Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 13th Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted. 2nd Mar., 1888
1, ALBERT LIVINGSTON BLACKMAN, of Washington Building, No. 1 Broadway
New York, United States of America, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to dredgers and excavators, and its main object is to provide
improved means for dredging or excavating rivers, canals, harbours, and the like, and
for elevating and delivering the dredged or excavated material.
One feature of my said invention is the employment of a wheel provided around its
periphery with knives or cutters and buckets, which, in the rotation of the said wheel,
excavate and raise the sand, mud or the like, and dump it into a chute or chutes.
Water is to be delivered into these chutes for the purpose of carrying away the sand,
mud, or the like dumped into the same, and the water and sand or other materials are
to be conducted away through pipes or other suitable conveyers and delivered into
lighters or upon the banks of the river, canal, or the like, or in any other convenient
manner.
The dredging or excavating wheel is provided with suitable journals whereby it is
supported in bearings arranged to slide up and down in or between guides formed on,
or attached to the boat or vessel, so that it may be raised or lowered according to the
depth at which it is to operate. For raising and lowering the said wheel, I find it
most advantageous to employ hydraulic power. In some instances, I arrange in
combination with each of the said sliding bearings one or more hydraulic rams or
Jifts whereby the said bearings and the wheel may be very readily raised and lowered
as required.
I sometimes support the dredging or excavating wheel in bearings in the free end
of a walking beam which is pivotted to the boat or vessel, so that the said wheel will
rest upon the bottom of the river, canal or the like and will rise and fall to adapt
The said beau
itself to the varying depth of water due to the tides or to the waves.
is, moreover, provided with lifting chains or other suitable means for raising and
lowering the said wheel.
The knives or cutters are preferably bolted or otherwise secured to the buckets in
such a manner that they can be readily removed therefrom and replaced by new
knives or cutters, when necessary. In some instances, the said knives or cutters are
provided with teeth projecting from their cutting edges. These teeth are preferably

page_text: secured to the said knives or cutters so that they can be readily removed therefrom or
adjusted thereon.
For driving the said wheel, I employ any suitable engine or motor, which is
connected preferably by means of chain-wheels and driving chains or toothed gearing,
with the dredging or excavating wheel. One of the said driving chains is passed
around the dredging wheel and its links engage in grooves or notches in the same.
By arranging the said wheel and driving chain in this manner, I provide for the
application of force to tho said wheel in the most advantageous manner.
Other
means may, if desired, be used for imparting rotary motion to the said wheel.
The said dredging or excavating wheel is, in some instances made in the form of, or
provided with a watertight box or casing so that, when immersed in water, its weight
will be to a great extent counteracted by its buoyancy and the friction in the bearings
thus diminished. In other instances the said wheel is made of skeleton form. When
the said wheel is of large size, I prefer that its periphery should be made up of
sections, secured together by bolting, rivetting or otherwise.
The buckets are in some instances so constructed, that as soon as they are inverted
by the rotation of the wheel, the sand, mud or the like will fall from them into a
chute. It is more advantageous, however, to provide each bucket with a door or
doors arranged to be opened automatically as soon as the bucket arrives at the desired
height in the rotation of the wheel. I prefer to arrange these doors in the side of the
bucket nearest the axis of the wheel and to provide the said wheel with a shed or
deflector upon which the material will be dumped and down the sloping sides of
which the material will descend into the chutes. This shed or deflector can if desired,
be advantageously made to serve as the periphery of the watertight casing of the
wheel.
In some instances, the encased part of the wheel is divided into compartments and
a hole is formed in each compartment near the axis of the wheel so that, should any
water leak into the said compartment it will run out while the said compartment is
above the said axis in the rotation of the wheel.
Suitable means are provided for automatically closing the said doors before the
buckets recommence dredging or excavating. I sometimes provide each door with a
sliding bolt or latch arranged to be moved out of engagement with the door when the
latter reaches the desired height, and I pivot or hinge the door in such a manner that,
after the material has been dumped out through the same, the said door will, in the
continued rotation of the wheel, be closed by gravity. I also provido means, whereby,
after the doors have been thus closed, their bolts or latches will be automatically
moved into position to again lock them. The said bolts are sometimes made with a
series of projections which, when the bolts are in the locking position, extend beneath
projections on the doors; when these bolts are moved a short distance in the proper
direction, their projections are brought beneath the spaces between the projections on
the doors so that the said doors are free to fall or open.
Another feature of my said invention is the provision of improved means for altering
the position of the boat or vessel as may be required to enable the knives and buckets
to properly dredge or excavate the material. For this purpose, I employ windlasses,
capstans or wheels one of which has passed around it two chains whereby the boat or
vessel is moored by means of anchors or otherwise. A suitable engine or motor is
provided for turning this windlass, capstan or wheel to move forward the boat or
vessel when necessary. These chains are passed around the said windlass, capstan or
wheel. By this arrangement I provide for enabling the boat or vessel to be turned
upon or about the centre of the said windlass, capstan or wheel so as to move the head
of the said boat or vessel in the are of a circle. For effecting this movement of the
boat or vessel, I employ another windlass, capstan or wheel around which is passed a
chain the ends whereof are secured by anchors or otherwise one on each side of the
boat or vessel, the said chain being first passed around suitable pulleys, so that, by
turning the said windlass, capstan or wheel in either direction, the head or bow of the
boat or vessel may be turned in the corresponding direction. The head of the boat or
vessel carrying the cutting or excavating wheel may thus be swung from side to side

page_text: of a river or canal, so that the entire width of the said river or canal may be dredged
or excavated.
The cutting edges of the knives are preferably curved to facilitate their operation
when thus moved in the arc of a circle. It is obvious, however, that it is not essential
that the knives should be curved, nor that they should be 50 moved.
The head or how of the boat or vessel is preferably inclined at the sides to allow of
the wheel being brought into position to dredge a river, canal or the like close to the
banks thereof.
.
My said invention moreover comprises the construction and arrangement of the
chutes and discharge pipes in such a manner that, when the dredging wheel is raised
or lowered, the said chutes will adapt themselves to the changes in the position of the
said wheel. For this purpose, I make the chutes telescopic and connect them by
means of sleeves with the discharge pipes so that they are free to turn upon or about
the said pipes. The said chutes are, moreover, suitably hinged to permit the required
movements of the parts thereof when the wheel is raised or lowered.
Suitable pipes are provided through which water may be delivered by means of
pumps or otherwise into the said chutes and discharge-pipes, in order to carry away
the sand, mud or the like dumped into the said chutes from the buckets.
The discharge-pipes are so arranged that they extend beyond the sides of the boat
or vessel so that they may deliver the sand, mud or the like upon the banks of a river
or canal or in lighters alongside the boat or vessel. The said discharge pipes are so
arranged that they may be raised and lowered. For this purpose I suspend them
from jibs, derricks or cranes, which may be either movable or fixed. I prefer to
suspend them from jihs which are connected at their lower ends by hinge-joints to
upright columns firmly secured to the boat or vessel, and which are connected with
the said columns at their upper ends by means of tie-rods. The inner end of each of
theso tie-rods is in some instances screw-threaded and passed through the column and
is provided with screw-nuts one on each side of the said column so that by turning
the nuts in one or the other direction, the discharge-pipes can be raised or lowered.
In other instances I combine with the said tie-rods and columns, hydraulic rams the
cylinders of which are provided with trunnions whereby they are supported in the
upper ends of the said columns; the rams or pistons are connected with the said tie
rods by means of stirrups or in any other convenient manner so that, when liquid is
forced into the said cylinders, the said rams or pistons will raise the discharge-pipes
at their outer ends. Other means may, however, be employed for raising and
lowering the said discharge-pipes.
The discharge-pipes are provided with sliding gates or valves whereby they may be
closed when desired so that the mud sand or the like may be conducted away in
either or both directions. The said discharge-pipes are, moreover provided with pipes
for the delivery of water into them. These water pipes are preferably inclined so as
to direct the water along the said pipes, and the said pipes are provided with valves
so that the water can be injected into either or both of the discharge-pipes or can be
completely shut off.
t
The boat or vessel is provided with suitable platforms and step ladders to permit
access to the various parts of the dredging apparatus for inspection or repairs, or for
regulating the action of the apparatus.
In some instances I provide for dumping the material from the wheel into a suitable
receptacle and then raising it to any desired height by means of buckets or elevators
and then delivering it into the discharge pipes or conveyors.
Some of my improvements are applicable to machines for excavating ditches and
for similar purposes.

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Dredgers and Excavators.
I ALBERT LIVINGSTON BLACKMAN, of Washington Building, No. 1 Broadway,
New York, United States of America, Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to dredgers and excavators and its main object is to provide
improved means for dredging or excavating rivers, canals, harbours and the like, and
for elevating and delivering the dredged or excavated material.
One feature of my said invention is the employment of a wheel provided around its
periphery with knives or cutters and buckets which in the rotation of the said wheel,
excavate and raise the sand, mud or other material and dump it into a chute or chutes.
Water is to be delivered into these chutes for the purpose of carrying away the said
material through pipes or other suitable conveyers whereby it is delivered into lighters
or upon the banks of the river, canal, or the like or disposed of in any other convenient
munner.
Another feature of my said invention is the employment, in combination with the
dredging or excavating wheel, of hydraulic or other suitable apparatus whereby the
said wheel may be raised or lowered according to the depth at which it is to operate.
The knives or cutters are preferably bolted or otherwise secured to the buckets in
such a manner that they can be readily removed therefrom and replaced by new knives
or cutters, when necessary.
Another feature of my said invention consists in constructing or providing the
dredging or excavating wheel with a water-tight box or casing so that, when immersed
in water, its weight will be to a great extent counteracted by its buoyancy and the
friction in the bearings which support the said wheel thus diminished.
Another feature of my said invention consists in providing each bucket with a door
or doors arranged to be opened automatically as soon as the bucket arrives at the
desired height in the rotation of the wheel and to be automatically closed after the
material has been dumped from the buckets.
Another feature of my said invention consists in combining with the dredging
wheel a shed or deflector upon which the material will be dumped through the said
doors and down the said sloping sides of which the material will descend into chutes
at the sides of the said wheel.
Another feature of my said invention is the provision of means hereinafter described
for altering the position of the boat or hull and of the dredging wheel during the
operation of dredging or excavating.
My said invention, moreover, comprises the construction and arrangement of the
chutes and discharge pipes in such a manner that, when the dredging wheel is raised
or lowered, the said chutes will adapt themselves to the changes in the position of the
said wheel.
My said invention also comprises various other improvements hereinafter set
forth.

page_text: in the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a plan of one form of my improved.dredger or excavator.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, on the fine a, a Figure 1, showing also a
portion of the canal or river in which the dredger or excavator is supposed to be working.
Figure 3 shows the said canal or river in transverse section and the dredger or
xcavator in rear elevation.
Figure 4 is a side elevation partly in vertical section, showing part of the dredging
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, on the line, Figure 1, snowing also a
portion of the canal or river in which the dredger or excavator is supposed to be working.
Figure 3 shows the said canal or river in transverse section and the dredger or
xcavator in rear elevation.
Figure 4 is a side elevation partly in vertical section, showing part of the dredging
wheel.
Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line a¹, a¹ Figure 4.
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 are drawn to an enlared scale.
Figure 6 is a plan.
Figure 7 is a side elevation partly in vertical section, and
Figure 8 a rear elevation partly in vertical section illustrating details of construction.
Figure 9 is a plan or top view of a bucket-door hereinafter described.
Figure 10 is a plan, and
Figure 11 an edge view of a sliding bolt or latch for locking the said door.
Figure 12 is a plan, and
Figure 13 a side elevation illustrating the discharge or delivery pipes and means
for raising and lowering the same.
Figure 14 is a side elevation partly in vertical section, and
Figure 15 a plan partly in horizontal section illustrating means hereinafter described
for raising and lowering the dredging or excavating wheel.
Figure 16 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, showing a modification of
my invention.
A is the boat or hull of the dredger which is built of iron or steel or other suitable.
material. B is the dredging or excavating wheel. C. C are the chutes into which the
sand, mud or other material is to be dumped. D, D, are the discharge or delivery pipes
for conducting away the dumped material from the said chutes and delivering it upon
the banks of the river or canal or into lighters or barges.
The dredging or excavating wheel B is provided with journals B₁ whereby it is
supported in bearings a fitted to slide up and down between guides a firmly attached
to the boat or hull A. These bearings are supported upon hydraulic rams a² the cylinders
of which are connected so that the said rams may be operated simultaneously to raise
or lower the wheel B. The said wheel nay thus be raised or lowered according to
the depth at which it is to be operated and adjusted to the most favourable height for
dredging or excavating.
The wheel B may be rotated by means of a steam engine or other motor connected
therewith by any suitable gearing. In the apparatus shown in the drawings b. b, are
steam engines the driving shaft 61 of each of which has fixed thereon a pinion b
which is geared with a toothed wheel c¹ fixed on the shaft c. Chain-wheels are also
fixed on this shaft and are connected by means of chains c with other chain-
wheels d' fixed on the shaft d on which are also fixed other chain wheels d'.
Chains are passed around the chain-wheels and around the periphery
of the dredging wheel B, which is formed with notches B2
SO that tho
said chains may engage therewith. It will be seen that by means of the
above described toothed and chain gearing, the rapid motion of the engine & will be
converted into a slow motion of the dredging wheel such as is necessary to enable it
to properly perform its functions.
E, E, are buckets which are arranged around and firmly attached to the periphery
of the wheel B and are provided with knives or cutters E. These knives or cutters
and buckets are adapted to excavate and raise the sand, mud or other material when
the wheel B is rotated.
The said wheel is encased or formed with a water tight box or casing G so that,
when immersed in water, its weight will be to a great extent counteracted or counter-
balanced by its buoyancy and the friction in the bearings a will thus be diminished.
Each bucket E is provided with doors E' which are arranged as hereinafter described
so that they will be opened automatically as soon as the bucket arrives at the desired

page_text: height in the rotation of the wheel and will be automatically closed after the material
has been dumped from the said bucket. I prefer to arrange these doors in the bottom
of the bucket, that is to say. in the side thereof next the axis of the wheel, as
shown.
Each door E is hinged or pivoted at E3 (Figure 4) and is held in its closed position
by a sliding bolt or latch e arranged to be moved out of engagement with the door,
when the latter reaches the desired height, by means of a roller carried by a bracket fi
which roller acts upon an inclined surfaco e' at one end of the latch e.
The same
bracket also carries a roller for preventing lateral displacement of the wheel B.
and rollers are suitably supported at the opposite side of the wheel for the said
purpose. The doors E' in the continued rotation of the wheel B, after the material
has been dumped from the bucket, close by gravity. The bolt or latch e is provided
with an antifriction roller ² which, in the further rotation of the wheel B, will come
in contact with an inclined surface on a bracket or frame attached to the boat or hull A,
whereby the said bolt or latch will be automatically moved into position to again lock
-the door.
One of the doors E' and a bolt or latch e are shown in Figures 9, 10 and 11. The
door E¹ is provided with projections E, and the bolt e is formed with corresponding
projections e, which, when the said bolt is in its locking position, engage with the
projections E3 and thus support the door. It will be seen that, by reason of this
construction of the parts, only a slight movement of the bolt is necessary to unlock
the door, which, when unlocked opens by gravity.
The part G of the water tight casing is constructed as a shed or deflector so that
the material dumped out of the buckets E will fall upon the said shed or deflector and
will slide down the sloping sides thereof into the chutes C.
Each of the chutes (consists of three parts or pieces C, C, (³ (Figures 6, 7 and 8);
the part
("is fixed or supported upon the cross-head the hydraulic apparatus
and is open at the top to receive the material dumped from the buckets; the part e² is
tubular and is connected with the part C' by a hinge-joint at C; the part 03 is also
tubular and is fitted to slide upon the part C after the manner of the tubes of a
telescope. The part is, moreover, connected by means of a sleeve C with the
discharge or delivery pipes D, in which the said sleeve is fitted so that it is free to
turn upon or about its axis; and, when the dredging wheel Bis-raised or lowered, the
said chutes will adapt themselves to the changes in the position of the said wheel
relatively to the delivery pipes, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 7.
H, H, are pipes through which water may be delivered by means of a pump or
otherwise into the said chutes to carry away the sand, mud, or other material dumped
into the same.
The pipes H are moreover provided with nozzles H' whereby a jet or jets of water
are directed upon each of the sloping sides of the shed or deflector G. Tho said
pipes are preferably extended upward and so arranged that water will be directed into
cach bucket E as it arrives in position to dump the material upon the shed or deflector,
and as soon as the doors of the bucket are opened, the material will be effectually
washed out of the said bucket.
The delivery pipes D are connected by means of a pipe D' and a pipe I is provided
which has two branches or nozzles I', I for delivering water into the pipo D' in
opposite directions for the purpose of conveying or forcing through the pipes D the
sand or other material conducted into the same through the chutes C, and effecting
the delivery of the said material upon the banks of a river or into lighters as required.
The said delivery pipes are provided with sliding valves or mud-gates J arranged
within suitable casings J, so that either of the said pipes may be shut off when
necessary and the material delivered only through the other of the said pipes.
The discharge or ordinary pipes D are extended a considerable distance beyond the
sides of the boat or hull A to enable them to deliver the sand, mud or other material
upon the banks of a river or canal. To provide for raising and lowering the said
discharge pipes when necessary, they are hinged at D' and suspended from jibs K
which are connected at their lower ends by hinge-joints to upright columns K' firmly

page_text: secured to the boat or hull A, and which are connected with the said columns at their
upper ends by means of tie rods K². The inner end of each of these tie-rods is in
some instances screw-threaded and passed through the column K' and provided with
screw nuts K³ one on each side of the said column as in Figures 12 and 13, so that,
by turning the said nuts in one or the other direction, the discharge-pipes can bo
raised or lowered. In other instances I combine, with the said tie-rods and columns,
hydraulic rams L (as in Figures 1, 2 and 3) the cylinders L' of which are provided
with trunnions whereby they are supported in the upper ends of the columns K¹; the
pistons L² are connected with the tie-rods K2 by means of stirrups L³; or they may
be connected in any other convenient manner, so that, when liquid is forced into the
said cylinders, the said rams or pistons will raise the discharge pipes.
I sometimes employ other suitable means for raising and lowering the said discharge-
pipes.
The periphery of the wheel B is preferably made up of right and left hand segments
or sections B³ which are firmly united by means of bolts, rivets or other suitable
means. Each of these segments Bs is secured by means of bolts or rivets or otherwiso
to one of the spokes B. The plates forming the buckets E are arranged to break
joint with the said sections as more clearly shown in Figure 4. The notches B³ are
formed in the said segments to receive the driving chain. Or the said segments may
be provided with suitable teeth or cogs or otherwise suitably constructed so that rotary
motion may be imparted to the wheel B. Or the said notches, teeth or cogs are formed
in or on separate pieces firmly secured to the said segments in such a manner that they
can be removed and replaced when necessary.
The knives or cutters I are bolted or otherwise secured to the buckets E in such a
manner that they can be readily removed therefrom and replaced by new knives or
cutters when necessary. In some instances the said knives or cutters are provided
with teeth or ploughs projecting from their cutting edges. These teeth are preferably
secured to the said knives or cutters so that they can be readily removed therefrom or
adjusted thereon.
To provide for altering the position of the boat or hull or swinging it from side to
side as may be required to enable the knives and buckets to properly dredge or excavate
the material I employ steam windlasses, capstans, wheels or other suitable appliances
which may be turned in either direction and reversed when required during the
dredging or excavating operations.
In Figures 1, 2 and 3 M is a capstan which has two drawing chains M¹ M² passed
around it in the same direction. The boat or hull is to be moored in any desired
position by means of anchors M³ or other suitable devices attached to the said chains
as shown for example in Figure 3. A suitable engine or motor g is provided for
turning the capstan M to move or feed forward the dredger as the excavation is
effected. By the above described arrangement of the said chains I provide for enabling
the dredger to be swung around or turned upon or about the centre of the said
capstan M so as to move the head of the said boat or hull and the wheel B in the arc
of a circle.
For swinging the dredger in this manner I employ another capstan N around which
is passed a drawing chain N¹ the ends whereof are secured by anchors or otherwise
one on each side of the boat or hull the said chain being first passed around pullies N³
so that when the said capstan is turned in either direction by means of the engine or
motor the head or bow of the boat or hull and the wheel B may be moved in the
are of a circle as above described.
The head or bow of the boat or hall is preferably inclined at the sides as shown in
Figure 1 to allow of the wheel B being swung close to the banks of a river canal.or
the like.
.
The knives Fare preferably made of segmental shape, that is to say, their cutting
edges are curved as shown in Figures 1 and 3 to facilitate their operation when tho
wheel F is moved in the arc of a circle as above described. It is obvious however,
that it is not absolutely essential that the knives should be so curved nor that the
wheel should be moved in the arc of a circle.

page_text: The boat or vessel is provided with suitable platforms and step ladders to permit
access to the various parts of the dredging apparatus for inspection or repairs, or for
regulating the action of the apparatus.
The controlling valves of the different engines or motors for manoeuvring the
dredger are preferably connected with suitable levers at O and P so that the
movements of the dredger can be regulated or controlled from either of these
places.
In some instances I employ two hydraulic rams a in combination with each
bearing a as shown in Figures 14 and 15 for the purpose of raising and lowering the
dredging or excavating wheel. In the apparatus shown in these Figures a cross
head a is firmly secured to the upper ends of the rams a² and is connected with the
bearing a by means of rods i formed with heads and provided with nuts.
I sometimes provide for discharging the sand, mud or other material from the
pipes D when their outer ends are raised above the level of their inner ends. For
instance I combine with the said pipes a stand-pipé or other suitable means whereby
a sufficient head of water may be obtained to effect the discharge of the material when
the pipes are thus inclined.
The dredging or excavating wheel is sometimes made of skeleton form without any
watertight casing. When, however, the said wheel is of large size, I prefer that it
should be encased as herein before described or provided in any other suitable manner
with means for rendering it buoyant for the purpose above specified.
In some instances, the encased part G of the wheel is divided into compartments
and a holo or outlet is formed in each compartment near the axis of the said wheel so
that, should any water leak into either of the said compartments, it will run out
while this compartment is above the axis of the said wheel in the rotation thereof.
The apparatus is, in somo instances, so constructed that, as soon as the buckets E
are inverted by the rotation of the wheel, the sand, mud or other material will fall
from them into a chute or other receptacle.
An apparatus constructed upon this principle is illustrated in Figure 16. R is a
trough or receptacle into which the sand or other material will be dumped from the
buckets E when the latter are inverted. S is a bucket elevator which is connected by
means of a driving chain k with the chain wheel d¹ so that the said elevator will be
operated simultaneously with the wheel B. Tis a hopper into which the sand or
other material raised by the elevator S will be dumped, the discharge or delivery
pipes D are connected with this hopper one on each side thereof. H is a pipe which
is provided with nozzles H2 H3 and whereby water may be directed into the buckets
to wash the sand or other material therefrom. I is another pipo which is connected
with the said hopper T or with the discharge pipes D for the purpose of carrying
away the sand or other material dumped into the said hopper. The pipe I is provided
with a nozzle I for directing a jet of water into the buckets S' of the elevator S when,
or just before, they commence their descent.
Each bucket Sis pivoted or hinged at its upper end s and is held at its lower end
by a chain s¹. When the said buckets are ascending as indicated by the arrow, their
weight keeps them in the position shown. As soon, however, as a bucket has passed
the highest point of its movement and commenced its descent, it will fall forward into
the position shown at s* and will thus receive a shock or jar which will effectually
loosen and dump the material therefrom.
In some instances, I mount the said wheel in suitable bearings in a walking beam
or lever suitably pivoted to the boat or hull, and I provide hydraulic or other apparatus
for raising and lowering the said wheel.
Some of my improvements are applicable to machines for excavating ditches and
for similar purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it understood
that I claim :-
First. A dredger or excavator. constructed as hereinbefore described and as shown

page_text: in the accompanying drawings, wherein a rotating wheel provided with knives or
cutters and buckets is employed for excavating and raising the sand, mud or other
material and delivering it into chutes or other receptacles.
Second. The combination, with a dredging or excavating wheel, of one or more
hydraulic rams or other apparatus for raising and lowering the said wheel according
to the depth at which it is to operate, or for adjusting it vertically to the most.
favourable position for dredging.
Third. A dredging or excavating wheel provided with a water-tight casing or
boxed or encased to impart buoyancy to it, for the purpose above specified.
Fourth. A dredging or excavating wheel whose buckets are provided with doors
arranged to be opened and closed automatically in the rotation of the said wheel for
the purposes above specified.
Fifth. A dredging or excavating wheel provided with a shed or deflector down
which the material dumped from the buckets will descend into a chute or chutes, the
said shed or deflector forming, if desired, the periphery of the water-tight casing,
substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The modification of my improved dredging or excavating wheel wherein
the encased part thereof is divided into compartments each of which is formed with
an outlet, substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Seventh. The improved means comprising the sliding bolt or latch and the
stationary rollers and inclined surface, substantially as hereinbefore described,
whereby I provide for the automatic opening and closing of the bucket-doors.
Eighth. The employment, in a dredger or excavator, of knives provided with fixed
or removable teeth projecting from their cutting edges, substantially as, and for the
purpose, set forth.
Ninth. In combination with a dredging or excavating wheel, a driving chain
connected with a suitable motor and passed around the said wheel at or near its
periphery for imparting motion to the said dredging or excavating wheel, substantially
as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Tenth. A dredging or excavating wheel having suitable buckets and knives or
cutters secured to its periphery, which buckets, are provided with movable sides,
bottoms or doors that may be automatically operated, unfastened or dropped by means
of latches, bolts or other suitable devices, the segments of the said wheel being provided
with suitable ratchet or other teeth for receiving a driving chain or other gearing for
imparting motion thereto and provided with slopes or sheds to direct the course of the
material, when dumped thereon, into side chutes or other receptacles.
Eleventh. A dredging or excavating wheel the periphery of which is constructed
with right and left hand segments placed at suitable distances apart to receive and
carry the buckets, which segments are provided with suitable teeth or cogs to receive
a driving chain or other gearing for imparting motion thereto, the said segments
being rivetted or otherwise secured to each other, and to the spokes, substantially as,
and for the purposes, set forth.
Twelfth. A dredging wheel the periphery of which is formed of segments having
cast in or on them ratchet or other teeth, cogs or the like or provided with removable
ratchet or other teeth, cogs or the like affixed thereto for the purpose above specified.
Thirteenth. A bucket in combination with and affixed to the periphery of a wheel
and provided with movable doors, sides or bottoms for the purpose of dumping the
excavated material from the said bucket, substantially as set forth.
Fourteenth. The provision of means substantially as described for enabling the
dredger or excavator to be turned upon or about a given axis so that its wheel may be
moved in an are of a circle from one bank to the other of a canal, river or the like, as
above specified.
Fifteenth. The combination, with the dredger or excavator, of means substantially
as described for moving or swinging the head of the same from side to side of a canal
n its cutting or excavating operations by acting upon drawing chains or cables and
anchors through the medium of a steam-capstan, engine, wheel or other suitable
ppliance which may be turned in either direction and reversed when required.
B

page_text: Sixteenth. The combination, with the dredging or excavating wheel, of a water
pipe on either side of the said wheel extending to the top thereof and discharging
water into the buckets and upon the shed or deflector for the purpose of washing the
sand, mud or other material down into the chutes.
Seventeenth. The combination, with the dredger or excavator, of means substantially
as described for feeding forward the said dredger by acting upon drawing chains or
cables and anchors through the medium of a steam capstan, engine, wheel or other
suitable appliance, by which means the dredger may he held and fed regularly upon
the material to be excavated, and the feed regulated and effected at any desired speed
and the dredger may be turned about an axis at this point and the head swung by
the swinging cables and anchors in an are of a circle, in its cutting operations, from
side to side of a river or canal to be dredged.
Eighteenth. A dredging or excavating wheel provided with removable knives, as,
and for the purposes, set forth.
Nineteenth. A dredging or excavating wheel provided with fixed or removable
knives or ploughs the cutting edges of which are constructed or shaped in such manner
that, when the said wheel is moved in the arc of a circle, the said cutting edges will
always correspond or coincide with the said arc, substantially as set forth.
Twentieth. A dredging wheel in combination with fixed or removable knives
or cutters provided with projecting teeth or ploughs (which may be either fixed or
removable) whereby the material may be loosened in advance of the cutting blades
or knives.
Twenty-first. A dredging wheel so constructed as to impart buoyancy thereto when
operating in water, either by being suitably encased or boxed and made water-tight
or otherwise as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Twenty-second. The combination, with the dredging or excavating wheel, of the
engine and the gearing for reducing the speed and increasing the power applied to the
wheel.
Twenty-third. The employment, in a dredging or excavating wheel, of curved
or segmental knives or cutters, substantially as, and for the purpose, set
forth.
Twenty-fourth. The employment, in a dredger or excavator, of a telescopic chute
pivotted upon the discharge or delivery pipe, substantially as, and for the purpose,
set forth.
Twenth-fifth. The combination, with the two discharge or delivery pipes, of mud-
gates or valves so arranged therein that either of the said pipes may be closed or shut
off and the whole of the sand, mud or other material discharged or delivered through
the other pipe.
Twenty-sixth. The employment, in a dredger or excavator, of a hinged or jointed
discharge or delivery pipe and means for raising or lowering the said pipe, substantially
as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Twenty-seventh. The combination with the tie-rod and column, of a hydraulic ram
the cylinder whereof is mounted on trunnions and supported in' bearings in the said
column, and the piston whereof is connected with the said tie-rod by means of a stirrup,
for sustaining and raising and lowering the discharge or delivery pipe, substantially
as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Twenty-eighth. The combination, with a dredging and excavating wheel, of a
trough or receptacle into which the sand, mud or other material will be dumped by the
said wheel, and an elevator for raising the said material from the said trough or
receptacle and dumping it at the desired height into hoppers, chutes or delivery pipes,
substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Twenty-ninth. The combination, with a dredging or excavating wheel and a
discharge or delivery pipe for conducting the material therefrom, of means for forcing
water into the delivery pipe to effect the discharge of the material therefrom when the
said pipe is elevated at its outer end, substantially as set forth.
Thirtieth. The combination of a dredging or excavating wheel provided around its
periphery with buckets and knives or cutters and having a water-tight casing and a

page_text: shed or deflector upon which the sand or other material will be dumped from the
buckets, the said buckets being provided with doors, hydraulic or other apparatus for.
raising and lowering the said wheel, means for automatically opening and closing the
said doors in the rotation of the said wheel, one or more telescopic chutes into which
the sand or other material will be directed by the said shed or deflector, discharge pipes
for conducting away the said material and delivering it upon the banks of a river or
the like or into lighters, the said chutes being pivoted to the said pipes, means for
raising and lowering the said pipes, and means for directing jets of water into the said
buckets, chutes and pipes and upon the said shed or deflector, all substantially as, and
for the purposes, set forth.
Thirty-first. The improved dredger or excavator consisting of the parts constructed
and combined substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings
and operating as above set forth.
Thirty-second. An elevator wherein the buckets are pivoted or hinged at their upper
ends and held by chains at their lower ends so that, as soon as the buckets commence
their descent, they will swing on their hinges and drop the length of the chain and
will thereby receive a shock or jar, substantially as, and for the purpose, set
forth.
Thirty-third. The combination of a dredging or excavating wheel and a bucket or
other elevator so arranged that the said elevator will raise the material excavated
by the said wheel and dumped into a trough or receptacle in which the lower end of
the said elevator works.
Thirty-fourth. The employment, in an elevator, of a movable bucket so arranged
that, at the commencement of its descent, it will fall a short distance and its
movement will then be suddenly arrested and the material thus effectually dumped
therefrom as above specified.
Thirty-fifth. The combination, with a stirrup, of a hydraulic rain the cylinder
of which is mounted upon trunnions, substantially as, and for the purpose, set
forth
1000
Dated this 19th day of January 1908.
1000
ALBERT LIVINGSTON BLACKMAN.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.