IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING COAL AND OTHER MINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edmund Donisthorpe and William Firth,
of Leeds, in the County of York, Merchants, and Robert Ridley, of
Leeds, aforesaid, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edmund Donis-
thorpe, William Firth, and Robert Ridley at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 26th November 1861.
We, GEORGE EDMUND DONISTHORPE and WILLIAM FIRTH, of Leeds, in the
County of York, Merchants, and ROBERT RIDLEY, of Leeds, aforesaid, 'Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING COAL AND OTHER MINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery and apparatus
for working coal and other mines. In the working of some mines, particularly
coal mines, it is required to make longitudinal horizontal grooves and also
vertical or upright grooves communicating with each other, so as to divide
the upright face of the work into sections bounded on the two sides, and at
the lower or upper, or both lower and upper parts, with grooves of such depth
or extent as is desired for determining the sizes of the sections which shall:
be removed by blasting or otherwise from the upright surface which is being
worked, and such horizontal and upright grooves have heretofore for the most
part been made by hand labor, using picks with handles, though, it has
been proposed to mount similar picks on carriages moved on rail or tram.

page_text: ways, and to give motion to such picks by the reaction of springs wound
up by manual or other power, and reciprocating cutters or picks, the stems
of which slide horizontally in guides mounted transversely on carriages
arranged to move on rails or tramways have also before been proposed to be
used, the sliding stems of the picks or cutting tools being actuated by manual
labour. And it has also been proposed to use compressed air engines, in
giving motion to drills for drilling holes into the coal or stone or mineral at
intervals in order to facilitate the working of mines, and in other cases in
giving motion to rotating tools suitably constructed to break and pulverize the
upright face of the end of a drift or tunnel.
Now our Invention consists in combining as hereafter described compressed
air engines with picks and cutting tools, such as are hereafter explained, which
are mounted on carriages moved on and guided by rail or tramways, such
picks or cutting tools being arranged to cut longitudinal, horizontal, and also
upright grooves to the desired depth or extent into the upright face of the
work, and thus to divide the work into rectangular sections, each section being
bounded by grooves on three or four sides. For these purposes a carriage
mounted on wheels suitable for being moved on a rail or tramway (which is
laid down parallel with the upright surface of the work), is employed, on
which is placed a compressed air engine which is constantly in connection
by a suitable pipe with machinery at a distance, arranged in a suitable manner
to keep up a constant supply of compressed air to the compressed air engine
(on the carriage before mentioned), and a flexible length of pipe is used
between the compressed air engine and the fixed air pipe in order to allow
of the carriage moving a distance along the work. On the carriage is applied
any desired number of picks on lever handles moving on axes, the lever
handles being by preference cranked lovers, so that at one end the pick is
applied, and at the other end the lever is acted on directly or is attached by
a connecting rod or rods to the piston rod or rods of the compressed air engine;
hence, as the carriage is moved at intervals along the face of the work
horizontal longitudinal grooves are made in the upright face of the work
by repeated blows of one or more picks moving on an upright axis or axes,
and in order to make the necessary upright grooves one or more picks
is or are applied to the carriage, and it or they receive motion in a similar
manner from the compressed air engine. Where necessary the axes of
these picks may be arranged to be raised and lowered in order to obtain
the requisite length of upright grooves; in place of using picks or lever
handles turning on axes reciprocating picks or cutting tools may be applied
to the carriage, and they or their stems be slid and guided to and fro in

page_text: suitable bearings, and be connected directly or by suitable connecting rods
to the piston rod or rods of a compressed air engine applied to the carriage;
provision being made for raising and lowering the bearings of those cutting
tools which produce the upright grooves; by these means the work may be
divided into sections by grooves by the aid of compressed air and picks
combined and arranged as herein explained with great advantage:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, William Firth, and Robert
Ridley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
EDMUND DONISTHORPE and WILLIAM FIRTH, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Merchants, and ROBERT RIDLEY, of Leeds, aforesaid, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one; in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us;
the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, William Firth, and Robert Ridley, Her
special licence that we, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, William Firth,
and Robert Ridley, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, William Firth, and Robert
Ridley, our executors, administrators, 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 MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING COAL AND OTHER MINES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we; the said George Edmund Donisthorpe, William
Firth, and Robert Ridley, our executors or administrators, 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
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Ridley, on behalf of myself and
the said George Edmund Donisthorpe and William Firth, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery and apparatus
for working coal and other mines. In the working of some mines, particularly
coal mines, it is required to make longitudinal horizontal grooves, and also
vertical or upright grooves, communicating with each other, so as to divide the
upright face of the work into sections bounded on the two sides, and at the
lower or upper, or both lower and upper parts, with grooves of such depth or
extent as is desired for determining the sizes of the sections, which shall be
removed by blasting or otherwise from the upright surface which is being
worked, and such horizontal and upright grooves have, heretofore, for the most
part been made by hand labor, using picks with handles, though it has been
proposed to mount similar picks on carriages moved on rail or tramways, and
to give motion to such picks by the reaction of springs wound up by manual
or other power, and reciprocating cutters or picks, the stems of which slide
horizontally in guides mounted transversely on carriages arranged to move on
rails or tramways, have also before been proposed to be used, the sliding stems
of the picks or cutting tools being actuated by manual labor. And it has also
been proposed to use compressed air engines in giving motion to drills for
drilling holes into the coal or stone or mineral at intervals, in order to facilitate
the working of mines, and, in other cases, in giving motion to rotating tools
suitably constructed to break and pulverize the upright face of the end of a
drift or tunnel.
Now, our Invention consists in combining, as hereafter described, com-
pressed air engines with picks and cutting tools, such as are hereafter explained,
which are mounted on carriages moved on and guided by rail or tramways,
such picks or cutting tools being arranged to cut longitudinal, horizontal, and
also upright grooves to the desired depth or extent into the upright face of the
work, and thus to divide the work into rectangular sections, each section being
bounded by grooves on three or four sides. For these purposes a carriage
mounted on wheels suitable for being moved on a rail or tramway (which is
laid down parallel with the upright surface of the work) is employed, on which
is placed a compressed air engine, which is constantly in connection by a
suitable pipe with machinery at a distance, arranged in a suitable manner to
keep up a constant supply of compressed air to the compressed air engine (on
the carriage before mentioned), and a flexible length of pipe is used between
the compressed air engine and the fixed air pipe, in order to allow of the
carriage moving a distance along the work. On the carriage is applied any
desired number of picks on lever handles, moving on axes, the lever handles

page_text: being, by preference, cranked levers, so that at one end the pick is applied,
and at the other end the lever is acted on directly, or is attached by a con-
necting rod or rods to the piston rod or rods of the compressed air engine;
hence, as the carriage is moved at intervals along the face of the work,
horizontal longitudinal grooves are made in the upright face of the work by
repeated blows of one or more picks moving on an upright axis or axes, and
in order to make the necessary upright grooves, one or more picks is or are
applied to the carriage, and it or they receive motion in a similar manner from
the compressed air engine.
Figure 1 is a plan of apparatus constructed according to our Invention.
a, a, is the frame of the carriage; it is mounted on wheels, and is arranged
with apparatus to move it forward and lock it in any desired position; this
apparatus, however, is not shown in this Drawing, but will be fully described
in reference to Figure 4. b is a cylinder fixed on the carriage; and c is the
piston rod thereof. The admission of the air to the cylinder is regulated by a
slide valve, on the rod of which is a spring g, which tends constantly to force
the valve to one end of its stroke, viz., to that which will cause the piston to
return after having caused the pick to strike a blow. In returning a roller e
on the head of the piston rod strikes the lever f, and by so doing moves the
valve and so sets it as first to check the return of the piston, and then again
to force it outwards to cause the pick to strike another blow, and as the piston
rod moves outwards it will leave the lever f, and the valve is then carried
back by its spring, and thus the reciprocating motion will be continued.
These parts are clearly shown at Figure 2, which is a side view of the
cylinder and parts in connection therewith; g is a connecting rod connecting
the piston rod with the crank arm h' on the axis of the pick h, this axis is
carried by the frame a, and the motion communicated to it will cause the pick
to strike into the coal or mineral. A single blow of the pick will not cause it
to cut to the depth required, but each time after the carriage has been moved
forward a distance, the pick is caused to make several blows in succession at
the same place until it descends to the depth required; the pick is arranged
to work up and down a short distance upon its axis, in order to cause it to cut
a groove wider than the width of the pick as described in the Specification of
the Patent granted to Robert Ridley and Joseph Rothery on the 30th March
1861, No. 795.
When the apparatus is required to produce vertical grooves the picks are
carried on horizontal axes, and we prefer, for cutting the vertical grooves, to
employ two cylinders and two picks, the one working upwards and the other
downwards, as is shewn at Figure 3, which is a side view of the arrangement,

page_text: one pick serves to remove the corner which the other would otherwise leave;
the two picks are not put to work at the same time as they would interfere the
one with the other. In place of using picks on lever handles turning on axes,
reciprocating picks or cutting tools may be applied to the carriage, and they
or their stems be slid and guided to and fro in suitable bearings, and be
connected directly or by suitable connecting rods to the piston rod or rods of a
compressed air engine applied to the carriage, provision being made for raising
and lowering the bearings of those cutting tools which produce the upright
grooves. By these means the work may be divided into sections by grooves
by the aid of compressed air and cutters combined and arranged as herein
explained with great advantage.
Figure 4 is a plan; Figure 5 a side elevation; and Figure 6 a front
elevation of apparatus arranged in this manner :-a is the frame of the
carriage, it is mounted on wheels b, b, carried by the axes c; d, d; are bevilled
wheels fixed on the axes, and gearing with other bevilled wheels e, e, on the
axis of which is a worm wheelf, and this works with a worm capable of being
turned by the hand wheel g, and thus the carriage is moved forward as
required, and the same apparatus serves to lock the carriage and retain it
securely wherever it may be placed even should the road be inclined. The
above description applies also to the apparatus shown at Figure 1. The
carriage has two cylinders in connection with it, one at each end (or it may
have one cylinder only), and to carry them the ends of the carriage are
furnished with V guides h, in which slides i work, and these are supported by
the bar j, pin-jointed to it; the ends of the bars have small rollers on them
which run on the tram. The cylinder is mounted on the slide, it being
carried by a centre pin or axis 1, these arrangements are made in order that
any inequalities in the line of tramroad may not injuriously affect the action of
the apparatus; m, m, are the rods of the pistons which work in the cylinders
k, they are made rectangular in order that the stuffing box may serve as a
guide to prevent the piston rod turning. The head of the piston rod is
furnished with a wedge-shape tool, suitable for cutting the coal or mineral.
Compressed air is admitted to the cylinders to produce the required recipro-
cating action of the tools by means of cylindrical valves (such as are well
understood), and by turning these in one direction the air is admitted behind
the pistons to throw them forward to make a blow, and by turning the valves
in the contrary direction the air is admitted in advance of the pistons to bring
them back, whilst at the same time the air behind the piston is allowed to
escape freely. This motion is given to the valves by means of the hand lever
n, the mode of action of which is clearly shown. The air to work the appa-

page_text: ratus we prefer to compress at the mouth of the pit by means of an air pump
worked by the engine, and we lead the air into the pit by means of iron pipes;
these have union pieces fixed on them at intervals in order that a flexible pipe
may be attached to convey the air to the cylinder.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we do not confine our-
selves to the exact details described, nor do we claim any of the mechanical
parts separately; but what we claim is,-
First. The combined arrangement of mechanism herein explained, with
reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings, whereby picks with lever
handles are actuated by compressed air engines, mounted on and carried by
the same carriage as the picks.
And, secondly. We claim the combined arrangement of mechanism herein
explained with reference to Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawings, whereby cutters
are connected with and moved to and fro by the piston rods of air engines,
mounted on carriages as herein described,
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Ridley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ROBERT RIDLEY. (L.S.)