IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES AND DOCK-GATE AND OTHER CRABS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott, of New-
castle-upon-Tyne, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CRANES AND DOCK-GATE AND OTHER CRABS."
Sealed the 25th September 1868, and dated the 9th July 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Percy Graham Buchanan
Westmacott at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 9th July 1868.
I, PERCY GRAHAM BUCHANAN WESTMACOTT, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CRANES AND IN DOCK-GATÉ AND OTHER CRABS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cranes, and in dock-gate
and other crabs. For these purposes a rotating hydraulic engine is combined
with the barrel of a crane, and with the barrel of a dock-gate or other crab, in
addition to the ordinary hand gearing used for giving motion to such barrels,
by which the barrel of a crane or the barrel of a crab may be caused to rotate
either by manual power through the ordinary band gearing, or by the good
working of the hydraulic engine arranged to work in combination with the
same barrel. It is preferred that the hydraulic rotating engine should, in each
case, consist of two or more oscillating cylinders, and that the driving wheel
or pulley, or the engine shaft, should act directly upon the first motion of the

page_text: crab; but the arrangement may be varied, provision being made for connecting
and disconnecting the engine when the hand gearing is to be used. It is
also preferred that the arrangement and working of the pistons or plungers of
a rotating hydraulic engine should be according to the system the nature of
which is described in another Provisional Specification of mine, bearing even
date herewith. When using a rotating hydraulic engine to give motion to
the barrel of a crane, or to the barrel of a crab, valves are applied to cut off
the supply of fluid, and for a time to work the fluid contained in the cylinders
from one cylinder to another. By these means loads may be lowered under
perfect control without wasting the fluid employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 7th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PERCY
GRAHAM BUCHANAN WESTMACOTT, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott, Her special licence that I,
the said Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Percy Graham Buchanan
Westmacott, 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 AND DOCK-GATE AND OTHER CRABS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott, 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott,
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 :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cranes and in dock-gate
and other crabs. For these purposes a rotating bydraulic engine is combined
with the barrel of a crane and with the barrel of a dock-gate or other crab in
addition to the ordinary hand gearing used for giving motion to such barrels,
by which the barrel of a crane or the barrel of a crab may be caused to rotate,
either by manual power through the ordinary hand gearing, or by the working
of the hydraulic engine, arranged to work in combination with the same barrel.
It is preferred that the hydraulic rotating engine should in each case consist of
two or more oscillating cylinders, and that the driving wheel or pulley on the
engine shaft should act directly upon the first motion of the crab; but the
arrangement may be varied, provision being made for connecting and dis-
connecting the engine when the hand gearing is to be used. It is also preferred
that the arrangement and working of the pistons or plungers of a rotating
hydraulic engine should be according to the system which is described in
another Specification of mine bearing even date herewith. When using a
.rotating hydraulic engine to give motion to the barrel of a crane or to the
barrel of a crab, valves are applied to cut off the supply of fluid, and for a
time to work the fluid contained in the cylinders from one cylinder to another.
By these means loads may be lowered under perfect control without wasting
the fluid employed.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2, a back elevation; and Figure 3, a
plan of a crane having hand gearing, and also a hydraulic engine applied
thereto, by either of which the drum or barrel can be worked. The motions
for slewing or turning the jib for traversing the hook in and out upon the jib,
also for lifting and lowering, are all communicated by the hydraulic engine
when the crane is worked by hydraulic power. The arrangement or com-
bination of the parts is also such that all these motions may be worked by hand
gearing independent of the hydraulic power, so that the drum or barrel of the
crane shown may be worked at one time by manual power through the ordinary
band gearing or by the hydraulic engine, combined with the drum or barrel,
and it will be evident to a machinist or engineer, aided by the Drawings and.

page_text: description here given, that the barrels of other arrangements of cranes as well
as the barrels of dock-gate crabs, and also other crabs, may in like manner
have hydraulic engines applied thereto in addition to the ordinary hand gear,
so that such barrels may as in the crane shown in the Drawings, at times be
worked by manual power, by the ordinary gearing, and at other times by the
bydraulic engines.
:
In the Drawings the hydraulic engine is shown to be attached to the pillar
of the crane, and it receives its supply of water through a pipe in the pillar,
but where the barrel or drum of a crane is not carried by a pillar, but by a
framing, then the hydraulic engine will be fixed or connected to the framing
which carries the drum or barrel.
In giving motion to the lifting, lowering, or slewing or traversing gear by
means of the hydraulic engine; all that is to be done is by means of the several
clutches to put the motions into gear, and then let on the water to the hydraulic
engine, and more than one of these motions may be put into gear and worked
at the same time.
In the Drawings the parts comprising the turning gear are shown in red
lines. When working by manual power the lifting gear and turning gear are
set in motion by the power applied to the handles, the lowering is by means of
an ordinary friction break, though the lowering. may, when desired, be regulated
by the working of the hydraulic engine, as is described in the Specification of
another Patent bearing even date with this. The traversing is by means of
an endless chain or band over a wheel.
A is the first motion spindle for hand power; Bis the second motion spindle
applied for either hand or hydraulic power for slow speed and heavy lifts;
C is the drum or barrel and spindle for winding on of the lifting chain; D is
the crank shaft of the hydraulic engine. It is preferred that the hydraulic
engine in each case should be constructed according to the Invention described
under my said other Patent. E is the second motion spindle for heavy lifts
by hydraulic power; F is the drum on the crank shaft for traversing; G, G,
are horizontal and vertical spindles of slewing gear.
I will now describe that part of my Invention which relates to dock-gate
crabs and also to other crabs.
Figure 4 shows a side elevation in section, and Figure 5 a plan in
section, of so much of a dock-gate crab as will enable me to explain this part
of my Invention. The crab in respect to its hand gearing is of the ordinary
construction, and is to be provided with an ordinary friction break. A is the
hydraulic engine with oscillating cylinders, which are, by preference, to be
constructed to work according to the Invention described in my said other

page_text: Patent-bearing equal date with the present, and to use therewith an arrange
ment of valves which will admit the fluid contained in the engine to be worked
from one cylinder to the other whilst the supply is cut off.
:
The arrangement of the valves shown in Figures 6 and 7 is such that on
shutting off the supply of water to the cylinders, the water previously, therein
may be caused to pass alternately to and from both sides of each piston or
plunger, and the speed at which the water shall thus circulate between the
two sides of each piston or plunger may be regulated...by_the_handle. Z and
slide valve Z³ within the valve box; this slide is acted on when desired by the
handle Z, which moves on an axis or fulcrum at Z' on the bracket Z' fixed
to the valve box Z. The outer end of the valve spindle Z is attached to the
lower end of the lever handle Z. The water or other fluid is supplied to the
valve box by the pipe Q', and the water or other fluid passes to the hydraulic
cylinders by the pipe Q when allowed to do so by the slide valve Z being
placed in the position Figure 7, but when the slide valve is in the position
shown by red lines, the supply from the pipe Q will be shut off from the
pipe Q; Z is a hard metal seat on which the slide valve works; P is the
exhaust passage. By this arrangement it will be understood that when the
slide valve is drawn over by the handle and covers the port leading to the
pipe Q, the supply thereto will be cut off, and by pressing the handle further
over in the same direction as is indicated by the red lines, the port leading to
the pipe will be put in communication with the exhaust, whilst the supply
from the pipe Q to the pipe Q will remain cut off from the hydraulic
cylinders. Hence the engine may be worked when lowering a load by the water
passing from one side to the other of the piston and plunger of each hydraulic
cylinder. B is the crank shaft, which receives motion from the hydraulic
engine; C is the first motion spindle for hand gearing; D is the drum or
barrel for winding on the dock-gate chain; E is the clutch for connecting the
hydraulic engine, in order to work the crab thereby; F is the handle for
regulating the valves; and G is the cover.
In constructing crabs for other purposes the arrangement will be the same
as is shown and described in respect to Figures 4 and 5, but generally no
cover will be used.
From the above description, aided by the Drawings, it will, as before
mentioned, be understood that the object of the Invention is to apply to cranes
and crabs having hand gearing a second power by combining with each crane
and with each crab a hydraulic engine, so that each crane and each crab may
at any time be worked by the one or the other power, as circumstances may
require, and by a suitable arrangement of valves the fluid in the engine may,

page_text: when lowering a load, be caused to pass from one cyliuder to the other, whilst
the supply of fluid is cut off as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
PERCY G. B. WESTMACOTT. (LS.)