Improvements in Dredging Machinery.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Mar., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 16th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Dredging Machinery.
I, ANDREW BETTS BROWN, of Rosebank Iron Works, Edinburgh in the County
of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows, that is to say :-
My said invention has for its object to apply to dredging machinery improved
apparatus for working and controlling the bottom doors through which the dredged
materials are discharged.
In carrying out my invention 1 have placed on sufficiently strong framework
over the series of discharge doors a vertical hydraulic cylinder for each door, the
ram of the cylinder being directly connected to the door by preference at a point
midway between the hinge and the outer edge of the door. In order to secure each
door firmly and tightly when in its closed position, a wedging and locking or
equivalent device is applied, consisting by preference of a horizontal wedge or pair
of wedges moved by means of a horizontal hydraulic cylinder under a roller or pair
of rollers on the rod or rods connecting the vertical ram to the door. As soon as,
in closing a door, the rods are raised high enough the wedges are forced under the
rollers and hold the door closed independently of the vertical cylinder.
The several cylinders can be controlled all together or in groups from a bridge
or other position, by arranging valves there and connecting them by pipes to the
cylinders. By applying the rods to the middles of the doors each door is held up
with equal force on all four sides.
Dated this Nineteenth day of March 1892.
111
EDMUND HUNI,
Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Dredging Machinery.
I, ANDREW BETTS BROWN, of Rosebank Iron Works, Edinburgh, in the County
of Mid Lothian, North Britain, 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, that is to say :-
My said invention has for its object to apply to dredging machinery improved
apparatus for working and controlling the bottom doors through which the dredged
materials are discharged.
In carrying out my invention I have placed over each of the discharge doors a
vertical hydraulic cylinder, the ram of which is connected to the middle of the door
in a manner so as to control it. The door, when closed, is locked and held up by a
horizontal wedge, or pair of wedges, moved by a horizontal hydraulic cylinder
under a roller or pair of rollers fixed to the rod or rods connecting the vertical ram
to the door.
And in order that my said invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, I hereunto append two sheets of explanatory drawings,
to be hereinafter referred to, and showing my improvements in dredging machinery.
Figure, 1, of the drawings is a plan of a part of a dredger as fitted with my
improvements, and Figure, 2, is a sectional elevation of the parts appertaining to
one bottom door. Figure, 3, is a plan, Figures, 4, and 5, sectional elevations, as at
right angles to each other, and Figure, 6, a horizontal section of the improved
apparatus drawn to a larger scale.

page_text: In these drawings the same reference letters are used to mark the same or like
parts wherever they are repeated.
As shown in the drawings I have placed on sufficiently strong framework, A,
over each of the series of discharge doors, B, a base frame or stool, C, having fixed
to it a vertical hydraulic cylinder, D. The upper end of the ram, E, has fixed to
it a crosshead, F, to which are connected side rods, G, whose bottom ends are
joined by a block, H, in which is fixed a shackle, J, adjustable vertically. The
shackle, J, is connected by a chain, K, to the discharge door, B, by preference at
a point midway between the hinge, L, and the outer edge of the door. In order to
secure each door, B, firmly and tightly when in its closed position, a wedging and
locking (or equivalent) device is applied. This device consists in the example
shown in the drawings of a horizontal wedge, M, formed on (or it might be fixed
to) the ram N, of a horizontal hydraulic cylinder, P, the wedge being moved under
a roller, Q, fitted to the rods, G, which with the shackle, J, and chain, K, connect
the vertical ram, E, to the door, B. As soon as, in closing a door, B, the rods, G,
are raised high enough, the wedge, M, is forced under the roller, Q, by the ram, N,
of the hydraulic cylinder, P, and holds the door, Q, closed, independently of the
vertical cylinder, D, The horizontal hydraulic cylinder, P, is securely fixed to
the framework, A, and is also bound to the stool, C, by tie rods, R, which pass
through lugs, S, formed on the cylinder, and lugs, T, formed on the stool.
The several cylinders, P, and, D, can be controlled all together or in groups
from a bridge or other position by arranging valves there, and connecting them by
pipes (not shown) to the cylinders. By applying the chains, K, from the rods, G,
to the middles of the doors, B, each door is held up with equal force on all four
sides.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
-
1. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting my improvements in
dredging machinery, substantially as, and for the purposes bereinbefore described.
2. For working and controlling the bottom doors in dredging machinery,
vertical hydraulic cylinders each having its ram connected to a discharge door and
having combined with it a horizontally movable wedge or locking device sub-
stantially as, and for the purposes hereinbefore described and as shown in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this Fifteenth day of December 1892.
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent.