Year: 1886

page_text: I, PERCY LEWIS ISAAC, of 75 Mark Lane, in the City of London, Naval Architect
and Marine Surveyor, M.I.N.A. do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:
My invention relates to doors for watertight bulkheads, and is designed to
provide for ensuring more effectually than heretofore that such doors when open
shall always be capable of being closed notwithstanding the accumulation of lumps
of coal or other obstacles within the doorways.
The doors of watertight bulkheads as heretofore constructed require to be moved
downwards to close them. Moreover, the openings or doorways in the bulkheads
are usually close to the floor of the stoke-hold, or to the ceiling of the ship.
Therefore any lumps of coal or other obstacles in the doorways or any accumu-
lation of dust or dirt in the grooves in which the doors are fitted to slide will
prevent the closing of the door, thereby endangering the lives of passengers in
case of collision or of the ship striking a rock. And, although the doorway may
be kept clear under ordinary conditions, yet any water entering one of the water-
tight compartments of a ship and flowing through the said doorway is liable to
carry with it lumps of coal or other articles or objects which will become jammed
in the said doorway and thus prevent the descent of the door.
I overcome these difficulties by making the bulkhead doors to close upward
instead of downward as heretofore so that, in closing the door, any articles or
objects that may be within, or passing through, the opening will be thrown aside
by the door in its upward movement. I prefer to bevel the top edge of the door
on one or both sides to facilitate the throwing aside of any obstacle.
My invention is particularly advantageous when applied to bunker doors, where
coal-dust or lumps of coal frequently lie in the doorway and prevent the closing of
the doors heretofore used. My improved door, when moved upward to close the
same, forces its way through any coal or other obstruction that may be in the .
doorway.
•
My apparatus is conveniently and advantageously constructed as follows, that is
to say-The door proper consists of a metal plate fitted to slide up and down in
suitable guides and provided with lugs or projections at its upper end. The said
door is connected with a cross-head by means of bolts or rods, which are secured
in the said cross-head and in the lugs on the door in such a manner that, when the

page_text: door is open, the cross-head is above, or level with the top of, the doorway. To
this cross-head is secured the lower end of a rod, which extends upward to the
deck or other part from which the door is to be worked.
Any suitable means may be provided for opening and closing the door. I prefer,
however, to employ mechanism operated by hydraulic or other power and so arranged
that the doors of all the bulkheads of a ship can be simultaneously closed by an
officer on the bridge or deck of the ship.
In some instances, I arrange on each side of the door a hydraulic ram which is
secured at its upper end to the door. The cylinders of these rams communicate
with the water outside the ship by means of pipes provided with cocks, so that, by
simply opening these cocks, the door will be closed by the pressure due to the head
of water outside the ship acting upon the said rams. The said cocks are sometimes
provided with means whereby they may be operated by the officer on the bridge
or deck of the ship. Or they are so arranged that they can be operated from the
engine-room or stokehold, or so that they can be operated either from the engine-
room or stokehold or from the bridge or deck.
It is obvious that other means than those above described can be used for raising
and lowering the door.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: 1
Improvements relating to Doors for Watertight Bulkheads.
I, PERCY, LEWIS ISAAC, of 75 Mark Lane, in the City of London, Naval Architect
and Marine Surveyor, M.I.N.A. 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:-
My invention relates to doors for watertight bulkheads, and is designed to
provide for ensuring that such doors shall be capable of closing, when required,
notwithstanding the accumulation of lumps of coal or other obstacles within the
doorway:
The doors of watertight bulkheads as heretofore usually constructed require to
be moved downward to close them, and the openings or doorways in the bulkheads
are usually level with the floor of the stoke-hold or with the ceiling of the ship.
Consequently the closing of such doors is frequently. prevented by lumps of coal
or other obstacles in the doorway or by the accumulation of dust or dirt in the
grooves in which the door is fitted to slide; the lives of passengers are thus
endangered in case of collision or in case of the ship striking a rock. Moreover,
although the doorway may be kept clear under ordinary conditions, yet any water
entering one of the watertight compartments of a ship and flowing through the
said doorway is liable to carry with it lumps of coal or other articles or objects
which will become jammed in the said doorway and thus prevent the descent of
the door.
I overcome these difficulties by making bulkhead doors to close upward instead
of downward, so that, in closing the door, any articles or objects that may be
within, or passing through, the opening will be thrown aside by the door in its
upward movement. I prefer to bevel the upper edge of the door on one or both
sides thereof, so that lumps of coal or other objects cannot rest thereon, and the
throwing aside of any obstacle will therefore be facilitated.
My invention is particularly advantageous when applied to bunker-doors, where
coal-dust or lumps of coal frequently lie in the doorway, or accumulate in the
grooves or guide-ways; as my improved door, when moved upward to close the
same, will easily force its way through such obstruction, and will force any accu-
mulation within the grooves out at the top ends thereof.
In the accompanying drawing, I have shown how ny said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of my apparatus, wherein the door is
provided with means for opening and closing it by hand.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a front, elevation of another form or modification of my apparatus,
wherein hydraulic power is used for opening and closing the door.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section on the line x1, x¹, Figure 3.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
a is the door, which consists of a metal plate, and which is fitted to slide up and
down in V-shaped grooves or guide-ways (which are open at the top ends) formed
in a frame b of cast-steel or other suitable material secured by bolts or otherwise,
>

page_text: to the bulkhead c. The door is provided with lugs or projections a' at its upper
end. In the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2, the door is connected with a
cross-head d by means of bolts or rods e, which are secured in the said cross-head
and in the lugs a¹ on the door. The bolts or rods e are of such length between
the door and cross-head that, when the door is open, the cross-head d is above, or
level with, the top of the door-way b¹. The cross-head d is formed with a recess
or cavity d' in which a nut f is fitted. The lower end of a screw-rod g is screwed
into this nut. The said rod g extends upward to the deck or other part of the
ship from which the door is to be worked, and is provided with a hand-wheel h.
i indicates the stoke-hold platform. When the distance between the said platform
and the top of the floors or of the inner bottom of the vessel, is not less than the
length of the door, the sill of the doorway may be level with the said platform.
If, however, the platform i occupies a position nearer the top of the floors or of
the inner bottom, for instance, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1, the sill of
the doorway is arranged above the said platforma and a step 2, shown in dotted
lines in Figure 1, is provided, so that the door, when lowered, will be covered and
protected by the said step.
In the modification of my invention illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, a hydraulic
ram k is arranged on each side of the door a and each piston-rod or ram-head is
connected to one of the lugs a¹ on the door.
The cylinders of these rams are connected, by means of pipes 1, with a two-way
cock m.
The plug of this cock can be turned so as to put the said cylinders in
communication either with the water outside the ship through the pipe n, or with
the bilge through the pipe n¹. When the said cylinders are placed in com-
munication with the water outside the ship, the door will be closed by the pressure
due to the head of water. By turning the plug of the said cock so as to put the
said cylinders in communication with the bilge, the water may be permitted to
escape from the said cylinders, and the door will be opened by gravity. Each
lug a is provided with a roller a which bears against the outer edge of the
frame and assists in guiding the door in its up and down movement, thus
avoiding any tendency to twisting thereof. o, o are stops attached to the bulk-
head c for limiting the upward movement of the rams.
It is sometimes desirable that the centres of the pistons or. rams should be in
line with the door. For this purpose I make the frame b of such thickness that
the door will stand out as far from the bulkhead as the centres of the rams.
To provide for the operation of the cock m either by an officer or other person'
on the bridge or deck of the ship, or by an engineer or other person in the engine-
room or stoke-hold, a vertical rod p is connected with the plug of the said cock;
the upper end of this rod is supported in a bracket p¹ attached to the bulk-head c.
The rod is coupled. to another rod q by means of a clutch r, r¹. The upper
part of this clutch is keyed upon the rod q but is free to slide up and down
thereon; it is made with a tooth which fits into a notch in the part r, and one
side of which is inclined, the other side being vertical. When the rod q is turned
in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 3, the rod p turns therewith and
operates the cock m, but, if the rod q is turned in the reverse direction to that
indicated by the said arrow, the inclined tooth r will ride up the inclined surface
of the notch and the part r will thus be raised out of engagement with the part ŕ
of the clutch; the rod q will, therefore, turn freely without operating the cock m.
The lower part r of the clutch is provided with a handle whereby the cock m may
be turned by a stoker or other persón, after lifting the part out of engagement
with the part r. The lower part is also fitted with a stop that acts against a
projection p on the bracket p¹ so as to prevent the plug of the cock being turned
too far. The rod q is connected by means of suitable bevel wheels and shafting
with an operating lever or hand-wheel on the bridge or deck of the ship.
Any other suitable means may be provided for opening and closing the door.
I sometimes employ mechanism operated by bydraulic or other power and so
arranged that the doors of all the-bulk-heads of a ship can be simultaneously

page_text: closed by an officer on the bridge or deck of the ship by means of a single lever,
hand-wheel or other operating device.
When there is sufficient room below the stoke-hold platform for a single hydraulic
ram of the requisite size for working the door, I prefer to use only one ram.
I sometimes use one or more overhead rams.
In some instances, instead of working the ram or rams by the pressure of the
water outside the ship, I connect the same with an accumulator. Moreover,
I sometimes employ double-acting rams so that the door may be opened as well as
closed by hydraulic power.
When a door is closed by moving it upward as above described, it is obvious
that, unless any object can rest upon the upper edge thereof, it cannot prevent the
closing of the door, as it will be pushed aside by the said door in its ascent. My
improved door, therefore, possesses the great advantage over those heretofore used
that it is always capable of closing notwithstanding any obstruction of the doorway
by lumps of coal or other objects.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it understood
that I claim :-
First. A door for a watertight bulkhead, so constructed and arranged that the
closing thereof will be effected by moving it upward.
Second. The improved apparatus consisting of the parts constructed and com-
bined substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 or to Figures 3
and 4 of the drawing for the purpose specified.
Third. The modification of my invention wherein I provide for the closing of
two or more bulk-head doors by means of a single lever, hand-wheel, or other
operating device, substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
T
1 : 100R
Dated this 17th day of November
1002
2000r
PERCY L. ISAAC.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.