IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING VESSELS FOR REPAIR, AND FOR FLOATING VESSELS IN SHALLOW WATER
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Edwards Amos, of The Grove, in the Borough
of Southwark, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
RAISING VESSELS FOR REPAIR, AND FOR FLOATING VESSELS IN SHALLOW
WATER."
Sealed the 7th October 1859, and dated the 25th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Edwards Amos
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th May 1859.
I, CHARLES EDWARDS AMOS, of The Grove, in the Borough of Southwark,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR RAISING VESSELS FOR REPAIR, AND FOR FLOATING VESSELS IN
SHALLOW WATER," to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to simplify the operation of raising vessels
out of the water into a cradle, for the purpose of being examined and repaired.
To this end I use a floating platform consisting of one or several pontoons, formed
with air-tight chambers or compartments. When two or more pontoons are
used to form the platform (four being the number which I prefer) I bolt the
same securely together, and place thereon the cradle in which the ship to be
repaired floats. Valves are provided in the bottom of each division of the
platform for the admission and discharge of water. In order to discharge the

page_text: water from the pontoons and thereby render them buoyant, I provide air-pumps
which will throw in air at a sufficient pressure to expel the water through the
valves in the bottom of the pontoons. The platform I connect by means of
chains or ropes to windlasses set in action by independent engines which may
also be used to drive the pumps. The engines, which I prefer should equal in
number the air-tight chambers, may be mounted upon jetties, as most convenient
when the Invention is used in a dock; but when in a river, the engines should
be carried by barges or rafts secured in position by anchor moorings. By
having water-tight compartments corresponding in number with the windlasses
employed great facility will be afforded in trimming the platform. The
use of the windlass arrangement is to steady and ensure the equable rise of the
pontoon with its load. In operating with the improved apparatus the pontoon
is sunk and the vessel is floated over it; the windlasses are then set to work,
and being regulated by friction couplings, a strain will be put upon the lifting
chains equal to the amount of friction assigned. The pumps being meanwhile
in action they will force air into the chambers, and thereby expel the water
through the valves in the bottom of the pontoon. Buoyancy will thus be
given to the pontoon, and, aided by the pull of the chains, the vessel will be
raised out of the water. The valves, if not self-closing, are then to be closed,
and the vessel may be floated to any required spot. The platform or pontoon,
by reason of its construction having little draught of water, may, if required, be
used to carry vessels over shoals or bars.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Edwards Amos in the Great Seal Patent Office.
on the 25th November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
EDWARDS AMOS, of The Grove, in the Borough of Southwark, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Edwards Amos, Her special license that I, the
said Charles Edwards Amos, my executors, administrators, and assigns,.
or such others as I, the said Charles Edwards Amos, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time

page_text: to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING VESSELS FOR REPAIR, AND FOR
FLOATING VESSELS IN SHALLOW WATER," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Edwards Amos, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Edwards Amos, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The chief object of this Invention is to simplify the operation of raising
vessels out of the water into a cradle for the purpose of being examined and
repaired. To this end I make use of the principle of buoyancy already well
known in applications for raising sunken ships, and I combine therewith an
arrangement of draught tackle of simple construction, and thus obtain, with
inexpensive appliances, a result equal to that obtained by far more complex
and costly mechanism.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in plan view my improved.
arrangement of apparatus as fitted to a dock, and in the act of raising a vessel
for inspection and repair; Fig. 2 shews in sectional elevation the dock with
the floating apparatus carrying the ship; and Fig. 3 is a cross section of the
dock, shewing the lifting apparatus and the ship in end elevation. a, a, is the
floating platform consisting of a pontoon formed with air-tight chambers or
compartments, or it may be several air-tight pontoons connected together.
When four pontoons are used to form the platform (that being the number
which I prefer for raising an average sized vessel) I bolt the same securely
together, and the interior of these four pontoons will then form separate air-
tight chambers. Upon the platform thus constructed I place the cradle b, b,
which is to carry the ship while under repair. In the bottom of each division
of the platform a valve cof any suitable construction is fitted for the admission
of water into the air-tight chambers and discharge of water therefrom, and to
facilitate the discharge of the water from the chambers when the platform is.
lying on the bottom of the dock, I provide slide valves at the sides or ends

page_text: of the chambers. These chambers I also connect by means of flexible pipes d, d,
with air pumps e, e, situate in pairs at opposite sides of the dock. The air
pumps are cach worked by an independent steam-engine f, f, for the purpose
of injecting air into the chambers at a sufficient pressure to expel the water
through the open valves in the pontoons, and thus render the same buoyant
when required. The valves I. mount on a stem which is tapped and works
through a tapped socket in a cross head, as shewn in the detached view, Fig. 4.
The valve stems project upwards through the platform, and are operated by a
winch or spanner for the purpose of opening or closing the valves as required.
The platform I also connect by means of chains or ropes to windlasses g, g,
which, like the air pumps, are set in action by independent engines and thus
the relative amount of their action may be adjusted with the greatest nicety,
thereby ensuring an equable resistance to the load from each division of the
platform.
When the vessel to be repaired is to be lifted while out of dock, as, for
example, in a river or other sheltered place, the steam or other motive power
engines together with the windlasses and air pumps connected therewith may
be carried by barges or rafts secured in position around the floating ship by
anchor moorings.
In operating with my improved apparatus the platform with the cradle
attached thereto is first sunk by allowing the air chambers to fill with water,
the valves c, c, being opened for that purpose, and an escape for the air being
provided through the flexible air pipes. The vessel to be lifted on to the
cradle is then floated over the platform, and the chains of the windlasses having
been attached to the platform and the air pipes connected with the air pumps
the windlasses are set to work. These windlasses I propose to drive by friction
couplings of any approved construction, and thus the maximum of strain put
upon the lifting chains will only equal the predetermined amount they were to
receive. The pumps being meanwhile thrown into action, they will force air
into the chambers and thereby expel the water through the open valves c, c.
Buoyancy will thus be given to the platform, and, aided by the pull of the
chains, the vessel will be raised out of the water. The valves c, c, are now to
be closed, and the platform will then retain its elevated position, and may, if
required, be floated with its load out of the dock.
Besides raising vessels out of the water for the purposes of inspection and
repair, the platform is, by reason of its comparatively little draught of water,
admirably suited for carrying vessels over shoals or bars, and for this
purpose also I propose to employ my improved arrangement of lifting
apparatus.

page_text: It will be obvious that by making the water-tight compartments correspond
in number with the air pumps and windlasses employed great facility will be
afforded in trimming the platform. I would remark that the special advantage
of the windlass arrangement is, that it will steady and ensure the equable rise
of the platform with its load.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of improved apparatus
for raising vessels for repair, and for floating vessels in shallow water, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the
arrangement of apparatus herein-before described for raising vessels out of the
water for the purposes above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Edwards Amos, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
C. E. AMOS. (L.S.)