Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Feb., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 5th Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 21st Dec., 1888
I, REGINALD STANLEY, of Nuneaton Colliery, Nuneaton, in the county of Warwick,
Brick and Tile Manufacturer and Colliery Proprietor, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to boring or tunnelling machinery of the class described in
the specification of Letters Patent granted to me and dated January 10th A.D. 1885,
No. 335 and in the Complete Specification of my application dated February 14th
A.D. 1887 No. 2312.
The object of the present invention is to provide means for withdrawing or
advancing the central shaft carrying the arms and cutters without having to rotate
them when, during the operation of the machine, they have been moved forward for
the purpose of cutting the annular groove or for any other purpose, the frame and
engine meanwhile remaining stationary or fixed in the heading; or for withdrawing
or advancing the rest of the machine whilst the central shaft with the arms and cutters
remains stationary or fixed in the heading as required.
For this purpose I provide a cog wheel the boss of which is scrow threaded so that
the wheel can work in correspondence with the thread of the central shaft; or the
boss can be fitted with a removeable threaded bush which works in correspondence
with the threaded central shaft. The wheel and the bush bear against or are held_to
the uprights of the frame in a suitable manner, so that when they are caused to revolve
and the frame and engine are stationary or fixed in the heading, the shaft with the
arms and cutters is caused, without rotating, to advance or retire; or if the shaft
with the arms and cutters attached be stationary or fixed in the heading, the frame
and engine will be caused to advance or retire according to the direction in which the
wheel and bush are revolved.
The cog wheel with the threaded bush working on the threaded central shaft as
before described is geared through an intermediate wheel or directly to a cog wheel
on the crank shaft which can be thrown in and out of gear as required; or the cog
wheel with the threaded boss or bush can be driven in any other suitable manner.

page_text: I also provide means for fixing the cog wheel having the threaded boss or bush so
that it is prevented from revolving while the cutting gear and the central shaft with
arms and cutters are in motion, and the spur wheel on the crank shaft, geared to drive
the cog wheel on the central shaft and which causes it to revolve, at the same time
is thrown out of gear; then while the cog wheel with the threaded boss or bush is so
held, the central shaft with arms and cutters attached will be caused to advance or
retire according to the direction in which it is made to revolve by the cutting gearing,
driven from the crank shaft by the engines as described in my said former Specifications.
The cog wheel with threaded bush can be used instead of the split nut referred to in
the said Specifications, or it can be arranged to work in conjunction with the
said nut.
The engines can be reversed and worked in either direction, as described in the
Specification of my Letters Patent No. 1449 of 1886; or they can be made to work
in one direction only.
In order to prevent the threaded shaft from working too far forward and running
out of the threaded boss or split nut, I provide suitable means whereby the tap
that feeds the cylinders with compressed air or other motive power will be shut off at
a given point.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Boring or Tunnelling Machines.
1, REGINALD STANLEY, of Nuneaton Colliery, Nuneaton, in the county of Warwick,
Brick and Tile Manufacturer and Colliery Proprietor, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Ny invention relates to boring or tunnelling machinery of the class described in
the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me and dated January 10th A.D. 1885,
No. 335 and February 14th A.D. 1887, No. 2312.
My present improvements have for object to provide in one and the same machine
means for advancing the frame and engine parts of the boring or tunnelling machine
while the central or screw-threaded shaft with the arms and cutters remain stationary ;
for withdrawing or advancing the screw-threaded shaft with the arms and cutters
without the same heing revolved and while the frame and engine of the boring or
tunnelling machine remain stationary; and for advancing the screw threaded shaft
with the arms and cutters while they are being revolved and while the frame and
engine of the boring or tunnelling machine are stationary.
For this purpose I provide a cog wheel the boss of which is screw threaded so that
the wheel can work in correspondence with the thread of the shaft; or the wheel can be
fitted with a removable threaded bush which works in correspondence with the threaded
shaft. The wheel and the bush bear against and are held to the uprights of the frame
in a suitable manner, so that when they are caused to revolve and the frame and
engine are stationary or fixed in the heading, the shaft with the arms and cutters is
caused, without rotating, to advance or retire; or if the shaft with the arms and
cutters attached be stationary or fixed in the heading, the frame and engine will be
caused to advance or retire according to the direction in which the wheel and bush are
revolved.
The cog wheel with the threaded bush working on the threaded shaft as before
described is geared through an intermediate wheel or directly to a cog wheel on the
crank shaft which can be thrown in and out of gear as required; or the cog wheel
with the threaded boss or bush can be driven in any other suitable manner.
I also provide means for fixing the cog wheel having the threaded boss or bush so
that it is prevented from revolving while the cutting gear and the threaded shaft with
arms and cutters are in motion; the spur wheel on the crank shaft, geared to drivo
the cog wheel on the threaded shaft, is at the same time thrown out of gear by sliding
it along the crank shaft by hand or by any suitable arrangement; then while the cog
wheel with the threaded boss or bushi is so held, the threaded shaft with arms and
cutters attached will be caused to advance or retire according to the direction in which
it is made to revolve by the cutting gearing, driven from the crank shaft of the
engine as described in my said former Specifications.
In order to prevent the threaded shaft from working too far forward or backward I
provide suitable means whereby the cock that enables the cylinders to be supplied
with compressed air or other motive fluid will be shut off at a given point of travel of
the threaded shaft.

page_text: In order to enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it
can be carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boring or tunnelling machine constructed according
to my present improvements.
Figure 2 is a rear end elevation of the same partly in section.
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged views of parts of the machine.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar parts.
a, Figures 1 and 3, is the cog wheel (shewn also detached in face view at Figure 5)
fitted with the screw-threaded bush working upon or over the thread of the central
or screw threaded shaft c. This wheel, hereinafter for the sake of distinction called
the propelling wheel, is held in position on the frame d of the machine by means of a
plate e and bolts and nuts f,f.
is the cog wheel on the crank shaft D of the machine to which wheel, through
the intermediate wheel i, the propelling wheel a is geared.
jisa shifting fork operated by a landle for throwing the cog wheel g in and out of gear.
is a pin inserted through a hole in the wheel and in the frame d of the machine
when required to prevent the propelling wheel a from revolving while the cutting gear
and the screw threaded slaaft e with the arms m and cutters n attached thereto are in
motion. Or any other suitable means can be employed for this purpose.
じ
The arrangement of gearing for driving the screw threaded shaft with its arms
and cutters from the crank shaft D of the engine is similar to that described and
shown in my said former Specification No 2312 of 1887.
o is the cock whereby the compressed air or other motive fluid is admitted to or
shut off from the cylinders ", " of the engine, the said cock being situated on the
supply pipe p.
The arrangement I employ for shutting off the supply of the motive fluid at a
given point of travel of the screw threaded shaft c, consists of a rod g jointed to a
crank or projection o¹ on the handle of the plug of the cock o and to a lever a moving
on a centre t fixed to the plate e, as shown in Figure 1, or to any suitable part of
the frame d of the machine.
The free end of this lever is acted upon by a collar u¹ on the threaded shaft c when
the rear end of the shaft has worked up to or near to the back of the frame d and is
moved into the position shown in dotted lines thereby shutting the cock o and
stopping the engine.
A similar effect is produced when the frame d which is being advanced reaches or
nearly reaches the back of the arms m by means of a rod jointed to the lever s
and having its free end in a position to be acted upon by the back of the arms m
at the point to.
When it is required to work the engines, the collar ¹ or the arms m having moved
the rods so as to shut the cock o the rod 7 is temporarily uncoupled from the
projection o¹ until the frame or arms has or have sufficiently advanced to allow of
the rod being coupled up again without shutting the cock o.
, are arms forming a horizontal cow or spray (shown in figure 1 and in
detached plan view at figure 4) jointed to the cap at the back of the collar u¹ on
the rear end of the shaft cand intended to catch into the two sides of the heading so
as to effectually prevent the shaft e from being forced back while the frame d of the
machine is being moved on its carrying wheels y, y into position ready to be fixed
to perform a fresh cutting. The arms, in conjunction with the arms m which are
set across the heading serve to help to steady and keep the frame upright while it
is being advanced between the cuts. When the frame is fixed and cutting
commenced, the cap u and arms æ, & are removed and put on one side. It will be
obvious however that other means could be employed for the same purpose as the
arms, are used, such for example as a prop of timber set in the floor and roof of
the heading at the back of the shaft c.
The pinion J on the crank shaft D of the engine works into the cutting gearing
consisting of the wheels J, J, and D', and is prevented from sliding in or out of
gear while the engines are in motion by the hinged bolt o³.

page_text: The machine is worked as follows:-
When it is required to advance the frame and engine parts of the machine while
the threaded shaft remains stationary in the heading, the pinion J is put out of
gear with the wheel J' and the cog wheel g is put in gear with the intermediate
wheel i from which the fixing pin must be removed. The ends of the cow or
spray are secured in the sides of the heading, the frame is unfixed from the
sides and top of the heading by unscrewing the screw pins, and Z, Z respectively
and the engine is set in motion. The propelling wheel a will be thereby caused to
revolve on the throuded shaft e and will advance along the shaft moving with it the
frame and engine parts of the machine towards the back of the cutter arms mas
far as required, the shaft and cutter arms being meanwhile prevented from moving
backwards in the heading by the cow or spray x, . The frame can then be again
fixed in the heading ready for a fresh cutting operation.
In order to cause the threaded shaft c and arms m to advance or retire without
rotating, the frame d is fixed in the heading by means of the screw pins a³, el
and Z, Z, the cow or spray, must be removed and the engine set in action.
The engine will rotate the propelling wheel a and this will cause the shaft and
arms to move forwards or rearwards according to the direction in which the
wheel a is revolved.
When the threaded shaft cand cutter arms mare required to be simultaneously rotated
and advanced in order to perform a cutting operation the frame d must be fixed in
the heading as above described, and the wheel y disengaged, (by operating the
fork) from the wheel i which must be locked to the frame d by inserting the pin
therein so as to fix the propelling wheel a. The pinion and wheel J must be
placed in gear and the engine set in action when the shaft c with the arms m and
cutters n will revolve and will by working through the threaded bush 6 of the
propelling wheel a be caused to advance in a similar manner to when employing
a threaded divided nut as described in my said former Specification No 2312 of 1887.
When it is required to regulate the speed of advance of the shaft c when the cutters
meet with stones or other very hard material or upon other occasions the pin / is
withdrawn when the propelling wheel a can be so regulated by means of a brake or
otherwise as to give way to the pressure and prevent the shaft advancing in the frame
as fast as it would otherwise do.
The engine can be made so that it can be reversed and worked in either direction
in a manner similar to that described in the Specification of my former Letters
Patent No. 1449 of 1886 or it can be constructed to work in one direction only. In
the former case it will be obvious that if required the frame can be caused to move
backwards in the heading by simply reversing the engine and propping or supporting
the radial arms m from the face of the heading or securing each end of the said arms
by means of wedges to the sides of the heading so that when the wheel a is rotated
the frame d will move along the threaded shaft c towards the back end theroof.
In the drawings I have shown the machine provided with horizontal arms and
and cutters adapted to cut an annular groove in the heading but it will be understood
that my invention is equally applicable for use with radial arms having cutters
arranged on their face and adapted to cut away the whole face of the heading,
To allow the direction of cutting to be regulated I find it advantageous to attach to
the machine a small dialling instrument a' consisting of a tube with two wires
stretched perpendicularly to each other over the ends thereof. This instrument is
arranged parallel with the axis of the shaft c and by sighting through it at a light
held at some distance off in the rear of the working the direction of the cut can be
accurately seen and then if required be adjusted; or the following mode of working
is adopted: After the frame and engine parts are advanced and before fixing and
making the next cut, 1 measure with a gauge from the back of the screw-threaded
shaft to the sides of the heading so as to get it exactly in the centre, in which case,
when the frame is fixed, it will cut forward in the direction it is set, or, if it is
desired to change the direction of the cut to the right or left, the frame is fixed
accordingly by measuring from the shaft to the side in like manner.

page_text: By the use of the propelling wheel a the frame and engine parts of the machine
can be moved forward and backward in a more sure and accurate manner than has
-hitherto-heen-the-case,-a-saving-in-wear and tear is effected; and-the-rate-of-advance
of the cutters relatively to their speed of rotation can be regulated, the withdrawal
and advance of the threaded shaft c with the arms and cutters, for the purpose of
changing the cutters or for other purposes, while the frame and engine parts of the
machine are stationary are effected with greater speed and efficiency than formerly,
and a saving in time and labour will obviously result in working the machine
especially on level or rising headings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) In a boring or tunnelling machine the combination with a threaded shaft
carrying arms having cutters attached thereto, of a cog wheel having a boss or bush
formed with an internal thread corresponding with that of the shaft the said wheel
and shaft operating in combination with the other parts of the machine substantially
in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
(2) The improved boring or tunnelling machine herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.