Improvements in Floating Docks and in Appliances Connected therewith.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 4th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 4th Apr., 1889-Accepted, 4th July, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPE
GATION.
Improvements in Floating Docks and in Appliances Connected
therewith.
I, JOHN STANDFIELD, of 6 Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
For the purpose of describing this self docking floating dock I call the first quarter
of the dock the bow portion, the second quarter of the dock, the fore midship portion,
the third quarter of the dock the after midship portion, and the fourth quarter of the
dock the stern portion.
The main buoyant body of the dock is somewhat of a ship-shaped hollow pontoon,
but necessarily somewhat broader and much shallower than an ordinary vessel, it may
have a number of joints transversely, but by preference I have only one joint at or
near the centre of the dock.
The bow portion, about one quarter of the dock is somewhat narrower than the
after-midship portion; the stern portion, about one quarter of the dock, is somewhat
narrower than the fore-midship portion. The fore and the after-midship portions are
provided with fixed permanent buoyant sides, the fore-midship sides are at a sufficient
distance apart to admit the after stern portion to pass in between them so that when
it is desired to dock one half of the dock on the other half the dock may he dis-
connected in the centre and the after or stern portion of the pontoon may be floated
over the fore-midship portion, in which case the after-midship portion would be
directly over the bow portion of the dock, and in this manner the bow and fore-
midship half of the dock will readily dock the stern and after midship portion of the
dock.
When it is desired to dock the bow and fore-midship portion of the dock this
operation is reversed, and the bow is floated over the after-inidship portion and the
fore-midship portion over the stern of the dock and in this manner either half of the
dock may be docked on the other half.
In some cases I prefer that the tall buoyant sides should be permanently fixed to
the bow and stern portions respectively, and to enable one half the dock, to be readily
docked on the other half I make the fore-inidship section sufficiently narrow to pass
in between the sides of the stern portion of the dock, and the after midship
section to pass in between the tall sides of the bow and in this manner one
half the dock can be readily floated over the other half for the purpose of
docking.
When these docks are to be used near the shore I prefer to connect them to
the shore by means of parallel booms which answer the double purpose of main-
taining the dock in a vertical position, and also form permanent moorings, to
accomplish this I place most of the booms at right angles to the dock to maintain
it in a given vertical position and hold it a given distance from the shore, but
in addition to these I place some diagonal booms to keep the dock from moving
ahead or astern.
To control automatically the horizontal position of the dock in a longitudinal
direction I use a weight connected to each end of the dock by chains passing over
pulleys carried by upright columns-one chain passing upwards from the weight,
over one pulley and downwards over another pulley to one end of the dock and
the other similarly passing from the weight and over pullies to the other end of the
dock.
With this arrangement supposing the structure is being lowered and one end has a
tendency to lower more quickly than the other it would at once tighten the chain
passing from that end to the weight and bring the entire weight into action to

page_text: resist the downward tendency-When the dock is ascending the action of the weight
would similarly hinder one and from rising more quickly than the other.
It is obvious that when the boilers and engines of the dock are placed on the
dock they rob the dock of some of its huovaney, and are usually not available for
any other purpose. To obviate this I prefer to place my boilers and engines on
the shore in such a position that they may be used daily for blowing and driving
the machinery of the workshops, etc., and also the pumps of the dock by means
of a fly rope or a number of Hy ropes which may lead from sheaves connected
with the engine on shore, to sheaves connected with the pump shafts of the dock.
The engines and boilers may be placed on a floating structure alongside instead
of on the shore.
134
CARPMAEL & ('o.,
Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Floating Dooks and in Appliances Connected
therewith.
1, JOHN STANDFIELD, of 6 Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, in the City of
Westminster, 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 :---
For the purpose of describing this self docking floating dock I call the first quarter
of the dock the how portion, the second quarter of the dock the fore mid-hip portion.
the third quarter of the dock the after midship portion, and the fourth quarter of the
dock the stern portion.
The main buoyant body of the dock is somewhat of a ship shaped hollow pontoon,
but necessarily somewhat broader and much shallower than an ordinary vessel, it may
have a number of joints transversely, but by preference 1. have only one joint ut or
near the centre of the dock.
The how portion, about one quarter of the dock is somewhat narrower than the
after-midship portion; the stern portion, about one quarter of the dock, is somewhat
narrower than the fore-midship portion. The fore and the after-midship portions are
provided with fixed permanent buoyant sides, the fore-midship sides are at a sufficient
distance apart to admit the alter stern portion to pass in between them so that when
it is desired to dock one half of the dock on the other half the dock may be dis
connected in the centre and the after or stern portion of the pontoon may he floated
over the fore-midship portion, in which case the after-midship portion would he
directly over the how portion of the dock, and in this manner the bow and fore-
midship half of the dock will readily dock the stern and after midship portion of the
dock.
When it is desired to dock the how and fore-midship portion of the dock this
operation is reversed, and the bow is floatod over the after-midship portion and the
fore-inidship portion over the stern of the dock and in this manner either half of the
dock may be docked on the other half.
In some cases profer that the tall buoyant sides should be permanently fixed
to the bow and stern portions respectively, and to enable one half the dock, to be
readily docked on the other half, make the fore-midship section sufficiently narrow
to pass in between the sides of the stern portion of the dock, and the after mid-
ship soction to pass in between the tall sides of the bow and in this manner one
half the dock can be readily floated over the other half for the purpose of
dooking.
When these docks are to be used near the shore I prefer to connect them to
the shore by means of parallel booms which answer the double purpose of main-
taining the dock in a vertical position, and also form permanent moorings, to
accomplish this 1 place most of the booms at right angles to the dock to maintain

page_text: it in a given vertical position and hold it a given distance from the shore, but in
addition to these I place some diagonal booms to keep the dock from moving ahead
or astern.
To control automatically the horizontal position of the dock in a longitudinal
direction I use a weight connected to each end of the dock by chains passing over
pulleys carried by upright columns one chain passing upwards from the weight,
over one pulley and downwards over another pulley to one end of the dock and
the other similarly passing from the weight and over pullies to the other end of the
dock.
With this arrangement supposing the structure is being lowered and one end has a
tendency to lower more quickly than the other it would at once tighten the chain
passing from that end to the weight and bring the entire weight into action to resist
the downward tendency. When the dock is ascending the action of the weight
would similarly hinder one end from rising more quickly than the other.
It is obvious that when the boilers and engines of the dock are placed on the dock
they rob the dock of some of its buoyancy, and are usually not available for any other
purpose. To obviate this I prefer to place my boilers and engines on the shore in
such a position that they may he used daily for blowing and driving the machinery
of the workshops, etc., and also the pumps of the dock by means of a fly rope or a
number of fly ropes which may lead from sheaves connected with the engine on shore,
to sheaves connected with the pump shafts of the dock. The engines and boilers may
be placed on a floating structure alongside instead of on the shore.
Having generally described the nature of my invention I now refer to the annexed
drawings to make the details clearer.
Figure 1 is an elevation and Figure 2 a plan of this self docking dock. A is the
bow portion, B the fore midship portion, C the after midship portion, D the stern
portion of the dock. The sides $ $ are shown as attached to the midship portions B
and C. A joint is shown at E in the middle of the dock. It will be noticed on
the plan that the portion A is narrower than C and that D is narrower than B
so that one half of the dock can be docked on the other half as shown in Figures 3, 4
and 5. Figure 3 shows a sectional elevation taken on the line XX in Figure 4,
and Figure shows a side elevation of the stern half of the dock being docked
on the bow half. Figure 5 shows an isometrical projection of the same. A B C
and D have the same signification throughout all the above figures-I, I, are gang-
way passages through the sides of the dock to give convenient access to the pontoon
deck level.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 show one of these docks connected to the shore by means of
parallel booms F F which answer the double purpose of maintaining the lock in an
upright position and of forming permanent moorings. These booms may be of any
convenient length to hold the dock at a given distance from the shore, they are
placed in a vertical plane at right angles to the side of the dock.
I also place some diagonal booms or wire ropes or other attachment to keep the
dock from moving ahead or astern. For the sake of clearness these are not shewn on
the drawings.
In Figures 7 and 8 I have shown one side S₁ as being removeable at the horizontal
longitudinal joint O, and Figure 6 shows the dock with the side removed. This
arrangement is convenient in the case of very broad vessels, or paddle steamers as it
allows them to be brought broadside on to the dock. This arrangement also affords
an alternative method of docking one part of the dock on the other. The removeable
side S' is provided with internal compartments so that water ballast may be taken in
and pumped out to make it float at any desired level.
The shore ends of the booms F. F. are connected to a series of posts or columns G.
One of the two booms in each pair is permanently connected to the dock as at H and
to the shore columns as at I by bolts or pins. One end of the other boom is in the
same way connected either to the dock or to the shore column: preferably to the
dock as at J. In the arrangement shown in Figure 6 the other end of the boom
is attached to a bar K which is hinged at L to the column G. To the lower portion

page_text: of the bar Ka weight M is secured at any desired height by means of pius as
shown or otherwise. There is also attached to the bar Ka connecting link N for
operating the valve gear which is described further on, and by the netion of which in
conjunction with the parallel booms the horizontal position of the dock is automatically
controlled in a transverse direction.
The netion of the valve gear is as follows. The slide P which is free to travel
backward and forward on the table Q carries a cam R pivotted to it and provided
with a lever handle. The cam can by means of this handla be set to any position
within the quadrant S.
There are two cams or sets of cams R one controlling the inner (or shoreward)
compartments of the dock and the other controlling the outer compartments.
Any movement of the slide P while the cams are in an upright position would not
cause any movement of the valves. To put the cams R in gear so as to actuate the
valves the lever handles are put over to the right or left before working the dock.
Each cam will now be pressing upon the nose of its lover T causing the weight W to
he raised and the hydraulic Sluice valves V to be opened thus putting the pressure
accumulator into communication with the small hydraulic press by means of the
pipe along the upper boom F.
The press keeps the sluice valve X open allowing the water to flow in. There is
a series of these valves controlling the various compartments of the dock.
Supposing the enm R which controls the inner compartments of the dock to be put
over to the left, and the dock being lowered and the outer compartments fill a little
more slowly than the others thus cansing the dock to slightly list inwards a thrust
will be exerted on the boom F which in its turn causes the bar K to move on the
pin L in an inward direction, thus cansing the weight M to be displaced from its
normal position the weight consequently exerts a continually increasing power to
bring the dock back into the horizontal position.
The same movement that displaces the weight also exerts a thrust on the link N
and the slide to which it is hinged thus pushing the can R clear of the nose of the
the lever T which rises, the weight 3 falling and causing the valve V to cut off
communication with the press U which results in the valve X being closed and the
flow of water to the inner compartments is stopped till the horizontal position is again
attained. The cam of the gear controlling the outer compartments would be put over
to the right side of the quadrant S before the dock is lowered; any list towards the
shore would not cause the valves to be affected because the nose of the corresponding
lever T would be in contact with the flat face of the cain during the whole of the
movement. Should the outer compartments fill more quickly than the inner while
the dock is being lowered and cause the dock to fist slightly outward, a pull
would be exerted on the hoom F and slide P, &c., instead of a thrust and the
valves controlling the outer compartments would be automatically closed while those
controlling the inner compartments would remain open till the horizontal position was
again attained.
In Figure 7 the other end of the boom which is supported by the bracket Bis
attached to a short rod A by means of a pin or bolt, but instead of the end of the
boom being bored to fit the pin or bolt it is slotted along its axis for some inches so
that the boom can move a little in either direction before one end of the slot comes in
contact with the pin to act upon it. The use of the slot is to prevent the dock from
being unnecessarily sensitive in its action on the automatic valve gear. The lever A
is pivotted to the bar (which is hinged at D to the column G. From the_lower
portion of the bar a weight M is suspended by means of a rope or chain. To the
bar
is attached the connecting link N for operating the valvo gear.
Suppose as before that a thrust is exerted on the hoom F; in this arrangement the
boom having a slotted and will travel a few inches, or in other words, the dock will
be allowed to slightly list inwards, before the thrust will be communicated to the
bar (through the rod A. When this happens the bar will move on the pin D in
an inward direction, thus causing the woight M to be raised vertically, the rope or
chain passing partly round the pulley E. This arrangement is more powerful than

page_text: the one shown in Figure 6 and at the same time has the advantage of not being so
sensitive to every little variation in the position of the dock. The same movement
that displaces the bar C and causes the weight M to be raised, also exerts a thrust
on the link N thus operating the valve gear in the manner already described.
The action of the valve gear in controlling the horizontality of the dock when being
raised is exactly the same as above described except that the positions of all the
cams R must be reversed on the quadrant S.
In Figures 6 and 7 the weight of the sides of the dock is balanced by the weights Z
which are connected to the dock by means of ropes or chains passing over pulleys on
the series of columns Y which may be consist of any convenient number. The
weights Z have an increasing and decreasing power by picking up or depositing more
or less of the heavy cables attached to them.
Figure 9 is a longitudinal elevation of the shore side of the dock showing how the
horizontal position of the dock is automatically controlled both in the longitudinal
and transverse directions. The weight W is connected to projecting brackets or horn
plates at each end of the dock at PP by means of ropes or chains passing over pulleys
on the series of columns K which may consist of any convenient number. The
controlling action occurs in the following manner. Supposing the structure to be
being lowered and one end has a tendency to lower more quickly than the other, it
would at once tighten the chain or rope connecting the weight W to that end, thus
bringing the entire weight into action for resisting the downward tendency. This
operation is reversed when the dock is ascending. The weight W has an increasing
and decreasing power by picking up or depositing more or less of the heavy cables
attached to eacli of them.
Figure 8 shows the engines and boilers of the dock placed on the shore and driving
the pumps on the dock by means of fly ropes; the dock is shown in its lower position
in dotted lines; arrangements are provided for keeping the fly ropes at convenient
tension in all positions of the dock. By placing the engines and boilers on shore the
dock is relieved of unnecessary weight to be lifted, and whereas engines when on the
dock are required to be used only for about an hour once in several days, that is while
the dock is being raised, and are standing idle at all other times, by placing then on
the shore they can be employed for driving workshop machinery and for other
purposes, so that they are never allowed to stand idle. This is obviously a great
economy of power. The engines and boilers may if preferred be placed on a
harge pontoon, or other floating structure alongside the dock instead of being fixed
on shore.
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. A floating dock separable into two or more portions such portions having along
part of their length raised sides a sufficient distance apart to receive between them
that portion of another section which is without raised sides so that the one portion
can be docked upon the other.
2. Floating docks substantially as shown and described in Figures from 1 to 5 of
the drawings.
3. The apparatus for keeping a dock in a horizontal position consisting of two
chains one fastened near each end of the dock which chains pass upwards over pulleys
and downwards over other pulleys to a weight common to both.
4. The apparatus for keeping a dock in a horizontal position, substantially as
described and shown at Figure 9 of the drawings.
5. The combination of a floating dock provided with pumps or other machinery,
an engine on shore and a fly rope or fly ropes or their equivalents connecting the
engine on shore with the pumps and other machinery of the dock.
Dated this 3rd day of April 1889.
JOHN STANDFIELD.