IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DREDGING OR EXCAVATING
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, SAMUEL
HAVEN HAMILTON, of Paris, in the Kingdom of France, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Nineteenth day of August, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Haven Hamilton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Samuel Haven Hamilton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Samuel Haven Hamilton,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,. and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DREDGING OR EXCAVATING," being a communi-
cation from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Samuel Haven Hamilton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Inventino, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after

page_text: the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Haven Hamilton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
-
These Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Dredging or Exca-
vating, communicated to me by a Foreigner residing abroad, consist in a novel
construction and arrangement of machinery or apparatus suited to the removal
of obstructions, such as soil, gravel, sand, and other materials from the beds of
rivers, harbours, docks, and other situations below the surface of water, which
I denominate "An Improved Submarine Excavator or Dredging Machine."
The construction and arrangement of this machinery or apparatus is such that
it is not only capable of cutting and taking up with great facility at one
operation very large quantities of soil and other materials from below the
surface of the water, but also of conveying away the said soil and other
materials when so taken up without transferring them to other vessels, and of
depositing such removed soil and other materials at any appointed spot out at
sea or elsewhere, or if required the said soil and other materials may be readily
discharged from the machine into boats, as circumstances may require, all of
which will be made evident by the following explanation.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 represents a view of the machinery
taken in elevation at the front part. Figure 2 is a horizontal or plan view of
the same, as seen from above. Figure 3 is a vertical section of the machinery
taken longitudinally through the middle, and Figure 4 represents one of the
shovels or scrapers detached from the machine, the similar letters of reference
pointing to the same parts of the apparatus in all the Figures. A rectangular
frame a, a, a, say about twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and two feet deep, is
formed with internal, longitudinal, and transverse partitions into nine open
compartments, in each of which compartments one of the shovels or scoops
b, b, b, nearly fitting the open space in the frame, is suspended upon a trans-
verse shaft or axle c, c, c, fixed into the sides of the frame a, so that the
shovels may act as falling levers. The front part of the frame is guarded by a
wooden bulkhead d, giving the appearance and protection of a boat's head to
the frame. Upon the top edges of the frame six uprights or pillars e, e, e, are
erected for the purpose of supporting an upper horizontal rectangular platform
or frame f,f,f. on which are fixed six standards 9, 9, 9, carrying the axles of

page_text: three transverse rollers h, h, h. To these rollers are attached the chains i, i, i,
by which the falling ends of the shovels are suspended, and the rollers are
turned round by winches, pinions, and toothed wheels, as shewn, or by any
other suitable means, for the purpose of raising or lowering by the draft chains
i the cutting edges of the shovels b to the angle at which they are required to
penetrate into the soil, sand, gravel, or other material below, and in which
positions the shovels may be held by pawles let fall into the teeth of the
wheels at the ends of the rollers, or they may rest against stops j, j, j, fixed to
the frame. At the front part or bulkhead of the frame a there are affixed, if
necessary, a series of coulters or scarifyers k, k, k (shewn detached in two
positions at Figure 5), for the purpose of breaking up the ground to facilitate
the operations of the shovels or scoops; and chains 1, 1, are attached by lugs
to the fore-part of the frame, by which the whole apparatus is drawn onward
by a steam tug or any other suitable means. In bringing the excavating
machinery above described into effective operation, it is placed between two
flat-bottomed boats A, A, which are firmly connected together by stout
planks B, B, affixed to strong uprights C, C, erected in the boats near their
ends. These planks and uprights with the boats which they connect constitute
a structure of wood, within which the before-described frame a, a, a, with the
shovels c, c, c, and appendages forming the excavating machine is supported,
and by which it may be floated to any required spot ready for operation, and
may be there depressed into or raised out of the water, as circumstances
shall require. Two transverse shafts or barrels m, m, pass under the
planks B, B, through apertures in the uprights C, C, the ends or points of
which shafts have their bearings in plummer blocks upon standards D, D,
fixed near the ends of the boats. To these shafts or barrels m, m, strong
chains n, n, are attached, whereby the whole of the excavating machinery
first described is suspended; and in order to raise or depress the excavating
machinery independently of the boats or floating structure, the shafts m must
be made to revolve by means of winches, pinions, and toothed wheels, as
shewn, or by any other suitable apparatus, and when the excavating ma-
chinery has been thus placed at the desired altitude it is held in that
position by pawles taking into ratchet wheels fixed on the axles of the
barrels m, m. In order to ascertain the soundings or depth of water at all
times, for the purpose of directing the height to which the excavating
apparatus must be lowered or raised to bring it in contact with the ground
when about to be set to work, or to raise it for affording the means of freely
floating the machinery away, I employ an apparatus, consisting of a graduated
quadrant plate, with an index and right-angled plumb lever, shewn detached

page_text: and upon an enlarged scale at Figure 6, and attached to the side of one of the
boats, and in operation at Figures 1, 2, and 3. The graduated quadrant
plate 2 may be divided by radial lines, and numbered, to represent feet or any
other graduations. An index r is fixed upon a short axle, passed through the
centre of the quadrant plate; and upon the same short axle, at right angles to
the index, a long lever s is fixed, the end of which lever carries a plumb or
lump of metal t. This apparatus being placed, as shewn, at the side of the
boat (or it may be in any other convenient situation), the long levers is
depressed by the sinking of the weight or plumb t, which, coming in contact
with the ground, rests there, or drags over the surface as the boat and appa-
ratus advances, at which time the index 7, working upon the face of the fixed
quadrant, points to such graduation thereon as indicates the depth of the
ground below the surface of the water.
Having now described the construction of the improved excavating or
dredging machinery and its appendages, I proceed to point out their mode of
operating. The working machine having been raised up between the
boats A, A, so as to be perfectly free from the ground, the whole is then
floated away by means of the boats to the situation where it may be required
to commence excavating or dredging. Such of the shovels as are intended to
be first put to work are then let down to the suitable angle of inclination for
penetrating the ground, by turning the barrels h, h, which unwind the
chains i, i, i. The frame with the shovels and other appendages are then
lowered, until the bottom of the frame is brought in contact with the ground,
which is done by turning the barrels m, m, and thereby unwinding the
chains n, n.
The draught of a steam-tug vessel, or other power, is then to be
applied to the chains 2, 1, and the whole apparatus slowly drawn forward, by
which means the coulters or scarifyers k, k, if they are required, and placed as
described, will first break the ground, and then, as the machine advances, the
sharp cutting edges of the shovels or scoops b, b, will penetrate to a certain
depth determined by the angles of their inclinations, and scoop up the soil,
gravel, sand, or other material. When any of the shovels and their compart-
ments in the frame a, a, a, have become full, those shovels may be drawn up
by the chains i, i, and the compartments closed by turning their barrel h; and
when the whole of the compartments are thus filled with the soil or other
material, the frame with the shovels collectively may beraised, by turning the
barrels m, m, and the whole floated away to the place where the material is to
be deposited. It may here be remarked, that though the shovels are intended
severally to rise and fall freely in the compartments of the frame, yet they
must all so nearly fit the internal area of the compartments in which they are

page_text: respectively mounted as to prevent the escape of the soil or other material
between the sides of the shovels and the partitions of the frame. When the
machine is brought to the place out at sea designed for depositing the
material, the compartments of the frame are opened, by lowering the front
edge of each shovel, the material will then immediately slide out and fall to
the bottom. If it should be required to transfer material to a barge for
ballast, or other use, then the frame, with its loaded compartments, must be
raised, which may be done by turning the barrels m, m, and when by these
means it is lifted to its greatest elevation, the barge may be brought under
the machine between the boats A, A, and the soil, gravel, sand, &c. let fall into
the barge by lowering the shovels as above explained. Under some circum-
stances I place the frame above described with the shovels or scoops and their
appendages in the interior of a boat or raft propelled by steam, allowing the
frame to be raised and lowered therein by suitable means, and causing the
shovels or scoops to act through an aperture in the bottom of such boat or
raft, in which case I dispense with the lateral flat-bottomed boats A, A, and
their connecting structure, by constituting the steamboat or raft the means of
progressively advancing the machine when at work, and of floating. it away
when loaded.
Having now described the construction and mode of applying the Improve-
ments in Machinery or Apparatus for Dredging or Excavating, as communicated
to me by a Foreigner residing abroad, forming the subject for which the above
in part recited Letters Patent are granted to me, I desire to be understood
that I do not intend to confine myself to the precise dimensions of the parts
stated above, and shewn comparatively by the accompanying Drawing, nor to
the number of compartments formed in the frame a, a, a, and consequently the
number of shovels or scoops employed; neither do I intend to limit myself to
any particular materials for constructing the same, nor to the precise means of
raising and lowering the machine, nor to the shapes of the shovels or scoops,
nor to the mode of lifting them, as various other forms and well-known
mechanical agents may be suited to the same purposes. But I claim, as the
particular features of novelty in this improved excavating or dredging appa-
ratus,―
Firstly, the adaptation of shovels or scoops hanging as levers, and fitting the
compartments or boxes formed in a frame, which shovels or scoops, by their
inclined positions when let down, are enabled to penetrate into the soil, gravel,
sand, or other material, as the apparatus is moved onward; and when such
shovels or scoops are drawn up, closing the bottoms of the said compartments,
so as to form vessels or receptacles for material so excavated. And,

page_text: Secondly, I claim constructing and suspending such excavating or dredging
machinery or apparatus between or within boats or rafts, or other buoyant
supports, so that the said machinery may be lowered to its work, or raised out
of the water, and floated from place to place.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Haven Hamilton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.