IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUC- TION OF APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING COALS, GRAIN, AND OTHER SIMILAR COMMODITIES FROM SHIPS' HOLDS, AND TRANSFERRING THEM TO BARGES OR OTHER RECEPTACLES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Percy John Wates, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUC-
TION OF APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING COALS, GRAIN, AND OTHER SIMILAR
COMMODITIES FROM SHIPS' HOLDS, AND TRANSFERRING THEM TO BARGES OR
OTHER RECEPTACLES."
Sealed the 7th June 1878, and dated the 13th December 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Percy John Wates at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th December 1877.
PERCY JOHN WATES, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING
COALS, GRAIN, AND OTHER SIMILAR COMMODITIES FROM SHIPS' HOLDS, AND
TRANSFERRING THEM TO BARGES OR OTHER RECEPTACLES."
The object of this Invention is to increase the facility with which vessels laden
with coals, grain, or other merchandize in bulk may be discharged, and their contents
transferred to other receptacles for further transit or storeage.
For the purpose of carrying out this Invention it is necessary that at the wharf,
platform, or other place to which the vessel is brought alongside, a crane having a
jib of sufficient length to reach to or a little beyond the middle of the ship's hold
should be provided, the said crane being worked by steam or other suitable
power.
The Invention consists of a steel shoot, which may be semicircular, circular, or
other shape to suit the particular material to be passed down it; for coal or grain
the semicircular form answers well. To the upper end of the shoot, and forming a
part thereof, is a platform, upon which a man may stand to tip the bucket or other
vessel containing the lifted material.
The shoot is provided with rings and slings so that it may be hoisted into and
out of its place by the crane which raises the goods. The shoot rests at the upper
מ

page_text: end upon a trestle, which in its turn stands on the deck of the ship, the lower end
being supported by the rail of the vessel or on a smaller trestle. The shoot is to be
placed at such an angle that the goods may be freely run down into the barge or
other receptacle.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-The ship having been brought
alongside the wharf, and a barge moored on the opposite side, the trestle is placed
on the deck near the hatchway, and the platform and shoot mounted thereon at a
suitable angle; the jib of the crane is then brought into position, and by it a bucket
is lowered. The bucket when filled is raised by the crane until it reaches a height
somewhat above the shoot, when by a very slight turn of the crane the bucket is
brought immediately over the shoot, and is then tipped by a man who stands upon
the platform constructed for this purpose, the contents of the bucket falling down
the shoot. The bucket is then lowered, refilled, and the operation repeated.
Instead of the platform being combined with and forming part of the shoot it
may be made a part of and combined with the trestle, or the trestle may be substi-
tuted by a chain or other apparatus for supporting the combined shoot and platform
fixed on and carried with the vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Percy John Wates in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th June
1878.
PERCY JOHN WATES, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING
COALS, GRAIN, AND OTHER SIMILAR COMMODITIES FROM SHIPS' HOLDS, AND
TRANSFERRING THEM TO BARGES OR OTHER RECEPTACLES."
The object of this Invention is to increase the facility with which vessels laden
with coals, grain, or other merchandize in bulk may be discharged, and their contents
transferred to other receptacles for further transit or storeage.
For the purpose of carrying out this Invention it is necessary that at the wharf,
platform, or other place to which the vessel is brought alongside, a crane having a
jib of sufficient length to reach to or a little beyond the middle of the ship's hold
should be provided, the said crane being worked by steam or other suitable power.
The Invention consists of a steel shoot, which may be semicircular, circular, or
other shape to suit the particular material to be passed down it; for coal or grain
the semicircular form answers well. To the upper end of the shoot, and forming
a part thereof, is a platform, upon which a man may stand to tip the bucket or
other vessel containing the lifted material.
The shoot is provided with rings and slings so that it may be hoisted into and
out of its place by the crane which raises the goods. The shoot rests at the upper
end upon a trestle, which in its turn stands on the deck of the ship, the lower end

page_text: being supported by the rail of the vessel or on a smaller trestle. The shoot is to be
placed at such an angle that the goods may freely run down into the barge or other
receptacle.
In order that the foregoing may be more easily understood Drawings are attached
hereto, of which the following is a description:-
-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the trestle, platform, and shoot.
Fig. 2 is a back elevation.
Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 is a cross section of the shoot.
In Fig. 1 A is one of the trestle legs, which may be made telescopic, that is to
say, may be lengthened or shortened by causing the lower part B of the leg to draw
out from or slide within the upper part A. The legs are hinged to the lower part
of the platform, as at C, and are tied to the shoot by stays D, which are also capable
of being lengthened or shortened by a telescopic arrangement. E is the platform
with its hand rail F, and G the hopper, to which the shoot H is fixed I, I, aro
rings attached on each side of the shoot, and into which slings are hooked for the
purpose of raising or lowering the shoot; J is the rail of the vessel, and upon this
the lower part of the shoot rests, and is temporarily fastened either in the manner
shown, or by any other convenient method. K is the deck of the vessel, and L
the ship's hatch way."
It will be seen on looking at Fig. 2 that the legs are braced together by the cross
ties M, M.
In each of the Figures similar letters refer to the same parts.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-The ship having been brought
alongside the wharf, and a barge moored on the opposite side, the trestle is placed
on the deck near the hatchway, and the platform and shoot mounted thereon as a
suitable angle. The jib of the crane is then brought into position, and by it a
bucket is lowered. The bucket when filled is raised by the crane until it reaches
a height somewhat above the shoot, when by a very slight turn of the crane the
bucket is brought immediately over the shoot, and is then tipped by a man who
stands upon the platform constructed for this purpose, the contents of the bucket
falling down the shoot. The bucket is then lowered, refilled, and the operation
repeated. By this arrangement the vessel to be discharged lies between the lifting
machinery and the barge or other receptacle into which the goods are to be dis-
charged. The advantages of this are that the goods have to be lifted only high
enough to permit of their being run down the shoot, and the crane needs to be swung
only far enough to bring it over the centre of the hopper; the consequence is that
while a greatly increased speed can be employed, and at a reduced expense, there
is the additional benefit of not being compelled to run and tip trucks into barges
after the crane has deposited its load therein in the ordinary way.
Instead of the platform being combined with and forming part of the shoot, it
may be made a part of and combined with the trestle, or the trestle may be substi-
tuted by a chain or other apparatus for supporting the combined shoot and platform
fixed on and carried with the vessel.
A further modification when necessary consists in making the upper or hopper
part of the shoot separate from the shoot itself, and providing it with a door worked
by an arrangement of levers from the platform. It is also suspended on centres, so
as to weigh the coal, grain, or other material while on the platform, and before it is
allowed to run down the shoot, but this modification is not claimed as a part of this
Invention.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this Invention,
and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise
details or arrangements which I have described or referred to, as variations may be
made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features of this
Invention, but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as
the Invention secured to me by the heroin-before in part recited Letters Patent is,

page_text: the construction and arrangement of apparatus for discharging coals, grain, and
other similar commodities from ships' holds, and transferring them to barges or
other receptacles, as herein described and shown on the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Percy John Wates, have hereunto set my hand
and scal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand 5
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
P. J. WATES. (L.S.)