IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS AND APPARATUS USED FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES IN THE WATER, AND FOR LOWERING MATERIALS FOR STRUCTURAL PURPOSES IN THE WATER
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Randoll Smith, of Hanover Terrace,
Cumberland Road, Bristol, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VESSELS AND APPARATUS USED FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER
BODIES IN THE WATER, AND FOR LOWERING MATERIALS FOR STRUCTURAL
PURPOSES IN THE WATER."
Sealed the 27th September 1860, and dated the 28th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Randoll Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th March 1860.
I, STEPHEN RANDOLL SMITH, of Hanover Terrace, Cumberland Road,
Bristol, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN VESSELS AND APPARATUS USED FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES
IN THE WATER, AND FOR LOWERING MATERIALS FOR STRUCTURAL PURPOSES IN THE
WATER," to be as follows:
This Invention has for its object improvements in vessels and apparatus
used for raising sunken vessels and other bodies in the water, and for lowering
materials for structural purposes in the water; and the improvements are, for
the most part, improvements on the Invention described in the Specification
former Patent, dated the 5th day of April, 1854, No. 785, though parts
of my present Invention may be used independently of such previous Invention.
of
my

page_text: To facilitate the raising of sunken vessels, and for raising and lowering other
bodies in the water, two floating vessels are employed having vertical trunks
or passages through them for the chains and tackle used in raising and
lowering bodies in the water, as were described in the Specification of my
said former Patent; or the trunks or passages in some cases may be inclined.
Such vessels may be constructed of iron, or partly of iron and partly of wood,
and such vessels are to be provided with capstans, windlasses, and other
machines for working chains and ropes, and stoppers for holding such chains
and ropes. A great object in my present Invention is more beneficially to
apply hydraulic machinery for lifting and lowering bodies in the water by
suspending bars, or by chain or other cables or ropes.
For these purposes I
apply to each upright or other trunk or passage formed through the vessel two
or more hydraulic cylinders, one or more on each side of the trunk, which I
prefer to be of as great a length as possible, and the rams of each pair of such
hydraulic cylinders I connect at their upper ends by cross heads, in such
manner that the cross heads may be raised or lowered by the simultaneous
introduction or withdrawal of water into or from the cylinders. One or more
rods are attached to the middle of the cross head, and at the lower end of
such rods there is employed a suitable instrument for taking hold of the lifting
chain or other cable used. The holder or holding apparatus is to be suitably
formed to admit of its being lowered down the chain or other cable, and then
to take hold thereof before the pumps are put in motion to actuate the rams
in the hydraulic cylinders. In some instances I use holding apparatus con-
sisting of two lever jaws moving on axes, the inner or holding surface being
made to correspond with the links of the cable, so that when the jaws are
closed they may shut within them one or more links of the cable. Provision
is made for holding the jaws shut by a hoop passed on to the ends of the upper
limbs of the jaws, or the holder may consist of two plates having a passage
between them, of such form as to contain one or more links of the chain cable,
so that when such plates are held together by screws, or otherwise, the chain
cable will be securely held between them, and such plates are suspended by
shackles and chains, or otherwise, from the cross head, or from the rods
attached thereto. In some arrangements I employ hydraulic cylinders with
rams or pistons to move chain or other cables passed through blocks suspended
from jibs or outriggers, or shears, in place of the lifting chain or other cables,
or other lifting tackle passing through trunks or passages made through the
vessel, and in other arrangements the hydraulic cylinders and rams or pistons
ard arranged to work chain or other cables through trunks, and other chains

page_text: through blocks supported by shears or outriggers, or other supports, the other
tackle being arranged accordingly. The hydraulic cylinders and rams are so
constructed that when the ram has arrived at its highest point, a way is
Quened for the esanne of any water that may be numped in
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent. filed
by the said Stephen Randoll Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
RANDOLL SMITII, of Hanover Terrace, Cumberland Road, Bristol, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Stephen Randoll Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Stephen Randoll
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Stephen Randoll Smith. my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and on others, from time 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS AND APPARATUS USED FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS
AND OTHER BODIES IN THE WATER, AND FOR LOWERING MATERIALS FOR STRUCTURAL
PURPOSES IN THE WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Stephen Randoll Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Stephen Randoll Smith, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in vessels and apparatus

page_text: used for raising sunken vessels and other bodies in the water, and for lowering
materials for structural purposes in the water; and the improvements are, for
the most part, improvements on the Invention described in the Specification of
my former Patent, dated the 5th day of April, 1854, No. 785, though parts
of my present Invention may be used independently of such previous Invention.
To facilitate the raising of sunken vessels, and for raising and lowering other
bodies in the water, two floating vessels are employed, having vertical trunks
or passages through them for the chains and tackle used in raising and
lowering bodies in the water, as were described in the Specification of my
said former Patent, or the trunks or passages in some cases may be inclined.
Such vessels may be constructed of iron, or partly of iron and partly of wood;
and such vessels are to be provided with capstans, windlasses, and other
machines for working chains and ropes, and stoppers for holding such chains
and ropes.
A great object in my present Invention is more beneficially to
apply hydraulic machinery for lifting and lowering bodies in the water by
suspending bars, or by chain or other cables or ropes. For these purposes I
apply to each upright or other trunk or passage formed through the vessel,
two or more hydraulic cylinders, one or more on each side of the trunk, which
I prefer to be of as great a length as possible, and the rams of each pair of
such hydraulic cylinders I connect at their upper ends by cross heads, in such
manner that the cross heads may be raised or lowered by the simultaneous
introduction or withdrawal of water into or from the cylinders. One or more
rods are attached to the middle of the cross head, and at the lower end of such
rods there is employed a suitable instrument for taking hold of the lifting
chain or other cable used. The holder or holding apparatus is to be suitably
formed to admit of its being lowered down the chain or other cable, and then to
take hold thereof before the pumps are put in motion to actuate the rams in the
hydraulic cylinders. In some instances I use holding apparatus, consisting of
two lever jaws moving on axes, the inner or holding surface being made to
correspond with the links of the cable, so that when the jaws are closed they
may shut within them one or more links of the cable. Provision is made for
holding the jaws shut by a hoop passed on to the ends of the upper limbs of
the jaws; or the holder may consist of two plates having a passage between
them, of such form as to contain one or more links of the chain cable, so that
when such plates are held together by screws, or otherwise, the chain cable
will be securely held between them, and such plates are suspended by shackles
and chains, or otherwise, from the cross head, or from the rods attached
thereto. In some arrangements I employ hydraulic cylinders with rams or

page_text: pistons to move chain or other cables, passed through blocks suspended from
gibs or outriggers, or shears, in place of the lifting chain or other cables, or
other-lifting tackle passing through trunks or passages made through the
vessel, and in other arrangements the hydraulic cylinders and rams or pistons
are arranged to work chain or other cables through trunks, and other
chains through blocks supported by shears or outriggers, or other supports,
the other tackle being arranged accordingly. The hydraulic cylinders and
rams are so constructed, that when the ram has arrived at its highest point, a
way is opened for the escape of any water that may be pumped in.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a transverse section of a vessel arranged with apparatus
according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of part of the deck of the
vessel, one half of such plan being in section; Figures 3, 4, and 5, shew three
views of the lifting apparatus, which, in the arrangements shewn in Figures 1
and 2, are used to pass up and down the trunks or passages through the
vessel. In each of these Figures the same letters are used to indicate the
same parts.
a, a, are two upright trunks or passages descending from the deck down
through the bottom of the vessel. In some cases, however, I use only one
trunk or passage through the vessel, particularly when the vessel is intended
for facilitating the construction of works below water, and where it will be
desirable to lower or raise large blocks of stone through such trunk or passage
by hydraulic machinery. In such case I prefer to construct the trunk or
passage longitudinally of the vessel, and of greater length in that direction
than at its transverse section, and then I bave two rows of bydraulic cylinders,
one row on each side of such trunk or passage through the vessel, and I
couple the rams into pairs by cross heads, which pass across the trunk or
passage transversely, and in addition to such two rows of hydraulic cylinders
with their cross heads, I also, in some cases, employ one or more hydraulic
cylinders at the ends of the trunk or passage through the vessel, and I couple
the rams of such hydraulic cylinders by one or more cross heads or beams,
which cross the trunk or passage in a longitudinal direction; and I connect all
these hydraulic cylinders to a common supply pipe of suitable dimensions,
into which the water to supply all the cylinders is pumped, and on the branch
pipe which connects each hydraulic cylinder with the supply main there is a

page_text: cock or valve, by which the supply of water to each hydraulic cylinder may be
regulated or shut off, and there is also an outlet pipe and cock, or valve, which
communicates with a common outflow pipe. Hence, it will be understood,
that although two trunks or passages through the vessel are shewn in the
Drawing, each having a pair of hydraulic cylinders with their rams connected
by cross heads, each vessel may be constructed with one or more trunks or
passages through the same, and each trunk or passage may have one or more
pairs of hydraulic cylinders with their rams connected by cross heads, as shewn
in the Drawing. The hydraulic cylinders b, b, are constructed with safety
outlets 61, 61, near their upper ends, through which the water may pass out
when the ends of the rams have passed such outlets, which will prevent any
accident arising by reason of the pumps being continued at work when the rams
have attained their greatest elevation; c, c, are the rams, which are connected
in pairs by cross heads d, d, and in the arrangement shewn the cross heads are
connected by a beam e, which may be used for lifting chains to be connected
to it, particularly when the chains pass over the sides of the vessel over out-
riggers or shears, or other arrangements for getting lateral action. The lifting
apparatus shewn separately at Figures 3, 4, and 5, is attached to the cross
head, as shewn in Figure 1, and is composed of rods f, f, connected together
at top and bottom, as shewn, and these lifting rods carry at their lower ends
an apparatus for holding the chains used for lifting a vessel or other body
sunk under the water. The chain holder consists of two jaws g, g, turning on
axes g¹ at their lower ends; these jaws are opened and shut by two links g², g²,
which are attached to the rod h which ascends to the upper ends of the lifting
rods f, and is there arranged to be readily raised or lowered when such rod is
down, as is shewn in the Drawing, Figure 1, the two jaws of the chain holder
will be closed, and when the rod h is raised the jaws of the chain holder will
be separated; i is a ring, which is suspended by means of a rod i¹, in such
manner as to be readily raised and lowered by turning the handle i" which
passes through the head of the rod i¹, the upper part of which is formed with
a screw, so that on its being turned it will rise and lift the ring, the lower end
of that rod i¹ being so connected with the ring as to be allowed to turn freely
in the part of the ring where it is connected. In using this apparatus,
supposing the lifting chain which passes up the trunk a to be held securely on
deck by a suitable holder, the lifting rods f and chain holder may be lowered
down by first removing the ring from off the upper ends of the two jaws of the
chain holder, and then opening the jaws. When the rods f and the chain
holder have been lowered, then the jaws of the chain holder are to be closed

page_text: on the chain, and the ring is again to be placed on to the upper ends of the
jaws, when the lifting of the rods by the rams of the hydraulic cylinders may
again take place. Figure 6 shews a chain holder which may be used on
deck, or in any parts of the apparatus which can be readily got at. It consists
of the two plates j, j, which embrace a chain at the part which is intended to
be held thereby, and these plates are securely held together at their two ends
by screws k, k, and such plates are fixed to the deck, or to any part of the
apparatus used by a shackle and chains 1, l, as shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Randoll Smith, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the year
of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
STEPHEN RANDOLL SMITH. (L.S.)