Improvements in Bulkhead Doors.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 25th May, 1899-Accepted, 1st July, 1899
Improvements in Bulkhead Doors.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been com-
municated to me from abroad by John Seiser Mucklé, Mark Richards Mucklé,
Junior, and Thomas Carpenter Smith, all of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United
States of America, Engineers), and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of this invention is to so construct the doors of ships bulkheads as
to prevent the flow of water from one bulkhead to another through the doorway,
and with this object two doors are provided, one hinged on one side of the bulk-
head and the other hinged on the opposite side of the bulkhead.
A further object of this invention is to prevent the opening of one door without
closing the other, leaving sufficient space however, to enable a person to pass
from one compartment to the other and the moment the person passes through the
doorway the released door will close.
In the accompanying drawings;-Figure 1 is a view in elevation of part of a
bulkhead shewing one door. Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 with one
door removed shewing the inner side of the other door. Figure 3 is a sectional plan
(the section being taken on the line 3-3 Figure 1) shewing both doors closed.
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 with one of the doors opened. Figure 5
is a section on the line 5-5 Figure 1 shewing one door locked by clamps. Figure 6
is a vertical section shewing pulleys one above the other and two weights.
Figure 7 is a view shewing the manner of applying knobs to the doors and
Figure 8 is a modification shewing the rope attached to one door and passing over a
pulley on the other door and provided with a weight.
Bulkheads upon ships, especially warships, are provided with small doorways
through which a person can pass from one water-tight compartment to another,
and these doorways are supposed to be normally closed but in many instances the
doors are carelessly left open.
By this invention locks and other fastenings are entirely dispensed with for
ordinary use and two doors are provided one hinged on one side of the bulkhead,
and the other hinged on the opposite side of the bulkhead the doors being connected
by mechanism that will close both doors tightly against the bulkhead, but either
one, or the other of the doors can be opened in case a person wishes to pass through
the doorway. The opening of one door tends to close the other and the moment
the door is released it will automatically close. Thus by providing the two doors
any leakage of water in one compartment will, when the water rises to a point above
the bottom of the door, tend to force the door, in the compartment in which the
leakage occurs, tightly against the bulkhead. Clamps are provided for each door
so that the doors on the opposite side of the partition can be rigidly clamped to
the bulkhead if a leak be discovered, thus, should water leak past the first
mentioned door, the clamped door will prevent water from entering the other com-
partment

page_text: Referring now to the drawings. A is the bulkhead, made in any suitable manner,
and having a doorway a, of a size sufficient to allow a person to pass from one
compartment to the other. 13 B' are doors adapted to close the compartments, the
door B, is hinged at b, on one side of the bulkhead, and the door B, is hinged
at ', on the opposite side of the bulkhead.
On the bulkhead surrounding the doorway, or on each door is preferably mounted
a flexible water tight packing strip c which may be of rubber, and the hinges bb
of the doors are double pivoted hinges so that they will accommodate themselves
to the packing c, thus making a water-tight joint between the doors and the
bulkhead.
Near the upper edge of each door pulleys d d are mounted which where the
thickness of the bulkhead will permit can be mounted directly opposite each other,
or if the bulkhead he narrow, they can be arranged one below another, as shewn
in Figures 4 and 6. Passing around these pulleys is a wire rope, or chain, d³,
attached to weights d², adapted to guideways e on each door, so that the tendency
of the two weights, whether one or the other door be opened, is to close the open
door and, if one door be opened before the other is completely closed, the weights
will act to close both doors. Springs, or weighted levers, may be substituted for
the weights if desired.
As a precaution against leakage each door is provided with bolts F of any
suitable construction, preferably of the sliding type, as shewn in Figures 1 and 5
and on the bulkhead are keepers f; the said bolts being tapered so that, when they
are forced into their keepers, they will force the doors tight against the packing c.
thus making an absolutely water tight joint.
I have shewn three of these bolts on the door, two on one side and one on the
opposite side, but it will be understood that any number of bolts may be used as
desired.
In some instances knobs may be provided for the doors. As shewn in Figure 7
a double knob G is used the spindle 9 passing through an opening in the door,
with washers g¹ on each side to prevent leakage.
It will thus be seen that by this invention locks which might be carelessly left
unfastened are entirely dispensed with and two hinged doors are provided one on
one side of the bulkhead and the other on the opposite side of the bulkhead and
the doors are so connected that on the opening of one the other will be closed, and
as soon as the last door is released, it will also be closed, so that, in the event of
leakage in either compartment one, or other, of the doors will be forced against
the bulkhead.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The combination in a bulkhead, of two doors, one on each side of the bulk-
head and hinged so as to swing outwards, and connections between the doors
whereby they are normally both held closed and whereby the opening of one door
will tend to close the other substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The combination of a bulkhead, two doors, one on each side of the bulkhead,
and hinged so as to swing outwards, a weighted rope or chain connected to both
doors, and so arranged that the opening of one door will tend to close the other, and
the moment either door is released it will be automatically closed substantially as
hereinbefore described.
3. The combination in a bulkhead, of two doors, one hinged on one side of the
bulkhead and the other on the opposite side thereof, a guide on each door, one
rope or chain passing through both guides and a weight suspended from each end
of the said rope or chain substantially as hereinbefore described.
4. The combination of a bulkhead, packing strips on each side of the bulkhead
surrounding the doorway, two doors, one mounted on one side of the bulkhead
and the other on the opposite side, double jointed hinges for the doors, pulleys

page_text: secured to the inner side of each door, slideways on each door, a weight adapted
to each slideway and a rope or chain secured to the weights and passing over the
two pulleys, substantially as herein before described.
5. The combination in a bulkhead, of two doors, one hinged on one side of the
bulkhead and the other on the opposite side thereof, a pulley on each door, the
pulley on one door being mounted above the pulley on the other door, and a
weighted rope or chain passing around the said pulleys substantially as herein-
before described.
11: 0511
1000
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.