IMPROVED MOVEABLE WEIRS WORKED BY SELF-ACTING MEANS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Martin, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MOVEABLE
WEIRS WORKED BY SELF-ACTING MEANS."
Sealed the 14th November 1871, and dated the 16th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Martin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th May 1871.
I, WILLIAM MARTIN, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MOVEABLE WEIRS WORKED BY SELF-ACTING MEANS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent the overflowing of streams
and rivers, and consists in placing between the banks of the stream
or river one, two, three, or more self-acting doors or sluices for letting
off the water as fast as it is supplied. Each door or sluice is con-
nected to a bar fixed to two air-tight cylinders or pontoons placed in
casings of a similar shape, which casings are firmly fixed in the banks

page_text: or bed of the stream or river, and the bed or seating of the door or sluice
is placed between them. In the bottom of the casings there are apertures
communicating with one or more pipes leading to the next lower level,
and at any suitable position there are syphon pipes leading from the
upper water into the casings. These syphon pipes are for the purpose
of taking off any ordinary addition of water to the stream or river
arising from a local rainfall or other cause, and the air-tight cylinders
or pontoons for raising the door or sluice according to the extent the
stream or river is being rapidly filled. When the water rises above the
syphon pipes it enters faster into the casings than the pipes can carry
it off, and therefore it raises the cylinders or pontoons and the door
connected to them to a height corresponding with the pressure of the
water, the door being slightly raised when there is little pressure, but
raised gradually or quickly as the pressure increases; the water running
off at the bottom of the stream or river instead of over the top as at
present, and thereby scouring the bed of the stream or river.
In some cases I cause the doors or sluices to rise higher than the
cylinders or pontoons by means of chains encircling chain wheels of
different sizes, the chains on the larger wheels being connected to the
doors, and those on the smaller wheels to the cylinders or pontoons,
and when desired I employ pipes at the tops of the casings for the
supply of water to raise the doors by hydraulic means in times of
drought.
This system of casings and pontoons for raising the doors or gates of
moveable weirs can be applied to all widths of streams or rivers, and
therefore the modification of the different parts must be arranged
according to the situation and requirement.
In narrow streams a single casing and pontoon connected to a
balanced lever or beam will be sufficient to regulate the action of the
door or gate.
.
In other cases there may be a casing and pontoon on both sides of
the stream or river, and also when necessary the water entering into
the casings and under the pontoons should pass through gratings or
perforations to prevent the entrance and accumulation of refuse.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Martin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MARTIN, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Martin, Her special license that I,
the said William Martin, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Martin, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MOVEABLE WEIRS
WORKED BY SELF-ACTING MEANS," upon the condition, amongst others, that
I, the said William Martin, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Martin, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Figures on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the letters of reference marked
thereon (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to prevent the overflowing of streams
and rivers, and consists in placing between the banks of the stream or
river one, two, three, or more self-acting doors or gates for letting off the
water as fast as it is supplied. Each door or gate is connected to a bar
fixed to two air-tight cylinders or pontoons placed in casings or cisterns
of a similar shape, which casings are firmly fixed in the banks or bed of

page_text: the stream or river, and the bed or seating of the door or gate is placed
between them. In the bottom of the casings there are apertures com-
municating with one or more pipes leading to the next lower level, and
at any suitable position there are bent pipes or passages leading from
the upper water into the casings. The lower pipes or passages are for
the purpose of taking off any ordinary addition of water to the stream
or river arising from a local rainfall or other cause, and the air-tight
cylinders or pontoons are for raising the door or sluice according to the
extent the stream or river is being rapidly filled. When the water rises
above the bent pipes or passages it enters faster into the casings than
can be carried off by the lower pipes, and therefore it raises the cylinders
or pontoons and the door connected to them to a height corresponding
with the pressure of the water, the door being slightly raised when there
is little pressure, but raised gradually or quickly as the pressure
increases, the water running off at the bottom of the stream or river
instead of over the top as at present, and thereby scouring the bed of the
stream or river.
t
In some cases I cause the doors or sluices to rise higher than the
cylinders or pontoons by means of chains encircling chain wheels of
different sizes, the chains on the larger wheels being connected to the
doors, and those on the smaller wheels to the cylinders or pontoons.
This system of casings and pontoons for raising the doors or gates of
moveable weirs can be applied to all widths of streams or rivers, and
therefore the modification of the different parts must be arranged
according to the situation and requirements.
In narrow streams a single casing and pontoon connected to a
balanced lever or beam will be sufficient to regulate the action of the
door or gate.
In other cases there may be a casing and pontoon on both sides of the
stream or river, and also, when necessary, the water entering into the
casings and under the pontoons should pass through gratings or perfora-
tions to prevent the entrance and accumulation of refuse.
Although from the foregoing description the nature of the Invention
will be easily understood I shew on the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings one of my improved moveable weirs adapted for narrow
streams or rivers, Figs. 1, 2, and 3 being front, top, and end views of the
same.

page_text: The door or gate marked a is placed in guides b, c, the guide c being
firmly fixed to the casing d and the guide 6 fixed to part of the ordinary
weir e, or to the opposite bank of the stream, the guides being fixed
at the top to the frame f, fastened either to piles 9 or masonry. The
door or gate is linked at the top to the arm h of the lever h, i, the arm i
having a weight to balance the door or gate, the casing d being fixed to
masonry forming one of the banks of the stream, and in the casing
there is a water-tight vessel or pontoon m. The dotted lines n represent
the upper level of the water at one side of the door a, and o the lower
level at the other side, and at the bottom of the casing there is an
aperture p communicating with a passage q leading to the lower level,
and at any suitable position there is an aperture r leading from the
upper water into the casing, there being slides 8, t, worked by the float u,
lever v, and rod w to open and close the passages more or less as
required. When there is a comparatively slight addition of water
arising from any cause the water runs off through the apertures r and p
and the passage q, either without raising the door at all or only to a
small extent, but when the water rises rapidly the float u is raised and
the slides & and t are depressed to cause the aperture r to be full open
and the aperture p to be closed, and as the water cannot escape it raises
the pontoon m, which in its turn raises the door a to allow the water
to run off rapidly at the lower part of the stream or river, and thus
prevent the flooding of the adjacent neighbourhood, and at the same
time scour the bed of the stream or river.
8
When from the nature of the bank the projecting arm i and weight
would be obstructions I use instead of them weights attached to
chains passing over guide pulleys and linked at each side to the door or
gate.
It will be seen that this Invention consists in connecting the vertical
2 doors, gates, or sluices of weirs to air-tight vessels or pontoons in casings
having pipes or apertures which can let off small additional supplies
of water without raising the doors, gates, or sluices, but when the
stream or river is rapidly filling the pontoons rise and lift the doors or
gates to allow the excess of water to run off rapidly.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim,―

page_text: First. The attachment to each door, gate, or sluice of the weir to two
air-tight vessels or pontoons in casings or cisterns by means of a bar in
connection with weights for balancing the door, gate, or sluice.
Secondly. The attachment of the door, gate, or sluice to one air-tight
vessel or pontoon by means of a lever, the door, gate, or sluice being
balanced either by a weight on the lever or by weights attached to chains
connected to the door, gate, or sluice.
And, thirdly. The pipes, apertures, or passages in connection with the
casings or cisterns to allow the water either to run off or raise the double
or single pontoons, and with them the door, gate, or sluice as required,
as all such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Martin, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the said William Martin, in
the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
WILLIAM MARTIN. (L.S.)