ODRADICION Tripod for Rock Drills.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 30th June, 1891-Accepted, 1st Aug., 1891
חג וגם
ODRADICION
Tripod for Rock Drills.
We, HARRY BALL, of Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, U.S.A.,
Machinist, and FREDERICK LENGGENHAGER, of Glenbrook, Fairfield County,
Connecticut, U.S.A., Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention has for its object to simplify and cheapen the construction of
tripods for rock drills while at the same time they shall be strong and durable and
their operation in use shall be greatly improved.
With this end in view, we have devised the novel construction which we will
now procced to describe, referring by numbers to the accompanying drawings
forming part of this Specification, in which,
Fig. is a side elevation of a rock drill embodying our present improvements;
Fig. 2, a detail sectional view on the line indicated by in Fig. 1:
Fig. 3, a detail view of the clamp detached:
Fig. 4, a detail view of the carrying plate detached:
Fig. 5, a view of the carrying plate and clamp locked together as in use; and
Fig. 6 is a section on the line indicated by y in Fig. 5.
It is of course well understood by those familiar with the use of rock drills that
in mining the drills are ordinarily supported by columns and in out-door work they
are supported by tripods. Heretofore, in changing a drill from a column to a tripod
or vice versa, it has been necessary to change clamps, each support requiring a
clamp o. special construction, in other words, clamps ordinarily used in connection
with tripods cannot be utilized in connection with columns. An important feature
of our novel tripod is that it is provided with a clamp which is equally adapted
either ta tripod or a column so that the drill and the clamp may be removed
from the tripod at any time and attached directly to a column. This is a valuable
feature in use as the clamps are an important item of expense. Another important
feature is the simplicity of the adjustment of the tripod which enables us with few
movements to lock the drill firmly in position to bore a hole at any required angle
either above or below the cylinder of the drill.
1 denotes the cylinder of a rock drill; 2, the steam chest; 3, the piston rod;
4, the drill attached thereto; 5, the feed screw; and 6, a flanged base usually cast
integral with the body of the cylinder. The parts just described may all be of any
ordinary or preferred construction as they form no portion of our present invention.
7 denotes a carrying plate having undercut ways 8 which are engaged by the flange
upon the base. This plate is provided with a central opening 9 to receive a boss 10
which is formed integral with the arms 11 of the clamp. 12 denotes the hub of the
tripod which is made of the same diameter its entire length.. In practice, the arms
of the clamp are adapted to inclose either the hub of our novel tripod or a column
and are locked in position by a bolt 13 having a nut 14. In use, boss 10 is
passed into the opening in plate 7 as shown in Fig. 6 and the flange of base 6
engages ways 8 as shown in Fig. 1. The plate carrying the drill is locked to the
clamp by means of hooked bolts 15, the hooked portions of which engage a flange 16
on the clamp, the upper end passing through holes 17 in the plate and the parts
being locked together by nuts 18. In practice, plate 7 is made wider at the centre
as shown in Figs. 4 and 6 so as to give ample strength to resist any strain that can
be brought to bear upon it. It will be seen that by loosening nut 14 slightly the
clamp, carrying the entire mechanism of the drill with it, may be turned readily
upon the hub or upon a column, not shown, and that by loosening nuts 18 slightly
the plate, and with it the entire drill mechanism, may be moved in another plane,
thus giving universal movement to the plate and drill mechanism. The parts are
locked in place after adjustment by tightening up nuts 14 and 18. It will of course be

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apparent that the greatest strain in use will come upon the parts which connect the
cylinder and operative parts of the drill with the tripod or column. In the present
instance, the arms of the clamp are made sufficiently wide and strong to prevent the
possibility of their breaking in use, and by the use of the hooked bolts as a means
of connecting the carrying plate with the clamp the entire strain is placed upon the
bolts, the two parts being drawn tightly against each other instead of a portion of
the strain being upon the parts themselves as has heretofore been common.
only piece that can possibly break is a bolt and as the bolts are made heavy and
strong it will be seen that the danger of breakage is reduced to the minimum.
Moreover, should a bolt break at any time it may be replaced with but little loss of
time and slight expense, skilled labor and the taking of the drill to a machine shop
being wholly unnecessary. 19 denotes the two side legs which are screwed into
sockets 20 in the usual manner. These sockets are provided with clamping arms 21
which inclose the hub in precisely the same manner as arms 11 and are locked
together by bolts 22 having nuts 23, one only of the bolts and nuts being shown
(see Fig. 1). It will of course be understood that this simple construction enables
us to adjust either of the side legs upon the hub by loosening the nut 23 and moving
it to the desired position. 24 denotes the back leg which is provided with. the
usual branches 25. These branches are preferably made flat on their inner sides
and engage grooves 26 in the outer faces of washers 27. The washers are made
concave on their inner sides and the two ends of the cylinder are also preferably made
concave as shown in Fig. 2. The back leg is locked in position by a bolt 28 which
passes longitudinally through the hub, through both branches of the back leg and
through both washers as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the parts being locked in position
by a nut 29. By making the washers concave as shown in the drawing, we insure
that there will be contact at all times between the outer edges of the washers and
the ends of the cylinder, the central portions of the washers being of course drawn
inward to increase the clamping surface when nut 29 is tightened up.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is :
1. A tripod consisting essentially of a hub, side legs having independent pairs of
arms which inclose the hub, washers at the ends of the hub having grooves 26 in
their outer faces, a back leg having branches 25 adapted to engage the grooves,
and a bolt passing through the hub longitudinally, and through the branches and
washers, whereby said leg is locked in position.
2. In a tripod, the combination with hub 12, of a back leg having branches 25,
washers at the ends of the hub having grooves 26 in their outer sides adapted to be
engaged by the branches, and a bolt 28 passing through the hub longitudinally, and
through the branches and washers substantially as described.
3. A hub 12 made concave at its outer ends, the back leg having branches 25,
washers 27 made concave on their inner faces and having grooves in their outer
faces engaged by the branches, and a bolt passing through the hub, branches and
washers, said parts being locked in position by tightening up the bolt and springing
the washers inward.
4. The combination with the hub and the carrying plate having an opening 9, of
a clamp having arms engaging the hub,, a boss engaging opening 9 and a flange 16,
a bolt for clamping the arms about the hub, and hooked bolts passing through
the carrying plate and engaging the flange whereby the carrying plate may be
adjusted relatively to the clamp and both carrying plate and clamp may be adjusted
relatively to the hub.
Dated this 25th day of May 1891
HARRY BALL.
FREDERICK LENGGENHAGER.