improvements in Apparatus for Removing Barnacles, Sea Weed, and Foreign Matter from the Hulls of Ships and Navigable Vessels
Year: 1884

page_text: improvements in Apparatus for Removing Barnacles, Sea Weed,
and Foreign Matter from the Hulls of Ships and Navigable
Vessels.
"E
I WILLIAM ADAIR of Neptune Street Liverpool in the County of Lancaster
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR REMOVING BARNACLES SEA WEED AND FOREIGN MATTER FROM
THE HULLS OF SHIPS AND NAVIGABLE VESSELS to be as follows:-
The apparatus consists of two flat beards or metal sheets or plates secured
together in such manner that the forward ends are closer together than the after
ends so as to give the angle necessary to obtain the requisite pressure from the
action of the water to keep the apparatus against the ships side. Between the
above mentioned plates or sheets a balanced rudder is hung. On the forward end
of the apparatus is the bridle by which the whole machine is secured to the line or
cord regulating the position of the said apparatus on ships side. On the board or
plate are secured longitudinally knives or scrapers and brushes or matting if
necessary for scrubbing the sides of the ship or vessel. The action of the knives
or scrapers is regulated by runners secured to the said board or plate so that
barnacles, sea weed, or other foreign matter can be removed without injuring the
paint. Lines are attached to the rudder for giving motion thereto.
The machine when launched on the surface of the water with the rudder
horizontal will float close to the ships side but by tilting the rudder up with the
after line it will rapidly descend cleaning off any foreign matter clinging to the
hull, when it reaches the keel the rudder is tilted in the opposite direction, and
causes the apparatus to ascend rapidly to the surface thereby giving a thorough
cleansing in the track it has made. By releasing the forward line and allowing
the machine to drop astern the length of itself and repeating the aforesaid
operations the whole of the side is perfectly cleaned with ease and rapidity as
the machine travels from water line to keel and from keel to water line in a few
seconds. After one side of the ships hull is cleaned the machine is transferred to
the other side and the operation completed.

page_text: I WILLIAM ADAIR of Neptune Street Liverpool in the County of Lancaster
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
"
IN APPARATUS FOR REMOVING BARNACLES, SEA WEED AND FOREIGN MATTER FROM
THE HULLS OF SHIPS AND NAVIGABLE VESSELS and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:―
The apparatus consists of two flat boards or metal sheets or plates secured apart
in such manner that the forward ends are nearer to each other then the after ends
so as to give the angle necessary to obtain the requisite pressure from the action of
the water to keep the apparatus against the ships' side. Between the above
mentioned boards sheets or plates a balanced rudder is hung-On the forward end
of the apparatus is the bridle by which the whole machine is secured to the line
or cord regulating the position of the said apparatus on the ships' side-On the
board or plate are secured longitudinally knives or scrapers and brushes or matting
if necessary for scrubbing the sides of the ship or vessel-The action of the knives
or scrapers is regulated by runners secured to the said board or plate so that
barnacles sea weed or other foreign matter can be removed without injuring the
paint-Lines are attached to the rudder for giving motion thereto.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view, Fig. 2 a plan and Fig. 3 a side elevation of
apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention a, b, are two flat boards
or metal sheets secured together by pillars and nuts c in such manner that the
forward ends a, b are nearer to each other than the after ends a' b¹-Between the.
boards or sheets or plates a, b on the pivot d is hung a balanced rudder e f bridle
on the forward end of the apparatus g securing cord i knives or scrapers runners
secured to the plate a by screws or their equivalents-Brushes or matting may
be used in addition to or instead of the scrapers. k, lines attached one to each
end of the rudder e.
The apparatus is used as follows-A block is rigged to the lower end of the
Martingale of the Ship or Vessel-A suitable line or light wire rope is rove through
the block and attached at one end g to the bridle f, of the apparatus, the other end of
the line or wire rope is belayed on deck-The apparatus is launched overboard into
the water-As will be seen the pressure of the water on the inclined board sheet or
plate b as the vessel passes through the water will cause the apparatus to be pressed
against the ships' side-The aft rudder line is pulled so that the rudder is in the
position shown in Figs. 1 and 3-The action on the rudder causes the apparatus to
descend and remove the barnacles sea-weed and foreign matter-The forward
rudder line k is then pulled and the position of the rudder reversed so that the

page_text: machine is caused to rise to the surface-The block line f is released the apparatus
allowed to drift astern its own length and the operations again repeated-After
one side of the ship's hull is cleaned the apparatus is transferred to the other side.
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
First. Apparatus for removing foreign matter from ships' bulls constructed
substantially as herein set forth.
Second. The combination of the boards sheets or plates a 6 connections c pivot d
and rudder e substantially as set forth.