AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SHIPS' SIDES AND BOTTOMS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Machin, Miller, and Samuel Machin,
Farmer, both of Charlton Hill, in the County of Salop, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SHIPS' SIDES AND BOTTOMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Machin and
Samuel Machin at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 7th March 1866.
We, WILLIAM MACHIN, Miller, and SAMUEL MACHIN, Farmer, both of
Charlton Hill, in the County of Salop, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SHIPS' SIDES AND
BOTTOMS," to be as follows:-
In order to cleanse ships' sides and bottoms it is generally considered
necessary to dock the vessel herself; this can only be done at considerable
expense, besides which the inconvenience and loss of time necessarily caused
by the operation is an important consideration.
Now the object of this Invention is the construction of such an apparatus
as may be employed upon a ship during a voyage, or may be even used whilst
she lies at anchor if there be a sufficient tideway under her. Upon a hollow
metal cylinder of suitable size, tapered at each end, we affix a certain number
of metal flanges curved after the fashion of a ship's screw; upon these flanges
we place either brushes or scrapers, or if needful both. Through the centre
of the said hollow cylinder goes a strong metal pin, which is to form the axis

page_text: upon which the said cylinder is to revolve; the said cylinder is then held in a
suitable framework of iron..
In order to carry our Invention into practice we pass a line under the keel
of the ship forwards, by means of which the apparatus before described is
brought under the ship's keel. Another line is attached to the said apparatus
and also to the jib boom or other convenient forward part of the vessel to
prevent the said apparatus from being carried aft. The motion of the ship will
now cause the said apparatus to revolve with considerable velocity, and being
hollow, it will naturally have a tendency to rise to the surface of the water, but
its position is from time to time regulated by means of the lines by which it
is held, and in this manner it can be made to operate upon any part of the
ship's sides or bottom under water where it may be needed. It will be under-
stood that the cylinder may be of any suitable metal, but by preference we
employ zinc or galvanized iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Machin and Samuel Machin in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 6th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
MACHIN, Miller, and SAMUEL MACHIN, Farmer, both of Charlton Hill, in the
County of Salop, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William Machin and Samuel Machin, Her special licence that we,
the said William Machin and Samuel Machin, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Machin and Samuel
Machin, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING SHIPS' SIDES AND BOTTOMS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said William Machin and Samuel Machin, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: of, the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within'
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Machin and Samuel Machin,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say):
In order to cleanse, ships' sides and bottoms it is generally considered
necessary to dock the vessel herself; this can only be done at considerable
expense, besides which the inconvenience and loss of time necessarily caused
by the operation is an important consideration.
Now the object of this Invention is the construction of such an apparatus
as may be employed upon a ship during a voyage, or may be even used whilst
she lies at anchor if there be a sufficient tideway under her. Upon a hollow
metal cylinder of suitable size, tapered at each end, we affix a certain number
of metal flanges curved after the manner of a ship's screw; upon these
flanges we place either brushes or scrapers, or if needful both. Through the
centre of the said hollow cylinder goes a strong metal pin which is to form
the axis upon
I which the said cylinder is to revolve; the said apparatus is
then held in a suitable framework of iron.
In order to carry our Iuvention into practice we pass a line under the keel
of the ship forwards, by means of which the apparatus before described is
brought under the ship's keel. Another line is attached to the said apparatus
and also to the jib boom or other convenient forward part of the vessel to
prevent the said apparatus from being carried aft. The motion of the ship
will now cause the said apparatus to revolve with considerable velocity, and
being hollow it will naturally have a tendency to rise to the surface of the
water, but its position is from time to time regulated by means of the lines
by which it is held, and in this manner it can be made to operate upon any
parts of the ship's sides or bottom under water where it may be needed. It
will be understood that the cylinder may be of any suitable metal, but by
preference we employ zinc or galvanized iron.
That our Invention may be better understood, we bave provided the
Drawings hereunto annexed, which we now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the
apparatus, shewing a metal cylinder attached to and surrounding the flanges,
the brushes being placed upon the said metal cylinder. Similar letters of
reference refer to like parts in both the Figures.

page_text: a is the hollow metal cylinder upon which are fixed the metal flanges b, b, b,
which form the screw; c, c, is the metal pin or axis upon which the said
cylinder revolves; d, d, is the metal cylinder attached to and surrounding the
flanges; e, e, are the brushes upon the said cylinder. If necessary the
cylinder d, d, may of course be fitted with scrapers instead of the brushes e, e,
or if needful with scrapers and brushes placed alternately. f,f, is the iron
framework within which the whole apparatus is caused to rotate by the
current of water; 9, 9, 9, 9, are the eyes to which the various, lines may be
attached.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, we wish it to be understood that
without limiting ourselves to the precise details herein-before contained (as)
it will be obvious these may be varied or modified without departing from the
nature of our said Invention,) we desire to claim, as the Invention to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, the improved
apparatus for cleaning ship's sides and bottoms, substantially as herein-before
described, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Machin and Samuel Machin,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourth day of Sep-
tember, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-six.
WM. MACHIN.
(L.S.)
SAM. MACHIN. (L.S.)