IMPROVEMENTS IN' CRANES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Irlam;. of Newton Heath, near the
City of Manchester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN'
CRANES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Irlam at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
March 1865.
I WILLIAM IRLAM, of Newton Heath, near the City of Manchester,.
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CRANES,to be as follows:-
My improvements in cranes are applicable to cranes with jibs and pillars,..
and they consist in constructing the jib and pillar of two beams of rolled girder:
or double T iron or steel, or of plates of iron or steel strengthened by angle
or other suitable bars of rolled iron. The pillar with a crane jib may! be
rolled in one piece or in parts rivetted together,, or the jib. formed of the usual
tension bar and strut, may be connected to the pillar, which is constructed of.

page_text: two girder beams or plates, with angle or other suitable iron, and supports the
gearing and chain barrel. The pillar is supported, as usual, in a footstep, and
it swivels within a'ring. To the pillar are fixed the bearings of one or more
antifriction rollers acting against the inside of the ring; to one of these
rollers is connected a shaft and gearing for swivelling the crane round when
required. When the crane is made with a chain passing over a cogged wheel
instead of being wound on a barrel, the chain is conveyed by a guide pulley
into the interior of the pillar, and there deposited instead of being conveyed up
and down the jib as now customary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Irlam in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
IRLAM, of Newton Heath, near the City of Manchester, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most : Excellent Majesty: Queen. Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our, Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Irlam, Her special license that I, the said William Irlam, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Irlam, my 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
CRANES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Irlam, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in, writing, under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Irlam, do, hereby declare;
the nature, of, my, said: Invention; and in what manner the same is to be;

page_text: performed, to be particularly described; and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement (that is to say) ::
i
My improvements in cranes are applicable to cranes, with jibs and pillars,
and ithey consist in constructing the jib and pillar of two beams of rolled girder
.or.double.T.iron or steel; or, of plates of iron or steel strengthened by angle
or other suitable bars of rolled iron. The pillar with a crane jib,may be rolled
in one piece or in parts rivetted together, or the jib. formed of the usual
tension bar and strut, may be connected to the, pillar, which is constructed of
two girder beams or plates, with angle or other suitable iron, and supports the
gearing and chain, barrel. The pillar is supported, as usual, in a footstep, and
it swivels within a ring. To the pillar are fixed the bearings of one or more
antifriction rollers acting against the inside of the ring; to one of these rollers
is connected a shaft and gearing for swivelling the crane round when
required.
..
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily
carried into operation; I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a plan of a crane.constructed
according to my Invention. a is the pillar consisting of two rolled double T
wrought iron or steel girder beams, united at the top by the stay b, at or near
the centre by the antifriction pulley box c, and at the bottom by the foot
plate.d; to: which the pivot d' is fixed; this pivot works in the foot step.e,
which is let into the stonework forming the foundation of the crane; fis the
-strut-or-jib, which is also made of two girder beams similar to those forming
5.the pillar a.; the lower ends of the beams f are secured to a flange projecting
from the box.c;and f¹ is the tension bar, the ends- of which pass through the
stay b, as in cranes of the usual construction. In the box c, which is shewn
best in Figure 2, are mounted; the antifriction rollers g, g, bearing against the
internal surface of the ring h, which is made as usual; to the box c is also
0;fixed a segmental filling up plate c', which works free in the ring h. To the
pillar a are fixed the usual bearings for the chain barrel i and for the axles j
.and k, by which, and the wheels and pinions shewn, it is-worked as in cranes
of.the.ordinary construction. This crane may either be swivelled round-on
its pivot by hand or by gearing; in the latter case the axle of one of the
5 antifriction rollers g-is provided with a spur wheel, as shewn by dotted lines
in Figure 1; and this wheel is driven by a pinion on an upright shaft, at the
top of which is a bevel wheel driven by a pinion on a cross shaft, which
receives its motion from a pinion on the shaft. k. Cranes of this description
may also be conveniently worked by a steam cylinder, as shewn by dotted

page_text: lines in Figures 1 and 2; in this arrangement the piston rod of. the steam
cylinder is connected by a rod to a crank on the axle jor k, and the boiler
may be attached, as usual, to a platform fixed to the pillar.
Figure 3 represents a section of a crane constructed according to a modifica-
tion of my Invention; in this case the pillar is formed of two beams a, a,
constructed of plates of iron or steel, strengthened by.angle iron or steel,
rivetted to the edges of the plate, and the strut is made in a similar or in any
other convenient manner. The pillar is supported by the roller g working
within the ring h, and by the two side rollers h¹..
:
Figure 4 represents another modification of my Invention. In this instance
the pillar a is formed of two plates or flat bars of iron or steel connected by
stays and bolts, and it is supported in the ring h by the rollers g, as in
Figures 1 and 2. The strut may be formed of double T iron, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, or in any other convenient manner.
"
Figure 5 represents another modification of my Invention. In this instance
the pillar a is formed of a single rolled double T iron or steel beam, similar to
those shewn in Figures 1 and 2, to which the antifriction rollers gare con-
nected by brackets g', or a single beam like those shown in Figures 3 and 4
may be used. In both the modifications shewn in Figures 3 and 4 the pillar
and the strut may be made stronger in the centre of their length. than at
their extremities, because the plates of which they are composed are not
rolled in grooved rolls; but in Figures 1, 2, and 5 the pillars and the
struts must necessarily be parallel. When the crane is made with a chain
passing over a cogged wheel instead of being wound on a barrel, the chain is
conveyed by a guide pulley into the space between the sides of the pillar,
and there deposited, instead of being conveyed up and down the jib, as now
customary.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described several ways
for carrying the same into operation, I wish to remark that I do not limit
myself to the details given, as they may be considerably varied or modified;
but what I do claim is,-
First, making the pillars and jibs or struts of cranes of one or more rolled
iron or steel beams, or of wrought iron or steel plates strengthened by angle or
other suitable bars, as shewn and described, or any modification thereof.
Secondly, the improved arrangement of antifriction rollers for supporting:
the pillars of cranes, and the improved application of gearing for swivelling
the crane round, as shewn and described.
Thirdly, the application of a steam engine placed in the position shewn in
Figures 1 and 2 for working cranes, as described.

page_text: And, lastly, the collecting of the chain working over a cogged wheel in a
receptacle between the beams forming the pillar of the crane, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Irlam, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM IRLAM. (L.S.)