IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR BORING AND SINKING
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Allison, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES
FOR BORING AND SINKING."
Sealed the 8th September 1859, and dated the 12th March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Allison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
· March 1859.
I, RICHARD ALLISON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUSES FOR BORING AND SINKING," to be as follows:-
My boring head or tool. is hollow and of wrought or cast iron, furnished at
bottom with a series of chisels or cutters. Inside the tool and near the end
where the cutters are fixed is a valve of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other
like material, the edges of which rest upon a ledge fixed on the inside of the .
tool. I fit a door or trap to the side of the tool, the bottom of which is in a
line with the valve seat. The top of the tube carries an ordinary bow sling,
whereby to connect it to the rope or chain for communicating the necessary
motion to the tool. Wooden blocks are fitted to the outside of the tool to act
as fenders and prevent injury from the sides of the well or shaft. For the
purpose of raising and emptying the debris from a well or shaft in the course

page_text: of being sunk, I employ a pump or vessel consisting of two cylinders, one
over the other, and the upper cylinder capable of sliding inside that under it;
the bottom cylinder is provided with a valve opening inwards, and over the top
of the upper cylinder there is a similar valve. The cylinders are held in a
suitable frame and are connected to a rope or chain. Upon the pump being
lowered, the upper cylinder will fall within the lower; then upon this upper
cylinder being raised, a partial vacuum will be formed, whereupon the debris,
slush, &c. will flow into the lower cylinder, and be there retained by the
bottom valve falling back upon its seat and closing egress from the bottom of
the cylinder. A joint in the frame permits of the lower cylinder being tilted
in order to empty its contents.
My last apparatus consists of a hollow vessel of lead, gutta percha, or other
suitable material, furnished with valves connected to a valve rod. This vessel
is intended to contain muriatic or other acid for burning out or removing
chalk, or other matter in a shaft or well. Upon the vessel being lowered
charged to the spot where the acid is to operate, the valve rod is raised to let
out the contents of the vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Allison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ALLISON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Allison, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Allison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the
said Richard Allison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agreo with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there
after 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 APPARATUSES POR BORING AND SINKING," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Richard Allison, my executors or administrators, by

page_text: an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands aud 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 Richard Allison, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My boring head or tool is hollow and of wrought or cast iron, furnished at
bottom with a series of chisels or cutters. Inside the tool and near the end
where the cutters are fixed is a valve of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other
like material, the edges of which rest upon a ledge fixed on the inside of the
tool. I fit a door or trap to the side of the tool, the bottom of which is in a
line with the valve seat. The top of the tube carries an ordinary bow sling,
whereby to connect it to the rope or chain for communicating the necessary
notion to the tool. Wooden blocks are fitted to the outside of the tool to act
as fenders and prevent injury from the sides of the well or shaft. For the
purpose of raising and emptying the debris from a well or shaft in the
course of being sunk, I employ a pump or vessel consisting of two cylinders
one over the other, and the upper cylinder capable of sliding inside that under
it; the bottom cylinder is provided with a valve opening inwards, and over the
top of the upper cylinder there is a similar valve. The cylinders are held in a
suitable frame, and are connected to a rope or chain. Upon the pump being
lowered, the upper cylinder will fall within the lower; then
upon this upper.
cylinder being raised, a partial vacuum will be formed, whereupon the debris,
slush, &c. will flow into the lower cylinder, and be there retained by the bottom
valve falling back upon its seat and closing egress from the bottom of the
cylinder. A joint in the frame permits of the lower cylinder being tilted.in
order to empty its contents.
My last apparatus consists of a bollow vessel of lead, gutta percha, or other
suitable material, furnished with valves connected to a valve rod. This vessel
is intended to contain muriatic or other acid for burning out or removing
chalk, or other matter in a shaft or well. Upon the vessel being lowered
charged to the spot where the acid is to operate, the valve rod is raised to
let out the contents of the vessel.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a vertical section of a boring
head or tool constructed according to my Invention.. A is a hollow cylinder

page_text: formed of wrought or cast iron, to the lower part or bottom of which a series
of chisels or cutters B, B, are bolted or otherwise attached; two only of these
cutters are seen in the Drawing, but they surround the whole circumference
of the lower part of the cylinder; C is a valve formed of india-rubber or other.
material held by a spindle D, which slides through a frame E, the edges of
which rest on a ledge formed on the lower part of the cylinder; F is a door or
trap fitted near the bottom of the cylinder for the purpose of clearing out all
dirt; G, G, are fenders, which I prefer to form of wood fixed to the side of
the cylinder by screws b, b; H is a bow sling, to which a rope or chain is con-
nected for imparting tho necessary motion to the tool.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a pump or apparatus I employ for the
purpose of raising and emptying the debris from a well or shaft in the course
of being sunk. A, B, are two cylinders, which are so constructed that the
cylinder A shall be free to slide within the cylinder B. The lower cylinder B
is provided with a valve C opening inwards and carried by a spindle D working
through a frame E resting on a ledge formed on the lower part of the cylinder
B. A similar valve F to that just mentioned is fitted to the upper part of the
cylinder A; G is a rod attached to the cylinder A and working through a
frame or guide II, which is jointed or hinged at I, I, and connected to the
lower cylinder B at J, J, by bolts and rivets as shown; G' is a stop or washer
formed on or fitted to the rod G to regulate the height to which the cylinder A
is drawn; K is a bow sling fitted to the end of the rod G, to which a rope or
chain is attached for working the apparatus. To remove slush or debris from
a shaft or well the apparatus is lowered to the bottom, and the upper cylinder
will fall within the lower; the upper cylinder A is then raised by the
upon slush, debris, &c. will be drawn into the lower cylinder B.
the upper cylinder A is raised to the top of the cylinder B, the weight of stuff
in it forces down the valve C, and the apparatus is drawn up to be emptied.
The emptying is effected by drawing the upper cylinder out of the lower and
turning it clear of the mouth thereof, as shewn at Figure 4, when the contents
of the lower cylinder are poured out. Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of an
apparatus I employ in connection with my Invention for burning out or re-
moving chalk or other matter from a shaft or well. A is a hollow vessel
formed of lead, gutta percha, or other suitable material; B, C, are valves
connected to a rod D, the upper part of which is formed with an eye to
connect a rope to; E is a sling for attaching a rope to lower the vessel. The
vessel A is filled with muriatic or other acid, and lowered to the bottom of a
well or shaft, when there the rod D is raised, which opens the valves B, C,
and allows the acid to flow out.
rope, where-
As soon as

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the construction of a boring head or tool, as herein-before described
and illustrated at Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the apparatus herein-before described and illustrated at Figure 2. of
the accompanying Drawings for raising and emptying the slush and debris
from a shaft or well.
Third, the apparatus for containing muriatic or other acid for removing
chalk or other matter from a shaft or well, constructed and operating in the
manner herein-before described and illustrated at Figure 3 of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Allison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
RICHARD ALLISON. (L.s.)