Improvements in Apparatus for Loading and Discharging of Vessels: a New or Improved Travelling Carriage in connection therewith.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 26th Aug., 1896-Accepted, 24th Oct., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Loading and Discharging of Vessels:
a New or Improved Travelling Carriage in connection therewith.
I FRANK SAMUEL PETT of 3 Blenheim Square Dover in the County of Kent
2nd Deputy Harbour Master of Dover Harbour do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows :-
The object of this invention is to facilitate the loading & discharging of ships;
to enable cargo to be more readily transported from the ship's hatchway to any
desired part of the vessel's hold & vice versa.
With this object in view I propose to attach to the underneath part of the
deck or other beams horizontal girders of T or other suitable section thus
forming overhead rails for my improved travelling pulley carriages to travel on &
along.
My improved travelling pulley carriage or block may be so constructed that in
combination with the ship's winch (or other suitable motive power) slings of cargo
may be readily raised from any part of the vessel's hold & suspended at a suitable
height above the floor of the ship, at the same time leaving the travelling pulley
carriage (with its sling of cargo) free to travel along its respective girder or over-
head rail; thus transporting the load to any desired part of the vessel's hold, over
which the overhead rail passes.
My new or improved travelling pulley carriage may be so constructed &
arranged that the load may be lowered either automatically or by hand, as found
most suitable; I however at present prefer in the discharging of cargo to trip the
hereafter mentioned ratchet automatically on the carriage arriving in the vicinity
of the hatchway, but in loading it will probably be found necessary for the ratchet
to be tripped by hand (by means of a line or other suitable device) on the load
arriving over the place where the cargo is to be stowed.
I may suspend my improved travelling carriage from its overhead rail, by
means of rollers or other means keeping it stationery on its rail (on the raising,
suspending, or lowering of loads) by means of a line or otherwise as found most
suitable.
Between the shell or cheeks of my travelling pulley carriage I propose to pivot
a suitable sheave free to revolve on its pin this sheave may be of the form of a
combined sprocket & ratchet wheel (providing the said ratchet wheel with a
suitable ratchet) the gipsy or sprocket wheel forming a lead for the winch chain
in the hoisting suspending or lowering of cargo or loads, it will be seen that on the
winch chain being attached to a sling of cargo & actuated by the steam winch the
ratchet permits the ratchet & sprocket wheel to revolve & the load to be hoisted,
should the chain however slack the ratchet will prevent the eprocket & ratchet
wheel from running back, thereby maintaining the load in suspension until such
time as the ratchet is tripped or thrown out of gear.
Dated this 24th day of October 1895.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Loading and Discharging of Vessels:
a New or Improved Travelling Carriage in connection therewith.
I, FRANK SAMUEL PETT, of 3 Blenheim Square, Dover, in the County of
Kent, 2nd Deputy Harbour Master of Dover Harbour, 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:-
This invention for improvements in apparatus for loading and discharging of
vessels: a new or improved travelling carriage in connection therewith, has for
its object to facilitate the transportation or loading and unloading of cargo, and
consists of a beam or girder adapted to be fixed or supported in the required
position to transfer the cargo, a carriage adapted to travel along and be guided by
the beam, two sprocket wheels or sheaves with a ratchet wheel bolted securely on
to the side of each sprocket wheel mounted on the carriage, two chains or ropes
passing over the sprocket wheels and along the beam in reverse directions, ratchet
mechanism adapted when in gear to prevent the sprocket wheels turning in a
direction to lower the chains or ropes and a means for moving the ratchets out of
gear when desired.
When the apparatus is used to transfer a load from the outer end of the beam to
the inner, the rope passing to the outer end is hauled on until the block p comes in
contact with the carriage, the carriage is then pulled by this rope to the outer end
of the beam, and is secured from inward movement by belaying or fastening this
rope. The other or hauling chain is then hooked on to the load and hove up and
when the load is at the desired height, the belaying rope is unfastened, the
continued hauling on the rope then traversing the carriage and its load along the
beam, the ratchet mechanism preventing the load from lowering during this
traverse. When the load arrives at the required place, the carriage is prevented
from further inward movement by coming against a stop, or by fastening the
belaying rope, the ratchet is drawn out of gear by a rope or automatically
by a projection on the beam, and the hauling rope is slackened to lower the
load.
When the apparatus is used to transfer a load from the inner end to the
outer end, the functions of the ropes are reversed, the rope passing to the inner end
now becoming the belaying rope and the rope passing to the outer end the hauling
rope.
By this apparatus the load can thus he transferred inwards or outwards at
pleasure without altering the ropes.
In the accompanying sheets of drawings:
Fig. 1 is an elevation of an apparatus with one check of the carriage and the
ratchet and its lever for working the inside ratchet wheel removed, arranged for
outward transportation and constructed according to this invention showing the
position of the parts as the load is being raised and in dotted lines the position
when being transported, and
Fig. 2 is a similar view arranged for inward transportation, showing the two
ratches and their levers thrown out of gear.
Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of the transporting carriage with one cheek of
the carriage and the ratchet and its lever for working the inside ratchet wheel
removed, the dotted ratchet and its lever showing the position when in gear, and
the full lines ratchet and its lever showing the position when tripped ready for
hoisting a load; and Fig. 5 a sectional end view of the same.
Fig. 6 is a similar view to Fig. 4 showing a slight modification.

page_text: Fig. 7 is a view showing a modification of the apparatus arranged for transporting
cargo in the hold of a vessel.
The beam a is suspended by span 6 from the ship's mast by means of a
tackle or other suitable support and is stayed by means of ropes at its ends
to other fixtures. As shown the beam is double so that loading or unloading
operations can be conducted at either or at both ends, and is 1 shaped in cross
section.
The carriage c works underneath the beam a and is provided with side cheeks
carrying rollers d running on the top surface of the head or flanges of the beam
or girder so that the carriage is free to run from end to end of the beam.
Two sprocket wheels e el are mounted in the carriage e below the beam and the
inner sprocket wheel el is provided with a ratchet wheel f¹ and ratchet g₁ preventing
when in gear its rotation in a forward direction and the outer sheave e is provided
with a ratchet wheel and ratchet 9 preventing when in gear its rotation in the
backward direction.
In order to throw the ratchets 9 out of gear with their ratchet wheels ff1
automatically at the desired parts of the beam, the beam a is provided on its under
side at the said parts with projections hj and when the carriage is traversed on and
over them the projections come in contact with either of the tails on the
ratchets or the separate levers acting on the ratchets and throws the ratchets
out of gear. The ratchet 9 is shown in Fig. 1 in gear with its ratchet wheel fin
dotted lines and forced out of gear by the projection h acting on the lever in full
lines, and Fig. 2 shows the projection ; acting on the ratchets and levers throwing
the ratchets g g' out of gear with their ratchet wheels. Thus at both ends of the
traverse both ratchets are thrown out of gear with their ratchet wheels and the
sprocket wheels are free to revolve in either direction. Springs rsrs tend to
put the ratchets in gear with their ratchet wheels.
Chains m m' are passed over the sprocket wheels e e¹ thence over guide
pulleys n¹ on the beam so that the chains are practically parallel with the
beam and thence over suitable guide pulleys o to any desired spot for manipu-
lation. The chains m m² are provided with blocks ppl that come in contact
with the carriage frame and prevent the chains from being hauled in any
further.
The operation is as follows; The carriage c is hauled inwards by means of
the chain m¹ to the position shown in Fig. 1, the block p coming in contact
with the carriage c and fixing the chain m' with reference to the carriage c,
and the chain m being paid out as required. In this position the ratchet g is
thrown out of gear with its ratchet wheel ƒ by the projection acting on the
lever that forces the ratchet out of gear and the chain m is lowered to receive
the load. The load is then hauled up by the chain m and when the load is at the
desired height the chain m¹ is released so that the pull on the chain m traverses
the load outwards along the beam. Immediately the lever leaves the pro-
jection the ratchet g falls into gear with its ratchet wheel and prevents the
load from lowering, but it can be raised still further if desired by holding on
to the chain m'. At the outer end of the beam the carriage c comes against the
stops and the projection j acting on the tail of the ratchet g raises the
ratchet out of gear with its ratchet wheel so that the load can be lowered. By
this arrangement it is not necessary to pay out the belaying rope at the same
speed as the hauling rope the belaying rope being used only to fix the carriage at
the desired spot.
It will readily be understood that when desired to traverse the load inwards the
chain m' becomes the hauling chain whilst the chain m is the belaying chain, as
shown in Fig. 1, the ratchet g¹ then acting on its ratchet wheel f¹ as previously
described for the ratchet g and ratchet wheel f.
In the modification shown in Fig. 6 the ratchet wheel and ratchet are replaced
by the drum or brake surfaces vv and straps or bands ww and levers xxl and
in this arrangement the brake is applied by the projection y when traversing

page_text: outwards to the drum and when traversing inwards to the drum v', the pro-
jection y extending the whole distance of the traverse. At places where it is
necessary to lower, the projection y is removed to enable the brake levers to release
themselves.
Fig. 7 shows the beam a supported from the deck beams 1 by means of the
hangers 2. The arrangement is suitable for transferring cargo from any part of
the ship's hold to under the hatchway 3, and in this case the levers are
dispensed with.
It will readily be understood that the apparatus may be employed in warehouses
or on other places where it is desired to handle goods or cargo, for loading or
unloading purposes or for storage.
Instead of operating the ratchets automatically they may be attached to a rope
by which they can be pulled out of gear at any desired place so that the load can
be deposited at any part of the length of the beam, or the ratchets may be dispensed
with altogether and kept out of gear by a pin inserted in the holes 4 across the
carriage as shown in Fig. 4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. A load transporting or loading and unloading apparatus consisting of a beam,
a carriage running on the beam, of two sprocket wheels or sheaves mounted in the
carriage and of two chains or ropes passing from the sprocket wheel along the
beam in opposite directions so that loads can be transferred in either direction
without unreaving the ropes.
2. A load transporting or loading and unloading apparatus consisting of a beam,
a carriage running on the beam, a sprocket wheel or sheave on the carriage, a
rope or chain passing over the sprocket wheel or sheave and running along the
beam in the direction the load is to be transported, a ratchet or brake arrange-
ment adapted to prevent the rotation of the sprocket wheel or sheave in a
direction to lower the load, a means for throwing the ratchet or brake out of
gear when the load or chain is to be lowered, and a belaying rope attached to the
carriage.
3. The load transporting or loading and unloading apparatus substantially as
described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 26th day of August 1896.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.