AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO EXCAVATE, DEEPEN, SCOUR, AND REMOVE THE MUD; SLIME, SAND, EARTH, SHOAL. GRAVEL, STONES, SHINGLE, OR SUCH LIKE BODIES OUT OF HARBOURS, HAVENS, DOCKS; CREEKS, GUTS, BARS, CHANNELS, WATEROOURSES, SLUICES BASINS, LAKES,PONDS, MARSHES, AND SIMILAR PLACES
Year: 1866

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices,. 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire
of France; and 38, Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
TO EXCAVATE, DEEPEN, SCOUR, AND REMOVE THE MUD; SLIME, SAND, EARTH,
SHOAL. GRAVEL, STONES, SHINGLE, OR SUCH LIKE BODIES OUT OF HARBOURS,
HAVENS, DOCKS; CREEKS, GUTS, BARS, CHANNELS, WATEROOURSES, SLUICES
BASINS, LAKES, PONDS, MARSHES, AND SIMILAR PLACES."-A communication
from Jean Louis Vergniais and Julien Appollinaire Cheron, both
residing at Rue Mogador, in Paris, aforesaid, Civil Engineers.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed' by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 10th November 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and. Foreign Patent Offices, 24, Rue
du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France. and 38, Porchester
[Price Sd.]

page_text: Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO EXCAVATE, DEEPEN, SCOUR, AND REMOVE THE MUD, SLIME, SAND,
EARTH, SHOAL, GRAVEL, STONES, SHINGLE, OR SUCH LIKE BODIES OUT OF HARBOURS,
HAVENS, DOCKS, CREEKS, GUTS, BARS, CHANNELS, WATERCOURSES, SLUICES, BASINS,
LAKES, PONDS, MARSHES, AND SIMILAR PLACES," a communication from Jean
Louis Vergniais and Julien Appollinaire Cheron, both residing at Rue
Mogador, in Paris, aforesaid, Civil Engineers, and have petitioned Her
Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
Royal Letters Patent for the same, and made solemn Declaration that it is
a communication.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, reference being had to the accompany-
ing Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:-
This Invention consists in a combination of means, some of which are per-
fectly new, constituting an apparatus fit to extract and transport a long
distance off, by suction and pressure, the mud, slime, sand, earth, shoal,
gravel, stones, shingle, or such like bodies which fill and choke up harbours,
havens, docks, creeks, guts, bars, channels, watercourses, sluices, basins, lakes,
ponds, marshes, and similar places and consequently to disinfect and purify
by substituting fresh water to that in which these foul matters stand, and
which are carried off with them. This apparatus is made up of two pump
chambers, the valves, the packing of the pistons, the sucking and forcing
tubes, and the piece fixed at the extremity of the sucking tube, of which are
entirely new.
This apparatus is represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a view in plane of two pump chambers and their frames, and
the double branching pipes of the sucking and forcing tubes; Figure 2 is a
view of these tubes setting forth the manner in which they may be arranged;
Figures 3 and 4 are sections showing the junction of the different sections of
the same to allow of their being lengthened horizontally and vertically;
Figures 5 and 6 are views in plane and section of the valves of the pistons of
the pump chamber; Figures 7 and 8 are planes and sections of the valves
placed near the orifice of the double branching pipes of the sucking tubes;

page_text: Figures 9, 10, and 11 are views in plane underneath sideways and section of
the apparatus called sucker; Figures 12, 13, and 14 represent the instru-
ments by which the matters extracted are torn; Figure 15 is a view of a
vessel supporting the said instruments and those for sounding purposes, that
part of the sucking tube furnished with a sucker and a metric scale, the more
or less vivid immersion of which shows the degree of work done. In these
Figures the same letters of reference indicate similar parts.
A is the frame; B, the cast-iron cylinders or pump chambers; C, the cast-
iron pistons; D, the valves of the pistons; E, the rods of the same; F, the
connecting rods of the same; G, shaft of the connecting rods; H, the driving
wheel of said shaft; 1, the sucking tube; J, the double branching pipes of
the sucking tube fixed on the pump chambers; K, the valves of the same;
L, the orifice of the double branching pipes of the forcing tube; M, the
forcing tubes; N, the joints or knee pieces (genouilleres) of the sucking and
forcing tubes, made of iron, cast iron, lead, or copper; O, the sucker; P, a
metric scale.
To work the apparatus the pump chambers and sucking tube should be
placed in a horizontal position, and the pump chambers on as near a level
as possible with the water where the operation takes place. With any sort
of motive power the pistons C of cylinders B are acted upon by means of the
driving wheel H, the shaft G, the connecting rod F. and the rods E. The
pistons act alternately by sucking by the double branching pipes J, and by
forcing by the double branching pipes L the water and the foul matters it
contains. This sucking and forcing takes place at greater or lesser distances
by the sucking and forcing tubes M by means of the joints or knee pieces
(genouilleres) N, the disposition of which, constituting an important feature
of the said Invention, allows of the turning the sections of the said tubes over
on themselves, either horizontally or vertically, so as to place at a greater or
lesser distance or height the sucker O in the said directions towards the desired
spot. This disposition consists in fitting one in the other the elbowed
extremities of two sections of tube which turn one in the other; the junction
of the two is effected by bolts, one of their wormed extremities of which is
fixed by nuts to ears in one of the sections, whilst the other extremity has a
hook, as seen in Figure 3, or runs through an iron rundle about an inch
thick, which is held firm by the head of the bolt, as shown in Figure 4, the
which hook or rundle rests on a ring smelted on the other section of the
tube.
Another important improvement consists in the arrangement of the valves;

page_text: these valves are placed on an inclined plane so as to close themselves by their
own weight. The valves D of the pistons C are further placed underneath
the rods E, and their lower parts are at a distance of about 3 inches from
the edges of the pistons to avoid that the accumulated sand, stones, shingle,
or other bodies prevent them from closing.
The sucking apparatus O, as shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11, consists of
half a cylinder, one of the ends of which is closed, the other end being
jointed to the sucking tube; the lower part is closed by a perforated metal
plate, which is placed on the matters to be extracted. The diameter of the
perforations must be so calculated' that the volume of matters sucked up be
not in excess of half the distance left between the lower part of the valves
and the lower edge of the pistons, so as to avoid all obstacle in the closing of
these valves. The sum of the diameters of these perforations should be at
least equal to the diameter of the sucking tube. So as not to damage the
beach or bank, a metal plate might be fixed on the side of the sucker next to
the beach or bank.
་
In order to prevent the sand or gravel from scratching or otherwise
injuring the cylinders the packing of the pistons is made with plaits or strings
of cotton this packing has the advantage of repelling the sand and gravel
without these being able to impregnate themselves; this packing may be
replaced by steel springs such as those commonly used for the pistons of
steam engines; finally, the diameter of the forcing tube should be double that
of the sucking tube.
Having now described the said Invention, and the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not. restrict myself to
the exact forms and dispositions above described and set forth in the accom-
panying Drawings, which may vary according to the application of the apparatus
without departing from the principle on which it is based; but, what I claim and
wish to secure by Letters Patent is, the combination of the different means which
constitute the apparatus, and notably,-
1°. The disposition on an inclined plane of the valves, or the position of the
valves of the pistons at a certain distance from the borders of these latter, so as
to obtain their automatic and. hermetic closure.
2°. The elbowed joints or knee pieces (genouilleres), allowing of the stretch-
ing horizontally and vertically of the sucking and discharging tubes for the pur-
poses herein-before set forth and described.
30. The cotton packing of the pistons for the purposes herein-before set forth
and described.

page_text: 4°. The sucker placed at the extremity of the sucking tube, for the purposes
herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Adrien Bonneville, have hereto set
my band and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
H. BONNEVILLE. (L.S.)