US498855A - morris - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

s. I. MORRIS. APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TUNNELS.

No. 498,855. Patented June 6, 1893.

air A r735 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A s. I. MORRIS. APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TUNNBLS.

Patented June 6, 1893.

[/V VE/VTOR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIMEON I. MORRIS, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JASON W. WAIT, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TUNNELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,855, dated June 6, 1893. Application filed February 13, 1893. Serial No.462,005. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SIMEON I. MORRIS, acitizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, county of Ramsey, State of Minnesota, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Apparatus forBuilding Tunnels; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object the production of an apparatus for building tunnels, and is adapted more particularly for building railwaytunnels, although it is not limited to such use.

The invention consists more particularly in the provision of a suitable shield adapted to cover and protect the advance end of the walls and arch (usually masonry) of the tunnel, and to protect also the workmen engagedin building the masonry, while at the same time it aids somewhat in the excavating.

The invention consists of the combination of appliances and devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a portion of thetunnel and my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an endview of the conveying apparatus.

In carrying out the invention A (Fig. l) is the completed arch of the tunnel, and A (Fig. 2) the walls.

0 represents a car carrying suitable conveving apparatus consisting of the endless chain 0 provided with buckets c and driven by the electric motor 0 As this conveying apparatus is old and well known, and as I make no claim to the use of the same, I will not further describe it.

The forward end of the car, or carriage, which supports the conveying apparatus supports a shield D, which I will now describe. It is made up either of asingle sheet of metal, or separate sheets so secured or fastened together as to make practically a continuous piece, and extends (see Fig. 2) from the base on one side to the base on the opposite side of the tunnel as is shown by the dotted lines at D. The forward edge cl (Fig. 1) of this shield projects out somewhat at. the top beyond the sides. The forward edge of the shield is preferably sharpened, although the small thickness of the metal would not make it necessary to sharpen this forward edge. This shield is supported from the carriage by the braces EE-E extending from the shield at various points to the cross beam E the latter beingsupported from the truck axle by the uprights E -E Of course the particular manner of bracing and supporting the shield from the car trucks is immaterial it being a matter of mechanical and engineering skill to provide the proper frame work.

Engaged to the interior of the shield, substantially at the middle of its length, are three cylinders F-FF one at the top and one at each side, substantially half way down the side. The piston and piston rods of the cylinders may be operated either by steam, pneumatic, hydraulic, orother suitable fluid pressure.

I have illustrated a pump G connected to each cylinder by the pipe g whereby by the operation of the pump the cylinder pistons may be forced outward.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen thatI have provided in the pipe leading to the cylinder E the valve 9 in the pipe leading to the cylinder F the valve g, and in the pipe leading to the cylinder F the Valve 9 It will thus be seen that by shutting any one or more of these valves and opening the others the pressure may be directed to the particular cylinder or cylinders desired.

H is what is technically termed the center. It is made of steel and extends from the top of one wall to the top of the other. By this center, which may be raised and lowered as desired, the arch masonry is supported until the key stone is in place, but as this center forms the subject matter of a concurrently pending applicationl will not further describe it.

I will now describe the operation. A suitable excavation is made in starting so that the track J can be laid on which to run the car supporting the shield D, and if conveying apparatus such as I have illustrated is used, the same car may be employed to support the conveying apparatus. The car is then run onto the track and the walls A and arch masonry A built up into the shield for a distance of eight feet, more or less, until the advance end of the masonry is adjacent to the piston rods of the cylinders FFF Pressure is then brought upon the pistons of the cylinders by means of the pump G and the shield is forced forward a distance corresponding with the length of the piston rod. The piston rod is then returned to its normal position and the masonry built up to its end and so on until the entire tunnel is completed. It will be observed that the shield is supported from the car 0 and the latter supported from the track J on the bottom of the tunnel. Thus it will be seen that the grade of this road bed, or the bottom of the tunnel determines the grade of the entire tunnel. Thus if care is taken in the establishment of the grade'of this bottom portion the balance of the work will be regulated by the position of the shield. It will also be observed that there is a pressure cylinder at the top and one at each side, and that pressure can be exerted in each of the cylinders independently. Thus by exerting pressure for a greater length of time upon one side than upon the other the shield can be caused to curvein its direction and thus give any desired curve to the completed tunnel.

By this apparatus the workmen are always protected against a cavein of the earth,while the work of excavating is greatly facilitated. Again by this apparatus only exactly enough earth is excavated to allow the masonry to be built. There is no waste excavation, and therefore time and money are saved not only in excavating, but in conveying off the excavated matter.

I would have it understood that while I have herein shown a hand pump for generating pressure for the cylinders, yet it is obvious that the pressure might be obtained from outside sources and be conveyed by suitable pipes or suitable leverage pressure be used. So also while I have shown a particular form of conveying apparatus, yet any other suitable apparatus might be employed for excavating and conveying the earth out of the tunnel.

Again WhileI have shown three pressure cylinders for forcing the shield ahead it is obvious that any desired number of cylinders might be used to impart. the desired pressure to the shield.

What I claim is 1. The combination with the walls and archof a tunnel of an open ended shield covering the top and sides only of the arch overlapping the advance end thereof, theforward edge of said shield being in advance of the completed arch and means for forcing said shield ahead as the arch is advanced, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the completed Walls and arch of a tunnel of an open ended shield having three sides only said shield being outside of and overlapping the advance end of said arch and walls, the forward end of said shield being in advance of the forward end of the Walls and arch, said shield being supported from the bottom of the tunnel way, and means for forcing said shield ahead as the walls and arch are completed, substantially as described.

3. The combination withthe walls and arch of a tunnel of an open ended shield supported from a car on the bottom of the tunnel, the forward end of said shield being in advance of the forward end of the walls and arch and the rear end of said shield overlapping the same, and means for exerting pressure between the shield and advance end of the walls and arch to cause the shield to move longitudinally with respect to the tunnel walls, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the tunnel walls and arch of an open ended shield having three sides only the advance edge of which isin advance of the forward end of the completed Walls and arch, and the rear edge of which overlaps the said walls and arch, said shield provided with three or more pressure cylinders adapted to exert apressure upon the advance end of the shield and arch to move the shield, said cylinders located at each side and the top of the shield and means for directing pressure into each cylinder at will whereby the-shield maybe forced in the desired direction, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the arch and walls of a tunnel of an open ended shield having three sides only for protecting the end of said arch and walls, said shield overlapping the latter and the top of the advance edge of the shield projecting beyond the base thereof, substantially as described.

6. The combinationwith the arch and walls of a tunnel of an open ended shield having three sides only, said shield supported from a car traveling upon the bottom of the tunnel way, said shield overlapping the advance end of the tunnel walls and arch, means for forcing the shield forward, and a carrier on the same car which supports the shield for conveying the material back into the tunnel way from the shield, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

SIMEON I. MORRIS. Witnesses:

WV. 11. CHAMBERLIN, FLORENCE KING.

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