US499566A - nobbs - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

J. J. NOBBS. SHIELD FOR TUNNELING.

No. 499,566. PatentedJune 13, 1893.

Fig. 2.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. J. NOBBS. SHIELD FOR TUNNELING.

No. 499,566. Patented June 13, 189

(No Model.) I 4-Sheet'sSheet 3.

J. J. NOBB S.

SHIELD FOR TUNNELINGQ I No. 499,566. I Patented June 13, 1893. 5.

. a 12g a i Z97 a (No Model.) V 4'shets sheet 4. J. J. NOBBS. SHIELD FOR TUNNELING.

No. 499,566. Patented June 13, 1993.

I tially of a series of steel bars or piles which UNITED ST TES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES JOHN NOBBS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SHIELD FOR TUNNELING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,566, dated June 13, 1893.

Application filed Mil-I011 1893- Serial No. 468,470. (No model.) Patented in England May 12,1890,N0.7.374, and in France April 2, ISQL'NO. 212,5ZQ.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES JOHN NOBBS, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shields for Use in Tunneling, (for which I have obtained patents in Great Britain, No. 7,374, dated May 12, 1890, and in France, No. 212,520, dated April 2, 1891,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to shields for use in tunneling all kinds of strata, and has for its object to provide a shield which can be more readily applied and which affords greater safety than shields as heretofore constructed.

According to my invention the shield, instead of being arranged to be moved forward bodily as the driving of the tunnel proceeds, is adapted to be moved forward in sections, and for this purpose the shield consists essenare fitted to overlap each other at the edges so as to form a kind of lagging, and which are supported internally bya sectional rib or ribs or by frames closed at one end and provided with means for affording access to the different parts of the strata to be tunneled. The said bars or piles are adapted to be driven forward independently of each other and, in order to facilitate the operation, each of them is provided with a lug or stud against which the head of a hydraulic ram or of an ordinary jack may be caused to operate.

To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a rear view of the shield constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line a; 00, Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 1 3 Fig. 1. Fig. at represents afront view of the various sections of the rib or frame of the shield slightly separated; and Figs. 5 and 6 are views, drawn-to a larger scale than the figures hereinbefore described, of one of the piles. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 2 2, Fig. 6, and drawn to a larger scale than the said Figs. 5 and 6: Fig.8 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a modification of my invention; and Fig. 9 is a longitudinal vertical central section of the same.

a, a indicate the piles of my improved shield, the edges of which are rabbeted or grooved, as indicated most clearly in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 so that they will rest one upon the other, and each of which, on the under side is provided with a dovetailed groove 0. and with a series of slots a a part of the length of each of which is also of a dovetail shape to receive the dovetailed shank of a stud a for a purpose hereinafter described; the forward end of each pile is also sharpened or beveled, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, to enable it to be pushed through the strata.

b, c, d, c,fand g are the sections of the rib upon which the said piles are supported, which sections form parts of frames 1), 0, cl, e',f and g respectively, the said frames be ing of such shapes (for instance, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4) that, when fitted together, as shown in Fig. 1, they will bein contact with one another, and which are of such width that the interior of each frame forms a chamberin which the workman can operate. The front ends of these frames are closed by plates h, h and doors h, h, and in the said plates and doors are formed holes 2', 2 closed by plugs 2", 1''. On the sections are keys h h which engage the grooves a, of the piles a, a.

j,j are openings in the doors h, h of the frames Z), e which openings are closed by sliding doorsj',j.

I sometimes apply similar openings in the doors of the other frames.

Between the frames g, c and the frame I), and between the frames f d and the frame 6' are plates 70, which can be operated in the manner hereinafter described, the said plates 1c, 7r; being rabbeted at their edges so as to more or less support one another.

The operation of the apparatus hereinbefore described is as follows :Assume the same to have been fixed in position, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the front of the shield is in close proximity to the material to be removed; now the piles in contact with, say, the sections 17, g, o are pushed forward by means of hydraulic jacks acting against the studs a any obstructions, such as stones, to the forward movement of the piles being pushed out of the way by means of bars inserted through the holes 'i or j. The doors h, h of the frames 1), g, c are then opened so that the material in front of the same can be removed to the desired extent. The said frames are then pushed forward and the same oper ation is repeated for the lower half of the shield, that is to say, the piles are driven forward and the material then removed from the front of the lower sections to allow the same to be moved forward. These operations are repeated from time to time as the work proceeds. WVhen working in soft treacherous ground I push forward the plates 70, it before opening the doors h, 7t so that the material in front of the frames g, candf, d is confined; and in cases where it would be dangerous to open the said doors, I remove the material through the openings j,j to a sufficient extent to render the opening of the door safe. To enable the plates 7c, k to be pushed forward they are provided with slots and studs similarly to the piles a, a. The lower and upper cross-beams b and e of the frames 1) and 6' respectively and the floor of the frame bare made removable so that, if required, more room is obtained for operating in the said frames. As the cutting of the tunnel proceeds brickwork is applied, as indicated; the space around the brickwork, formerly occupied by the piles a, abeing filled with grouting in a well known manner. It will be obvious that this order of procedure, as regards the movement of the various parts of the apparatus may be varied according to circumstances. When working in safe ground I sometimes support the piles upon a rib or ribs, the sections of which or each of which are bolted together, so that the said rib or ribs maybe moved forward bodily, or if it is only necessary to support the roof I dispense with the side and bottom sections, and mount the upper section upon a frame or carriage Z, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, which carriage is adapted to run upon a movable platform m made in sections, the section of the said platform over which the frame last passed being taken to the front of the apparatus so that the frame, when moved forward, will again run onto it.

In the apparatus first described and also in the modification thereof suitable rollers are provided, for instance, as indicated in dotted lines by the letters 12, n for reducing, as much as possible, the friction between the various frames while being moved.

The chief advantages of my invention, in addition to that of being enabled to move forward the parts of the shield independently,are that no timber is required to support the piles, and that the ribs or frames carrying the said piles can be advanced without the necessity of temporarily supporting the said piles.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I make no separate claim to the use of piles (sometimes called needles) as I am aware that such piles are well known and have been in use for many years, but

What I claim is-- 1. In combination the shield composed of a plurality of sections movable independently of each other, doors carried by said sections, and piles mounted upon the periphery of the shield, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the circular shield composed of a series of independently movable sections provided with doors, a series of piles mounted upon the periphery of the shield, with tongues or projections carried by the shield engaging corresponding longitudinal grooves in the piles, substantially as described.

3. In combination the circular shield composed of a series of independently movable sections provided with doors, movable plates located between the sections, and independently movable piles mounted upon the periphery of the shield and having tongued and grooved connection therewith, substantially as described.

4. In combination the circular shield composed of a series of independently movable I JAMES JOHN NOBBS.

Witnesses:

J OSEPH ROWLINSON, JEREMIAH WATSON.

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