Improvements in and relating to Steam Shovels or Elevating Buckets.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Oct., 1896-Accepted, 23rd Jan., 1897
[Communicated from abroad by JEREMIAH CAMPBELL, of Chelsea, in the County
of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Merchant.]
Improvements in and relating to Steam Shovels or Elevating
Buckets.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
The invention relates to means for automatically preventing the turning of the
steam shovel or elevating bucket and the twisting of its operating rope or ropes
while it is being actuated.
In the drawings Figures 1 to 5 inclusive represent the application of the invention
to a steam shovel having a relatively large vertical lift and small horizontal travel,
and Figures 6 to 9 inclusive represent the application of it to a steam shovel having
a relatively small vertical hoist and a large horizontal travel.
Broadly speaking the invention comprises the employment of a guy rope or chain
attached to one side of the steam shovel and extending preferably in an upward
and outward direction to a device for maintaining it taut while the shovel is
being operated, the rope falling, rising and moving horizontally with the shovel.
The steam shovel to which the invention is represented as applied is of the
clam-shell type and is automatically loaded or filled, raised and transferred
new load. The
horizontally, discharged and returned and lowered to engage a
shovel is generally hoisted and lowered and closed and opened by two ropes or
chains although in some instances one will answer, and the horizontal position of
these ropes or chains is governed by a trolley movable upon a track substantially
horizontal the position of which is governed by an operating rope or chain.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my invention as arranged to automatically
unload a barge.
Figure 2 is a view in end elevation thereof.
Figure 3 is a view enlarged of a clam-shell digger.
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate modifications in the manner of rigging the guy rope
and connecting it with its actuating device.
A is the shovel. a, a¹ are its hoisting and actuating ropes. B is the trolley
over which said ropes extend. bis the boom upon which the trolley is movable
horizontally. is its actuating rope or chain. The ropes a, a¹ and 61 extend to
suitable drums operated by hoisting engines in the house C. D is the automatic
controlling guy rope or chain. It is attached at d to the side of the shovel either
by means of a bridle d', (see Figure 3) or not as may be preferred. The guy rope
may be rigged as represented in Figure 1, where it extends over a pulley at the
outer end of the boom 6 thence to a vertically movable sheave carrying a
weight d' and extending to the fixed point d' at the outer end of the boom, or it may
extend over a sheave do at the end of the boom as represented in Figure 4, thence to
the sheave d' at the upper end of the frame-work d" and extend downwardly therefrom,
having at its outer end a weight, or it may be rigged as represented in Figure 5,

page_text: passing over sheaves corresponding to the sheaves d', d' of Figure 4, then about
a pulley or sheave d' attached to a weight, then upward to the point where its
end is fixed.
I prefer, as a rule, the construction represented in Figure 5, as it disposes
of the guy rope actuating weight in a desirable location and reduces its throw.
While I have described the guy rope as actuated by a weight I wish it understood
that I consider that any means for exerting automatically a constant tension upon
said guy rope or chain D may be employed and is an equivalent.
It will be understood that the guy rope exerts a constant steadying action upon
the shovel throughout its entire movement; while being lifted, while being
transferred, while at rest and while it is being loaded.
In Figures 6 to 9 inclusive the automatic guy rope or chain is represented as
attached to a trolley having a large horizontal travel for the purpose of conveying
the shovel with its load after it has been hoisted, from one position to another.
In Figures 6 and 7 the trolley is represented as having an extension E to
which the sheaves e, e are attached. The guy rope D passes from the shovel
over the sheave e, thence to the sheave e to which the guy actuating weight is
attached, and then roun the sheave e' to the housing of the sheave e, or there may
be two sheaves in the said housing to which the weight is attached, and two sheaves
in lieu of the sheaves e', and the guy rope may make another turn about the
additional ones as represented in Figure 7 in order to retain the travel of the
weight.
It will be seen that the guy ropes and weight in this construction are movable or
travel with the trolley and this permits the shovel to be carried or transferred
horizontally in close relation to the trolley for considerable distances and without
turning cr twisting as the shovel controlling devices travel with it.
In Figures 8 and 9 the sheaves e, el are represented as attached to the trolley
rope E' instead of to an extension from the trolley, and when so attached they are
not only movable with the trolley but their weight serves to cause a strain or
take-up action upon the trolley rope that is desirable in the operation of this
rope.
It will be understood that with the constructions represented in Figures 6 to 9
the trolley is positively moved in both directions by an actuating rope, while with
the construction represented in Figures 1 to 5 the trolley is moved positively in one
direction by the actuating rope but the weight of the shovel will cause it to be
. moved in the opposite direction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. As a means for automatically preventing the turning of a rope-suspended
steam-shovel, scoop or bucket and the twisting of its actuating rope or ropes, the
combination of a horizontally movable trolley, a shovel, a shovel-actuating rope or
ropes extending from or connecting the trolley with the shovel and movable with
the trolley and also in relation to it, and an automatic shovel-steadying device
comprising a rope connected to the side of the shovel and extending to a stationary
pulley or block in a line diverging from that of the shovel-actuating rope or ropes,
the said pulley or block, and means for exerting a constant tension upon said rope,
as and for the purposes described.
2. The combination of a power-shovel suspended and operated by one or more
ropes substantially as specified with an automatically actuating steadying device
comprising a rope or chain having an automatic take-up and connected with the
shovel at an angle to the said suspending and operating rope or ropes, whereby a
draft or pull is exerted upon the shovel sufficient to prevent the turning or twisting
thereof while suspended, as and for the purposes described.
3. The combination in a device of the character specified, of the trolley, the
shovel, its actuating rope or ropes, the rope attached to the side of the shovel, a

page_text: stationary pulley about which said rope extends on a line diverging from that of
the actuating rope or ropes, a movable pulley and a weight carried thereby, the
said rope extending over the stationary pulley and around the movable pulley to a
point of attachment, as aud for the purposes described.
4. The combination in a machine of the character specified of a steam-shovel
having a great rise and fall and also adapted to be moved laterally, its hoisting and
controlling rope or ropes, a bridle attached to the corners of the steam-shovel, a
steadying-rope leading from the centre of said bridle in a diverging line to a
stationary pulley or block and means beyond said stationary pulley or block
for exerting a constant tension upon said rope and bridle, as and for the purposes
described.
5. The combination in a machine of the character specified, of a rope-suspended
steam-shovel having a great rise and fall and also adapted to be moved laterally,
its hoisting and controlling rope or ropes, a steadying-rope attached to the side of
the steam-shovel and extending in a diverging line over a fixed or stationary pulley
or block and means beyond the pulley or block for exerting a constant tension upon
said rope, as and for the purposes described.
6. The combination in an apparatus of the character specified of a steam-shovel
having automatic movements, a stationary engine, a trolley, means connecting it
with an engine for moving it horizontally, actuating and hoisting devices connecting
the shovel with the trolley and stationary engine, and a rope or line extending from
one side of the shovel at a point removed from the lower end of the shovel-hoisting
device and arranged to diverge from said point of attachment, and means connected
with the rope for exerting a constant automatic tension thereon, as and for the
purposes specified.
7. The combination in a hoisting apparatus of the character specified of a
stationary engine, a trolley, means connecting the trolley with the engine for moving
the trolley, actuating means extending from the shovel to the trolley for auto-
matically closing and opening the steam shovel, a stationary engine and a rope or
line extending diagonally from the side of the shovel outwardly to a fixed point,
the said trolley and shovel having a movement away from said fixed point while the
shovel is being lifted, as and for the purposes described.
8. In an apparatus of the character specified, the combination of the movable
trolley, the steam-shovel, its actuating ropes, the position of which is controlled by
the trolley, the steadying-rope, its weight, and a guide with which the weight is
connected and upon which it is adapted to be moved vertically, as and for the
purposes set forth.
9. The combination in an apparatus of the character described, of a horizontally-
running trolley, an automatic loading shovel of the character specified, horizontally
movable in unison with said trolley, one or more ropes for automatically closing,
hoisting, sustaining and opening said shovel extending from the shovel to and
about the trolley, means independent of the trolley for operating said rope or ropes,
and a device for automatically preventing the turning of the shovel and the twisting
of the shovel actuating and sustaining rope or ropes, comprising a line or rope
connected with the side of the shovel having an outwardly inclined relation to the
said shovel operating and sustaining rope or ropes and means for exerting a
constant stress or pull upon said line or rope which means are horizontally moved
in unison with the trolley, substantially as described.
10. The combination of an automatically loading, carrying and dumping shovel
of the character specified, a horizontally-carrying trolley, a flexible shovel closing,
hoisting, sustaining and opening device extending from a stationary engine over the
trolley to the shovel, an automatic mechanism connected with the side of the shovel
for preventing the turning of the shovel and the twisting of the operating and
suspending device while the shovel is being moved upwardly, carried horizontally
and dropped downwardly, comprising a rope attached to the side of the shovel and
leading at an inclined angle therefrom, movable horizontally with the trolley

page_text: and shovel, and upon which a constant tension is exerted, whereby the shovel
and its actuating device are held from twisting, as and for the purposes described.
11. The combination of a shovel, its flexible suspending and operating ropes, the
trolley, a steadying-rope attached to the shovel and extending to the trolley
extension or rope and movable with the trolley and an automatically-acting
take-up movable with the trolley to maintain a constant stress upon said steadying-
rope regardless of its length, as and for the purposes described.
12. The combination of a horizontally-movable trolley, a shovel, bucket or scoop
suspended therefrom, the trolley-moving rope, a pulley attached to the trolley-
moving rope, and a rope extending from the shovel, scoop or bucket over said
pulley and a weight, as and for the purposes described.
13. The combination of a horizontally movable trolley, a shovel, scoop or bucket
suspended therefrom and movable vertically in relation thereto, and also movable
horizontally therewith in a fixed relation thereto, the trolley-moving rope, a pulley
fixed thereon to move therewith, the pulley the weight carried thereby and the
rope passing over the pulley, and about the pulley and pulley, the end of the rope
being attached to the housing of the pulley as and for the purposes described.
Dated this 22nd day of October 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.