IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS."
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theophilus Wood Bunning, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
and William Cochrane, of Leghill House, Northumberland, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN GETTING COAL, STONE,
AND OTHER MINERALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theophilus Wood Bunning
and William Cochrane at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 4th May 1867.
We, THEOPHILUS WOOD BUNNING, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and WILLIAM
COCHRANE, of Leghill House, Northumberland, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN GETTING COAL,
STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the rendering coal-cutting machines more
compact and portable and fixing them to their work and providing them with
a suitable guidance and road to travel on in a more simple and effective way
than has hitherto been done.
It is proposed to cut grooves in the coal or other substance to any convenient
width to a depth from the face adequate to the requirements of the case, and

page_text: to sufficiently secure the machine by means of the groove when cut, which
groove will also form the road on which the machine will travel.
When using direct hydraulic pressure instead of one cutter slotting or cutting
the groove to its full depth it is intended to use several, say for example six,
all fixed upon one holder, and give this holder with the cutters attached a
stroke equal to one-sixth part only the total depth required to be cut; these
cutters are arranged so that their points are each successively one-sixth part
of the cut further up the groove, the one nearest the face leading, and the rest
respectively following as they are placed further in the groove by a sufficient
distance. The coal will therefore be cut in six steps, each being on its face
the one-sixth the whole depth of the cut, and operated on by a separate cutter.
The back of the above-described holder is caused to slide on a bar, guide, or
support, which is also made so as to enter the groove for some distance; this
bar has one or more hydraulic rams, so arranged that when the pressure is
applied they act against the top of the groove and jam the bar against the
bottom, whereby it is held fast, and when the pressure is removed the bar
with the bolder sliding on it will be slack in the groove. and in a position to
be advanced for another cut; attached to this bar is the hydraulic cylinder
containing the ram actuating the holder, and as the water has free com-
munication with all the rams it follows that when that actuating the cutter is
working the steadying rams are jamming the bar in the groove already cut
and giving a firm abutment to the ram cylinder to resist the cut. After each
stroke the whole of the rams can be brought back by springs or any other
suitable means. The bar with the cutter block is advanced after each stroke
by means of a paul attached to a lever working in the groove on the other
side of the bar to that in which the cutter block slides, and attached to it so
that it can readily be drawn towards the bar, but cutting in the coal will not
move in the opposite direction but reacts on it, and pushes it forward the
required distance; this movement for the new cut is effected by a spring, since
the feed is required when there is no pressure actuating the cutters, but this
paul and spring are brought back for another effort by a small ram in
communication with the others.
The force pump for working these machines need be but small, since great
pressure is contemplated, and it may be easily attached to the machine itself,
the water being returned to a small cistern after use; but the pump may be
also separate and connected to the machine by a small pipe; it may also be
worked by hand or by power.
It will be seen that this machine when once in a suitable groove will continue

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Theophilus Wood Bunning and William Cochrane in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd November 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THEOPHILUS
WOOD BUNNING, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and WILLIAM COCHRANE, of Leghill
House, Northumberland, send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Theophilus Wood Bunning and William Cochrane, Her special' licence that
we; the said Theophilus Wood Bunning and William Cochrane, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Theophilus Wood
Bunning and William Cochrane, our 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN GETTING COAL, STONE, AND OTHER MINERALS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Theophilus Wood Bunning
and William Cochrane, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, 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 we, the said Theophilus Wood Bunning and William
Cochrane, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the rendering of coal-cutting machines or
apparatus for getting coal, stone, or other minerals more compact and portablė
and so as to fix them to their work and provide them with a suitable guidance

page_text: fitted with a cover or end f, and 9, 9, 9, 9, are leathers or packing for keeping
the parts fluid-tight. h is the distributing valve, which is of ordinary con-
struction; i shews the inlet passage for water from the force pump, such
inlet passage having free communication with the pipes k¹ and before
the water arrives at the valve contained in the box h; l is the entrance valve,
by opening which by means of the bandle m pressure is admitted into the
pipes m¹ and m²; n is a valve which on being opened allows the water after
acting upon the pistons to pass out by the discharge outlet o; these valves
are so arranged that the pressure has a constant tendency to keep them
sbut; is the steadying bar attached to and forming part of the main
cylinder d, the holding cylinders q' and 93, and the feed cylinders and
also forming part of the bar p, being by preference forged therewith. The
holding cylinders q' and q are provided with small ramis & and sand leathers
g and g. The feed cylinders and are also provided with pistons or rams
t and t, the piston t2 being provided with leathers g³, and the piston t' with
similar leathers; these pistons or rams t' and are alike, and so arranged that
the area exposed to the action of the water on the one side u exceeds that
exposed to the water on the other side by means of the pipes m' and m³,
and the passages (b, b,) (b, b,); there is a free communication between the
spaces (c, c,) in the main cylinder d, the two holding cylinders q' and q and
the larger annular spaces u in the feed cylinders and, there is also a
constant pressure when the valve is closed in the smaller annular space v in
the feed cylinders 7 and 7; and also in the annular space (d, d,) in the main
cylinder d by means of the pipes k¹ and k³. wis a guide forged into the steadying
bar p, by which the cutting bar is steadied as it works in the groove cutting the
coal; a¹ and a, and y' and y', are feed levers attached to the pistons or rams t¹
and t, so arranged that as they are pushed from the steadying bar p they are
expanded by the friction of the groove in the coal, aided by the spring & being
thus fastened in the coal, but when they are driven towards the steadying
bar p they are free to pass along the groove. The operation of the machine
it as follows:On water at a suitable pressure being admitted through the
inlet (the valve being shut and n open) passes freely through the
pipes k¹ and into the small annular space (d, d,) formed by the cutter bar
and c, and the main cylinder d forcing the piston e back towards the cover f;
it likewise enters the smaller spaces u between the feed rams t' and t and
their respective cylinders, forcing them from the steadying bar P until stopped
by the end (a, a,) which regulates the amount of feed, but as the feed levers
and resist this outward pressure by fixing themselves in the coal the
.

page_text: steadying bar P and cylinder d with cutter bar and cutters attached is forced
forward the necessary distance to make a fresh cut. The two valves / and n
are so arranged that when one is open the other is shut, thus when l is closed
and n open the piston e will be close to the cylinder cover f and the feed
levers and will be pushed to their greatest distance from the steadying
bar p; when, however, the valvel is opened and n closed the constant pressure
exerted as before described through the pipes ¹ and * is overcome by the
pressure passing through the pipes m¹ and m³ exerting itself on a larger area
on the piston e in the main cylinder, and forcing it against the pressure
exerted in the annular space between the cutter bar c and the main cylinder d,
so that the cutters 6 are forced through the coal, while at the same time the
pressure passing through the pipes m¹acts on the holding rams s¹ and s³,
jambs them into the groove cut in the coal, and causing the whole to be held
securely while the cutting is going on. The water also has free communi-
cation between the cylinders q¹ and q³ and the larger annular space formed
between the feed pistons t¹ and t and their respective cylinders, thereby
forcing the feed levers x¹ and a³, and y¹ and y, towards the steadying bar p
ready for being again forced forward when the opposing pressure is removed
and the bar p ceases to be held by the rams s¹ and s³ in the groove. The
debris or slack made by the cutters can be removed by a lad following the
machine with a rake; the cutter bar a is for this purpose arranged at some
distance from the steadying bar p so that the rake can be introduced between
them. It will be seen that this machine when once in a suitable groove
will continue working along the face of the coal and will form its own road,
and be very portable and simple.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the best means we
are acquainted with for carrying the same into practice, we would have it
understood that we do not confine ourselves to the exact details herein shown
and described, as the same may be considerably varied without departing from
the true character of our Invention; but what we claim is,―
First, arranging machinery or apparatus, such as herein described, for
getting coal, stone; and other minerals wherein the surfaces of the groove
cut are employed as a means of advancing the machine towards its work.
Second, we claim arranging machinery or apparatus, as herein described,
for getting coal, stone, and other minerals wherein the surfaces of the
groove cut are employed as the sole means for securing the machine whilst
cutting.
Third, we claim the general arrangement of machinery or apparatus herein

page_text: described and illustrated by the accompanying Drawings for the purpose of
getting stone, coal, and other minerals.
In witness whereof, we, the said Theophilus Wood Bunning and William
Cochrane, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirtieth day
of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-seven.
THEO. WOOD BUNNING. (L.S.)
WILLIAM COCHRANE.
(L.S.).
THEO. WOOD BUNNING. (L.S.)
WILLIAM COCHRANE.
(L.S.)