IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN COAL
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Grafton Jones, of Blaina, near Newport,
in the County of Monmouth, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN COAL,"
Sealed the 3rd May 1870, and dated the 15th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Grafton Jones
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th November 1869.
I, JAMES GRAFTON JONES, of Blaina, near Newport, in the County
of Monmouth, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN COAL," to be as follows:-
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me, dated 18th June
1867 (No. 1783), was described the forming apparatus. for breaking
down coal with moveable segments acted on by a wedge pressed forward
by bydraulic power, the wedge being pressed forward by a rod resting
against the back of a piston fitting into the hydraulic cylinder of the
apparatus.
According to my present Invention I adapt to the end of such
hydraulic cylinder a screw force pump, the. cylinder of which is of less

page_text: diameter than the hydraulic cylinder, and I cither form the pump
cylinder of greater length than the stroke required to be given to the
wedge, or I so construct the screw force pump that two or more strokes
or forward movements of the screw may be given to complete the move-
ment of the wedge. To effect this I form the passage through which
water is forced from the cylinder of the screw force pump with two
branch passages, one leading to the hydraulic cylinder of the breaking
down apparatus and the other to a reservoir of water, by preference an
annular chamber formed between the exterior of the cylinder of the
screw force pump and a jacket or casing by which it is surrounded.
Each of these branch passages can be closed by a cone point formed at
the end of a screw, so that by turning the screw the passage can be
opened or closed, or valves might be used for this purpose, but not I
believe so advantageously. When the piston of the screw pump is being
forced forward by the screw the passage between the pump cylinder and
the hydraulic cylinder of the apparatus is open and the other closed,
but when the piston of the screw force pump is at the end of its stroke
the first mentioned passage is closed, and the passage between the pump
cylinder and water reservoir is opened, then by drawing back the piston
of the screw force pump the pump cylinder will be again filled with
water, and another stroke of the screw force pump may be given. When
the apparatus has been used the water in the hydraulic cylinder of the
apparatus may by opening both valves be quickly returned into the
annular reservoir. The supply of water in the annular reservoir can be
replenished through an opening fitted with a screw plug. Screw force
pumps similarly arranged may be adapted to other descriptions of
wedging down apparatus, so that two or more forward movements of
the screw shall be required to complete the expansion of the apparatus.
Heretofore also in cases where breaking down apparatus has been con-
structed with segments acted on by a wedge the wedge has been pushed
or thrust between them, and by so doing has caused the segments to
incline outwards.
Another of my improvements consists in constructing the wedging
down apparatus in such manner that the wedge shall be drawn forwards
to effect the outward expansion of the segments; by so constructing the
apparatus when the apparatus has been placed into a hole bored in coal
the segments will as they are forced outwards by the wedge incline in
a direction to tend to force forwards the mass of coal in front of them,
in place of their. being caused to incline in the opposite direction as

page_text: heretofore, and so caused to press against the solid coal in rear of them.
When the drawing forward of the wedge is effected by hydraulic power,
the forward end of the segments may abut against or be hinged to the
ram of the hydraulic press, whilst the wedge is by bars passing along
at the two opposite sides of the segments connected to the hydraulic
cylinder; or the segments might be arranged to abut against or be hinged
to the base of an hydraulic cylinder, whilst the. wedge is by the side
bars connected to the ram or plunger; in this latter case the ram or
plunger may be hollow, and be used as the cylinder of a screw force
pump for supplying water under pressure to the hydraulic cylinder.
Also in constructing that class of breaking down apparatus which is
formed with segments to be forced apart by a wedge. When the
segments are formed with inclines on their inner surfaces to be acted on
by the wedge I form the inclined planes of the segments to intersect one
another, one segment being cut away along cach of its sides, whilst the
other has a corresponding slot formed centrally along it. By this means
I am enabled to give an equal amount of movement to the segment
with an apparatus of much smaller diameter than heretofore.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Grafton Jones in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GRAFTON JONES, of Blaina, near Newport, in the County of Moumouth,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Grafton Jones, Her special
licence that I, the said James Grafton Jones, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Grafton Jones,
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
7

page_text: Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DOWN COAL," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Grafton Jones, my exccutors 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 James Grafton Jones, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me, dated the 18th
June 1867 (No. 1783), was described the forming apparatus for breaking
down coal with moveable segments acted on by a wedge pressed forward
by hydraulic power, the wedge being pressed forward by a rod resting
against the back of a piston fitting into the hydraulic cylinder of the
apparatus.
According to my present Invention I adapt to the end of such
hydraulic cylinder a screw force pump, the cylinder of which is of less
diameter than the hydraulic cylinder, and I either form the pump
cylinder of greater length than the stroke required to be given to the
wedge, or I so construct the screw force pump that two or more strokes
or forward movements of the screw may be given to complete the
movement of the wedge. To effect this I form the passage through
which water is forced from the cylinder of the screw force pump with
two branch passages, one leading to the hydraulic cylinder of the
breaking-down apparatus and the other to a reservoir of water, by
preference an annular chamber formed between the exterior of the
cylinder of the screw force pump and a jacket or casing by which it is
surrounded. Each of these branch passages can be closed by a conc
joint formed at the end of a screw, so that by turning the screw the
passage can be opened or closed, or valves might be used for this
purpose, but not I believe so advantageously. When the piston of
the screw pump is being forced forward by the screw the passage between
the pump cylinder and the hydraulic cylinder of the apparatus is open
aud the other closed, but when the piston of the screw force pump is at

page_text: the end of its stroke the first-mentioned passage is closed and the
passage between the pump cylinder and water reservoir is opened, then
by drawing back the piston of the screw force pump
the pump
cylinder will be again filled with water, and another stroke of the screw.
force pump may be given. When the apparatus has been used the
water in the hydraulic cylinder of the apparatus may by opening both
valves be quickly returned into the annular reservoir. The supply of.
water in the annual reservoir can be replenished through an opening
fitted with a screw plug. The segments to be forced apart by the wedgó
are formed with inclines on their inner surfaces to be acted on by the
wedge, and the inclined planes of the segments intersect one another,
one segment being cut away along each of its sides, whilst the other
has a corresponding slot formed centrally along it. By this means I am
enabled to give an equal amount of movement of the segments with an
apparatus of much smaller diameter than heretofore.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings shows a longitudinal section of an
apparatus constructed according to my Invention for breaking down
coal. The instrument is shown broken into two parts at the join line
X, X. Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are sections taken respectively on the
lines A, A, B, B, C, O, and D, D, Figure 1.
a, a, is the screw force pump, cylinder, or barrel, on one end of which
is fixed a cap 6 with the screw c passing through it; d is a head fixed
upon the screw, and the lever handle e passes through an eye formed in
it; c' is a piston formed at the end of the screw c; it is packed with a
cup leather and with divided rings of leather, as the Drawing shows, so
as truly to fit the cylinder or barrel a. When the screw is turned it
works through the cap b as through a nut, and so the piston is traversed
within the cylinder or barrel; is a water or liquid reservoir surrounding
the cylinder or barrel a; it is made air-tight and to fill it a screw plug
in its side (which the Drawing does not shew) is removed; g is a
passage connecting the cylinder or barrel a with the reservoir f; it is
fitted with a flexible tube f¹ weighted at the end so that it may fall to
the lowest part of the reservoir; g' is a cone-pointed screw plug or
valve adapted to a corresponding seat in the passage ġ, so that by means
of it the passage can be opened or closed at will. The screw g' has a
handle and works through a piece h fitted into the side of the
socket a on the end of the cylinder or barrel a; it is made water-
tight by means of a leather packing, as is shown; i is another passago
'

page_text: leading from the cylinder or barrel a into the bydraulic cylinder ; this
cylinder is screwed into the socket at and the joint is made water-tight
by means of a packing ring. The passage i can be opened and closed by a
screw plug or valve working through a piece m; these parts are similar
in all respects to the parts g' and h. Self-acting valves may be substituted
for the screw plugs g' and 1, but less advantageously; n is a piston like
the piston c', but of larger diameter, working in the hydraulic cylinder k;
it is caused to traverse along it by the water or liquid forced by the
piston cout of the screw pump barrel a into tho bydraulic cylinder k;
o is a ram; it tapers in its length to allow it some play in the cylinder,
and both its ends are segments or spheres. One end of the ram o
rests on the piston n in a hollow adapted to it, and the other end in a
similar hollow at the back of the wedge p. The wedge p is made of steel
carefully hardened, and its point enters between the two steel segments q, q,
which should be not quite so hard. At their further ends the segments q, q,
abut upon the stops r, r, which are also made sufficiently hard not to be
crushed by the pressure upon them; 8, 8, are two strong tie bars
connecting the stops r, r, with the hydraulic cylinder . The parts
k, r, and 8, are as is shown all made in one piece. The form of the
segments q, q, and the way they interlock the ono with the other is
clearly shewn by the Drawing; is a table screw. upon. the cap 6 to
protect the screw c, and is a lock nut to lock the joint between the
cylinder and the socket a'. In using the apparatus a hole is bored in
the coal (which may or may not be under cut or holed) to receive the
apparatus up to the lock nut u; the apparatus is put together with the
parts in the positions in which the Drawings shew them, a hoop or clip
ring being temporarily placed around the segments q, q, and this is
removed as the instrument is inserted into the hole. The piston c¹ is
then advanced by means of the screw c and the liquid in the cylinder or
barrel a is forced into the hydraulic cylinder k, the passage i being open,
and the passage g closed. This being done, if the coal fails to yield the
passage i is closed, and the passage 9 opened, then the piston c' is run
back, and it draws liquid out of the reservoir f into the cylinder or
barrel a, the positions of the screw plugs g' and I are again reversed and
the operation of forcing the liquid out of the cylinder or barrel a is
repeated, and so on until the coal yields, which it will do almost
invariably before the segments q, q, have been moved as far as they are
able to move. When the coal has been broken down the passages g
and i are opened and the liquid in the cylinder k then rushes back into

page_text: l
the reservoir fin consequence of the vacuum therein. The liquid which
I prefer to use in the apparatus is water together with soft soap and oil,
as this mixture is less liable to rust the parts than water without such
admixture. As already mentioned if the cylinder or barrel a be
lengthened so as to contain as much liquid as the cylinder the
reservoir fand the screws g¹ and may be dispensed with. The screw c
will require to be lengthened to a corresponding extent. Screw force
pumps similarly arranged may be adapted to other descriptions of
wedging down apparatus, so that two or more forward movements of the
screw shall be required to complete the expansion of the apparatus ;
such a combination is also shown at Figure 6 which also illustrates
another part of my Invention. Heretofore in cases where breaking down
apparatus has been constructed with segments acted on by a wedge so
as to cause them to incline one to the other more and more as the action
of the wedge is continued, the wedge has been pushed or thrust between
the segments and has so caused the segments to incline to a point
beyond them or further than they themselves are from the face of the
coal, now I construct such wedging down apparatus so that the wedge
shall be drawn forwards to effect the outward expansion of the segments..
By constructing the apparatus when it has been placed into a hole
bored in coal the segments will as they are forced outwards by the
wedge incline towards a point in front of them, or in a direction-to tend
to force the mass of the coal in front of them forwards or towards the
face of the coal, in place of as heretofore so as to press against the solid
coal in rear of them. When the drawing forward of. the wedge is
effected by hydraulic power the forward end of the segments may abut
against or be hinged to the ram of the hydraulic press whilst the wedge
is by bars passing along at the two opposite sides of the segments
connected to the hydraulic cylinder; or the segments may be arranged to
abut against or be hinged to the base of an hydraulic cylinder, whilst
the wedge is by the side bars connected to the ram or plunger; in this
latter case the ram or plunger may be hollow and be used as the cylinder,
of a screw force pump for supplying water under pressure to the
hydraulic cylinder.

page_text: wedge is connected by knuckle joints with the two segments q, q, whilst
the wedge p is connected by the side tie bars 8, 8, with the hydraulic
cylinder . The positions into which the segments can be expanded is
sliown by dotted lines, it will be seen that in addition to pressing the
two sides of the hole apart they will tend to force the coal both above
and below the hole into which the instrument is inserted outwards
towards the face of the working. Figure 7 shows in section a portion
of a similar instrument but with the segments jointed to the cylinder k,
whilst the wedge p is connected by side bars 8, 8, with the ram o. The
screw pump is here shown of such a length as to require but one stroke
to complete the breaking down of the coal; Figures 8, 9, and 10 are
sections taken respectively at the lines E. EFF and G. Gin

page_text: Sixth. The construction of apparatus for breaking down coal sub-
stantially as described in respect to Figures 6 to 10 of the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Grafton Jones, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Fourteenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
J. GRAFTON JONES. (L.S.)