IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR CLEANING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, AND FOR PREVENTING THE FOULING THEREOF
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Gray, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR
CLEANING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, AND FOR PREVENTING THE FOULING THEREOF."
Sealed the 28th January 1863, and dated the 2nd August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Gray at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd August
1862.
I, JAMES GRAY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVED ARRANGE-
MENTS FOR CLEANING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, AND FOR PREVENTING THE FOULING
THEREOF," to be as follows, that is to say:―
This Invention has for object the cleaning of ships' bottoms in an effectual
manner, either whilst the vessel is sailing or whilst it is in port, and aims at
preventing any serious fouling or accumulation of shell-fish or seaweed by
providing means for continually removing adhering matter when beginning to
attach itself, and when it is most easily removed; iron vessels are most in
need of arrangements such as are comprised in the present Invention; but
they are also applicable to wooden vessels.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention according to one modification small grooves
or guide rails are formed-or fitted upon the ship's bottom, being made parallel
and at convenient distances apart, and, by preference, horizontal. Between
each pair of these grooves, rails, 'or guides, there is fitted to work easily and
smoothly a thin or narrow scraper or. brush contrived so as to apply itself to
the surface, and at the same time to offer as little obstruction as possible to
the vessel's motion through the water. The scrapers or brushes are drawn
along the surface of the ship's bottom by cords passed over guide pulleys, and,
if necessary through tubes at the ends or at other parts of the vessel. These
cords are passed round winding.barrels or drums turned either by hand or by
steam power, and arranged so as by turning alternately in opposite directions
to draw the scrapers or brushes alternately backwards and forwards. The
scrapers may be actuated at convenient intervals, or if they are applied to a
steam vessel they may be actuated by the engines continuously but slowly.
Although it is preferred to move the scrapers or brushes horizontally the
guides may be arranged in other directions, for example, they may be
arranged so that the scrapers or brushes may be drawn up and down between
the keel and the water-surface line. The scrapers may be made flexible or
elastic, or be fitted upon a flexible or elastic material, so as to accommodate
themselves to inequalities or curvatures in the surface of the ship's bottom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GRAY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Gray, Her special licence that I, the said James Gray, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said. James
Gray, my executors, 'administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to tinie 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 ARRANGE-

page_text: MENTS FOR CLEANING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, AND FOR PREVENTING THE FOULING THEREOF,"
upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said James Gray, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 James Gray, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being bad to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention has for object to remove or greatly lessen the serious
disadvantage or impediment hitherto commonly experienced by ships or
vessels, and more particularly iron vessels, from the accumulation upon their
bottoms of shell-fish, seaweed, and the like when sailing or when in harbour.
And my said Invention is founded on the well-known fact that when the
asteroida, mollusca, and cirrhopoeda (which are the kinds of shell-fish usually
found upon ships' bottoms), at first attach themselves to the ship's bottom
they are in a soft gelatinous state, and can be easily scraped or brushed off,
whereas if they are allowed to remain a little while they become encased in
hard shells, and so firmly fixed as to require very considerable force to remove
them.. Similarly seaweeds and other adhering matters are much more slightly
fixed and more easily removable when only freshly attached than afterwards.
My said Invention, then, consists in taking advantage of these circumstances
by cleaning the ship's bottom continuously or at short intervals, and in
providing conveniently available means for affecting such continuous or
intermittent cleaning either whilst the ship is sailing or whilst it is in
port.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be referred to in particularly describing one or two
modifications which may be adopted in carrying my improvements into
effect.
'
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a ship or vessel of comparatively small size
as fitted with a modification of the cleaning arrangements. In this example the
cleaning instrument is a brush A, indicated by red lines in Figure 1, but
shown separately to an enlarged scale in back and edge views in Figures 2

page_text: and 3. This brush is drawn along the ship's bottom and side by a rope B,
which starting from a winch on deck at C passes to the stern, and turning
over a pulley at D descends to a pulley E on one side of the stern post F.
Turning round this pulley E the rope B proceeds to the brush A, and is
continued from the other side thereof towards the stem G, where it passes
round a pulley H, and up to a pulley I at the top of the stem; the rope then
descends on the other side of the ship, and is arranged to actuate a second
brush on that side in a similar way, being finally led back from the top of the
stern to another barrel on the winch at G. The winch is shown enlarged in
elevation and plan in Figures 4 and 5. The main spindle C of the
winch is fitted with two barrels 1, 2, and with a central clutch 3, by
means of which either of the barrels may be put in gear, one being
out of gear when the other is in gear. When one end of the rope is being
wound up on one barrel the other end is payed out from the other barrel,
and the necessary tightness or tension of the rope is maintained by the
application of a friction strap to the paying-out barrel. Both barrels are
provided with friction straps 4 and levers 5, and a weight (or spring) is
applied to the strap lever of whichever barrel may be paying-out. The winch
is worked so as to draw the brushes A backwards and forwards from stem to
stern, and vice versâ; the brushes on the opposite sides always moving in
opposite directions. The brush A only cleans a narrow strip of the vessel's
bottom at one traverse, but its line of action is shifted at each traverse, so that
the entire surface is eventually acted upon. The requisite alteration of the
line of action is effected by raising or lowering the guide pulleys H, E, at
the stem and stern, and these pulleys are raised or lowered by means of
screws J, K, which with their accompanying details will be best understood
from the enlarged elevations and sections, Figures 6, 7, 8, 9. Instead of this
screw adjustment the stem and stern guide pulleys H, E, may be shifted up
and down by means of endless ropes or chains L, M, as shown in Figure 10,
such endless ropes or chains being passed round upper and lower pulleys, and
being attached to blocks carrying the guide pulleys H, E, and sliding upon
or in guides upon the stem and stern post. The adjustment is effected by
turning the upper pulleys of the endless ropes or chains L, M. When the
ship or vessel is very long, as in Figure 10, two or more brushes A, A, may
be used, being made to traverse only one-half or other portion of the length,
according to their number. In some cases it may be necessary to guide the
brush rope B at the bilge of the broad or amidship portions of the vessel to
insure an equal action on every part. In such cases the brush rope B may
be guided by being passed through an eye or through a pulley block N

page_text: adjusted and held in a proper position by means of a rope P led from the deck
over suitable pulleys, and passing transversely round and under the vessel's
bottom through an aperture in the keel and up at the other side; or a
separate rope on each side may be led down to a block attached to the keel
and returned up again on the same side. With arrangements such as have
been described, the ship's bottom can be cleaned at frequent intervals, either
in port or when the vessel is at sea; but it should be borne in mind that the
arrangements will be most effective if the adhering shell fish and seaweeds
are not allowed to do more than merely attach themselves. In the case of
steam vessels, or in that of vessels having steam apparatus on board for
winding and hoisting purposes, the, cleaning details can easily be worked by
the steam power.
It will be obvious that the details of the cleaning arrangements may be
modified in many ways. Thus the brush may be formed with ordinary bristles,
or with wire, or with a moulded surface of rubber. The bristles, or wires may
be set obliquely outwards on opposite sides of the brush, so as the better to
throw off adhering matters in whichever direction the brush may be moving.
Thin blades of metal or other strong elastic material may be substituted for
the bristles or wires, such blades having a scraping or skinning action.
The brushes or scrapers may be made flexible or elastic, or be fitted upon a
flexible or elastic material, so as to accommodate themselves to inequalities or
curvatures in the surface of the ship's bottom. The cleaning instrument may
also be contrived to follow the cleaning action by the application of a coating
substance, which, if fluid, can be supplied to the instrument by means of a
flexible tube from the deck.
According to further modifications of the arrangements for carrying out my
Invention guide grooves or rails may be formed or fitted along the ship's side,
and dividing the under-water surface of the ship into one, two, or more
longitudinal strips according to the size of the vessel; and flexible brushes or
scrapers extending vertically or transversely from one guide to the other may
be drawn along by ropes from one end to the other. Or, again, the arrange-
ments may be modified so as to give an up-and-down or inclined movement
to the brushes or scrapers, instead of a longitudinal one, with provision for
gradually moving the brushes or scrapers from one end of the ship to the
other as the cleaning operation proceeds.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described and delineated, but that what I
believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by

page_text: the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the fitting or providing of
ships or vessels with apparatus or means for cleaning the bottoms thereof
whilst at sea (and also applicable in port), and substantially such as is herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Gray, have hereunto set my 5
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT, Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square, Glasgow.
JAMES GRAY. (L.S.)