Improvements in Apparatus for Ejecting Ashes and other Refuse and Water from the Holds of Ships.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Apr., 1892-Accepted, 21st May, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by HORACE, LEE, of 48, West 20th Street, in the
City of New York, in the County and State of New York, United States
of America, Engineer and Naval Architect.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Ejecting Ashes and other Refuse
and Water from the Holds of Ships.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake and Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:--
This invention relates to apparatus for ejecting ashes and other refuse and water
from the holds of ships and vessels, and has for its object to so construct the
apparatus that it will be efficient and durable, and of neat appearance. The
apparatus is of course more particularly designed to be used on board steam vessels
using coal for generating steam.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 shows one half of a cross-section of a ship having my ejecting apparatus
therein and secured in place.
Figure 2 shows in plan the top of the ashes receptacle shown in Figure 1 with
its connecting pipes broken away.
Figure 3 shows the ejector detached, fitted also as a bilge water discharge
apparatus.
Figure 4 is a general side view of the apparatus partly cased, or boxed in the
parts indicated by dotted lines being located behind a bulkhead or partition,
part of which forms one side of the box or casing containing the body of the
apparatus.
Figure 5 shows the parts of Figure 4 in plan, those parts within the casing being
shown in dotted lines.
Figure 6 is a sectional end-view of Figure 4 looking to the right.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures of
the drawings.
Referring now to Figure 1, the letter A indicates a receptacle for the ashes
preferably shaped like an inverted cone or prism, forming a hopper into which the
ashes to be removed are thrown by means of shovels or otherwise. They said
hopper is provided with a hinged cover B having hinges and bolts g provided with
nuts for securing the cover water-tight joint to the top of the hopper. The lower
part of the hopper A, is connected to the lower part of a discharge pipe C, and to
the base of the said pipe is connected the ejector nozzle F of an ejector-pipe D,
provided with a cock or valve E, near said nozzle, and having a handle e. A drain
cock C, is attached to the discharge pipe C, so as to drain both it and the hopper A,
when required, of any water that may remain therein after the apparatus has ceased
to operate.
The valve I, is an air-valve attached to the discharge pipe C, to admit air in said
pipe. The rush of air therethrough into the pipe C, when the apparatus is in
operation, tends to separate or scatter the particles of the ashes and, in thus
breaking up the mass, said inrush of air assists the expelled current of water. to
eject the ashes as it rises up the pipe C. The ejector current of water is supplied
by a force pump of any suitable design (not shown) which is to be connected to
the ejector pipe D so as to discharge a strong stream of water through the cock E
and ejector nozzle F into the discharge pipe C. In Figure 1, the discharge pipe C
is shown rising up at an inclination and passing through the coal bunker under the
ID 27

page_text: deck of a ship and thence through the side of the ship, some distance above the
water line W. It is preferable to lead the ejector pipe D, from the force-pump
to a point or level above the hopper and from such elevation then lead said pipe
down to and connect it with the ejector cock E and ejector nozzle F.
The operation of the apparatus as described with reference to Figure 1 is as
follows: The door or cover B, of the hopper A, being closed the drain cock c is
opened and any water that may be in the discharge pipe C is drawn off. This
cock being again closed, and the cock E, in the ejector pipe D, also closed, the
force pump connected to said ejector pipe is started and an initial head or pressure
of water accumulated, sufficient to force the ashes up and overboard through the
pipe C. When sufficient pressure has been thus obtained, the ejector-cock E is
opened, when the cover B may be raised and the ashes thrown into the hopper A,
in suitable quantities successively. As the ashes fall to the bottom of the hopper,
and into the base of the discharge pipe C, they encounter the current or jet of
water from the ejector nozzle F, and, by the force, of said jet, assisted by the rush
of air into the hopper, are carried with the water up the pipe C and thence, by
and through it, are discharged through the side of the ship overboard the point of
discharge being either near to or preferably, and more properly, a few feet above
the surface of the water-line depending upon the draft of water and service whether
river or ocean service of the vessel. Should any of the ashes fail to reach the
hopper, they will fall upon the fire room floor, whence they can be re-collected and
thrown into the hopper, or otherwise disposed of, until the apparatus is again put
in operation. The arrangement, location and form of the hopper and its door are
convenient for the rapid and ready deposit of the ashes therein by means of the
ordinary shovels used in the fire room for shovelling coal.
When the ashes are all discharged, the door or cover B, is again closed and
secured before the ejector pump is stopped. This will prevent any back flow of
water out of the hopper due to the head of water which may remain in the pipe C,
when the ejector pump is stopped. In providing the hopper A, with its water
tight door B, I obviate, the necessity of providing, and therefore may dispense
with, any valve in the discharge pipe C, at the side of the ship for no water
can get into the hopper down the pipe C while the ejector pump is in operation-
and when it is stopped, if any water should wash into and down the pipe C, the
water tight cover B, will prevent such water from entering into the hold or bilge
of the ship or into any compartment thereof.
The friction or scour of the ashes, or of the coarser and only partially consumed
particles of coal therein is great enough in course of time to materially wear away
the section M of the discharge pipe C. For this reason such section of pipe or
bend may be made with advantage thicker, at least, on its top side, than the
remainder of said pipe.
Inserted
in Figure 3, is shown an addition to the apparatus shown in Figure 1.
between the main line of the ejector-pipe D, and the cork or valve E, is a side
branch or passover pipe G, provided with a cock or valve H. which pipe connects
the pipe D, and the lower portion of the hopper A. By means of this by-pass,
the ejector pipe D, and ashes discharge pipe C, may be used as a line of pipe for
the discharge of bilge water by the ejector pump or by any suitable bilge pump,
when the apparatus is not in use as an ashes-ejector. When not so used, the
apparatus is converted into a bilge-discharging-apparatus by simply opening the
valve H and closing the valve E, and hopper cover B, and starting the force-
pump or a bilge-pump (not shown) connected to the pipe D. This arrangement of
bilge water-discharge may therefore dispense with the necessity of employing a
separate pump and line of discharge pipes for pumping water from the bilge one
single plant thus performing either function, alternately, of bilge discharging
apparatus and ashes-ejector, as occasion may require.
I have discovered that an ejector-cock must be located in close proximity to the
ejector nozzle in order to secure certainty in discharging the ashes. In starting
the apparatus into operation, the ejector cock E must be kept closed until after the

page_text: ejector pump has created a high pressure in the ejector pipe. Then, upon opening
said cock, such high pressure or full head of water will impinge upon the mass of
ashes at the base of the discharge pipe C, in front of the ejector nozzle F, and force
the ashes before it and with it out of the discharge pipe. This current of water
will also cause an inrush of air into the open top of the ash-hopper A, the force
of which air will assist in breaking up the mass, and scattering the particles, of
ashes, so that the current of water can more effectually hold the more solid or
larger particles in mechanical suspension and drive them overboard with the other
finer and more powder-like particles. To this extent the open hopper performs the
same office in admitting air as does the air-cock I, hereinbefore described, the
conical shape of the hopper also assisting in the operation much like an ejector-
nozzle. The two currents of water and air thus acting in conjunction in effect
justify classifying this apparatus as a hydro-pneumatic machine.
Referring now to Figures 4, 5 and 6, the apparatus therein shown is the same as
that shown in and described with reference to the other figures, except that the
by-pass bilge water discharging pipe and valve of Figure 3, has been omitted, and
an air vessel G, has been added. These features obviously, however, may be used
or omitted, as desired, being useful and important adjuncts to the apparatus as a
whole.
In Figures 4 and 6, the apparatus is shown partly contained within a box or
casing, the hopper A being bounded by the dotted lines a, a, b, b, Figure 4 and
said casing by the lines a, a, f, f, Figure 6. The letter K indicates a door leading
through the bulkhead Y of a coal bunker, and a door in the front of the casing
for access to the drain cock c, and other parts within said casing. The air vessel G
by the reaction of air compressed therein, assists the ejector pipe D, in performing
its office, while the ejector pump (not shown) connected to said pipe, is in operation.
The air vessel G, may be provided, and will be of advantage, in addition to any
ordinary form of air-vessel which may be attached to the ejector pump. If
preferred the air vessel G, may be also enclosed within the casing or box a a, f, f.
In Figure 5, the air vessel is omitted for the sake of more clearly illustrating other
parts of the apparatus.
The casing enclosing this apparatus may be independent of any partition or
bulkhead, but I prefer, in embodying the apparatus on shipboard, to cut an opening
in a fire-room-bulkhead separating it from a coal bunker, at some convenient height
from the floor and of sufficient size for shovelling therein the ashes. The hopper
proper may then be built and secured to the bulkhead on the coal-bunker-side
thereof, the door covering the opening to the hopper being secured and operated
from the fire-room and the handle of the ejector-cock being projected through the
bulkhead, forming one side of the casing, into the fire room.
Instead of an entire casing if desired a recess may be formed in the bulkhead,
which recess may be open only to the fire-room and the hopper placed within said
recess, the discharge-pipe leading, as before described to and through the side of
the vessel..
In either case the main parts of the apparatus will be protected from the weight
of the coal in the bunker from injury in stowing the coal and from the accumulations
of coal-dust; while a convenient location is provided for the apparatus and its
appearance rendered neater if not ornamental.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. An ashes-ejector for ships or vessels, consisting of an ash-receptacle; a jet-
pipe provided with a valve or cock said cock being located in close proximity to
the jet-nozzle of said pipe, for opening and closing the orifice of said nozzle; and
a discharge-pipe, connected to said ash-receptacle for discharging the ashes over-
board; said parts being all combined and operating substantially as described with
reference to Figure 1 of the drawings.

page_text: 2. An ashes-ejector for ships or vessels having in combination an ash-receptacle,
provided with a removable cover or seal; a jet pipe and valve; a discharging pipe
and a passover pipe and valve for discharging bilge-water substantially as described
with reference to Figure 3 of the drawings.
3. An ashes-ejector for ships or vessels consisting of a box having its upper
portion formed into an ash-receptacle or hopper, and its lower portion forming a
case inclosing ejecting and discharging devices for said hopper said ejector being
also provided with a suitable door or doors, for opening or closing said hopper and
casing; all of said parts being constructed and operating, substantially as described
with reference to Figures 45 and 6 of the drawings.
4. An ashes-ejector for ships or vessels having the air vessel G, combined with
the pipes for ejecting and discharging the ashes overboard, from the ashes
receptacle, said air vessel being located in close proximity to the jet end of the
ejector pipe, substantially as described, with reference to the several figures of the
drawings.
Dated this 12th day of April 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.