IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OR SCRUBBING THE SIDES AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AFLOAT
Year: 1884

page_text: I, ALEXANDER DONALDSON SPIERS of 135 Buchanan Street Glasgow in the
County of Lanark, Insurance Broker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OR SCRUBBING THE
SIDES AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AFLOAT" to be as follows:—
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for cleaning or
scrubbing the sides and bottoms of ships or vessels afloat and it relates more
particularly to that class of such apparatus for which Letters Patent bearing date
the 11th day of September 1833 No 4340 were granted to David Hunter the said
Letters Patent being in part assigned to me.
The present Invention relates to means for adjusting or regulating the inclination
of the top and bottom members of the movable frame of the said apparatus s0
that when the ship or vessel on which the said apparatus is being used is sailing
above a certain speed (say for example over eight knots an hour) the inclination of
the top and bottom propelling members of the frame may be less than when sailing
under that speed the object being to prevent the apparatus from descending and
ascending too quickly to produce the desired cleaning effect on the part of the hull
over which it is being operated.
This is effected by providing at the forward or other part of the brush or on the
front or back end tie or on the inner sides of the top and bottom propelling members
themselves, stops, the positions of which are or may be adjustable, so as to permit
of a greater or less inclination of the said propelling members. When the stops
are at the front end of the brush or on the end ties the top and bottom members
in being canted come against them but when the stops are on the members thein-
selves these stops effect the adjustment by bearing on the edges of the body of
the brush.
At or near the front end and on the outer sides or faces of the said top and
bottom members of the frame pads or stops are also provided so that in working,
when the apparatus is carried down to the keel, the face of the bottom member is
prevented from coming flat against the keel but is so inclined as to allow the water
current to act upon it and start or assist in starting the apparatus upwards.

page_text: The suspending lines for the frame are with this construction preferably passed
through holes in the top member or are attached to ring bolts passed through the
said holes and rendered water tight by leather or other washers the holes in the
bottom member being preferably filled up by cork, wood or other plugs, or their
equivalents so as to prevent water passing there-through and thereby diminishing
the driving power of the apparatus.

page_text: I ALEXANDER DONALDSON SPIERS of 14 Royal Exchange Buildings Glasgow
in the County of Lanark, Insurance Broker, do hereby declare the nature of the
said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OR SCRUBBING
THE SIDES AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AFLOAT” and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My said invention relates to improvements in apparatus for cleaning or scrubbing
the sides and bottoms of ships or vessels afloat and it refers more particularly to
that class of such apparatus for which Letters Patent bearing date the 11th day of
September 1883 No 4340 were granted to David Hunter, the said Letters Patent
being in part assigned to me.
The present invention has for its object, at the termination of each downward
stroke, to automatically reverse or assist in reversing the inclination of the top
and bottom propelling members of the frame carrying the cleaning apparatus by
preventing the outer surface or face of the bottom member coming flat against the
keel.
This is effected by so providing at or near the forward ends and on the outer
surfaces of the said top and bottom members projecting pads, horns, or stops that
when the limit of the downward course of the cleaner is reached the lower pads
coming in contact with the keel give or assist in giving such a rearward inclination
to the propelling members as will start or assist in starting the apparatus
upwards.
The said pads or horns also enable the jointed frame in operating upwards to
over-ride bilge pieces and the projecting edges of the metal plates or streaks of the
hull.
The suspending lines for the apparatus are in this improved construction attached
to shackles or ring bolts passed through holes in the member which is for the
time being uppermost; the holes in the bottom member being preferably then filled
up with cork, wood, or other plugs or their equivalents to prevent a rush of water
therethrough diminishing the driving power of the apparatus.
Of the drawings annexed hereto figure 1, is a front elevation and figure 2, a back
end elevation of a ships cleaning apparatus of the class referred to showing the
improvements constituting this invention adapted thereto. Figure 3, is a detailed
plan of one of the flat "propelling" members of the jointed frame and figure 4, is
an end view of the same.
As seen by these figures there is secured to the forward ends and front edge of each
of the propelling members a, of the frame a projecting horn or pad b, made of metal
or of hard wood or of wood sheathed with metal. These said pads or projections are
curved on their faces or fronts and rounded at their outer extremities 6¹, so that
when the apparatus is working upward and when the pads come in contact with
any projecting part of the hull they move easily over the said projection and

page_text: prevent the upper propelling member a, from catching upon it as is found to be
otherwise the case. Besides the pads or projections b, other pads or projections are
also secured to the outer flat surfaces of the members a, at a position towards their
forward ends as shown.
These pads or projections may consist of blocks e, of wood, secured to the members
a, by pins d, as indicated in dotted lines, and by straps e', of metal; or they may
simply consist of the metal straps without the wood in which latter case the strap.
still retains the same form the water passing freely through between its front and
back parts.
In any case the pads or projections e', are higher than the pads b.
When the apparatus is descending the inclination of the frame a, is the reverse
of that shown at figures 1 and 2, and therefore besides serving the purpose herein-
_before set forth the projection e¹, on that propelling member a, which is for the
time being undermost, when the apparatus has reached the full limit of its down-
ward stroke, (by striking against the keel x, x, as indicated-at figure. 1,) prevents
the said member from coming flat against the keel as it otherwise tends to do;
rendering its reversal difficult.
The apparatus being thus stopped in its downward course and poised upon the
projection, the pressure-of-water on the flat sides of the members a, caused by
the forward movement-of-the-vessel, swings the frame-into-the-position shown
around el, as a fulcrum and the cleaner is thereby automatically started_to_travel_
upwards or at least such starting of it is rendered much more easy than
formerly.
In this improved arrangement the suspending lines are connected to shackles f,
which are centred upon bolts g, passing-through-holes-made for the purpose in the
members a, and secured in position-by-nuts. h,. or their equivalents. The-shackles
are connected only to that member which is for the time being uppermost and, to
prevent the water-current from rushing through the holes for the bolts g, in the
lower propelling member these holes are or may be plugged-up
:
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
In apparatus for cleaning or scrubbing the sides and bottoms of ships afloat, a
jointed frame having the propelling members a, provided with pads or pro-
jections b, e³, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this Twenty-sixth day of May 1885.