws, the strain being equally
divided between them. In this case the eccentric periphery of the jaws is grooved
to correspond to the shape of the guides, and roughened to prevent slipping; G are
the steadying devices, consisting each of one or more elbow levers hung on a pivot I
in brackets K beneath the hatchway or in other convenient position; one of them
is shown separately in plan, Figure 13. The horizontal arm of the lever has a
forked end L, which partly embraces the guide to prevent any vibration laterally,
and the vertical arm is weighted to maintain the device in the position shown. The
device swings freely on its pivot when struck by the straps F to allow the latter to
pass up or down the guides. Figure 14 is a plan view of one of the eccentric jaws
as adapted to work with T iron guides, the straps being replaced by lugs embracing
the flanges of the guide, which may in this case be fixed by its web to the frame-
work of the hatch ways; C is the eccentric spring jaw mounted and operating as
before, its periphery being in this case flat instead of grooved; M are strong lugs
connected to the brackets.as before, and passing behind the flanges of the T shaped
guide which are gripped between the lugs and the eccentric jaws when the latter
are released as before described in reference to the other arrangement.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing

page_text: the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. Supporting, raising, and lowering the platform or cage of lifts or hoists by
"lazy tong" frames, substantially as herein specified, and without the usual fixed
guides for the platform or cage to work in.
2nd. The employment of a number of separate bands of steel for hoisting or
lowering purposes, substantially as specified.
3rd. The safety apparatus consisting of the eccentric spring jaws in combination
with straps or legs embracing the guides, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
4th. The guides for the cage (when such are fixed by their top and bottom ends
only and put in tension) consisting of tubular rods connected together end to end
as described.
5th. The steadying devices for guides which are fixed only by their ends, sub-
stantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Clark, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
ALEX CLARK. (L.S.)