IMPROVEMENTS IN PLANT OR APPARATUS USED FOR DREDGING PURPOSES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Simons and Andrew Brown, both of
the Town and County of Renfrew, North Britain, for the Invention
Scaled the 15th July 1870, and dated the 20th January 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Simons and
Andrew Brown at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 20th January 1870.
WC, WILLIAM SIMONS and ANDREW BROWN, both of the Town and
County of Renfrew, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLANT OR APPARATUS USED FOR DREDGING
PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The first part of this Invention relates to so arranging an ordinary
hopper barge that it may also be used for dredging, and it consists in
placing on the deck a framework mounted with rails or guides on which
one or more travelling frames are situated. The second or travelling
frame or frames is or are provided with one or more bucket ladders
supplied with the usual chain of dredging buckets, the position of which
is such that the buckets pass to the point of operation over the outside

page_text: of the hull of the hopper barge, and can be moved into any required
position either fore and aft or athwartships by travelling the frame on
the rails. By means of this arrangement the buckets discharge the
dredgings into the hopper barge, so that when full the dredging ladders
and buckets are lifted radially out of the water that the vessel may
proceed to sea or elsewhere to discharge the dredgings. An advantage
resulting from this arrangement is, that the dredging apparatus is
portable, and may be easily removed from the hopper barge when
required.
The second part of the Invention relates to constructing a combined
seagoing dredger with hoppers or cavities on either or both sides of the
dredging well, and in so placing the doors by which the dredgings are
discharged from the hoppers or cavities that they open out into the
dredging well in place of hanging from the bottom of the hoppers or
cavities; or in this arrangement of combined dredgers and hoppers the
doors may be made to open at the bottom, or at or near to the bilges of
the vessel.
The third part of this Invention is applicable to dredging plant or
apparatus in general, and it consists in making the usual receptacle or
hopper (for receiving the dredgings as they are discharged from the
buckets above it) moveable or adjustable, the object of which is to
ensure the receptacle or hopper being always in the most advantageous
position for receiving the dredgings at whatever angle the bucket ladder
or ladders may be situated; this angle being dependent on the depth of
water at which the dredging operations are being conducted. This is
effected by connecting the said receptacle or hopper by one or more links
with the ladder or ladders, so that as the ladder or ladders are adjusted
in position the receptacle or hopper is simultaneously adjusted.
The fourth part of this Invention consists in mounting a dredger
ladder with a chain of buckets in a derrick, jib crane, or their equivalent,
which derrick, crane, or equivalent is composed of an open framework,
and carried in or upon a moveable platform supported under one
arrangement upon swivelling or fixed trucks with wheels, these running
on rails placed on board the hopper barge. By means of this arrange-
ment the bucket ladder and buckets are capable of being set at any
angle radially around the outside of the hopper barge in place of working
in one plane as in the existing arrangement of dredgers..
Under another arrangement in place of using a travelling derrick or
:

page_text: crane for carrying the bucket ladder, a pillar may be fixed on board
the hopper barge, in which case the pillar becomes part of a fixed crane,
and to which a jib is mounted and tied so as to move around the pillar
carrying the bucket ladder, the lower end of which is supported by a
chain and tackle, by means of which the bucket ladder is elevated or
depressed from the jib.
".
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Simons and Andrew Brown in the Great
Scal Patent Office on the 19th July 1870...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, WILLIAM
SIMONS and ANDREW BROWN, both of the Town and County of Renfrew;
North Britain, send greeting.
i
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
33d year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said William Simons and Andrew Brown,
Her special license that we, the said William Simons and Andrew
Brown, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said William Simon sand Andrew Brown, our exccutors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others;
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term thercin
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLANT OR
APPARATUS USED FOR DREDGING PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said William Simons and Andrew Brown, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, 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 we, the said William Simons and Andrew
Brown, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The first part of this Invention relates to so arranging an ordinary
hopper barge that it may also be used for dredging, and it consists in
placing on the deck a framework mounted with rails or guides on which
one or more travelling frames are situated. The second or travelling
frame or frames is or are provided with one or more bucket ladders
supplied with the usual chain of dredging buckets, the position of which
is such that the buckets pass to the point of operation over the outside
of the hull of the hopper barge, and can be moved into any required
position either fore and aft or athwartships by travelling the frame on
the rails. By means of this arrangement the buckets discharge the
dredgings into the hopper barge, so that when full the dredging ladders
and buckets are lifted radially out of the water that the vessel may
proceed to sea or elsewhere to discharge the dredgings. An advantage
resulting from this arrangement is, that. the dredging apparatus is
portable, and may be casily removed from the hopper barge when
required.
The second part of this Invention relates to constructing a combined
seagoing dredger with hoppers or cavities on either or both sides of the
dredging well, and in so placing the doors by which the dredgings are
discharged from the hoppers or cavities that they open out into the
dredging well in place of hanging from the bottom of the hoppers or
cavities; or in this arrangement of combined dredgers and hoppers the
doors may be made to open at the bottom, or at or near to the bilges of
the vessel,
The third part of this Invention is applicable to dredging plant or
apparatus in general, and it consists in making the usual recoptacle or
hopper (for receiving the dredgings as they are discharged from the
buckets above it) moveable or adjustable, the object of which is to
ensure the receptacle or hopper being always in the most advantageous
position for receiving the dredgings at whatever angle the bucket ladder
or ladders may be situated, this angle being dependent on the depth of
water at which the dredging operations are being conducted. This is
effected by connecting the said receptacle or hopper by one or more
links with the ladder or ladders, so that as the ladder or ladders are
adjusted in position the receptacle or hopper is simultaneously adjusted,

page_text: The fourth part of this. Invention consists in mounting a dredger
ladder with a chain of buckets in a derrick, jib; crane, or their equi-
valent, which derrick, crane, or equivalent is composed of an open
framework, and carried in or upon a moveable platform supported under
one arrangement upon swivelling or fixed trucks with wheels, these
running on rails placed on board the hopper barge. By means of this
arrangement the bucket ladder and buckets are capable of being set
at any angle radially around the outside of the hopper barge in place of
working in one plane, as in the existing arrangement of dredgers.
Under another arrangement in place of using a travelling derrick or
crane for carrying the bucket ladder a pillar may be fixed on board the.
hopper barge, in which case the pillar becomes part of a fixed crane, and
to which a jib is mounted and tied, so as to move around the pillar
carrying the bucket ladder, the lower end of which is supported by a
chain and tackle, by means of which the bucket ladder is elevated or
depressed from the jib.
:
:
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood we
shall now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or
manner in or under which the same is or may be used or practically
carried into effect, reference being had for the sake of more complete
elucidation to the several Figures upon the explanatory Sheets of
Drawings hereunto appended, that is to say:-
On Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation,
Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 an end elevation of a combined dredger
and hopper barge constructed in accordance with the first head of this
Invention. On these Figures corresponding parts are indicated by the
same letters of reference..
The improvements which constitute this part of our said Invention
consist in attaching a framework A to the deck of an ordinary hopper
barge. This framework is provided at the top or upper side with rails
or guides a, a, a, as more. particularly shown in plan at Figure 2, and in
the end clevation Figure 3. On these rails or guides travelling frames B
mounted or supported on rollers which traverse the rails a, a, a, are
placed, as shown. Each of the travelling frames B is provided with a
bucket ladder C, the upper end of which is carried by a framing D
supported so as to traverse on the frame B, as shown more particularly
at Figure 1. On Figures 1 and 2 a single bucket ladder C and travelling
frame D are shown; but it is to be here understood that two such ladders
.
1

page_text: and frames may be employed, as shown at Figure 3, that is to say, one
at each side of the hull of the vessel, or the same bucket ladder may be
made to act on the other side of the hopper barge from that at which it
is shown at Figures 1 and 2 by attaching the ladder and chain of buckets
to the tumbler X on the opposite side of the frame D, in which case the
frame D is traversed over the rails or guides x; or the frame may be
provided with two bucket ladders, one of which is elevated whilst the
other is in action. The bucket ladders C are further supported by
means of cranes E attached to the forward or bow ends of the travelling
frames D, and these cranes are provided with chains c, which are passed
or rove through blocks e attached to the lower cuds of the bucket
|_ ladders, as shown at Figure 1. The bucket ladders C are each provided
with chains of dredging buckets F, which being of the usual construction
need not be herein further specified. The travelling frame B is also
provided with rails or guides x arranged transversely or athwartships,
as shown in plan at Figure 2. By the arrangement of mechanism above
set forth the dredging buckets F pass to the point of operation over the
outside of the hull of the hopper barge, and the bucket ladder C may bc
adjusted to any required position fore and aft by travelling the frame B
on the rails or guides a; or the bucket ladder may be adjusted to
any required distance from the outside of the hull of the hopper barge
by travelling the top framing D and crane E thereto attached trans-
versely or athwartships over the rails or guides x. The angles at which
the chains of dredging buckets F operate are regulated in the usual
manner by means of a steam winch G, to the drums H of which the
end of the chains c which supports the lower ends of the ladder C is
attached. The other end of the chain is fixed to the block of the
.
crane E, as indicated at Figure 1. The buckets F discharge the
dredgings into the hopper I of the barge, shown at Figures 2 and 3,
and when the hopper is full the bucket ladder is lifted radially out of
the water by means of the steam winch G, cranc E, and chain c, and its
lower end may either be allowed to rest on the deck or on the framing A
by travelling the frame D on the rails or guides x, or they may be
allowed to project on the outside of the hull of the barge, or the bucket
ladder C and parts attached thereto may be removed from the hopper
barge altogether before it proceeds to sea or elsewhere to discharge the
dredgings with which the hopper I is filled, such dredgings being dis-
charged through openings L in the bottom of the hopper,. which
openings are at other times closed by the doors M, seen more par-

page_text: ticularly at Figure 3, in which Figure a bucket ladder is shown carried
upon both sides of the hopper barge, as herein-before set forth.
On Sheet 2 of the appended. Drawings Figures 1, 2, and 3 are
respectively transverse sections through the hoppers of three different
arrangements of seagoing hopper dredgers, and illustrating the manner
of carrying the second part of this Invention into practice.
This part of our said Invention, which particularly relates to dredgers
in which the operation of dredging is carried on through a well in the
central portion of the hull, and through which well the chain of dredging
buckets passes to the point of operation, consists in forming the vessel
with cavities or hoppers A on each side of the well B, into which hoppers
or cavities the buckets discharge the dredgings. Under one part of this
arrangement the doors C by which the dredgings are discharged from
the hoppers A are arranged to open out into the dredging well, as shown
at Figure 1, in lieu of hanging from the bottom of the hopper or cavity,
as in existing arrangements; or the doors may be placed so as to
open outwards from the sides of the hull of the vessel, as shown at
Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 4, Sheet 2, is a transverse section, and Figure 5 a part longi-
tudinal section of a dredging apparatus shewing the improvements which
constitute the third part of this Invention applied thereto.. This part
of the Invention consists in making the usual receptacle or hopper A (for
receiving the dredgings as they are discharged from the buckets E above
it) moveable or adjustable, so as to ensure the hopper or receptacle
being always in the most advantageous position for receiving the
dredgings at whatever angle the bucket ladder or ladders is or are
situated, the said angle being dependent on the depth of water in which
the operation of dredging is for the time being carried on. This
regulating of the position of the said receptacle A is effected througli
connecting it by one or more links. B, as shown at Figure 5, to the
bucket ladder or ladders C, so that the ladder or ladders and the
receptacle or hopper A are simultaneously adjusted. On each side of the
hopper A a shute D is placed, as more particularly shown at Figure 4,
into one or other of which the dredgings are passed from the hopper;
and such, dredgings are thereby discharged., The shutes D are formed
in two halves, and connected together by a pin, as shown, and by this
arrangement the lower half when the shute is not in action may be

page_text: varnica up by wing up the enam t, as shown on the fight-nana side
of Figure 4..
At Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 3, of the Drawings hereunto annexed is
shown an arrangement of combined dredger and hopper barge as con-
structed under the fourth head of this Invention.
Under this modification derrick cranes are employed to support the
bucket ladders B, and these ladders are adjustable to any required angle
by raising or lowering the jibs. C of the cranes. The lower ends of the
framings D of the cranes are provided with worm wheels E, as shown at
Figure 1, which are caused to rotate by means of worm or tangent
screws F. By this means the cranes may be turned round, and the
buckets and bucket ladders are accordingly rendered capable of being
set to any anglé radially around the outside of the hopper barge in lieu
of working in one plane, as in existing arrangements of dredgers.
Under this arrangement the dredgings are discharged from the buckets
over the shutes K into hoppers H placed at or near each end of the
barge, as shown, from which hoppers such dredgings are afterwards
discharged into the sea, or otherwise through the openings shewn closed
by the doors I. In place of the shute K being arranged to discharge
the dredgings into the vessel's own hopper, as shown, it may be placed
in such a position as to discharge the dredgings into separate barges or
punts alongside, and in lieu of placing the dredging apparatus towards
the extremities of the vessel it may be placed near to the centre.
Under another arrangement (not shown on the Drawings) in place
of using a travelling derrick or crane for carrying the bucket ladder, as
in the preceding modification, a pillar fixed on board the hopper barge
may be so employed, in which case the pillar forms part of a fixed
crane, to which a jib is mounted and tied, so as to move around the
pillar. This jib carries the bucket ladder, the lower end of which is
supported by chain tackle, by means of which the bucket ladder is
elevated or depressed from the jib, or the bucket ladder may be adjusted
in any other suitable manner, it being understood that we do not confine
ourselves to the particular arrangements or construction of mechanism
herein-before described and shown on the several Sheets of Drawings
hereunto appended, as such mechanism may be considerably modified.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or practically carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion that

page_text: what we consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Inven-
tion secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The arrangement and construction of combined dredgers and
hopper barges, so that the dredging apparatus is moveable fore and aft
and athwartships, besides being portable and easily removed therefrom,
substantially as herein-before set forth under the first head of our
Invention, and illustrated at Sheet 1 of the Drawings.
Second. Constructing seagoing hopper dredgers with cavities or
hoppers on either side of the well, and having doors for discharging
the dredgings placed so as to open into the well or at or near to the
bilges, as hercin-before described and illustrated at Figures 1, 2, and 3,
Sheet 2, of the Drawings.
Third. The connecting of the dredging receptacle by links to the
bucket ladder, for the purpose of regulating its position, as herein-
before described and shown at Figures 4 and 5, Sheet 2, of the Drawings.
Fourth. Mounting the bucket ladders of dredgers in a derrick or in a
crane carried on a fixed pillar or on a moveable platform, as herein-
before described and shown at Sheet 3 of the Drawings.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Simons, on behalf of the
said Andrew Brown and of myself, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of July One thousand eight hundred
and seventy.
· WILLIAM SIMONS. (L.S.)