IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKWATERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Grant, of Glen Grant, in the County of Moray.
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKWATERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Grant at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th May 1860.
I, JOHN GRANT, of Glen Grant, in the County of Moray, do hereby declaro
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKWATERS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention relates to what are known as floating breakwaters, and
consists in constructing a breakwater of any required number of apparatuses,
constructed as hereafter described. Each apparatus is formed of a frame
made to carry a number of louvre boards or plates; the main part of the
frame is composed of two beams, brought close together at that part which is
to become the bottom of the apparatus; as the beams are carried upwards
they diverge and make a conical-shaped frame; the louvre boards or plates
are fitted at an angle into and across the beams. The beams have fixed on
then buoys to increase or insure their buoyancy. Each separate apparatus is
moored to a screw pile or other mooring by its lower end; the upper end
carries one or more projecting pins or studs, and iron rods formed at both ends
with eyes are passed over the studs, connect the apparatuses to each other,
prevent their coming in contact, and unite any desired number of the appa-
ratuses into a complete breakwater. Each apparatus floats vertically or at a
greater or lesser angle to the horizontal line, and is partially submerged. Each

page_text: of the apparatuses is capable of independent play, and the waves striking
against the louvre plates become broken up, and the water becomes com-
paratively still inside of the breakwater.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Grant in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, Joux
GRANT, of Glen Grant, in the County of Moray, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victorin, by ITer Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Iler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Grant, Her special licence that I. the said John Grant,
my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I. the said
John Grant, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 “IM-
PROVEMENTS IN BREAKWATERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Grant, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals,
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 John Grant, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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 relates to what are known as floating breakwaters, and
consists in forming a breakwater of any required number of apparatuses, con-
structed as hereafter described. Each apparatus is formed of a frame made
to carry a number of louvre boards or plates; the main part of the frame is
composed of two beams brought close together at that part which is to become

page_text: the bottom of the apparatus; as the beams are carried upwards they diverge,
and make a conical-shaped frame; the louvre boards or plates are fitted at an
angle into and across the beams. The beams have fixed on them buoys to
increase or ensure their buoyancy. Each separate apparatus is moored to a screw
pile or other mooring by its lower end; the upper end carries one or more
projecting pins or studs, and iron rods formed at both ends with eyes are
passed over the studs, connect the apparatuses to each other, prevent their
coming in contact, and unite any desired number of the apparatuses into a
complete break water. Each apparatus floats vertically, or at a greater or
lesser angle to the horizontal line, and is partially submerged. Each of the
apparatuses is capable of independent play, and the waves striking against the
louvre plates are broken, and the water becomes comparatively still inside of
the breakwater.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings shows in front, and Figure 2 in
side elevation, partly in section, of three of these apparatuses connected
together in the manner just described. a, b, are the beams forming the frame
of each apparatus; they meet, and are fixed together at their lower part.
c, c, are louvre boards fitted to and inserted in the beams a, b, one above tho
other, as shown; d, d, are buoys secured to the frame, one at or near its upper
part, and the other near the bottom thereof; 6 is a ring bolted to the lower
end of the frame, whereby it may be connected to a mooring or anchor;
9. 9, are connecting rods; they are made with eyes h, h, which pass over studs
on the upper part of the frame, where they are secured by bolts, pins, or
otherwise. Any number of these apparatuses may be connected together, and
moored in a straight line in a curve, or in any other figure, according to the
part to be protected, or the extent of water to be made smooth. In some
cases the connecting rods may be dispensed with.
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, forming floating
breakwaters by means of apparatuses constructed substantially in manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Grant, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
JOIN GRANT. (L.S.)