AN IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING UP HATCHWAYS. AND OTHER OPENINGS IN SHIPS AND BOats
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham, of the Glen,
Bournemouth, in the County of Dorset, late a Captain in Her
Majesty's Service, Bengal Cavalry, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING UP HATCHWAYS. AND OTHER OPENINGS IN
SHIPS AND BOats."
Scaled the 30th December 1873, and dated the 27th September 1873.
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PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Richard
Devereux Bingham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 27th September 1873.
I, THOMAS RICHARD DEVEREUX BINGHAM, of the Glen, Bournemouth,
5 in the County of Dorset, late a Captain in Her Majesty's Service,
Bengal Cavalry, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING UP HATCHWAYS AND OTHER OPENINGS IN SHIPS
AND BOATS," to be as follows:-
-
My Invention consists of an improved mode of covering up hatchways
O and other openings in ships and boats and is chiefly applicable to sea-
going ships as a protection in stormy weather to the hatchways and

page_text: other openings, preventing all water from coming down the hatchways
and openings, and at the same time allowing of perfect ventilation
through the covering.
I carry out my Invention by placing semicircular or curved girders of
iron or other suitable material over the opening to be covered at a ६
suitable distance from the opening and from each other. Over these
girders I place one or more self-coiling revolving shutter or shutters
made of or faced with iron, steel, or other suitable metal; these shutters
are well known.
When it is required to cover up the opening the shutters are drawn 1
over by pulleys or wheels or any other suitable mechanism worked
either by hand or by steam, and can be opened in the same manner.
When opened the shutters can either be drawn under the deck or
coiled up into a convenient compass in a box or other receptacle.
When the shutters are closed ample ventilation is afforded through 1
the interstices, but when pressure from outside is applied such as a wave
breaking over the hatchway, the strips forming the shutter are closed
up by the pressure and the covering is rendered water-tight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham in the Great 2
Seal Patent Office on the 24th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RICHARD DEVEREUX BINGHAM, of the Glen, Bournemouth, in the
County of Dorset, late a Captain in Her Majesty's Service, Bengal
Cavalry, send greeting.
2
¨ WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham, 3
Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING UP HATCHWAYS
AND OTHER OPENINGS IN SHIPS AND BOATS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham,
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 thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of an improved mode of covering up hatchways,
engine room skylights, and other similar openings in. ships and boats;
and is chiefly applicable to sea going ships as a protection in stormy
weather, preventing all water from coming down the hatchways and
openings as well as protecting the glass skylights of engine room
and cabins from damage by broken spars, or debris, or other like accidents
in heavy weather, and at the same time allowing of perfect ventilation.
I carry out my Invention by placing either angular, straight, semi-
circular or curved girders of T or angle iron, or other suitable material
over the opening to be covered at suitable distances from the opening
and from each other. Over these girders I place self-coiling, sliding,
and revolving shutters made of or faced with iron, steel, or other
suitable material. These shutters are either slid or coiled up at the top
of the girders or on deck or at any convenient part, and are either slid,
coiled, or uncoiled by pulleys, levers, wheels, or other suitable mechanism
worked by hand or steam or arranged to slide in grooves.
When the shutters are closed ample ventilation is afforded through
the interstices of the plates, but when pressure from without is applied
such as a wave breaking over the hatchway, the strips forming the

page_text: shutter are closed up by the pressure and the covering is rendered water-
tight. And in like manner the shutters form a complete protection
from falling spars, wreckage, and other débris; I close up the ends of
the skylight with plates of metal, wood, or any suitable material.
In the Drawing accompanying this Specification Figure I. shews the
shutters coiled up at the top; "A is the combing of the hatchway or
skylight; B is the solid end; C, C, the glass; D, D, the curved iron
girders; E, E, the shutters coiled up on top; F, F, small T plates fixed
to the deck for fastening the shutters down.
Figure II. shews the shutters when closed.
Figure III. shews a mode of.coiling the shutters in a box on the
deck.
Figure IV. shews a mode of sliding the shutters from centre towards
each end of skylight.
Figure V. is a plan of the hatchway with the girders crossing it.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be carried out, I claim the application of self-
coiling, revolving, or sliding shutters for coverings for hatchways
and other openings in ships carried out in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Richard Devereux Bingham,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-four.