US1023571A - Trench-digging machine. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Apr. 1 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' "WE/W01; fakizla wiz B) ATTORNEYS J. LAPIN.

TRBNGH DIGGING MACHINE.

' Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

HEB EHBET Z.

J. LAPIN.

TRENCH DIGGING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 12, 1911.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

3 BHEBTSSHEET 3.

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COLUMBIA PLANOQRAPM c o.. WASHINGTON, u. c.

JOHN LAPIN, on NEW YORK, 1v. Y.

TRENCH-DIGGING MACHINE.

assen.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN LAPIN, a subject of the Czar of Russia, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Trench-Digging Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a new and improved trench-digging and soil-cutting machine.

An object of my invention is to cut a trench by positioning two parallel knives on a carriage, whereby the movement of the carriage forward on portable tracks will cut the outline of the trench.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby the width of the trench may be varied.

A still further object of my invention is to so construct the carriage that it may be dismounted for transportation.

With the above and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the present invention consists in certain novel details of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of ref erence indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view looking down upon a preferred embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and showing the shovel in position; Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detailed elevation of the carriage axle showing the attachments in section; and Fig. 5 is a de' tailed perspective view of the shovel attachment.

Positioned upon a section of the track A, is a carriage B, and also positioned upon the track is a shovel (l. The track A comprises a fiat plate 1 having perforations 2 spaced apart thereon, by means of which the track is temporarily held to the ground by means of spikes 3. The track is cut away as shown at 4L on opposite sides of the plate 1, in order to form a fitting end for Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 12, 1911.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

Serial No. 602,143.

the next adjacent section of the track, whereby the several sections may be fastened together and preserved in alinement,

Mounted centrally and longitudinally of the plate 1 is any preferred form of rack 5, and positioned on the outside of each of the racks 5 and spaced apart from the same is a bearing surface 7. Mounted to move longitudinally along the spaced-apart tracks is the carriage B, comprising a screw-threaded axle 8, having its opposite ends squareheaded as shown at 9. Rigidly fastened upon the square heads 9 is any preferred form of enlarged hand wheel 10. The outer end of the axle 8, adjacent the square head 9, is grooved at 11, and over this portion of each end is placed a sleeve 12, which in turn is surrounded by the hub 13 of a wheel 14, having a rack 14 in the periphery thereof, thereby forming a gear wheel, the notches of which are adapted to fit into the teeth 6 of the rack 5. The sleeve and hub are removably affixed to the axle 8 by means of a bolt 15 passing diametrically therethrough and into the slot 11, in order to form a spline connection between said axle and wheel. These sleeves 12 are held in position on the axle 8 by means of nuts 16. It will be seen that by this arrangement, the wheels can be drawn closely together or spread apart on the axles, depending upon the size of the trench which is to be dug.

Loosely mounted upon the axle 8, intermediate the wheels 14, is a sod and soil-cutting mechanism, comprising spaced-apart angle arms 17, comprising a downwardly and rearwardly-inolined arm 18 integrally connected with a horizontally-disposed arm 19 outwardly offset from the arm 18 at the angle of the two members. The arm 19 has positioned therein roller bearings 20 adapted to roll upon the horizontal inner side of the plate 7. The upper end of the arm 18 terminates in a recessed head 21, encircling a sleeve 22 loosely mounted upon the axle 8 and adjustably held in position by means of nuts 23. The two arms 17 are held rigidly in position and spaced apart by means of threaded bolts 2% and 25, the bolt 2% passing through the oppositely-disposed arms 18 adjacent the angle of the arm 17, and held in position by means of nuts 26 positioned on opposite sides of each of the arms 18. Similarly, the bolt 25 passes through and connects the opposite sides of the horizontal arm 19 and is held in this position by nuts 27. The horizontal arm 19 has its inner side beveled downward and inward as shown at 28, and to this beveled surface and slightly in rear of the enlarged angular portion 29 is positioned a relatively short rearwardly inclined sod-cutting knife 30. P- sitioned on this beveled surface and to the rear end of the same is a relatively long forwardly-inclined ditch-cutting knife 31 rigidly afiixed to the horizontal arm 19.

In operation, several sections of track A are laid on opposite sides of the line of the proposed trench and are temporarily positioned in position by means of the spikes 3. The wheels are positioned with their teeth in engagement with the rack on the track, and the wheels are splined to the axle and adjustably fastened in place by means of the nuts 16. The knives 30 and 31 are then adjusted on the axle 8 by adjusting the bolts 24 and 25 until the knives are positioned apart a distance equal to the desired width of the trench. By means of the hand wheels 10, the carriage is drawn forward on the track, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2, and it will be seen that the relatively small soil-cutting knives 30 will cut a parallel groove by means of which top sod may be easily lifted off the ground, and the rela tively longer knives 31 will cut a slot in the ground proportionate to the vertical depth of these latter knives, thereby forming the outline of the trench, as shown in Fig. 3. Should the power applied to the hand wheels be insufficient to draw the carriage along, I have provided studs 33 spaced apart on the outer edge of each of the wheels, which will afford a fulcrum for a bar disposed with one end resting against the hub of the wheel, whereby force may be applied to the outer end of such a bar, to move the wheel over any ordinary obstruction. By replacing section after section of the track in advance of the machine, it will be seen that a trench as long as desired may be out.

In order to remove the soil from between the cut grooves, I position upon the track a shoveling device shown in Fig. 5, in general outline resembling a spade having an enlarged blade portion 34 and a long handle 35. Positioned on opposite sides of the blade 34: are rollers 36 adapted to rest upon the bearing surface 7 of the track and acting as a fulcrum, by means of which the cut soil is forced up out of the trench, as shown in Fig. 2. This shovel has a series of perforations 37, to admit of the ready passage of any water in the soil and the blade of the shovel has a pair of longitudinally-disposed ribs 38 positioned on opposite sides of a medial line, which ribs are notched as shown at 39, having the notched surface facing toward the handle, thereby obstructing the free withdrawal of the blade. To further obtain this object, there is a rigid strip 40 positioned centrally of the blade and adj acent the forward edge 41. In order to afford a better grip on the handle, there is positioned along the handle a pair of gripping rods 42 extending at right angles to the axis of the handle 35. It will be seen that by this arrangement, the workman gripping this shovel by the holding means 42, can force the shovel into the out soil, and by bearing down until the wheels 36 come into contact with the track, the soil is raised out of the ditch to a position where it can readily be drawn off the shovel to one side of the ditch.

Many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof.

It is intended that all matters contained herein, in the above description, or shown in the accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is merely intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween, and that materials, sizes and relativities of parts are non-essential, except as called for in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a trench-digging machine, an axle, traction wheels mounted on said axle, means by which the distance between said wheels is varied, a soil-cutting mechanism loosely mounted on said axle between said wheels, said mechanism comprising a pair of downwardly and rearwardly-inclined arms and horizontal members rigidly connected with and offset from said arms, roller bearings journaled in each of said horizontal members adapted to support the same, adjustable means holding said arms and horizontal members in their spaced apart position, a relatively short rearwardly-inclined sod-cutting knife carried by each of said horizontal members, and a relatively long forwardlyinclined trench cutting knife carried by each of said horizontal members.

2. In a trench-digging machine, an axle, traction wheels mounted on said axle, means by which the distance between said wheels is varied, a soil-cutting mechanism loosely mounted on said axle between said wheels, said mechanism comprising a pair of downwardly and rearwardly-inclined arms and horizontal members rigidly connected with and offset from said arms, roller bearings journaled in each of said horizontal members adapted to support the same, adjustable means holding said arms and horizontal members in their spaced apart position, a relatively short rearwardly-inclined sod-cutting knife carried by each of said horizontal members, a relatively long forwardly-inclined trench cutting knife carried by each of said horizontal members, and a hand wheel rigidly mounted on each of the outer ends of said axle, whereby the machine is propelled.

3. In a trenclrcutting machine, comprising tract-ion wheels mounted on a screwthreaded axle, means holding said wheels in adjustable position on said axle, and a sod and soil-cutting mechanism loosely mounted on said axle between said wheels and comprising spaced-apart knives and adjustable means holding said knives in position, said adjustable means bracing said machine.

4. In a trench-cutting machine, an adjustable track, said track comprising a pair of parallel flat plates, means for automatically holding said plates to the ground, a rack mounted centrally and longitudinally of each plate, said machine having adjustable wheels mounted thereon, said wheels each having a rack about the periphery thereof adapted to engage the rack on the plates, said machine having a soilcutting mechanism carried thereby, roller members mounted on said machine and adapted to roll on the plates adjacent the rack, and means for rotating the wheels of said machine to propel the same along the track.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN LAPIN.

Witnesses:

IV. S. On'roN, PHILIP D. ROLLHLAUS.

Copies of this patent may be "obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

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