IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REPAIRING, RESTORING, AND EXAMINING THE SIDES AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Theo Aston at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
October 1875.
I, THEO ASTON, of the Temple, in the City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR REPAIRING, RESTORING, AND EXAMINING THE SIDES AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the use, as hercin-after described, of carrier
or travelling chains, bands, or ropes, for passing over and down the sides
of ships' flexible sheathing or plates or bars, and fixing them on the ship's
side or bottom so as to stop any breach or leak, or for working scrapers
or cleaning instruments for removing fouling deposits and restoring the
bottom and sides to a clean state, or for carrying stages or frames, in
which divers can work on the ship's side or bottom as required, or to
which diving bells or chambers are attached for the purposes of
examination or repair. On one side of the ship, say the port side, is or
are attached the carrier chain or chains, which is or are passed round
under the ship's keel and attached at other point or points, on, say the
starboard sido. Each end of the chain or chains is curried on the axlo'

page_text: of & romer or winch supported in
are connected by clamps or otherwise to rails or bars fixed on each side of
the ship, so that they may be moved to and fro and worked in any
required spot. The chains, or at least one of them, are permanently
fixed all ready for use.
If only one permanent chain is used it may be employed to carry
round the ship as many more chains as may be required, the chains
being long enough to allow the requisite amount of slack to be given off
the roller or winch on one side of the ship, and be taken up on the
other.
It will be found advantageous to have several permanent chains, bands,
or ropes, always ready for use.
For the purpose of stopping a leak or shot hole or breach in a ship's
side or bottom, a carrier chain with its moveable winch or roller is fixed
before, and another is fixed abaft the spot where the repair is to be:
effected. To each chain is attached by lacing, or hooks, or otherwise, a
sheet of flexible sheathing of the requisite length and breadth, which by
the action of the pair of carriers is passed over the ship's side and placed
over her side or bottom, as the case may bc, so as to stop the entrance
of water. When the breach is very large, as in the case of damage by
a ram, chains or bands are placed longitudinally or diagonally across the
aperture so as to afford a support to the sheet of flexible sheathing,
which is placed over them in the required position.
If necessary one or more sheets may be superimposed, and any
number of chains and rollers can be employed for the purpose as may be
needed.
Where only one carrier chain may be required, as in the case of a
small leak or shot hole, a plate or sheet of sheathing is carried down on
cross bars or pieces fixed to the chain and placed over the required spot.
Suitable sheathing is made by attaching together two or more sheets of
strong fabric, made waterproof by suitable india-rubber, gutta percha, or
other like solutions, strands of rope or wire cords being placed in or
between the sheets longitudinally and crosswise. One face of the
sheathing may be made with a soft or pile-like face to ensure adhesion
to the ship's side or bottom. Metallic bars may be used, the bars being
connected by loops or joints so as to make a flexible sheet.

page_text: For removing fouling deposits and restoring the ship's side or bottom
to a state of cleanliness, scrapers or suitable cleaning instruments are
attached to two or more carrier chains and worked as required.
For examining a ship's side or bottom an air-tight chamber, provided
with glazed apertures and suitable valve doors and pneumatic apparatus,
is attached to two or more carrier chains or is supported in a suitable
frame or stage, so made as to carry in a convenient position divers
provided with the usual pneumatic apparatus, and tools for affixing plates
or doing other requisite work on the ship's side or bottom.
In order to assist the working of the carrier chains suitable guides or
pullies or rollers can be fixed in the required positions in the ship's
sides or bottom.
The chains may be made of links or of flat plates or rods joined
together in the usual way. The winches may be worked by shafting
and steam power.
It is obvious that by employing the apparatus above described, means
are provided and are always ready in an emergency for effecting
temporary repairs in a ship's side or bottom when injured by shot, or
ram, or torpedo, or otherwise, and for enabling men to inspect damages
and to effect repairs of a comparatively permanent character when
requisite.