Improved Appliance for Working the Water Tight Doors of Ships' Bulkheads and other Heavy Doors.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 23rd Jan., 1895-Accepted, 13th Apr., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Appliance for Working the Water Tight Doors of Ships'
Bulkheads and other Heavy Doors.
1, STEPHEN MATTHEWS, of 28 Mainsforth Terrace West, Sunderland, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
• The means now usually adopted for operating the water tight doors in ships'
bulkheads, are of such a nature that in cases of emergency, as for instance when a
collision occurs, it is often found practically impossible to close these doors
sufficiently quickly to prevent the inrush of water from one compartment to
another.
Now the object of my invention is an improved appliance of such construction
that it may be applied to water tight doors as at present arranged and by means
of which these doors may be easily and quickly closed or opened.
For this purpose I provide a bracket at a suitable distance above each of the
water tight doors in the ship's bulkheads and secure thereto the lower end of a
vertical tube having a cylinder mounted to slide upon it.
This sliding cylinder is connected by a bracket forming a bearing for a hollow
socket piece or sleeve which is fitted to the rod, extending upwards from the top of
the water tight door into which it screws and sliding near its upper end which is
provided with a hand wheel by means of which the doors may be raised or
lowered as at present in a guide secured near the upper end of the vertical
tube, thus as the cylinder is caused to rise or fall by supplying or exhausting
fluid under pressure or otherwise to or from it, it carries with it the water
tight door.
The supply and exhaust of the operating fluid to and from the cylinder is
effected through the vertical tube the upper end of which opens into the interior
of said cylinder. The lower end of the vertical tube is connected through a pipe
or pipes to any suitable source of fluid pressure or other supply such as the main
feed pipe of the boilers of a steam ship or a cistern, said connecting pipe or pipes'
being provided with suitable cocks or valves arranged that they may be worked,
and said pipes and the cylinder exhausted to allow the doors to close by their
own weight from the engine room or other part, or by float taps or valves arranged
in the water tight compartments of the vessel or at other points.
As the means usually adopted for operating water tight doors are, as above
described, in no way interfered with it will be obvious that when desirable such
means may be utilized for raising the doors and these held in their raised position
or allowed to descend by their own weight by the supply from any suitable source
and exhaust of fluid not under pressure to and from the cylinders, whilst should any
obstacle prevent the doors closing by their own weight the same means may be
used for forcing them down.
Dated this 02-11
CASTLE SMITH,
"Invention" Office, 54, Fleet Street, Loudon, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: Improved Appliance for Working the Water Tight Doors of Ships"
Bulkheads and other Heavy Doors.
I, STEPHEN MATTHEWS, of 28 Mainsforth Terrace West, Sunderland, in the
County of Durham, Engineer, 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 :-
The means now usually adopted for operating the water tight doors in ships'
bulkheads, are of such a nature that in cases of emergency, as for instance when a
collision occurs, it is often found practically impossible to close them quickly
enough to prevent the inrush of water from one compartment to another.
Now the object of my invention is an improved appliance of such construction
that it may be applied to water tight doors as at present arranged and operated
and by means of which these doors may be easily and quickly closed or opened.
For this purpose I fix a bracket at a suitable distance above each of the water
tight doors in the ship's bulkheads and secure thereto the lower end of a vertical
tube or hollow ram having a cylinder mounted to slide upon it from which sliding
cylinder projects a bracket carrying a hollow socket piece or sleeve so that it may
be revolved but cannot move longitudinally. This socket piece or sleeve is
arranged to slide in a fixed guide and is mounted on and keyed to a rod extending
upwards from the top of the water tight door (thus as the cylinder is caused to
rise or fall by supplying or exhausting fluid under pressure or otherwise to or from
it, it carries with it the water tight door) whilst by revolving the rod which screws
into the door and is provided on its upper end with a hand wheel or the like, the
doors may be raised or lowered as at present.
The supply and exhaust of the operating fluid to and from the cylinder is
effected through the vertical tube the upper end of which opens into the interior
of said cylinder, whilst its lower end is connected through a pipe or pipes to any
suitable source of fluid pressure or other supply such as the main feed pipe of the
boilers of a steam ship or a cistern, said connecting pipe or pipes being provided
with suitable cocks or valves arranged that they may be worked, and said pipes and
the cylinder supplied with fluid and exhausted to allow the doors to close by
their own weight, from the engine room or other part, or by float taps or
valves arranged in the water tight compartments of the vessel or at other points.
As the nieans usually adopted for operating water tight doors are, as above
described, in no way interfered with it will be obvious that when desirable such
means may be utilized for raising the doors and said doors held in their raised
position or allowed to descend by their own weight by suitably regulating the
supply from any suitable source and exhaust of fluid not under pressure to and
from the cylinders, whilst should any obstacle prevent the doors closing by their
own weight the same means may be used for forcing them down.
.
Where the doors cannot close by gravity as for instance where they slide
borizontally or where the usual screw is inconvenient for this purpose the above
described arrangement may be modified and a second cylinder and hollow ram
provided for this purpose.
In this case I arrange the rams end to end and secure them to a common
fixed bracket whilst the cylinders, the supply and exhaust to which is governed
by a suitable three way valve, are connected together by a link and one of them
secured to the door either directly or through the medium of the usual screw
spindle.
And in order that my invention may be more fully understood and carried into

page_text: practice will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the
accompanying drawings of which
Fig. is a front elevation partly in section of a vertically sliding door
operated by apparatus constructed and arranged according to my invention;
Fig. 2 a side elevation (Fig. 1),
Fig. 3 a front elevation partly in section of a horizontally sliding door fitted
with the modified form of apparatus in which two cylinders are employed,
Fig. 4 a sectional plan on line - Fig. 3 and
Fig. 5 a plan of the three way cock, for governing the supply and exhaust of the
operating fluid, on an enlarged scale.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 a tube or hollow ram a is fixed at its lower end to a
fixed bracket & and upon this tube or ram slides a cylinder c suitably packed at the
point at which said ram euters. From the lower end of this cylinder projects a
bracket and in this a sleeve e is mounted so that it may revolve but cannot move
longitudinally. This sleeve slides in a fixed guide fand is mounted on and keyed
to a rod g the lower end of which screws through lugs projecting from the door h
whilst its upper end is provided with a suitable handle by means of which it may
be revolved.
C
The upper end of the ram a opens into the interior of the cylinder c and its
lower end is connected to the supply and exhaust pipe & which may be connected
to the main feed pipe of a boiler or to any other convenient fluid supply and is
provided at suitable points with the cocks or valves arranged that they may be
worked, and said pipe and cylinder supplied with fluid and exhausted, from the
engine room or other point or by float taps / arranged at suitable points."
With such an arrangement it will be seen that when fluid under a sufficiently
high pressure is supplied to the cylinder this will be forced upward carrying the
door with it and the door will remain in its raised position even when the fluid
supply is cut off providing the fluid in the cylinder is not allowed to escape but
will close by its own weight immediately the fluid contained in the cylinder and
pipe connected with it, is exhausted therefrom, such for instance by the opening of
one of the float valves connected to the supply and exhaust pipe.
The door may also be raised or forced down by the aid of the screw as heretofore
independently of the ram and cylinder or where found more convenient such for
instance as when the liquid supply used is not under pressure, the screw may be
used for raising the door and with it the cylinder so drawing fluid into the atter,
and said door then held in its raised position or lowered by the aid of the ram
and cylinder by operating the necessary valves to prevent or allow the fluid to
escape.
In Figs. 3 4 and 5 a modification of the above described apparatus is shown
applied to a horizontally sliding door.
In this two rams a and a' Figs. 3 & 4 and two cylinders e c' are employed the
former being arranged end to end and connected to the opposite sides of the
bracket whilst the latter are connected together by a link m and one of them
either secured directly to the door as shown or connected thereto through the
medium of the usual screw as above described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, and
the other provided with a lug o sliding in a fixed guide o'..
A three way valve n shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 5 governs the supply and
escape of the fluid under pressure to and from the cylinders, through the rams sɔ
governing the opening and closing of the door, by effecting the charging of one and
the discharging of the other; or the locking of it in the desired position by the
charging of both. It is also arranged to govern an independent exhaust pipe-
the exit or exits from which is or are governed by float valves placed at suitable
points as described in reference to the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2-in such
a manner that the supply pipe may be cut off from one cylinder and the exhaust
pipe put in communication with it so that the opening of the float valve or valves
would permit the fluid to escape from this cylinder and the other cylinder to
operate the door.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
(1.) Apparatus for operating the water tight doors of ships bulkheads and other
heavy doors consisting of a fixed ram a, a cylinder c sliding thereon and connected
to the spindle screwing into the door the apparatus is to operate, or projections
therefrom substantially as and for the purpose described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings Figs. 1 and 2.
(2.) Apparatus for operating the water tight doors of ships' bulkheads and other
heavy doors consisting of two fixed rams a arranged parallel to and in a line with
one another, two cylinders c c¹ sliding thereon and a three way valve n governing
the supply and exhaust of fluid to and from said cylinders said two cylinders being
connected together by a link m and one of them connected to the door to be
operated substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings
Figs. 3 and 4.
(3.) The combination with apparatus actuated or regulated by fluid for raising,
lowering or governing the movements of the water tight doors of ships' bulkheads
and other heavy doors of a rod or spindle connected to the moving part or parts of
said apparatus so that it may be revolved and screwing into the door to be operated
on one or more projections therefrom substantially as and for the purpose
described.
(4.) The combination with apparatus actuated or regulated by fluid for raising,
lowering and governing the movements of the water tight doors of ships' bulkheads
and other heavy doors, cocks, valves, or faucets operated by floats and governing
the escape of the fluid from said apparatus substantially as and for the purpose
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 23rd day of January 1895.
CASTLE SMITH,
"Invention" Office, 54, Fleet Street, London, E.C.
Agent for the Applicant.
CASTLE SMITH,
"Invention " Office, 54, Fleet Street, London, E.C.
Agent for the Applicant.