A NEW, OR IMPROVED, APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING SHOCKS TO SHIPS, AND OTHER VESSELS, WHEN RIDING AT ANCHOR, OR MOORED TO, OR LYING ALONGSIDE A LANDING STAGE OR WHARF,
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Benjamin Constant Le Moussu at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd September 1882.
BENJAMIN CONSTANT LE MOUSSU, of Mac Lean's Buildings, New Street Square,
Fleet Street, in the City of London, Civil Engineer, A NEW, OR IMPROVED,
APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING SHOCKS TO SHIPS, AND OTHER VESSELS, WHEN RIDING
AT ANCHOR, OR MOORED TO, OR LYING ALONGSIDE A LANDING STAGE OR WHARF,
My improved apparatus, or shock preventer, consists, in one arrangement, of a
cylinder or barrel provided with a piston and rod, and around which rod is a spiral
spring abutting, at one end, against the piston, and at the other against a collar on
the said rod. Or the rod may be dispensed with and a chain substituted therefor,
around which the spiral spring would be coiled, but in either case a hook is attached
to the outer end of the rod or chain. The apparatus thus constructed is mounted
in a frame which is bolted to the deck, or it may be provided at its rear end with
an eye or link, by means of which it can be secured to a hook on the deck, thereby
allowing it to move in any direction.
In combination with the apparatus above described, and at a certain distance
therefrom, preferably the length between the piston and the collar, I employ a
friction wheel or roller, mounted in a suitable frame and bolted to the bed plate of
the apparatus. But this friction wheel or roller and its frame may be separate from
the apparatus, and bolted to the deck, or other part of the ship or vessel. The
chain, to which the anchor is secured, passes over this friction wheel or roller, and
after having been paid out is made fast, by one of its links, or by larger links
arranged at intervals thereon, to the hook at the end of the piston rod, or to the
hook on the chain terminating the said rod.
Or two grooved friction rollers may be employed and mounted in the bulwark of
the ship or vessel, and between these rollers the chain may pass and take any
position.
The apparatus may also be employed without the cylinder or barrel, in which
case the rod would be lengthened, and guided by supports through which it
would pass.
In cases where a rope, cable or hawser is employed I provide the same with a
number of links or eyes, arranged at intervals thereon, for the purpose of making
such rope cable or hawser fast to the hook on the piston rod, or piston chain

page_text: Thus it will be readily understood that when the ship or vessel is riding at
anchor or is moored to, or lying alongside a landing stage, wharf, pier, or jetty, and
is carried or borne by the sea, the strain on the chain cable, rope, or hawser will be
gradually produced during the compression or the tension of the spring, according
to its arrangement, instead of suddenly or at the moment of the shock, and will
thereby allow the chain sufficient play without offering undue resistance, and
without sudden shocks to the ship or vessel.
If desired, another of these apparatus (without the frame, and sometimes without
the barrel or cylinder) may be employed, and interposed between the anchor and
the chain or cable, or at any other intermediate point of the chain or cable.
The apparatus may also be applied or fitted to a landing stage, pier, wharf or
jetty, so as to avoid sudden shocks when making a ship or other vessel fast to
the same