IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE BOTTOMS OF IRON, STEEL, AND OTHER NAVIGABLE VESSELS WHEN AFLOAT AND IN MOTION OR LYING IN A STREAM
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Bulley, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Master Mariner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE BOTTOMS OF IRON, STEEL, AND OTHER NAVIGABLE
VESSELS WHEN AFLOAT AND IN MOTION OR LYING IN A STREAM."
Sealed the 21st August 1866, and dated the 24th February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Bulley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
February 1866.
I, THOMAS BULLEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Master
Mariner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for ". 'In,
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE BOTTOMS OF IRON, STEEL, AND OTHER
NAVIGABLE VESSELS WHEN AFLOAT AND IN MOTION OR LYING IN A STREAM," to be
as follows (that is to say):-
This Invention has for its object a convenient. and simple apparatus for
removing the animal and vegetable matter which adhere to the bottoms and
sides of iron, steel, wood, coppered and zinc bottomed navigable vessels; and
consists of a peculiarly formed double-action scraper, which is fitted with a
brush to facilitate the object in view, as well as to relieve a portion of the
pressure of the scraper against the sides and bottom of the vessel, being
operated upon; and, further, consists of a plate of iron or steel, of say, about

page_text: 22 inches broad, say, about a foot of the front of which is formed with a
straight or nearly straight sharp cutting edge, the extreme ends of which
said cutting edge are rounded off in a backwards direction for, say, about four
inches, and which rounded edges are curved outwards to form a kind of mould
board on each side of the scraper.
The body of the scraper is slightly
arched, and is rounded off at the back. The scraper is placed at an angle of,
say, about 35°, from near the centre of the under side of which extends two
metal stays at a similar angle, which open out a little, and at the rear end are
rivétted to a second scraper, which is formed slightly hollow on the under side,
and which at its outer end is slightly curved inwards in plan.
The oblique
forward and back scrapers are further attached together by a pair of metal
rods, the ends of which are rivetted to the back and front scrapers. These
rods of, say, about 16 inches long, are formed with an eye on the side thereof,
Between the two
for securing guy ropes to as will be herein-after explained.
bars last described a piece of timber is secured by the under side of the oblique
scraper, and the front ends of the bars, and at the rear is secured to the oblique
stays by means of a pair of hooks and nuts, which hooks clip the said oblique
bars, and the shanks of which pass through the piece of timber and are secured
thereto by means of nuts. To the under side of the piece of timber is secured
a large stiff brush, the bristles of which project, say, about half an inch below
a line drawn from the under side of the cutting edges of the oblique-forward
and after scraper. The after scraper about the centre of its length is fitted
with an eye bolt to receive a shackle pin and shackle for securing the after
guy rope... The oblique forward scraper is also fitted with two eye bolts, one in
rear of the other, for securing the forward guy rope to, as will be herein-after
explained. In rear of the eye bolt on the after scraper there is a curtain piece
of metal of about, say, four inches wide and about a foot long, which is placed
at an angle of, say, about 45°, which (in describing the action of the apparatus)
will be herein-after explained.
When it is desired to use the apparatus, which must be done when
the ship is under way or lying in a stream, a line is bent on to the lower
shackle on the front of the oblique scraper; a second line is then bent on to
the shackle on the rear or after scraper; then a double line is bent on to
the
eye formed on the side of the stay, which is. uppermost when the front
edge of the oblique scraper is towards the bow of, the vessel; then take a
small spar, fit to it a travelling block, reeve the line, attached to the eye bolt
on the oblique scraper through the block, then secure the upper end of the
spar to the martingale, so that it may be immersed in the water to enable the
scraper to pass under the vessel's bottom; then take a second spar, and attach

page_text: eye
to the outer end thereof a block, through which carry the line attached to the
bolt on the after scraper, and reeve it through the block on the end of
the last-mentioned spar; then lash the spar to the end of the spanker boom,
so that the leading block of the after guy rope may be well clear of the stern
of the vessel; then haul taut the bow line, at the same time slacking away
the stern line the required distance; then separate the double guy line attached
to the eye on the side stay, say, fourteen or fifteen feet apart; then throw
overboard over the bows of the vessel the scraper; then let go the bow line
and haul in the stern line until the scraper comes into contact with the
vessel's bow; then let go about ten feet of the bow line and haul in a like
quantity of the stern-line, the men having hold of the double guy which is
over the bulwarks. The men standing about twelve or fourteen feet apart
support the scraper by veering and hauling alternately on a line parallel with
the horizon, or as near as conveniently may be. The double scraper, with
its intermediate brush is kept against the side or bottom of the vessel by
means of the action of the water acting upon the oblique face of the fore
scraper, and the water passing in rear thereof acting against the oblique
eurtain piece on the back of the after scraper. It is proposed to work the
scraper backwards and forwards by means of the guy ropes at a distance of
about, say, ten feet in length in a horizontal direction, after which the scraper
is allowed to fall astern, so as to operate on a like length on the vessel's side
or bottom, after the first length has been operated upon, until all animal
and vegetable matter has been removed, and so on for the whole length of
the side of the vessel, when the scraper is carried forward to the bow of the
vessel, and the leading block on the spar attached to the martingale is placed
a little lower, when the operation is again repeated on a line immediately,
below the one first operated upon, and so on until the whole of that side and
bottom of the vessel has been freed from its foulness. The scraper is then
removed to the other side of the vessel where the operation is performed in
the same way,, but it will be necessary to detach the double guy ropes attached
to the side eye on the side stay, and secure them to the eye on the reverse
stay, so that the large oblique scraper will always be presented to the bow of
the vessel. The object of the second eye bolt in rear of the first eye bolt on
front of the forward oblique scraper is to enable the forward gay rope to be
attached thereto for the purpose of forcing the scraper under the counter of
the vessel, as it is generally found difficult to operate, upon that part of the
hull of a vessel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Bulley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BULLEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Master Mariner, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Bulley, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Bulley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Bulley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no 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 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE BOTTOMS OF IRON AND OTHER
NAVIGABLE VESSELS WHEN AFLOAT AND IN MOTION OR LYING IN A STREAM,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Bulley, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly described 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 Thomas Bulley, 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 (that is to say):
:-
This my said Invention has for its object a convenient and simple apparatus
for removing the animal and vegetable matter which adhere to the bottoms
and sides of iron, steel, wood, coppered and zinc bottomed navigable vessels,
and consists of a peculiarly formed double-action scraper, which is also fitted
with a brush to facilitate the object in view, as well as to relieve a portion of
the pressure of the scraper against the sides and bottom of the vessel being
opera
ted upon, and consists of a plate of iron or steel of, say, about 22 inches
broad, say, about a foot of the front of which is formed with a straight or

page_text: nearly straight sharp cutting edge, the extreme ends of which said cutting
edge are rounded off in a backwards direction for, say, about four inches, and
which rounded edges are curved outwards to form a kind of mould board on
each side of the scraper. The body of the scraper is slightly arched and is
rounded off at the back; this scraper is placed at an angle of, say, about 35
degrees, from near the centre of the under side of which extends two metal
stays at a similar angle, which open out a little,. and at the rear end are
rivetted to a second scraper which is formed slightly hollow on the under side,
and which at its outer ends are slightly curved inwards in plan. The oblique
forward and back scrapers are further attached together a pair of metal
rods, the ends of which are riveted to the back and front scrapers. These
rods of, say, about 15 inches long are each formed with an eye on the side
thereof for securing guy ropes to as will be herein-after explained. Between
the two bars last described a piece of timber is secured to the under side of
the oblique scraper and the front ends of the bars, and at the rear is secured
to the oblique stays by means of a pair of hooks and nuts, which hook clips
the said oblique bars, and the shanks of which pass through the piece of
timber and are secured thereto by means of nuts. To the under side of the
piece of timber is secured a large stiff brush, the bristles of which project, say,
about half an inch below a line drawn from the under side of the cutting
edges of the oblique forward and after scraper. The after scraper about the
centre of its length is fitted with an eye
shackle for securing the after guy rope.
fitted with two eye bolts, one in rear of the
rope to as will be berein-after explained. In rear of the eye bolt on the after
scraper there is a curtain piece of metal of about, say, four inches wide and
about a foot long, which is placed at an angle of, say, about 45 degrees, which
in describing the action of the apparatus will be herein after explained.
bolt to receive a shackle pin and
The oblique forward scraper is also
other, for securing the forward guy
:
When it is desired to use the apparatus (which must be done when the
ship is under weigh or laying in stream) a line is bent on to the
lower shackle on the front of the oblique scraper, a second line is then
bent on to the shackle on the rear or after scraper, then a double
line is bent on to the eye forward on the side of the stay which is uppermost
when the front edge of the oblique scraper is towards the bow of the vessel,
then take a small spar, fit to it a travelling block, reeve the line attached to
the eye bolt on the oblique scraper through the block, then secure the upper
end of the spar to the martingale so that it may be immersed in the water to
enable the scraper to pass under the vessel's bottom, then take a second spar
and attach to the outer end thereof a block, through which carry the line

page_text: attached to the eye bolt on the after scraper, and reeve it through the block
on the end of the last-mentioned spar, then lash the spar to the end of the
spanker boom. so that the leading block of the after guy rope may be
well clear of the vessel, then haul taut the bow line, at the same time
slacking away the stern line the required distance, then separate the double
guy line attached to the eye on the side stay, say, fourteen or fifteen feet. apart,
then throw overboard over the bows of the vessel the scraper, then let go the
.bow line and haul in the stern line until the scraper comes into contact with
the vessel's bow, then let go about ten feet of the bow line and haul in & like
quantity of the stern line, the men having hold of the double guy which is
over the bulwarks.. The men standing about 12 or 14 feet apart support the
scraper by veering and hauling alternately on a line parallel with the horizon, or
as near as conveniently may be. The double scraper with its intermediate
brush is kept against the side or bottom of the vessel by means of the action
of the water acting upon the oblique face of the fore scraper, and the water
passing in rear thereof acting against the oblique curtain piece on the back of
"the after scraper. It is proposed to work the scraper backwards and forwards
by means of the guy ropes at a distance of about, say, 10 feet in length in a
horizontal direction, after which the scraper is allowed to fall astern, so as to
operate on a like length on the vessel's side or bottom after the first length
has been operated upon until all animal and vegetable matter has been
removed; and so on for the whole length of the side of the vessel, when the
scraper is carried forward to the bow of the vessel and the leading block on the
spar attached to the martingale is placed.a little lower. When the operation
is again repeated on a line immediately below the one first operated upon, and
so on until the whole of that side and bottom of the vessel has been freed from
its foulness. The scraper is then removed to the other side of the vessel
where the operation is performed in the same way, but it will be necessary
to detach the double guy ropes attached to the side eye on the side stay and
secure them to the eye on the reverse stay, so that the large oblique scraper
will always be presented to the bow of the vessel. The object of the second
eye bolt in rear of the first eye bolt on the front of the forward oblique scraper
is to enable the forward guy rope to be attached thereto for the purpose of
forcing the scraper under the counter of the vessel, as it is generally found
difficult to operate upon that part of the hull of the vessel.
That this, my said Invention may be the more readily seen and understood,
.I have hereunto annexed Drawings illustrating an apparatus constructed
according to my said Invention. Like letters and figures marked thereon
being used to denote similar parts..

page_text: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus; Figure 2 is a plan of the
face; and Figure 3 is a top view or plan of the back of the apparatus.
A is the forward scraper; B, the after scraper; C, the curtain piece; D
and D', side stays or connecting rods, on the sides of which are formed E,
hoops or eyes, for attaching F, side guy ropes; G, oblique stay rods, to which
is connected H, a piece of timber secured to the oblique stays G by K, hooked
screw rods; L, brush attached to the piece of timber H; M, the forward guy
rope; N, after guy rope.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, and the best means I am acquainted with for putting the same into
practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
details, relative proportions, or dimensions of the apparatus herein-before
described and set forth, as it will be readily seen the same may be consider-
ably varied without departing from the Invention, but I claim as new and
my Invention is,―
First, the peculiar form of oblique forward scraper A and after scraper B
and curtain piece C for causing the apparatus to adhere to the vessel's bottom
during the time the same is in action when operated substantially in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before described and set forth.
Secondly, placing the brush L between the forward and after scraper, and
arranging the same that the bristles when not in actual contact with the side
or bottom of the vessel will project a little beyond a line drawn from between
the edges of the forward and after scraper, substantially in the manner and
for the purposes herein-before described and set forth.
And, lastly, the general arrangement, form, and combination of the several
parts of the apparatus, substantially in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bulley, have hereunto set my
band and affixed my seal, this Twenty-third day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
WILLIAM WALKER,
of 44, Castle Street,
Liverpool.
THOMAS (L.s.) BULLEY.