Man engine

The traveling art a long time served for driving experiences in a mine shaft. It is a component of the various mining art.

Here, a rod was in a mostly water power driven rotating wheel eccentrically fixed to translate the rotary motion into an oscillating longitudinal movement: the plastic rod. This rod operated the Art Cross (a kind of rocker ), at the ends of the legs two long rods or ladder-like devices were attached, the sticking down into the shaft. The Art Cross made ​​sure that if they turned the wheel to the first picking up a rod in the shaft, while the other lowered. After a half turn of the wheel, the movement of the rods was reversed; now descended the first and the second rose. Due to transfers between the two rods after each half wheel rotation so the miner could either extend into the bay or off him. There was also the design with two wire pairs.

History

Initial situation

The mines of the Upper Harz mining had reached around 1800 depths of 500 to 600 meters. It thus acted in his time to the deepest mines in the world. For the miners, however, the in and out on the rides ( = managers ) was unreasonable: in these conditions, Bergmann took an hour for the retraction and two hours for the extension. The latter was also clearly an extraordinary physical exertion. Paid it was just the time on site. There were considerations, partly probably Bittstellungen, the miners to permit the night underground, to spare them the frequent and stressful moving in and out. However, this was apparently practiced only in exceptional cases.

The cable ride was for the miners at the time no alternative: On the one hand, there was no reliable ropes that would have a secure personal funding approved. On the other hand, the former conveying devices did not have the capacity to support a number of miners at shift start and end. Only injured or dead miners were brought to the feed bin or maimed ton days.

Invention

To drive the piston pumps for the swamps of the mines were located in the shafts already wooden poles that were permanently moving up and down alternately. According to reports, the upper Bergmeister Georg Doerell in Clausthal is said to have observed that an artificial servant Lichtenberg had beaten for their own work easier nails in these wooden poles to get to this by skillfully switch from one working level to the next. This idea caught Doerell, is considered the inventor of the art of driving, in 1833 further to where he decorated the linkage with stable running boards and handles. Very quickly, this invention is widespread not only in the Upper Harz, but also in the international mining industry ( including in Norway and England).

Importance

Given the previously extremely strenuous and protracted retraction and extension meant the driving skills mid-19th century a very considerable relief: you could cope with it without any physical effort about 100 meters in altitude within five minutes. This forces were free to advance further into even greater depths to the ore mining. The longest driving skills reached depths of about 800 meters.

By the end of the 19th century, the art remained the main driving device for vertical support of individuals in the mines. Only with the development of the wire rope could set up a personal funding by Seilfahrt modern mines in the late 19th century. In the Kaiser Wilhelm Schacht ( Clausthal ), although a cable ride in 1880 already set up for the support of individuals but there was still a driving skills with 8.0 meter stage distance. Obviously, the distrust of the miners was far high compared to a rope. Not until 1920 that this driving skill was dismantled and replaced by a rope drive.

Special

A disadvantage of driving skill was that of encounters were not possible - with outgoing miners. This had to be organized in any form. Presumably, an agreement was and waited another at certain intermediate levels ( soles ). In contrast, individuals could switch back and forth during the film very problematic between different levels ( soles ), which always requires the request and the wait for the lift cage at the modern cable ride. The vertical ( saigere ) Driving art of Kaiser Wilhelm shaft in Clausthal was provided on the front and back with running boards, so that on her the miners one, and could extend the same time. As drive electric motors and water column machines were used in addition to water wheels soon.

Accidents

The traveling art was not accident- prone than the driving experiences with rides. In the Samson Pit in St. Andrew Berg, there were since the creation of the driving art in 1837 to the present day seven fatal accidents. In the pit Rosenhof in 1878 broke the driving skill, 11 miners died.

In the English copper mine Levant took place on the afternoon of October 20, 1919 to a serious accident. About 100 miners were driving on the driving skills from than a metal clip at the top of the pole broke and the boom crashed with the miners thereon. 31 miners lost their lives. The traveling art was then not set repaired.

Driving skills in the presence of

The last still functioning steel cable driving skills (with two wire pairs ) from 1837 can be seen in the Samson mine in Sankt Andreas Berg. She has a stage distance of 3.20 meters, is now going up to 190 meters deep and is the operator of hydropower plants Samsonschacht, the resin energy until today as access to the turbines. A second driving skills with wooden rod is received in Kongsberg (Norway ), it is 25 m long and is only presented in the museum operation. In the Upper Harz Mining Museum, there are original parts of a traveling art of Bock Wieser mining, but which are no longer functional.

Driving art from the 19th century in the Upper Harz Mining Museum ( look straight down )

Bergmann when driving on the steel rope Fahrkunst the Samson Pit

Bergmann during extension on the steel rope Fahrkunst the Samson Pit.

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