Year: 1888

page_text: I, JOHN STANDFIELD, of 6 Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows
For a canal lift I used a tank of water which may contain the vessel or barge to be
raised and I buoy it up or place it in a state of equilibrium by a submerged buoy I
entirely submerge the buoy and by means of a pillar or number of pillars or a
wrought iron frame I connect it with the water tink to be raised ind lowered which
15 projected the desired height above the level of the water in which the buoy 18
submerged
As the submerged buoy or buoyant structure does not practically increase or
decrease in size, it has practically the same buoyancy if submerged one hundred feet
as if submerged one foot, and if the elasticity of the buoy causes it to diminish in
size as it descends, the pillars or supports between the buoy and the weight to be
raised and lowered may be of such a size as to compensate for the loss of buoyancy,
and in this way the heaviest structures may be always exactly balanced so that a very
slight application of additional power will cause the whole structure to either ascend
or descend.
For raising vessels boats or barges in a tank of water I should sink a cylinder
of considerable diameter in which I should place by preference a vertical cylindrical
buoy having by preference hemispherical or convex ends If the total weight to be
raised is one thousand tons the submerged buoy must have a displacement of one
thousand tons, or two buoys with a displacement of five hundred tons each could be
used in separate cylinders, or a larger number of buoys of smaller displacement
'
The operation may be in some cases as follows -The submerged buoy may be
placed in a well sufficiently deep to allow the upper portion of it to be one hundred
feet below the water level and it may have a displacement of just one thousand tons
the total weight of the tank of the canal lift, and of the water in it with or with-
out a boat in it, conjointly with the weight of the pillars and of the buoy may
also be just one thousand tons, in which case the lift would have no tendency to
either ascend or descend

page_text: By removing one ton of water from the tank containing the birge, the buoyancy
will overcome the weight and the lift will ascend to its full height that is until the
buoy risus just to the surface of the water in the cylinder, when it will be caused to
stop through loss of buoyancy
The displacement of the pillars may be compensated for in several ways such as a
weight attache to the lift by a chain passing over a sheive or by allowing
water to piss out of a compensating column or out of the tank as the lift ascends,
or a little witer may be run into and pumped out of the buoy
The lift may be stopped either at the top or botton by a number of spring stops or
buffers or the submerged buoy may nearly hit the cylinde at the top and bottom of
the cylinder so as to reduce the speed and act as hydraulic cushion at the top and
bottoin of the stroke, or the buov may nearly fit the cylindrical well during the whole
of its stroke, and it may be provided with a large tube through its centre to admit of
the witer passing from the, top to the bottom of the well or vice versa, and this tube
may come in contact with a fixed conical or other valve at the top and bottom of the
well which would diminish the flow of the water and so automatically slow and
ultimately stop its action it the top and bottom of the stroke or the valves may be
placed on the buoy and be operated by a rod cord or other means
This lift is also applicable to the raising and lowering of bridges, railway trucks
or trains, and ferry steamers or such like
To make the joint between the end of the tank and the end of the canal an indi
rubber tube is fixed in such a manner that when it is inflated with air or liquid it
expands and makes a joint so that there is no loss of water while the gates are opened
to admit the boat, in fact this tank of water is practically a segment of the canal
which is buoyed up and raised or lowcied as before described, or the balance may be
turned by means of tackle or gear or by a small or a number of small direct action rims
and presses, the main support being given by the buoy
To make the joint between the end of the tank and the end of the canal, the
tank may be pressed against the end of the canil by means of hydraulic or other
power, or the doors it the ends of the tank and it the ends of the canal may he
balanced agunst one weight by means of two chains passing over pulleys, one of
these chains may be made fast to each side of the door, the balance may be turned
by hydraulic power or by gear or tackle
In some cases I balance the gate against two small buoys one in a mall well on ench
side of the canal and in a similar minner I balance a complete railway or road
bridge so that a low level bridge may be raised high enough to admit of vessels with
tall masts passing under it, and may be again readily lowered
When I wish to work the lifts in pairs I employ a large scale beim between the two
tanks so that one-full tank balances the other full tank this beam is supported over a
strong masonry or iron fulcrum each of these tanks may be partly or wholly
supported by submerged buoys, or for smaller lifts the tanks may balance each other and
be entirely supported by the massive iron or steel scale beam the balance may easily
be turned and the apparatus worked by allowing additional witer to flow into the
upper tank, then when the brake or belt is removed the upper tank will descend and
the lower tank ascend and by agun allowing some additional witer to flow into
the upper tank the operation will be repeated, sometimes I turn the balance by other
uie ins such as in hydraulic ram or winding gear diven by an engine or turbine or
I pump additional water into whichever tank may be at the top and run the
additional water to waste when the tank arrives at the bottom
Dated this 4th day of June 1888
CARPMAEL & Co,
Agents for, the Applicant

page_text: Improvements in Canal, Bridge, and other its
1, JOHN STANDFIELD of 6 Westminster Chambers Victoria Street in the City of
Westminster Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what
manner the sune is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement
L
-
For canal lift I use a tank of water which may contain the vessel or birge to be
raised and buoy it up or place it in a state of equilibrium by a submerged buoy I
entirely submerge the buoy and by means of a pillar or a number of pillars or a
wrought iron fraine, I connect it with the water tank to be raised and lowered which
is projected the desired height above the level of the water in which the buoy 18
submerged
As the submerged buoy or buoyant structure does not practically increase or decrease
in size it has practically the unc buoy ɩncy if submerged one hundred feet as if
submerged one foot, and if the elasticity of the buoy causes it to diminish in size as
it descends, the pillars or supports between the buoy and the weight to be raised and
lowered may be of such a size as to compensate for the loss of buoyancy and in this
way the heaviest structures may be always exactly balanced so that a very slight
application of additional power will cause the whole structure to either ascend or descend.
For raising vessels boats or barges in a tank of water or on a platform or grid I
should sink a cylinder of considerable diameter in which I should place by preference
a vertical cylindrical buoy hiving by preference hemispherical or convex ends
the total weight to be raised 19 one thousand tons the submerged buoy must have a
displicement of one thousand tons, or two buoys with a displacement of five hundred
tons each could be used in separate cylinders, or a larger number of buoys of smaller
displacement
If
The operation may be in some cases as follows -The submerged buoy may be
placed in a well sufficiently deep to allow the upper portion of it to be one hundred
feet below the water level and it may have a displacement of just one thousand tons,
the total weight of the tank of the canal lift, and of the witer in it with or without a
boat in it, conjointly with the weight of the pillars and of the buoy may also be just
one thous ind tons in which case the lift would have no tendency to either ascend or
descend
By removing one ton of water from the tank containing the barge, the buoyancy
will overcome the weight and the lift will ascend to its full height that is until the
buoy rises just to the surface of the water in the cylinder when it will be caused to
stop through loss of buoyancy
The displacement of the pillars may be compensated for in several ways such as a
weight attached to the lift by a chain passing over a sheave or by allowing water to
pass out of a compensating coluinn or out of the tank as the lift ascends, or a little
water may be run into and pumped out of the buoy
The litt may be stopped either at the top or bottom by a number of spring stops or
buffers, or the submerged buoy may nearly fit the cylinder at the top and bottom of
the cylinder so as to reduce the speed and act as an hydraulic cushion at the top and
bottom of the stroke, or the buoy may nearly fit the cylindrical well during the whole

page_text: of its stroke and it may be provided with a large tube through its centre to admit of
the water passing from the top to the bottom of the well or vice-versa and this tube
may come in contact with a fixed conical or other valve at the top and bottom of the
well which would diminish the flow of the water and so automatically slow and
ultimately stop its action at the top and bottom of the stroke or the valves may be
placed on the buoy and be operated by a rod cord or other means
This lift is also applicable to the raising and lowering of bridges, railway trucks or
trains ships and ferry steamers or such like
To make the joint between the end of the tank and the end of the canal an india
rubber tube is fixed in such a manner that when it is inflated with air or liquid it
expands and makes a joint so that there is no loss of water while the gates are opened
to admit the boat, in fact this tank of water is practically a segment of the canal
which is buoyed up or raised or lowered as before described, or to make the joint
between the end of the tank and the end of the canal, the tank may be pressed against
the end of the canal by means of hydraulic or other power The doors at the end of
the tank and at the ends of the canal may be balanced against one weight by means
of two chains passing over pulleys, one of these chains may be made fast to each side
of the door, the balance may be turned by hydraulic power or by gear or tackle, or by
a small or a number of small direct action rams and presses, the main support being
given by the buoy
In some cases I balance the gate against two small buoys, one in a small well on
each side of the canal, and in a similar manner I balance complete railway or rond
bridge so that a low level bridge may be raised high enough to admit of vessels with
tall inasts passing under it and may be again readily lowered
I prefer the buoyancy of the buoy or buoys to slightly preponderate over the
weight so that the buoy may always have a tendency to ascend, and to lower it I
make use of hauling gear at the four corners, which gear also maintains the tank in
a horizontal position When this gear is slackened the tank, bridge or platform will
rapidly rise
When I wish to work the lifts in pairs I employ a large scale beam between the
two tanks so that one full tank balances the other full tank this beam is supported
over a strong masonry or iron fulcrum each of these tanks may be partly or wholly
supported by submerged buoys, or for smaller lifts the tunks may bilince each other
and be entirely supported by the massive iron or steel scale beam the balance may
easily be turned and the apparatus worked by allowing additional water to flow into
the upper tank, then when the brake or bolt is removed the upper tank will descend
and the lower tank ascend and by gun allowing some additional water to flow into
the upper tank the operation will be repeated, sometimes I turn the balance by other
means such as an hydraulic ram or winding gear driven by an engine or turbine or I
pump additional water into whichever tank may be at the top ind run the additional
water to waste when the tank arrives at the bottom
Having in general terms described the nature of my invention I will now refer to
the drawings for the sake of greater clearness
Figure Ĭ is a side elevation, Figure 2 an end clevation, and Figure 3 a plan,
showing the principle of my buoyant lift applied as a canal lift, that is, for transferring
barges, etc, from one canal to another at a different level A is the tank or trough
containing water in which the birge floats E is the upper canal, F the lower cinal
The tank A forms practically a part of each canal in turn B is the submerged
buoy (it is not shown in the drawing of the full length to avoid inconvenient
extension of the figure) CC are the pillars and framework supporting the tank A
and rigidly connecting it to the buoy B D is the cylinder or well in which the
buoy ascends and descends The buoy nearly fits this cylinder at the top and
bottom of its stroke so that its speed is gradually reduced to nothing At the
bottom of the well D, a projection G may be provided to assist in reducing the
speed by entering a cavity formed in the buoy and gradually closing it or this
alone may be relied on for controlling the speed at the bottom of the stroke
when the tank is in its highest position a small surcharge of water has been
If

page_text: admitted to the tank A from the cinil E so that the total weight slightly exceeds
the buoy incy the tank commences to descend, and is the buoy B approaches the
bottom of its trivel the speed is gradually reduced to nothing for is the buoy B
more closely fits the well the water can be only slowly displaced The buoy B mav
have water way through it, by preference on the line of its axis
If now when the tank A is in line with the lower cinil F the surcharge of water
be allowed to run off from the tank A till the buoyancy somewhat exceeds the total
weight, the buoy B will ascend till it floats in the water in the well D, bringing the
tank A into line with the upper canil Jire the gite to the tank and to the
HH shown in plin Figurere vertical guides, these are omitted
from Figure 1 for greater clc irne.s
two can ils
Figures 4, 5 and 6 show another form of canal lift worked in the same manner
Instead of only one buoy B there are in this arrangement two, the tank A bung
suspendul between then by the rods L L which re attached to the crosshead K
supported by the frames C to which the bnovs B B are attached This arrangement
of suspending the tink enables the two cylinders D in which the buoys ascend and
descend to be placed above the level of the lower cinal instead of having them
excivitud as shown in Figures 1 and 2 The speed of ascent and descent of the
tunk can be controlled by hydraulic rams and presses M shown in Figures 5 and 6
but omitted from Figure 4 for greater clearness All other letters refer to the same
parts as in the previous figures
These lifts are also applicable to the raising and lowering of bridges, railway
trains, ferry ste umers ships, etc
In larger lifts for any such purposes instead of one pur of buoys, any convenient
number may be used The cros-heads connecting oppo.ite buoys would then tike
the form of a series of girders plued underneath the tink or trough A For docking
ships the girders instead of carrying a tank containing water, will carry a framework
or grid furnished with keel ind big blocks for properly supporting the vessels
Figure 7 shows an elevation and Figure plin of an arrangement which admits
of working the lifts in purs so that while one ascends the other descends In this
arrangement it is necessary that both the upper and lower canals should have water
ways leading to each tanh In Figures 7 and 8 I have shown only one tinh A
bilanced by counterweight W, the second tank is intended to tik th place of
the weight W O is a beim or series of beams turning on the fulcrum P supported
by a solid base Q At one end of the beam 0 is suspended the tank A, ind at the
other ond the weight W, or i second tink
To relieve the strain upon the beam the tanks may be supported more or less by
means of submerged buoys as already described
The balance can be turned as above described by taking into the tank A, when
in line with the upper canal E, a small surcharge of water which will cause it to
preponderate over the weight W or other tank On the brike or bolt being
withdrawn the tank A will descend until it comes into line with the lower canal f
when the surcharge will be run off, the longitudinal axis of the beam O will then
be in the position of the dotted line RR Similarly the other tank ein he made to
preponderate und descend causing the tank A to ascend Each of the tanks may be
wholly or partly supported by submerged buoys as already described The speed of
the travel of the tanks may be easily con rolled by means of the hydraulic rams and
presses M M which may be made to act automatically One method of doing this
is by the chain U attached to hxed points V V in the beam O, symmetrically placed
with regard to the fulcrum P, the chain passes over the sheaves X bixed on the
pediment or base Q, the lower end of the chain is attached to the valve S which is
placed in the pipe T connecting the presses M
These parts are so arranged that as either end of the beam O approaches its
highest position the valve S is pulled up by the chain U, and connection between
the presses M is thus cut off bringing the tank gradually to rest The valve S
normally is held open by means of a weight attached to the end of its spindle
or lever

page_text: Figure 9 shows a side elevation and Figure 10 in end elevation of another
arrangement by which the cylinder D, in which the buoy B travels, is placed on, or
suspended from, the cross girders Y \ instead of being excavated like a well as
shown in Figures 1 and 2 These cross-girders are supported by a framework Z Z
At I is a stuffing box or gland to prevent the water in the cylinder D from escaping
during the travel of the buoy B The speed of this travel is controlled as before
by the hydraulic rams and presses M M All the other letters refer to the same
parts is in the preceding figures
Brikes or bolts are in all cases provided to secure the tank A while the surcharge
is being run in or off
Another method of turning the balance (and applicable to all forms of this
buoyant lift) is by a differential hydraulic accumulator, which, by the alternate
putting on and taking off a small extra weight or pressure, can be made either to
preponderate or to not quite balance the tank, as desired
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 A canal lift with tank in which the vessel to be raised or lowered 19 floated
supported nearly in equilibrium by a submerged buoy or buoys substantially as
described
2 A canal lift with a tank, in which the vessel to be raised or lowered is floated,
supported nearly in equilibrium upon a buoy or buoys contained in well or wells
beneath the tank substantially as described
3 Budgo and other lifts in which the structure to be raised and lowered 15
supported nearly in equilibrium by a submerged buoy or buoys substantially as
described
4 A canal lift with two tanks in which the vessels to be raised or lowered are
floited, such tanks being supported from the opposite ends of a rocking berm
subst intially as described
5 Canal, bridge and other lifts in which structures to be raised and lowered are
supported from the opposite ends of a rocking bun ind in which the strun on the
heam is relieved by also supporting the structures more or less completely by
submerged buoys substantially as described
6 Canal, bridge and other lifts substantially as described and represented by the
annexed drawings
Dated this 4th day of Mach 1990