Rapidly Lowering Watertight Lifting Doors on Ships' Bulkheads from any Part of the Ship.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Apr., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 14th June, 1887.
Rapidly Lowering Watertight Lifting Doors on Ships' Bulkheads
from any Part of the Ship.
We RALPH HILL CODRINGTON BALL Training School Engineer Students, Portsmouth
& 286 Brockley Road, Brockley, London S.E. Engineer Student and GEORGE JENNINGS
CODRINGTON BALL of 286 Brockley Road, Brockley, S.E. Clerk, 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, reference
being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification in which
similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the drawings:-
The objects to be gained in constructing the gear for lowering Vertical Watertight
doors of a ship substantially as hereinafter described are:-
1st. The doors can be lowered much more rapidly than in the ordinary way.
2nd. The speed of the door can be regulated as required.
3rd. All or any doors can be lowered from any part of the ship where the
indicator boards are fitted.
4th. The only work to be done in lowering of a door is the pressing down of a key.
5th. By means of the indicator board the Captain or any other officer can
ascertain whether any door is closed or not.
6th. Certainty of action. In no case does the working of the gear depend on
friction.
7th. The doors can still be closed by hand if required in the ordinary way..
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
The door is of the ordinary form. With the exception that the nut is replaced by
two worm wheels. When these worm wheels are kept from revolving they form a nut.
These worm wheels in revolving work pistons up and down in two cylinders by means
of eccentrics turned on their upper faces. The cylinders are each of them connected
top and bottom by means of a pipe, in the lead of which is a cock and a lowering
valve. Each valve is opened simultaneously by means of levers worked by electro
magnets. The wires working these magnets are led to the side of the door and make
contact with brass strips on the frame of the door by means of brushes; wires are
led from these strips through a battery, to indicator boards all over the ship. (Before
leaving the door one of the wires passes round an electro magnet on the bulkhead,
this magnet causes an electric bell to ring and so warn any person near that the door
is being closed. A switch passing through the bulkhead is also placed in this wire
so that the current could be broken till the person got to the other side of the.

page_text: bulkhead and then by moving the switch re-start the door.) These boards are fitted
with lowering keys and are so constructed that it can be ascertained whether a door
is shut or not. To shut any door, the key corresponding to that door is pressed; the
magnets on the door open the valves and the pistons move up and down in the cylinders
allowing the wheels to revolve. When the door reaches the bottom the valves
automatically close and the wheels form a nut. The door is then ready for lifting at
any time by turning the screw in an ordinary manner.
Fig. I. Is a general view of the arrangement shewing door open.
Fig. II. Is an enlarged view of the gear on the door with the bridge removed and
shewing the cylinders in section.
Fig. III. Is an enlarged view of magnets, lever and lowering valve, (shewn in
section).
.
Fig. IV. Is the Indicator Board with the details of the indicator.
The screw (S) is secured in the ordinary way to the bulkhead (i.e. by means of the
bracket A in which it revolves). The thread is the same shape as that of a worm.
On and near the top of the door and in a line which would be at right angles to the
axis of (S) and at such a distance apart that when the worm wheels (W_W¹) are
slipped over them the screw (S) will gear into each of them (as in Figs. I & II) ;
are secured by two studs (0 0¹) of such a length that when the wheels are in position
the studs will project above the eccentrics (E E¹) turned on the upper faces of the
worm wheels (WW1), the projecting ends of these studs fit into two holes in the
bridge (B) which is bolted on the door.
The eccentric straps and rods (Q Q¹) which are the same length are fastened on the
connecting bar (R) by means of pins.
When the screw is geared into the worm wheels (W W¹) the eccentric radius of
each wheel ought to be vertical and therefore parallel so that if the door were to slide
downwards and the wheels be free to revolve they would revolve outwards at the top,
and so the radii will always make equal angles with the vertical so also will the rods.
In Figs. I & II. the eccentric radii are shewn vertical.
To the two opposite ends of the bar (R) piston rods (P P¹) are attached which
work pistons (UU) up and down in the cylinders (C C).
These piston rods extend to the other side of the piston so as to make the effective
piston area on each side equal, and also to act as trail rods.
These pistons (U U¹) are made to work tight in the cylinders by the ordinary
method of hydraulic pistons (i.e. by means of cupped leathers top and bottom
secured by plates) not shewn in figures.
The cylinders (C C¹) are bolted on the door and have their axes parallel.
Each cylinder has its top and bottom connected by pipes (H H¹) in the leads of
which are stop cocks (G G¹) and equilibrium valves (F F¹).
The cocks (G G¹) are of the ordinary pattern.
A section of the equilibrium valves is shewn in Fig. III. The facings of the valves
to be of leather. The spring is to keep the valves in their seats and to shut them
when the pressure that opens them is withdrawn.
The valves are opened by means of the levers (T T¹) swinging on the fulcrums (h h³)
and whose other ends form armatures for the magnets (M M¹).
The magnets (M M¹) are placed in series, and in position as shewn in Fig. II.
and Fig. I.
The wires are led to the brushes (N N¹) secured to the door and insulated from it
(Fig. 1).
The brushes (N N¹) make contact with the brass strips (K K') let into the frame of
the door and parallel to it, and of such a length that when the door is shut the
contact is just broken.
• From these brass strips wires are led (Fig. 1) and approach one another at the
side of the door so that a lowering key (Z) may be attached to the bulkhead at a
2

page_text: RALPH HILL CODRINGTON BALL.
GEORGE JENNINGS CODRINGTON BALL.