IMPROVEMENTS IN THe Means OR APPARATUS FOR STOPPING HOLES IN SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Mc Cool, of Plumstead, in the County of
Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THe Means
OR APPARATUS FOR STOPPING HOLES IN SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS."
Sealed the 22nd May 1872, and dated the 25th November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John M. Cool at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th November 1871.
I, JOHN M° COOL, of Plumstead, in the County of Kent, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR STOPPING HOLES IN SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS," to
be as follows:--
The object of my Invention is to provide means for readily and
effectually stopping holes or leaks is vessels when at sea and from the
inside of the vessel.
For this purpose I employ a bar of any required length, and not too
large in diameter, to pass through the hole to be stopped. To this bar,

page_text: at or near the middle thereof, I joint or connect one end of a threaded
bolt, which is formed near its other end, with a hole to receive a wire or
cord. The bolt can turn on its joint so as to lie upon the bar or within
a slot in the bar, and when the bolt is in this position the bar and bolt
are passed through the hole in the vessel into the water. The bolt is
then lifted by means of the wire and the end drawn through the hole
into the vessel, the bar remaining outside across the hole. I then place
upon the bolt one or more washers of india-rubber or other elastic and
waterproof material, and a metal plate or washer, and screw these up
tight by means of a nut. The leak will thus be effectually stopped.
I prefer the bar to be slotted, or rather composed of two thin parallel
bars united at their ends by pins or stays. The threaded bolt then works
on a pin passed transversely through the centres of the two bars.
Should the bar be of only one piece it should have a lug to be embraced
by a fork on the end of the bolt, a pin or screw being passed through the
fork and lug. In this case the back of the metal plate should have a
box.or projection for the nut to work against, or otherwise the nut could
not be screwed far enough owing to its coming against the fork. Or the
bar may have two lugs to receive the end of the bolt between them. Or
the bolt may be a simple eye bolt or be formed with a hook to take on
to the bar. The metal plates may be dished or flat, and the bars should
be slightly curved to suit the curve of the ship or vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John M° Cool in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
Mo CooL, of Plumstead, in the County of Kent, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Mc Cool, Her special licence
that I, the said John M° Cool, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: inner end of the bolt and screwed up tight by means of the nut m.
The bar a, which remains outside, acts as a stay or support for the
ship's bottom and insures a proper hold for the plate inside.
The plates g may be round, rectangular, or oval as thought desirable.
For stopping holes or leaks in sunken vessels which it is desired to raise,
the position of the parts is reversed, that is to say, the bar a is inserted
through the hole from the outside of the vessel; the threaded bolt is
then drawn back and the flanged plate screwed up tight on the outside.
The same method would likewise in most cases be adopted in stopping
leaks in floating piers, buoys, and other like floating structures, also in
gas holders, boilers, and other vessels where the exterior can be got at
more conveniently than the interior; also in ships at sea when leaks
occur in such positions that owing to the structure of the ship's bottom
the metal plates cannot be applied inside. Or where both the inside and
outside can be got at, a dished plate may be substituted for the bar a, a
threaded bolt fixed to the centre of this plate being passed through the
hole to be stopped, and a corresponding plate being then applied at the
other side and screwed up by a nut.
This last mode can be adopted in vessels at sea by dropping a weighted
line through the hole to be stopped, hauling the end of this line on
deck by grappling and then attaching the dished plate and its threaded
bolt thereto, so that they could then be drawn back to the hole by the
other end of the line.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my
Improvements in the Means or Apparatus for Stopping Holes in Ships
or other Vessels,"-
"
First. The means or apparatus herein-before described.
Second. The employment substantially as herein-before described of a
dished plate screwed up tight at one side of the hole or leak upon a bolt
which is attached to a device at the other side and passed through the
said hole or leak.
Third. The employment substantially as herein-before described of a
bar and of a threaded bolt jointed thereto in such manner that the bar

page_text: ånd bolt may be passed through the hole or leak, and the bolt then
drawn back in order that a plate for stopping the said hole or leak may
be screwed up thereon.
In witness whereof, I, the said John McCool, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, One thousand 5
eight hundred and seventy-two.