IMPROVEMENTS IN SLUICES OR WATER GATES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Goold Morony Stoney, of the Westminster
Chambers, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SLUICES OR WATER GATES."
Sealed the 11th January 1878, and dated the 19th July 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Goold Morony Stoney.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th July 1877.
FRANCIS GOOLD MORONY STONEY, of the Westminster Chambers, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN SLUICES OR WATER GATES."
This Invention relates to certain arrangements of sluices or water gates, in which
sets of free rollers, such as are employed in the sluices described in the Specification
of Letters Patent granted to the present applicant, and dated 10 September, 1874,
are applied in a new manner and in combination with improved general constructions
and arrangements of the various parts, the principal objects of the present Invention
being, whilst retaining the facility of working due to the free rollers, to have the
sluices tightened by the water pressure and to cause the relieving of that pressure
on commencing to open by a simple action of the mechanism through which the'
main opening action is effected.
Some modifications of the improved arrangements are designed for use where the
pressure, when there is any, is always in one direction; whilst in other modifications
there is a duplex arrangement of some of the parts enabling the sluices to act equally
well in whichever direction the pressure bears upon them.
In a modification of the first kind, or, as they may be termed, single-pressure
sluices, there are in each case two shutters or closing plates, an inner or fitting
shutter which closes water-tight against the seat or face of the sluice opening or
waterway, and an outer or back shutter. The inner and outer shutters are fitted
together so as to be capable of moving quite freely closer together or further apart,
and so as to move up and down together. In one case the inner shutter is made
[Price 8d.]

page_text: with flanges at its back, and those round its edges enter within flanges round the
edges of the outer shutter, whilst the two shutters are also connected by short links
at their upper parts. The outer shutter is formed with ribs or rails at its sides to
bear on the free rollers which are between such ribs and stationary rails fixed in the
grooves at the sides of the waterway. The rollers are arranged in frames, and their
movements are regulated in the manner described in the earlier Specification herein-
before referred to, the moving ends of the chains being attached to brackets formed
or fixed on the top of the outer shutter.
The inner shutter is made with a small opening to which there is fitted a small
shutter or valve for relieving the pressure on commencing to open the sluice. This
valve is connected by one or more rods to a piece a little above the inner shutter,
which piece is, in one modification, formed on the lower end of a rack-toothed bar
that is in gear with a pinion of the gearing above, and serves for opening and closing
the sluice. The lower end of this rack-toothed bar is forked, and between the sides
there is jointed a bell-crank locking catch, weighted so as to tend to enter between
a projection on the top of the inner shutter and its joint pin. When an upward
motion is imparted to the rack-toothed bar (the sluice being closed), it first raises
the valve so as to uncover the small opening in the shutter and thereby relieve the
pressure; the lifting rods then act on the inner shutter, and, through the connections
between them, on the outer shutter also, and the free rollers then bear any pressure
there is, and reduce the frictional resistance to the opening of the sluice to a minimum,
the weight of the moving parts being counterbalanced by weights connected to the
outer shutter by chains passing over pulleys above. When lowering the sluice the
locking catch prevents the small valve from being closed until, on the shutter
reaching its lowest position, the catch encounters a stationary stop, which then
makes it turn out clear of the shutter and allow the valve to close by the remaining
downward movement of the rack-toothed bar. The rack-toothed bar passes up
between the pinion which acts on it and an antifriction pulley carried by the
framing.
The lifting gearing may be modified in various ways; thus, in the case of a
comparatively small sluice, or one fitted in piping, a vertical screw spindle worked
directly by a crank handle or hand wheel, or through the intervention of gearing,
may act on a nut or internally screwed piece attached to the sluices by a long or
short tube, or otherwise. In other cases the counterbalance chains or rods may be
used for lifting the sluices.
In a modification of double-pressure sluice, adapted for acting with the pressure
in either direction, there are two tightening or fitting shutters and one back shutter,
which last is between the other two, and has also lateral ribbed flanges which are
between two sets of free rollers at each side, so that in whichever direction the
pressure may act, the middle or back shutter bears on free rollers when the sluice is
being moved. Each fitting shutter is provided with a relief opening and small
valve, and the sluices are lifted by rods or straps attached to the small valves so as
to open them before lifting the sluices, a locking catch being employed, as in the
other modifications, to prevent the small valves from closing until the sluices are
quite down, excepting when the effective weight of the sluice renders such catch
unnecessary.
In the cases of small sluices and submerged wooden sluices of various sizes it is
unnecessary to counterbalance the weight of the sluices. The shutters and the face
or seat frames may be made entirely of cast iron or other suitable metal or metals
in some cases, whilst in others, as, for example, where sea water has to be dealt with,
the shutters may be made of wood combined with brass or other suitable metal, and
the faces or seats may be formed on masonry. In some cases mechanism may be
added for tightening the fitting shutters or shutter, so as to be independent of the
water pressure, or so as with a single fitting shutter, combined with its back shutter,
to maintain the tightness when the direction of the water pressure is changed.
Thus, by giving one of the shutters a little more movement in closing than the

page_text: other, and making the inner shutter and the seat or face, or both inner and outer
shutters, of a suitable wedge or inclined form at the contact parts, the shutters can
be made to tighten each other; also, for one of the shutters there may be sub-
stituted a skeleton or open frame.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Francis Goold Morony Stoney in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th January 1878.
FRANCIS GOOLD MORONY STONEY, of the Westminster Chambers, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SLUICES OR WATER GATES."
My said Invention relates to certain arrangements of sluices or water gates, in
which sets of free rollers, such as are employed in the sluices described in the Speci-
fication of Letters Patent granted to me, and dated 10 September, 1874 (No. 3103),
are applied in a new inanner and in combination with improved general construc-
tions and arrangements of the various parts; the principal objects of my present
Invention being, whilst retaining the facility of working due to the free rollers, to
have the sluices tightened by the water pressure, and to cause the relieving of that
pressure on commencing to open by a simple action of the mechanism through which
the main opening action is effected.
Some modifications of my improved arrangements are designed for use where the
pressure, when there is any, is always in one direction; whilst in other modifications
there is a duplex arrangement of some of the parts enabling the sluices to act equally
well in whichever direction the pressure may bear on them.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, I hereunto append four Sheets of explanatory Drawings,
to be herein-after referred to, and representing various modifications of sluices as
made with my improvements.
In these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like
parts wherever they are repeated.
On Sheet of the accompanying Drawings there is shown a modification of my
improved sluices suitable for canal locks and similar cases, and having one seat or
face, or being suitable for sustaining pressure in one direction only.
Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections as at right angles to each other; and Figures
3 and 4 are horizontal sections, as at A- A, and B-B, in Figure 1 respectively.
The sluice is shown closed in Figures 1, 3, 4, and open in Figure 2. The sluice
comprises two shutters or closing plates, an inner or fitting shutter 1, which closes
watertight against the seat or face 2 of the sluice, opening, or waterway 3, and an
outer or back shutter 4. The inner and outer shutters 1, 4, are fitted together so
as to be capable of moving quite freely closer together, or further apart, and so as
to move up and down together. The inner shutter 1 is in this example represented
as made of cast iron, with flanges at its back, and the flanges round its edge enter
within flanges formed round the edges of the outer shutter 4, which is also of cast
iron, whilst the two shutters are also connected by short links 5 at their upper parts
in a manner that will be easily understood from the Drawing. The outer shutter 4
is formed with ribs or rails at its sides, to bear on the free rollers 7, which are
between such ribs 6 and stationary rails 8, fixed in the grooves or recesses 9, formed

page_text: at the sides of the waterway 3. The rollers 7 are arranged in frames, each consisting
of a pair of plates with the rollers between on pins, which connect, the plates;
and their movements are regulated in the manner described in my earlier Specifica-
tion herein-before referred to. That is to say, chains 10, having one end of each
connected to a fixed point, and the other to a bracket 11, formed or fixed on the
top of the outer shutter 4, pass round pulleys 12 at the tops of the roller frames, and
sustain the roller frames always in positions according with the proper motion of
the rollers, which is half that of the shutters.
The inner shutter 1 is made with a small opening 13, to which there is fitted a
small shutter or valve 14 for relieving the pressure when commencing to open the
sluice. This valve 14 is connected by (one or more) rods 15 to a piece 16, a little
above the inner shutter 1, which piece is formed on the lower end of a rack-toothed
bar 17 that is in gear with a pinion 18 of the gearing above, and serves for opening
and closing the sluice. The lower end 16 of this rack-toothed bar is forked, and
between the sides there is jointed a bell-crank locking catch 19, weighted so as to
tend to enter between a projection 20 on the top of the inner shutter 1, and its joint
pin. When an upward motion is imparted to the rack-toothed bar 17 (the sluice
being closed) it first raises the valve 14, so as to uncover the small opening 13 in
the shutter 1, and thereby relieve the pressure; the lifting rods 15 then act on the
inner shutter 1, and through the connecting links 5 on the outer shutter 4 also, and
the free rollers 7 then bear any pressure there is, and reduce to a minimum the
frictional resistance to the opening of the sluice, the weight of the moving parts
being counterbalanced by a weight 21 connected to the outer shutter 4 by chains
passing over pulleys 22 above. When lowering the sluice the locking catch 19
prevents the small valve 14 from being closed until on the shutter 1 nearly reaching
its lowest position the catch encounters a stationary stop 23, which then makes
it turn out clear of the projection 20 on the shutter 1, and allow the valve 14 to
close by the remaining downward movement of the rack-toothed bar 17. This
bar 17 passes up between the pinion 18, which acts on it, and an antifriction pulley
24 carried by the framing of the lifting gearing. Guides 25 are fixed in the
recesses 9, to prevent any accidental backward movements of the shutters; but in
ordinary working these guides will not be touched.
The lifting gearing may be modified in various ways. Thus in the arrangement
shown on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings, a shaft 26 having a crank handle
on it has fast on it a pinion gearing with a spur wheel 27 on the shaft of the
pinion 18, which acts on the rack bar 17. In the case of a comparatively small
sluice, however, or one fitted in piping, a vertical screw spindle worked directly by
a crank handle, or hand wheel, or through intervening gearing, may act on a nut
or internally screwed piece attached to the sluices by a long or short tube, or
otherwise. In other cases the counterbalance chains or other chains or rods may be
used for lifting the sluices.
In some modifications of my sluices adapted for acting with the pressure bearing
in either direction, there are in each case two tightening or fitting shutters, and
one back or middle shutter or frame, the last having lateral ribbed flanges which
are between two sets of free rollers at each side, so that in whichever direction the
pressure may act, the middle or back shutter bears on free rollers when the sluice
is being moved. In the case of sluices for canal locks or docks, the general con-
struction of the double-pressure or duplex-face sluices may be like that shown
on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings, and modifications suitable for compara-
tively small waterways or for pipes are immediately herein-after described.
On Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings there is shown a modification of my
duplex-face sluices as adapted for large pipes, Figures 5 and 6 being vertical sections
as at right angles to each other, whilst Figure 7 is a horizontal section as at the centre
of the water way; and Figure 8 is an elevation of a pair of sets of the free rollers. In
this modification the middle or back shutter, or frame 4, is a rectangular plate
formed with a central vertical tube to receive the screw spindle 17, by means of
which the sluice is moved; and there are also formed on the sides of the middle

page_text: plate 4 circular flanges 28 having fitted on them brass bands or rings 29, which
also fit on the outsides of the two shutters 1 and 31. These shutters 1, 31, are
shown as fitted with face rings of brass, and brass rings 30 are also fitted on the
seat rims 2 of the cast-iron casing of the sluice. The relief openings 13 are at the
centres of the shutters 1, 31, and the valves 14, which close those openings, are
formed on or attached to bars 15, which are fixed at their upper ends to an
internally screwed piece or nut 16, through which the screw spindle 17 is tapped.
The bars 15 pass through openings made for them in the brass bands 29, and are
formed with shoulders, which, on the valves 14 being raised to their open positions,
catch on the insides of the circular flanges 28 of the middle plate 4, and then raise
the entire sluice. (The locking catch 19 of the modification shown on Sheet 1 of the
Drawings is not required, when, as in this case, the sluice shutters are not counter-
balanced.) The middle frame 4 is made with a single rib 6 at each side, but each
rib is fitted with brass face strips; and there is a set of free rollers 7 on each side
of each rib 6, making in all four sets of free rollers, for which four stationary rails
or bearing surfaces 8 (having brass face strips) are provided in lateral recesses 9
formed in the cast-iron casing of the sluice. The chains 10, which regulate the
action of the free rollers 7, have each one end fixed at the top of the respective
stationary rail 8, whilst the other ends are attached to the top of the lateral ribs 6
of the middle frame 4. The screw spindle 17 passes through a stuffing box or
water-tight gland at the top of the sluice casing.
On Sheet 3 of the accompanying Drawings there is shown a modification of my
duplex-face sluices as adapted for large pipes, in which modification a third shutter
or middle or back frame (4) is dispensed with, one of the water tightly fitting
shutters 1 or 31 acting as the back frame (4) for the other.
Figures 9 and 10 are vertical sections as at right angles to each, and Figure 11
is a horizontal section, whilst Figure 12 is a side elevation of the combined
shutters and their free rollers.
The shutters 1, 31, are formed with cylindrical flanges 28 at their backs, the
flange of one being broader than that of the other to allow the internally screwed
piece or nut to pass through its upper part midway between the two seats 2. A
brass band or ring 29 fits on the two flanges 28, and thereby connects the two
shutters 1, 31, while allowing them to move nearer together or further apart. The
rods 15 of the relief valves 14 are constructed to engage or joggle into slots or
notches formed for them in the lower end of the nut piece 16. In the relief
passages 13, through the shutters, simple clack valves 32 are fitted to facilitate the
intended action; and the positions of the sets of free rollers 7 are transposed, as
compared with those of the modification shown in Sheet 2 of the Drawings, the
stationary rails for the rollers 7 to bear on being on the sides of a rib 8 formed
centrally in the recess 9 of the sluice casing, whilst each shutter, 1, 31, is formed
with a laterally projecting rib 6 to bear on the free rollers when the pressure
acts on it. When the screw spindle 17 is turned in the direction for opening the
sluice, it raises the nut piece 16, which first opens both valves 14, but that of the
passages 13 which is towards the part of the piping in which the pressure acts is
closed by the clack valve 32, so that the pressure tends to bear the shutter at that
side off its seat or face, and against the free rollers its ribs 6 are close to, and that
shutter then acts like the back shutter (4) in the first modification (Sheet 1 of the
Drawings) in relation to the other shutter (1).
Figures 13 and 14 on Sheet 4 of the accompanying Drawings are vertical and
horizontal sections of a modification of my improved sluices, which, as regards
action and relative arrangement of the parts, is substantially the same as that
shown on Sheet 3 of the Drawings, and herein-before described, but it is adapted
for canal locks or docks. The valves 14 of the relief openings 13 (which openings
have also clack valves 32 as in the next preceding modification) are connected by
spring blades to two lifting rods 15, and these two rods are either fixed at their
upper ends to a cross head formed or fixed on a single internally screwed piece or
nut 10, which is on a screw spindle 17, or the rods 15 are fixed to separate nuts 16

page_text: on two screw spindles 17. The shutters I, 31, are formed with snugs 33, which
the small valves 14 reach when fully opened, and it is by means of these snugs 33
that the shutters are lifted. Counterbalancing weights 21 are intended to be used
with this modification, as indicated by dotted lines, but of less weight than the
shutters, so that the shutters will reach their lowest positions before the small
valves 14 will close.
The shutters may however be completely counterbalanced, and have the
catch arrangement (19) as in the first modification.
In the cases of small sluices and submerged wooden sluices of various sizes, it is
unnecessary to counterbalance the weight of the shutters. The shutters and the
face or seat frames may be made entirely of cast iron, or other suitable metal or
metals in some cases, whilst in others, as for example, where sea water has to be
dealt with, the shutters may be made of wood combined with brass or other
suitable metal, and the faces or seats may be formed or fixed on masonry.
In some cases mechanism may be added for tightening the fitting shutters, so as
to be independent of the water pressure, or so as with a single fitting shutter,
combined with its back shutter, to maintain the tightness when the direction
of the water pressure is changed. Thus by giving one of the shutters a little more
movement in closing than the other, or a movement apart from that of the other
shutter, and making the inner shutter and the seat or face, or both inner and
outer shutters, of a suitable wedge or inclined form at the contact parts, the shutters
can be made to tighten each other. Also, for one of the shutters there may be
substituted a skeleton or open frame.
Figures 15 and 16 on Sheet 4 of the accompanying Drawings are vertical sections
of a modification of my improved sluices embodying some of the features last herein-
before indicated. In this case an open or skeleton frame 34 is substituted for one
of the two shutters, and the passage through is closed by a shutter 35 corresponding
to the back shutter (4) of modifications herein-before described. The shutter 35 is
suspended and raised and lowered by means of pitch chains 36 passing over sprocket
wheels or pitch chain pulleys 37 to a counterweight 21 on a shaft having a hand
wheel 38 on it. The free rollers 7 and their chains 10, and the rails or ribs 6 and
8 on the shutter 35, and fixed parts are arranged, as herein-before described, in
connection with the back shutter (4). The skeleton frame 34 is of a wedge form,
being thinner at its bottom, and it is worked by a rod 39, the upper end of which is
screwed and tapped through a nut in the boss of a hand wheel 40. The wedge-shaped
skeleton frame 34 requires to be moved up or down a short distance only; when
raised, it allows the shutter 34 to bear entirely on the free rollers 7; and when
lowered, it pushes the shutter 34 just free from bearing on the free rollers, so that
the entire pressure is then effective in keeping the shutter 34 tightly against the
skeleton frame 35, and in keeping this frame tightly against the fixed face or seat
2, the meeting faces of the seat 2 of each side of the frame 35, and of the inner side
of the shutter 34, being all made so as to fit together as tightly as possible. If
preferred the skeleton frame 35 and shutter 34 may be connected like the shutters
(1 and 4) in the first modification, and be raised and lowered together.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise
details herein described or delineated, but what I believe to be novel and original,
and claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
1. The arrangement of a sluice or water gate, in which one shutter is combined
with another shutter or a frame and with free rollers, substantially as and for the
purposes herein-before described with reference to Sheet 1 of the accompanying
Drawings.
2 The arrangement of a sluice or water gate in which two shutters, provided for
oppositely acting pressures, are combined with an intermediate shutter or frame,
and with duplicate sets of free rollers, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described with reference to Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: 3. The arrangement of a sluice or water gate, in which two shutters, provided for
oppositely acting pressures, are combined with duplicate sets of free rollers, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein-before described with reference to Sheet 3
and Figures 13 and 14 of Sheet 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
4. The modes of applying the pressure relieving valves (14) in connection with
the main raising and lowering mechanism, substantially as herein-before described.
5. The arrangement of a sluice or water gate, in which a wedge-shaped skeleton
frame is combined with a shutter and with free rollers, substantially as hercin-
before described with reference to Figures 15 and 16 on Sheet 4 of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Goold Morony Stoney, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.