A NEW APPARATUS FOR DEEPENING RIVERS, AND RENDERING THEM NAVIGABLE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Antonio Pelez, of 94, Mortimer Street, Cavendish
Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW
APPARATUS FOR DEEPENING RIVERS, AND RENDERING THEM NAVIGABLE."--
. A communication.
Sealed the 9th August 1858, and dated the 3rd April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Antonio Pelez at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
April 1858.
I, ANTONIO PELEZ, of 94, Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW APPARATUS FOR DEEPENING RIVERS, AND RENDERING THEM NAVIGABLE," a
communication, to be as follows:-
This apparatus is intended to open channels or passages in navigable rivers
when the water is too low to admit of the usual navigation. This operation
consists in removing the beds of sand from bars and difficult passages in rivers
when the water is shallow, so as to form a channel sufficiently wide and deep
to allow the free navigation of vessels.
The above-named apparatus will open a free passage in the shallowest water

page_text: and form a channel of from (20 centimètres) or 7 inches to (1 mètre) or
3 feet 3 inches in depth to a width of (10 metres) or 32 feet 6 inches.
FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE APPARATUS.
1st, a barge; 2d, two drags; 3d, a double cross beam; 4th, two bent
levers; 5th, two supports or iron columns; 6th, two rollers with came
wheels; 7th, a roller with a cog wheel and edge; 8th, a roller with a double
cog wheel and edges; 9th, three mooring screws.
This barge with its
(18 centimètres) or
The barge called "bateau chevaleur" or "passage opener "is (10 mètres)
or 82 feet 6 inches to (-12 mètres) or 39 feet in length, and from (3 or
4 mètres) or 9 feet 9 inches to 13 feet in breadth. It has a flat bottom,
straight sides, and forms a curve at each side of the bow.
apparatus draws from (16 centimètres) or 6½ inches to
7 inches of water at the utmost, and will commence to work at a depth of
(20 centimètres) or 7 inches. It is then easy (as we have already said
above, to open a free passage for navigation in the shallowest water by making
a channel of from (20 centimètres) or 74 inches to (1 metre) or 3 feet 3 inches
in depth and more on a width of (10 metres) or 32 feet six inches.
The barge with its apparatus can moreover, if necessary, be used to deepen
the bed of rivers, and give a sufficient depth of water to allow the establish-
ment of works for forming dykes, bars, &c.
The drags are made of wood set with iron. They are furnished at the
lower extremities with two borders. of. iron (8 centimètres) or 3 inches in
width, having the shape of a basil. These drags of from (2 metres) or 6 feet
6 inches to (2 metres 50 centimètres) or 8 feet 1 inches in length by
35 centimètres) or 134 inches to (40 centimètres) or 15 inches in height,
are fixed to a vertical iron shaft C, D, placed at (1 mètre) or 3 feet 3 inches
from the bow.
Six sailors are occupied working the barge, and placed in the following
manner: The most intelligent is in the bow of the barge to direct the
execution of the work, and to join the drags by the arms of the lever when
he is able to seize them. Two other sailors are placed as follows, one at
each roller, to raise and drive in the drags as they are wanted. The two
remaining sailors are placed at a double cog roller to widen the drags, and by
this means open the channel.
It should be remarked that whilst the drags are widening, and the ropes

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Antonio Pelez in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTONIO
PELEZ, of 94, Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Antonio Pelez, Her special licence that I, the said Antonio Pelez,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Antonio Pelez, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time 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 Ire-
land, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW
APPARATUS FOR DEEPENING RIVERS, AND RENDERING THEM NAVIGABLE," a com-
munication, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Antonio
Pelez, my executors 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 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 I, the said Antonio Pelez, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:
DESCRIPTION OF THE VESSEL AND APPARATUS..
Art. 1. The vessel.-It is a flat vessel from 13 to 20 yards in length, and
from 4 to 5 yards in width; the sides of the vessel are from 27 inches to
1 yard in height, and the head and stern are the same size.. The side

page_text: beams B' extend over the head and stern of the vessel from 1 yard to 1 yard
7 inches, in order to support the wooden beams A' & S".
Art. 2. The means by which the windlass D' is worked.-A shaft of
wood E, F, bound with iron at each end; at the head F two shafts O, O, are
fastened, worked by two horses, or, if preferred, four or six arms or spokes
can be substituted, in order to work the machine by men. These shafts or
arms can be attached in such a manner to the shaft that they may be turned
up when not in use. When worked by men the shaft E, F, need only be
about 1 yard 8 inches high, instead of 1 yard and a half. The shaft E, F, is
securely attached to an iron shaft K, on which the pinion L is fixed, working
the cog wheels attached to the iron shaft of the windlass D. To each of
these cog wheels a second upright cog wheel P' is fixed, uniting as one to
work the cog wheels A"". The cog wheels F' are fixed to the shaft of the
windlass D, in such a manner as to turn in an opposite direction to the shaft,
in order that by means of the pins of the windlass D, the windlass can be
turned the opposite way, so as to unroll the cord in proportion as the other
rolls it up, giving at the same time the necessary slackness to the cord. As
the windlasses revolve, the two drags H are moved one to the right, the other
to the left (see arrangement of the cords in the Drawings), one side crossing
to N, the other to M.
Art. 3. Shifting the windlasses.-Two bars of iron N, turning at the middle
on supports of wood to which they are attached; one end of the bars is fixed
to the windlasses, the other end to an iron shaft O, P, resting on two wooden
supports; at the extremity O is a three-wormed screw, moving in an iron nut,
resting on a wooden support X. At the end of the nut is a crank S, which
turns the nut without the latter moving from its place, thus causing the shaft
to advance, and by means of the bars N slide or shift the windlass either to
the right or left. The windlasses fix themselves by means of pins to the
cogwork, and thus wind and unwind the cord. A man placed at the crank S
should it be required, stop the windlass D, by preventing the teeth
from catching in either on one side or the other, although the shaft E, F,
continues to turn.
сап,
The apparatus just mentioned is placed inside the vessel, being covered
over with planks supported on beams traversing the vessel; around this plat-
form is placed a cord or chain on little supports of wood, serving as a guard
rail; on each side of the planks R are two hinges, which bend down by the
side of the vessel on the removal of two or three joists forming a support
underneath.

page_text: Art. 4. The apparatus for working the drags E.-In the middle of the
stern and at the head of the vessel.are fixed two pieces of wood T' from two
to three inches in thickness and about 9 inches in width, the part in the
vessel, and about 5 inches square the part projecting out of the vessel.
The pieces of wood T' project out of the vessel from one yard to one yard
seven inches (the same distance as the side beams B), and are distant from
each other from eighteen to twenty-two inches; between these two pieces the
mast. C is fixed; it is about four yards-in height, and is kept in its position by
chains and by a bolt passing through the mast and the two pieces T, and
fixed by iron nuts; before the mast is placed a little windlass R, having a
pinion and cogwork moved by the crank F. On the above mentioned pieces
B&T two wooden beams A are fixed from three to five inches square. At
the end of the beams A two moveable beams S"" are attached; the beams
S" are from three to five inches square, and they project from four to five
yards on cach side of the vessel; they are fastened to the ends of the beams
A by iron hinges. To the ends of the beams S" the wooden beams E of
from 3 to 4 inches square are fixed by screw bolts, as represented in the
plan; the other end is attached to the vessel by strong hinges. These beams
of wood S&E are kept at the desired height by means of ropes or chains
fastened to the ends of the beams S, afterwards passing through a pulley
placed a the head of the mast C. These ropes or chains coming from the
two sides unite in one, and fasten to the windlass R, thus when not working
the wooden pieces S"" & F can be raised by means of the windlass R..
Art. 5. The apparatus C moving on the beams A at the head and stern of
the vessel. Along the beams A & S a little bar, either round or square,
is fixed; these iron bars act as rails for the apparatus (see O', E,) to move on
by means of three little rollers placed on each side, as R under the apparatus
C, the one in the middle is about an inch larger in diameter than those
placed at the side; this is done in order to make the opposite side to the onc
dragged a little lower by the weight of the man placed on the apparatus C
guiding the wheel U, thus giving good hold to the drags when they are moved.
from right to left.
The wheel U is fixed to the top of the nut at the end of the piece of wood
V; this screw nut revolves by means of the wheel, at the same time does not
move from its place, and in this manner makes the rod of iron I move up or
down.
The rod I is passed through a socket R, which is attached to the piece of
wood D by a screw bolt & nut; at the extremity of this bolt is fixed a little

page_text: roller moving under the wooden beams A & S, in order that the apparatus C
may not move out of its place in case of resistance.
The cords moving the drags backwards & forwards, and those drawing the
apparatus C, as represented in the plan, are spliced together at a certain
distance g in such a manner as to form but one cord on the windlass D. The
cords attached to the apparatus C are only to draw it in proportion as the
drags are moved. It is to be remarked that the drags H move together, one
to the right, the other to the left, thus obtaining the same result on each side
by shifting the windlasses, as spoken of in Art. 3.
When no longer at work, the drags can, should it be required, be raised up
above the water between the pieces T; one of the drags may also be used as
a rudder simply by adding a handle to the top of the rod I.
The drags are coated with sheet iron at the bottom and four inches up the
sides. The drags can be worked to any depth by giving the necessary length
to the rod I. It is needless to say that the drag at the stern is worked in the
same manner as the one at the head of the vessel.
firmly attached to the bottom of the
Art. 6. Means of mooring the vessel.-The vessel is moored by means of
two screws of four worms, with a wheel X, or else by two beams of wood
strongly tipped with iron, worked by a rack pinion with cogwork & crank;
the screw, however, is preferable. It is thus arranged:-The screw passes in
a nut fixed firmly in the middle of the beam M; this beam is again fixed in
the two sides of the vessel, and all is
boat. In order to prevent the water from penetrating through the bottom of
the vessel, a tube of sheet iron is fixed to the beam M, and again at the
bottom of the vessel; in this tube the screw turns. When the screw is no
longer used it can be raised to the level of the bottom of the vessel. The
vessel is moored by means of the screws or beams in order to remain firm,
whatever the amount of resistance may be with which the drags may meet;
the screws may therefore be considered the heart of the Invention.
Art. 7. The manner of working the vessel.-For this purpose three men
are employed; one is placed at the apparatus C at the head of the vessel,
another at C at the stern, in order to guide the nut screw through which the
rod of the drags passes, as mentioned in Art. 5. The third man is placed at
the crank S to shift the windlass, as spoken of in Art. 3. Two horses are
attached to the shafts O to turn the shaft E, F, thus working the windlasses
D, or instead of the two horses four or six men, as spoken of in Art. 2..
Art. 8. The use of the vessel.-The vessel is used for clearing a passage
for navigation in rivers, canals, & arms of the sea, where mud, sand, and

page_text: shingle prevent vessels from coming; also to make an opening for dykes or
any other construction of that kind, and lastly to remove the sand which often
prevents the free circulation of water in mill streams.
In witness whereof, I, the said Antonio Pelez, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 20th day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
ANTONIO PELEZ. (L.S.)