Improved Means for Bunkering or Coaling Steamships, and for analogous purposes.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Aug., 1894-Accepted, 3rd Nov., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Bunkering or Coaling Steamships, and for
analogous purposes.
I JOHN DIXON of Hazeldown, Winn Road Southampton Hampshire Civil
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:-
In carrying out my invention I mount upon a floating structure or pontoon a
staging capable of carrying rails or tracks on which un small trucks or wheels
supporting a number of hydraulic engines actuating rams or pushers hereafter
described and so arranged that a certain number of these engines may be brought
to hear accurately against or over a similar number of the bunker holes of the
vessel requiring to be coaled and these engines may receive their supply of
pressure
water by flexible pipes connected to the hydraulic main usually in use in docks
Over
quays and like places steam air or other convenient power may be used.
these engines and their respective rams or pushers I fix a hopper or receptacle
capable of holding a certain amount of coal and so constructed that it. tapers
downwardly and towards its front or point of delivery whence the coal is ejected
and pushed forward into chutes or spouts communicating directly with the
burker holes of the vessel the ram or pusher, as hereafter described, forcing
forward at each stroke (the frequency of which may be regulated at will) only
such of the contents of the hopper as may be required by the trimmers in the
bunkers.
A crane on the pontoon or on the wharf delivers the coal from barges or trucks
into the hoppers and one crane may be arranged so as to serve several of the
hoppers.
Instead of mounting the engines and hoppers on the pontoon and staging I may
secure them by means of light framings or platforms against the side of the ship so
that one is used for each bunker hole and hung thereto whilst in use by means
hereafter described.
For the purpose of more clearly indicating the nature of my invention I have
attached to this Specification two sheets of drawings whereon
Figure 1. shows my method of bunkering by means of the apparatus mounted
upon rails carried on a staging erected upon a floating structure or pontoon which
also carries the crane.
Figure 2. shows the apparatus carried on a light platform hung to the side of the
vessel the crane being on the wharf or if desired on a pontoon.
In the arrangement shown by Figure 1 A is a floating pontoon on which may be
mounted a crane B for loading from trucks or barges by means of the bucket C the
coal desired to be discharged by means of my bunkering apparatus into the bunker
holes of a steamer D the bucket C is emptied into a hopper E so constructed that
the rear portion inclines upwardly as at E' and forms cover or housing under
which erect on the floor or framing of the hopper a hydraulic or other engine F
and a box or guide G containing a plunger H connected with the piston rods of
the engine F. The framing of the hopper E is mounted on wheels K and rollers L
running on rails M and platform N carried by stagings O erected upon the
pontoon A so that the whole apparatus may be moved forward or backward so as
to cause the hoppers to register or correspond with the bunker holes of the steamer
and be able to deliver into receiving chutes P. P. by means of intermediary
delivery chutes Q Q but I prefer when convenient to use another arrangement
shewn by Figure 2. whereby the engine, plunger and hopper are carried on a light

page_text: platform of metal or suitable material which is slung or secured to the side of the
steamer (and a number of these may be secured to different bunker holes at the
same time and supplied by one or more cranes or grabs) and in this case I make
the floor of the hopper at its front or delivery end project as at R and fit it with an
angle iron or hooks projecting downwardly and capable of hooking over the inner
edge of that part of the plating of the steamer forming the bottom of the bunker
hole and to the rear of the frame of the hopper as at S 1 attach a chain T
having a hook or other device U engaging over part of the cover plate V or to any
suitable holdfast provided for the purpose adjusting screws being fixed in a con-
venient position on the chain or otherwise, a platform X may be provided for the
support of the attendant regulating the unloading of the bucket C and the action
of the engine F. These portable platforms with their hoppers, engines &c. may be
lifted into position by the cranes as shewn by tackle Y.
It will be seen when the hoppers are in position and full of coal that in con-
sequence of the very slight incline of the platforms Z the contents will not be
precipitated into the bunker holes until propelled forward in regular quantities
at each stroke of the engine F and plunger H the speed of which is regulated
to meet the requirements of the coal trimmers inside the steamer.
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. In bunkering or loading coal into the bunker holes or like receptacles of
steamers or other vessels and for similar purposes the use of an engine mounted on
a platform at the rear of a hopper containing the material to be loaded the said
engine actuating a plunger or ram forcing at each stroke part of the contents of
the hopper forward and into the bunker holes or other receptacles substantially as
herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2. For bunkering steamers the combination of a platform such as Z with a hopper
such as E a plunger such as H driven by an engine placed as at F the whole
arranged to be slung and secured opposite the bunker holes substantially as
hereinbefore described and with reference to Figure 2. of the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 29th day of August 1894.