provements in and relating to Automatic Olosing Apparatus for use with Hinged Watertight Doors of Ships' Bulkheads.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 8th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 8th Dec., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in and relating to Automatic Olosing Apparatus for use
with Hinged Watertight Doors of Ships' Bulkheads.
I, JOHN HOLSALL HIND, 52, St. Vincent Street, Barrow-in-Furness, in the
County of Lancaster, Foreman Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an automatic closing device or apparatus for use with
hinged watertight doors of ships' bulkheads. In carrying out my said invention
I employ a metal door carried on upper and lower hinges. The tightening up
of the door against the bulkhead is effected by the employment of projecting
wedge pieces fastened to the sides of the door the said wedge pieces dropping
into clips or hooks fastened to the bulkhead and being formed with suitably
shaped tapered openings. When the door is to be opened it is first of all raised
or lifted clear of the clips by means of a hand lever and cam mounted on the
lower part of the door an opening or slot through the lower part of the hinge pin
bearings being provided to allow of the upward movement of the door which
when swung round to its open position remains suspended on its hinges above
the level of the clips. Mounted on the bulkhead over the central upper part of
the door opening is another hand lever and cam but in this case the lever
arm carries
a weight the purpose of the said weighted lover aud cam
being to press down the door automatically into its wedge-shaped seatings and
so to tighten it up and make it watertight against its bulkhead. Before the
door can be raised for opening purposes the upper weighted lever has to be lifted
out of the way and an arm or finger projecting from the cam end of the lever
slips under the upper hooked end of a pivoted detent and so retains the weighted
Jever clear of the door and in an approximately horizontal position. When the
door is pushed to for closing purposes a finger bracket on the upper part of the
door strikes and presses backward the lower end of the pivoted detent and so
releases the weighted lever which thereupon drops down and-by means of its
cam-presses the door into its tapered seatings. The lever apparatus above
referred to is so arranged as to allow of its being operated from either side of
the bulkhead.
In some cases I make the door-mounted and arranged as above described-to
open against the pressure of one or more springs and arrange one end of a hori-
zontally disposed pivoted lever to slip into a notch or opening in a suitable angle
bracket fastened to the side of the door so that the door may be retained in its
wide open position until the lever is raised so as to disengage the lever from its
notch and so let the door be at liberty to fly back to its former closed position.
The releasing movement of the pivoted lever may be effected by hand from any
part of the slip by means of a suitable wire cord and pulley arrangement in con-
junction with a stuffing box bearing to prevent water from rising from one com-
partment into another or it may be effected automatically by means of float
mechanism actuated by water rising in the compartment above a certain level.

page_text: The float apparatus I preferably employ is constructed as follows: Within a
vertically disposed circular box or chamber fastened against the bulkhead I
arrange an airtight drum or float whose upper end carries a vertical finger the
upper extremity of which enters a notch or groove on the underside of the long
arm of the pivoted lever. The float chamber is open at the top and I preferably
provide a tube axially of the float so as to allow of the freer ingress of water to
the lower part of the float so that the latter may be the more rapidly actuated or
raised. The lower end of the Hoat chamber is also open but is provided with
an annular valve seating upon which rests a disc valve having an interposed ring
of india-rubber or other suitable material. Depending from the centre of the disc
is a finger or spindle and a helical spring affords the required downward pres-
sure of the disc valve on its seating the arrangement affording a convenient
means for emptying the float chamber of its liquid contents as required by press-
ing upwardly the depending end of the disc valve spindle against the pressure
of the helical spring. As the water rises in the compartment above a certain
level the lifting of the float as the water enters the float chamber causes the
upward movement of the long arm of the pivoted lever and the consequent dis-
engaging of the other end of the lever from its uotch in the door thus releasing
the latter and allowing it to bang to under the pressure of its springs and to
assume automatically its closed and locked position as hereinbefore described.
Dated this 8th day of December 1897.
Improvements in and relating to Automatic Olosing Apparatus for use
with Hinged Watertight Doors of Ships' Bulkheads.
I, JOHN HOLSALL HIND, 52, St. Vincent Street, Barrow-in-Furness, in the
County of Lancaster, Foreman Engineer, 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:- -
This invention relates to automatic closing apparatus for use with hinged
watertight doors of ship's bulkheads, and it has for object to enable such doora
when swung against the bulkheads into position for closing the openings therein
to become automatically locked and tightened up against the bulkheads so as to
effect a watertight closure.
According thereto 1 provide a bulkhead with apparatus which I shall now
describe by the aid of the accompanying illustrative drawings in which Fig. I
shows in front elevation, a hinged watertight door with automatic closing appa-
ratus according to this invention, the door being shown in its closed position
and tightened against a bulkhead. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the door and
bulkhead, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line AA of Fig. 1. Figs. 4
and 5 are horizontal sections on the lines BB and CC respectively of Fig. 1.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show one of the door hinges to an enlarged scale in front eleva-
tion, end elevation and plan respectively.
In the arrangement shown, 1 is a metal door provided with upper and lower
hinges comprising hinge pieces 2 fixed to the door, brackets fixed to the
bulknend door frame 1º, and hinge pins 4, these parts being so constructed and
arranged that the door can be raised and lowered and supported upon the said

page_text: brackets. For this purpose the brackets 3 are each provided with lugs 5 and 6
arranged at a suitable distance apart and the lower one of which viz. & is formed
with a recess 6* to receive the eve 2 of the corresponding hinge piece 2, a slot
or groove 6b at the side of the lug 6 enabling the said hinge piece to rise and
fall. The arrangement is such that when the door is raised in order to open
it, the eyes 2 of the upper and lower hinge pieces 2 rise out of the lugs 6 of
the two brackets 3 so that the door can then be swung open and supported in its
raised and open position by means of the hinge pieces 2 resting upon the lower
lugs 6, whilst upon shutting the door the said slots 6 allow the door to fall.
The door is tightened up against the bulkhead door frame 1 by means of
laterally projecting wedge pieces 7 fastened to the sides of the door and adapted
to drop into clips or hooks 8 that are fastened to the bulkhead door frame and
are formed with suitably inclined inner sides 8* (Fig. 2). For the same purpose
each hinge piece 2 is formed with a wedge shaped or inclined portion 2b, cachi
lug 6 having a correspondingly inclined part 6 and the holes in the lugs of each
bracket through which the hinge pin 4 passes being suitably elongated as shown
in dotted lines. The bearing faces of the clips or hooks 8 and of the lugs 6 may
advantageously be faced, as shown, with renewable plates of brass or the like
to compensate for wear. The arrangement is such that when the door 1 is
moved into the closed attitude and lowered, the wedges enter the clips and hooks
and by being forced into their seating automatically by the apparatus herein-
after described, the door is pressed tightly against its seating 1 on the bulk-
head 1°.
When the door is to be opened, it is first raised until the wedges 7 and hinge
pieces 2 are respectively clear of or above the clips 8 and lugs 6 which is done by
means of a hand lever 9, or there may be two such levers, as shown, provided
with a cam 10 and axial pin 11 mounted in a bearing 1 at the lower part of
the door, the openings or slots 6 in the lower part of the hinge pin bearings
or lugs 6 allowing of the upward movement of the door. As shown in Figs. 1,
3 and 4, the pin 11 is extended through the door, the lever 9 and cam 10 being
at the back of the door and the lever 9* at the front, so that the door can be
operated from either side thereof. To return the levers to their normal position,
there is provided a balance weight 12 that may be fastened to or formed in one
with the lever 9" and which tends to pull the levers into the position shown in
Fig. 1 and against a suitably arranged stop 13. The arrangement as will be seen
is such that when either lever is pulled in a direction away from the stop 13,
the cam 10 will be caused to bear against the framing of the bulkhead which acts
as a fulcrum for the lever which upon being further pulled, will raise the door
which can then he swung round to its open position in which it will remain
suspended on its hinges with the wedges 7 above the level of the clips 8.
For the purpose of automatically tightening up the door when the same is
swung into the closed position, there is arranged over the central upper part of
the door opening, anotlier hand lever 14 provided with a cau 15 and axial pin 16
mounted in bearings 17 on the bulkhead 1, the said lever arm being provided
with a weight 18 for the purpose of pressing down the door automatically through
the cam 15 and thereby forcing the wedges 2b and 7 into the inclined seatings
so as to close or tighten up the door and effect a watertight closure of the open-
ing in the bulkhead. Before the door can be raised into position for opening,
the upperweighted lever 14 must be lifted out of the way, whereupon an arm or
finger 19 that projects from the upper end of the said lever engages under an
upper hooked end 20 of a pivoted detent 21 and holds up the weightod lever 14
clear of the door and in an approximately horizontal position.
In order that the weighted lever 14 may act automatically when the door is
swung against the bulkhead, there is fixed at the upper side of the door a pro-
jecting bracket 22 which strikes and presses backward the lower end 21° of the
pivoted detent 21 thereby releasing the arm 19 of the weighted lever which latter
then falls and presses its cam upon the top of the door which is thereby tightened

page_text: by the wedge action hereinbefore described. The lower part 21 of the detent 21
is connected to the latter by a pin and slot 21 so as to allow the said part 21"
to be raised by the bracket 22, when the door is being raised, without releasing
the weighted lever. When the door is opened this part 21 is free to fall again
into the path of the said bracket. This lever apparatus is provided with another
lever 14 at the back of the door so as to allow of its being operated from either
side of the bulkhead.
In some cases the door, mounted and provided with apparatus as herein above
described, is arranged to open against the pressure of one or more springs and to
be held by suitable means in the open position, the said holding means being
released either by hand or automatically. The spring 23 shown in Figs. 1 and
for closing the door, is a double spring with its coils arranged upon a vertical
spindle 23 carried by brackets 23h fixed to the bulkhead door frame 1". A
notched wheel 23" is placed upon the spindle 23, the middle part of the spring
being held in one of the notches of the said wheel which is prevented from rotat-
ing by means of a pin 23 engaging with another notch therein. The ends of the
spring are held against the door, by eyes 23 of sufficient length to allow for the
vertical movements of the door.
Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation and Fig. 10 a plan showing one arrangement of
apparatus suitable for holding the door in the open position against the action
of the spring (or equivalent) and for releasing it to be closed by the spring.
For these purposes a lever 24 is mounted upon a horizontal pin 25 carried by
the bulkhead. Upon the front of the door there is fixed an angle bracket 26
having an opening or notch 26 in its horizontally projecting flange into which
enters the end 24" of the lever 24 when the door is opened and swung back
against the bulkhead. A roller 24 at the said end of the lever serves to reduce
friction. It will be seen that when the end 24" is raised, the lever 24 will be
disengaged from the notch 26" and so release the door which will then be returned
sharply by the spring 23 into its closed position.
The releasing movement of the pivoted lever 24 may be effected by hand from
any part of the ship by means for example of a wire cord 27 led over a suitable
guide pulley, the pendent link 27", which is hooked at its lower end into a
shackle 27 on the lever, passing through a stuffing box 28 which prevents water
rising from one compartment into another. The weight of the link, shackle
and lever arm to which these parts are connected is suflicient to retain these
parts to the locking position when the cord is released. Or the releasing move-
ment may be effected automatically by means of float apparatus that will be
actunted when water rises in the compartment above a certain level. The float
apparatus may advantageously comprise a vertical circular box or chamber 29
fastened against the bulkhead and in which is arranged an airtight drum or
float 30 carrying at its upper end a stem or finger 20 the upper extremity of which
is arranged immediately under the long arm 24 of the lever 24, or it may enter
a notch or groove 24 in the underside of the said long arm of the lever. The
float chamber 29 is open at the top and the float is preferably provided with a
vertical tube 30 to allow of the free ingress of water to the lower part of the
chamber whereby the float may be the more readily actuated or raised.
lower end of the float chamber is provided with openings 29° and an annular valve
seating 29 upon which rests a disc valve 31 having an interposed ring 31" of
india rubber or other suitable material. Depending from the centre of the dise
valve is a stem or spindle 32 surrounded by a helical spring 33 which nor-
mally holds the disc valve on its seat, the arrangement enabling the float cham-
ber to be emptied of its liquid contents as required by pressing the depending
end of the valve spindle 32 upwardly against the pressure of the helical spring.
The arrangement is such that as the water rises above a certain level in the
compartment in which the apparatus is fitted, it will lift the float 30 and cause
the upward movement of the long arm of the pivoted lever 24 thereby disen-
gaging the other arm of the lever from the notch 26* and releasing the door
The

page_text: which is then sharply swung by the spring 23 against the bulkhead whereupon
it is tightened up automatically in the manner herein before described.
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. For automatically closing a hinged door in a water tight manner against
a bulkhead, apparatus comprising a weighted lever pivotally mounted on the
bulkhead and adapted to act on the door, means for holding the said lever in a
raised position clear of or above the door, and means for releasing the raised
lever when the door is swung against the bulkhead into a position suitable for
closing, the arrangement being such that when the door is so swung the weighted
lever will be automatically released and will act upon the door and cause suitable
wedge pieces and clips or holders provided upon the door and bulkhead respec-
tively, or vice versu, to be forced into engagement with each other so as to cause
the door to become tightened up against its seating on the bulkhead and effect
a water tight joint therewith, substantially as described.
2. In apparatus for closing hinged water-tight doors of ships' bulkheads, the
combination with a hinged door adapted to be automatically closed in a water
tight manner as specified in the preceding claim, of one
moving the door into its closed position and a lever pivoted to the bulkhead and
or more springs for
adapted to hold open the door against the action of the spring or springs and
which is capable of being operated, to release the door, by hand from any con-
venient part of the ship through ropes the connections of which pass through
one or more stuffing boxes, or automatically by float apparatus adapted to come
into action when water attains a predetermined height in the compartment in
which the float apparatus is arranged, substantially as herein described.
3. Apparatus for automatically closing and tightening a hinged door against
a ships bulkhead, constructed arranged and operating substantially as herein-
before described with reference to and shown in Figs. 1 to S inclusive, of the
accompanying drawings, with or without the means hereinbefore described with
reference to and shown in Figs. and 10 for holding the door open, for releasing
the door, and for swinging it into a position suitable for being closed or tightened
up against the bulkhead as set forth.
I
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