A NEW OR IMPROVED LADDER OR MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE WORKING OF MINES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SPURGIN, of Guildford Street, Russell Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Doctor of Medicine, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of April now last past,
did give and grant unto me, the said John Spurgin, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Spurgin, my exe-
cutors, administrators, or assigns, or such others as I, the said John Spurgin,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within that part of. His said Majesty's said United Kingdom called England,
His Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention.of
"A NEW OR IMPROVED LADDER OR MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE WORKING OF
MINES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said John Spurgin, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Spurgin, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and as follows, that is
to say:-
My new or improved Ladder or Machinery applicable to the Working of
Mines and other useful Purposes, has the horizontal staves or treads of the
ladder affixed to, and supported by and between, a pair of endless ropes or
chains, which are extended over revolving drums mounted upon horizontal
axes, and capable of being turned round by the power of machinery. One
such revolving drum being situated at the uppermost or highest place to
which the ladder is intended to reach, and another such revolving drum
being situated at the lowermost place to which the same ladder is intended to
reach, the horizontal axes of the two drums being parallel to each other, and
the two endless ropes or chains, which constitute the pair aforesaid, are
extended over the uppermost and under the lowermost of the said revolving
drums, each endless rope or chain being situated in a vertical plano of its own,
and the two such vertical planes in which the pair of endless ropes or chains
are situated being parallel to each other, and being at such distance asunder
as is suitable for the width of the ladder, the horizontal staves or treads of the
ladder being extended from one endless rope or chain to the other, each such
'stave being securely attached by one of its ends to one endless rope or chain,
and by the other of its ends to the other endless rope or chain, and when
either of the said drums is turned round with a continuous motion by the
power of suitable millwork machinery, which may be such, for instance, as is
usually actuated by falling water or by steam, or by animal force, the said pair
of endless ropes or chains, with the aforesaid horizontal staves or treads, will
be caused to circulate over the said two revolving drums by which they
are extended, and one part of the endless ladder which is formed by the two
ropes or chains, and the horizontal staves or treads, will be continually
ascending with a slow but uniform motion from the lowermost of the revolving
drums to the uppermost, and the other part of the same ladder will be con-
tinually descending from the uppermost to the lowermost of the said revolving
drums, with a continual and uninterrupted circulation. Wherefore a person
desiring to mount the moving ladder, having advanced near to the ascending
side thereof, on a suitable stage or stool, will only require to catch hold of one
of the staves with his hands as the same is ascending, and then to step
with his feet upon another of the staves, and by the ascending motion of the
ladder he will then be carried up without any other effort than that of holding

page_text: fast upon the staves by his hands and standing firm thereon with his feet; and
having thus reached the height to which he intends to mount by the moving
ladder, he can step off from the stave thereof on to a suitable landing or stage,
which must be provided near to the ladder for that purpose. Or, in like manner,
for descending by the moving ladder, a person has only to approach the
descending side thereof, on a suituble stage, and take hold of one stave and
place his feet upon another, to be carried down without other effort than
holding fast and standing firm as aforesaid, and having thus descended to the
intended depth, he can step off from the stave on to a suitable landing stage
as aforesaid.
But in order to facilitate the said manner of ascending and
descending, a small moveable step or foot boad is to be applied to the said
moving ladder by attaching it to the staves thereof, so that the foot board will
project outwards horizontally from the ladder and afford a more convenient
and firmer footing than by merely standing upon a stave; and the same foot
board may have a hand rail connected with it for persons to hold by more
firmly and conveniently than merely holding by a stave. The said ladder and
foot board, with its hand rail, may, if desired, be made wide enough to admit
of several persons going thereon abreast at the same time, the same projecting
foot board serving either for ascending or for descending, according as it is in
succession at the ascending or the descending side of the endless ropes or
chains, there being two of the aforesaid hand rails connected with the same
foot board, one for use in ascending and the other in descending. And when
the said ladder is required to be of such width as is suitable for several persons
to stand abreast thereon, so that the horizontal staves or treads thereof would
be liable from their length to bend down with the weight they have to
sustain, then a third endless rope or chain may be extended over the same
two revolving drums in order to support the middle of each stave, in addition
to the two endless ropes or chains constituting the pair before mentioned, and
which pair are for supporting the ends of the several staves; or, in case of a very
wide ladder being required, two endless ropes or chains may be used to support
the middle part of each stave in addition to the two constituting the pair before
mentioned; and in order to prevent the said moving ladder from swinging and
deflecting from its intended straight line between the two revolving drums by the
weight of the persons who are ascending or descending thereby, other smaller
bearing drums or rollers may be applied to retain the said ropes or chains of the
ladder at the opposite side thereof to that whereon the persons are to stand in
going up or down thereby; and by means of other suitable projecting boards,
which may be attached as aforesaid to the staves of the moving ladder (but
without the hand rails before mentioned), boxes or chests, or waggons con-

page_text: taining earth, stones, ores, minerals, coals, or goods, may be taken up or let
down in the manner herein-after explained in detail. My said new ladder or
machinery is applicable to the working of mines, for conveying the workmen
with their tools down into the mine and up again without fatigue; also for
raising up earth, stones, ores, coals, or minerals therefrom, or letting down
materials thereunto. And the same is also applicable to other useful purposes,
such as conveying persons or goods up into high buildings, warehouses, manu-
factories, or public establishments, or conveying the same down therefrom;
also for unloading or discharging ships of their cargoes of coals or grain or
other like goods. And in cases where the depth of mines is very considerable,
the same may be descended and ascended by means of a succession of my new
or improved endless ladders, whereof one such may extend so far down in the
shaft or pit of the mino as is found to be a convenient length for the endless
ropes or chains whereof it is composed, and from thence another like endless
ladder may descend deeper, and from thence a third, and so on to as great a
depth as is required. In such cases the several revolving drums over and
under which the endless ropes or chains are extended must be long enough to
receive two endless ladders side by side, that is to say, the lowermost part of
one ladder will pass under one end of the long drum, in order to be extended
thereby, whilst the uppermost part of the next ladder will pass over the other
end of the same long drum in order to be suspended therefrom. And for
the more complete explanation of the details of my said new or improved
ladder or machinery, I have, by way of example, represented the same
in the Drawing hereunto annexed, as applied to the working of mines.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of the shaft or pit of the mine, shewing two of
the endless ladders as they appear when viewed in front, and Figure 2 is a
corresponding vertical section, shewing the same endless ladders viewed side-
ways. A, A, are the sides or boundaries of the shaft or pit of the mine, either
cut in firm rock, or else walled or timbered if cut in soft or unsound strata, as
is the usual practice in the shafts of mines. B is the uppermost revolving
drum,
and b, b, the horizontal axis thereof extending across the mouth of the
pit, being supported in bearing standards c, c, which are erected upon suitable
timbering d. d, on each side of the mouth of the pit, and D is a cog wheel
fixed on one end of the axis 6 of the drum B, in order to turn the same round
by suitable communication of motion from another corresponding cog wheel
belonging to any water, steam, or cattle machinery, by which the requisite
power for actuating my new or improved ladder or machinery is to be exerted.
e, f, c, are three endless chains for one such ladder, and E is the lowermost
revolving drum of that ladder. It is placed down in the pit, its axis extending

page_text: horizontally across the same, and being supported in bearings at its ends, those
bearings being sustained by timbering 9, 9. The endless chains e, f, e, receive
and sustain the horizontal staves or treads h, h, which extend from one chain
to the other, having their ends made fast in suitable openings in the links of
the two outermost endless chains e, e, and the middle part of each stave h
passes through a suitable opening in the links of the middlemost chain f.
The staves h, h, are disposed at equal distances apart from each other, as is
determined by the said links with openings in them, those distances being
such as is suitable for the steps of a ladder. The revolving drums B and E
have cogs or teeth projecting out from their circumferences at suitable places to
take hold of the staves h, h, and prevent the endless chains e, f, e, from slipping
round over their drums B and E, in order to ensure that when the uppermost
drum B is turned round by the power of machinery, the endless chains e, f, e,
with their staves h, h, will be certain to circulate, and also that the said circula-
tion will occasion the lowermost drum E to turn duly round; the said lowermost
drum E being situated as far down the pit or shaft as is found to be a convenient
length for the endless chains e, f, e. Another set. of three endless chains or
endless ropes i, k, i, are applied over the other end of the drum E, to descend
therefrom lower down into the pit or shaft, and they pass under another lower-
most drum G. There is no difference between the endless ladder formed of
endless chains as shewn at e. f, e, and of endless ropes as at i, k. i, because
either of them might be endless ropes or either of them might be endless chains,
but the Drawing is represented with chains in one case and with ropes in the
other, only for the sake of fully describing both. The endless ropes i, k, i, are
each compounded of four, five, or six small ropes placed close together side by
side, and united laterally by cross stitches of strong twine, passing and
repassing through all the ropes in the manner of what are called flat ropes
for mines. The longitudinal staves or the treads h, h, of the ladder are firmly
attached to those flat ropes at equal distances apart, in the same manner as
before mentioned with respect into the endless chains e, f, e. H, H, H, are
bearing rollers applied at such distances apart as may be requisite in order to
retain the endless chains e, f, e, from swinging or deflecting from their
intended right lines, and similar bearing rollers are to be applied to the endless
ropes i, k, i, although none such are represented in the Drawing. The
revolving drum E, which is the lowermost for one length of my new or
improved endless ladder, is also the uppermost for another length thereof, and
the same may be said of the drum G, and so on of others which may be placed
lower down in the pit or shaft of the mine until they reach to the bottom
thereof. Figure 3 is a side elevation and Figure 4 is a front elevation of the

page_text: foot board and hand rail, which, as before mentioned, is to be hooked to the
staves of the endless ladder for the convenient standing and holding of persons
going up or down thereby, and the same is shown in its place at 1, Figure 1,
and two such are shewn in their places at 6 and M in Figure 2, the latter
being descending. is the horizontal foot board, supported at its two ends
between two iron brackets j, j, each of which has two hooks m, m, to be
hooked upon two staves h, h, of the endless ladder in order to fasten the foot
board firmly to the endless ladder. n, p, are the band rails affixed to the
same brackets j, j, at a suitable height above the platform 1, for the persons:
standing thereon to hold firmly by. The hand rail n serves that purpose in
going up, as at 1, Figure 2, and the hand rail p in going down, as at M,
Figure 2. The said brackets, with their hooks m, m, are so formed as to
permit of the foot board going up over the uppermost drum B or under the
lowermost drum E without obstruction, and without risk of unhooking or
detaching from the staves h, h, to which it is applied. The persons who
intend going up (or down), step on to (or off from) the foot board / from (or
to) a suitable platform which is fixed in the pit opposite to the several hori-
zontal galleries of the mine, and at the bottom thereof, and at the mouth of
the pit.
Figure 5 is an end elevation, Figure 6 a front elevation,
and Figure 7 a back elevation of an iron frame to be attached to the
staves h, h, of the endless ladder by means of hooks, in the same manner
as before described respecting the platform, Figures 3 and 4. The frame
is composed of two brackets o, o, with their hooks r, r, and they are
united together by a horizontal cross bar s. The said frame is for the
reception and support of a tilting box or cradle. N, which is mounted
in the frame on pivots or centres of motion t, which are placed so much
nearer to one end of the cradle N than to the other that it will assume an
inclining position, as is represented in the Figures. The highest end of the
said inclined cradle N is an open mouth, but the lowest end is closed. The
said cradle N is adapted to receive a small waggon, such as is commonly used
in some mines for the underground conveyance of ore or materials.
said tilting cradles N are represented in their intended places on the ladder at
N, Figures 1 and 2, where the mode of introducing the said small waggons P
into them is also explained. The said waggons P are brought along the
several horizontal galleries of the mine to the pit or shaft opposite to the
endless ladder, and there a waggon P, which is intended to be raised upwards,
is suspended as is shewn at Q, Figure 2, upon the horizontal jointed arm v of
a small turning crane v, w, which is supported on an upright axis w at the
end of the gallery, and that crane is afterwards turned round about the said
The

page_text: axis w, as far as suitable stops, which are provided for the purpose, will permit,
and thereby the waggon. P will be swung over into the pit or shaft so as to
bring it into the way of the cradle N, which is coming up with the endless
ladder, and, therefore, when the cradle N does so come up it will receive the
waggon P into it, the jointed arm v of the crane then lifting up about its joint,
and yielding easily, will allow the waggon P to pass up by it without
obstruction. The inclining position of the bottom of the cradle N, whereon
the wheels of the waggon P rest, causes the waggon to run towards the closed
end of the cradle N, and it cannot run out at the open end of the cradle N
because that end is the highest, but as soon as the waggon has thus ascended
in the cradle N to its intended place of delivery, which may be at the mouth
of the pit or other part thereof, where there is a proper platform fixed to
receive the waggon, as is shewn at R, Figure 1, also at S, Figure 1, then a
fixed piece, which is provided for the purpose, intercepts a projecting prong x
at the open end of the inclined cradle N, and in consequence of the ascending
motion of the cradle N it becomes tilted about its centre pivots t with an
opposite inclination, as is shewn by the dotted lines Figure 6, whereupon the
loaded waggon P will immediately run out from the open end of the cradle N
and land upon the fixed platform R or S, which is intended to receive it.
y is a check chain to prevent the cradle N from being tilted up farther than
it ought to be, for thus causing the waggon P to run out of it; and also when
the same cradle N has gone up over the drum B and is descending on the
opposite side, the check chain y retains the cradle N, as is shewn at T;
Figures 1 and 2. One of the turning cranes v, w, may be provided at each of
the galleries of the mine, from which the loaded waggons P are intended to
be raised up. Figures 8 and 9 explain the manner of taking down the same
waggons P and of depositing them upon a suitable fixed platform, when they
get down to the depth intended. The tilting cradle W is the same
as before described and represented by N, excepting that it is applied
the other way upwards on the endless ladder, in order that it may be
descending when its open side is upwards, suitably for receiving the
waggon P into it.
Another similar tilting cradle or trough V, Figure 8, is
supplied at the mouth of the pit or other place from which the waggons Pare
to be taken downwards, the pivots of the said trough V being sustained on
fixed supports, and so placed that its inclination will prevent the waggon P,
which is lodged in the trough V, from running out at the open end thereof
towards the endless ladder; but when the cradle W in descending comes with its
open end nearly opposite to the open end of the trough V, then a lip of the former
catches upon a lip of the latter, .and tilts the trough V upon its supporting

page_text: pivots, so as to reverse the direction of its previous inclination and bring the
inclination of its bottom to conform with the inclination of the bottom of the
cradle W; and then the waggon P runs immediately by its own gravity out of
the trough V into the cradle W, wherein it will remain in consequence of the
inclination of the bottom thereof; and immediately after the transfer, as the
cradle W descends further, the aforesaid lip of the trough V escapes from its
contact with the corresponding lip of the cradle W, and then the trough V
tilts back to its former inclination, as is represented in the Drawing; and
another waggon like P may be placed in that trough V, realy for being
introduced in its turn into the next cradle like W, which is brought by the
motion of the endless ladder over the uppermost drum A, and down into a
proper situation for receiving the waggon; and when the first-mentioned
waggon P has descended in the cradle W to the place where it is intended to
be deposited, and where a suitable platform X. Figure 9, with a moveable
trough Z on that platform, is provided for receiving the waggon P, then a fixed
stop Y, which is suitably placed, intercepts a projecting prong at the closed
end of the cradle W, so as to tilt the same into a reverse inclination to that
which it had before, and that causes the waggon P to run out from the open
end of the cradle W into the moveable trough Z, which is placed on the
platform X. The said running out takes place at the moment when the bottom
of the cradle W and the bottom of the platform X conform one to the other
or nearly so, the precise moment when the transfer shall take place being
regulated by the position of the stop Y, which is fixed to its support by screws
so as to be capable of adjustment; and when the waggon P, by running out of
the cradle W into the trough Z, strikes against the closed end of that trough,
it drives the trough endways a very little, and then the trough Z acquires a
tendency to go further forwards endways in the same direction, and also to
descend at the same time by its own weight. This is in consequence of the
open end of the trough Z being sustained by projecting bearing pins, which
enter into inclined slots or grooves formed in iron standards, which are affixed
to the sides of the platform X so as to stand up therefrom. The extreme ends
of those slots towards the endless ladder are not inclined, but are horizontal,
as is shewn in Figure 9. Wherefore when the trough Z is pushed endways
by a man toward the endless ladder in order to set it properly for receiving a.
waggon P, which is coming down in one of the cradles W, the trough Z will
remain so set with its open end elevated a little, and the lip thereof protruding
a little into the way of the lip at the open end of the cradle W; but so soon
as the transfer of the waggon takes place in manner already described, the
trough Z being driven endways will, by the action of its bearing p'rs in the

page_text: inclining slots of the platform, move further endways and downwards at the
same time, so as to take its lip out of the way of the lip of the cradle W before
any contact takes place. And note, the motion which is given to the drum A,
and thereby to the endless ladders, should be a slow, steady pace, such as will
readily permit of persons stepping on to or off from the foot boards before
described, and as will permit of the aforesaid transferring of waggons to or from
the cradles of the endless ladder. If the endless ladders move about sixty or
eighty feet per minute, the said stepping on or off and transferring will be
easily performed, or, with practice, it may be done at a quicker speed. The
scale of feet upon the Drawing does not relate to the height of the endless
ladders therein represented, or the distance between the several revolving drums
A, E, and G, because that height is to be as great as the depth of the mine
may require, or as great as it is found convenient to employ endless ropes or
chains, which may be for an ascent of fifty yards or more by one of the endless
ladders. A ratchet wheel and click may be applied to the uppermost drum A,
in order to prevent any retrograde movement taking place by accident. And
note, as the endless ropes or chains i, k, i, or e, f, e, will be liable to stretch
after they are first newly applied to the lowermost drums E and G should have
the bearings in which their pivots are lodged fitted into grooves in the timber
frame, and suspended by screws with nuts, in order that by turning those nuts
the drums may be let down as much as is requisite from time to time for
keeping the endless chains or ropes in a due state of tension. And note, the
bearing rollers H may have cogs fixed into them to catch the staves of the
endless ladders, and they will thereby be returned round, and may be used for
drawing waggons along the horizontal galleries of the mine, opposite to which
the said rollers H are situated. This may be done by merely passing a rope
around the roller H, and extending that rope therefrom into the gallery and
attaching it to the waggon, or by conducting the said rope over a pulley it may
be used to draw up buckets of ore, or earth, or water from excavations in the
gallery. The rope which is so passed round the roller H may be caused to
move therewith or not by a man pulling at the other end of the rope, so as to
cause it to grasp or hold on around the roller H or not, in which latter case it
will slip, all which is a well known and usual mode of applying ropes or
windlasses.
Having now described my said new or improved Ladder or Machinery
applicable to the Working of Mines and other useful Purposes, I, the said John
Spurgin, do hereby declare that the new Invention, whereof the exclusive use
is granted to me by the aforesaid Letters Patent, consists in the endless ladders
herein-before describe', with the revolving drums turned by mechanical power,

page_text: over which those endless ladders circulate in manner herein-before described,
together with the foot boards and hand rails which are applied to such endless
ladders, and also the cradles and moveable platforms and other apparatus applied
thereto, as herein-before described, for the purpose of transferring waggons
containing ore, earth, or minerals (or persons who may be seated in such
waggons), or buckets or other vessels holding water, to the said endless ladders,
and from the same, as may be required for ascending or for descending.in
manner herein-before fully described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Spurgin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, One thousand eight hundred