IMPROVED MEANS OF RAISING AND LOWERING VESSELS FOR REPAIRS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENTS OF Doxmoxa ADDIT
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Turnbull, of Campbell Road, Bow, in the
County of Middlesex, Naval Architect, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MEANS OF RAISING AND LOWERING VESSELS FOR REPAIRS AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENTS OF
Doxmoxa
ADDIT
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Turnbull at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
3rd July 1872.
I, ROBERT TURNBULL, of Campbell Road, Bow, in the County of
Middlesex, Naval Architect, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF RAISING AND LOWERING VESSELS FOR
REPAIRS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENTS
OF SUBMERGABLE PONTOONS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as
follows:

page_text: and lowering ships and other vessels.
Secondly. To the construction of submergable rotating pontoons.
And thirdly. To arrangements of apparatus to be used in connection
therewith.
The submergable rotating pontoons are made of any shape. in con-
formity to the framing in which they work, and in which they are
hauled up and down by hydraulic or other power, for one or more of the
compartments to be filled and emptied of the water when in use. The
framing is composed of vertical columns or girders and carry a flooring
at the upper part to enable the workmen to move about, and on which
can be placed all the appliances necessary for the operations desired to
be effected. The lower part of the columns are attached to other
pontoons running for and aft of the structure and provided with keys
or other appliances for attaching a central gridiron or skeleton framing
on which a vessel can rest when floated in.
One or both ends of the side walls can be connected by girders or
end pieces to form a means of communication between them, and to
strengthen the structure temporarily at those parts.
The side walls or columns and fixed pontoons can be hauled close
together, and the rotating pontoons can be placed between them to
enable the structure to be transported from place to place, the structure
being provided with screws or other propelling appliances for moving it.
In some cases the whole structure can be made rigid and then moved
about, the rotating pontoons being previously arranged to be carried in
the inside. The fixed pontoons and also the rotating pontoons can be
used independently of the central frame.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Turnbull, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Turnbull, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Turnbull, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the terin
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 "Improved. Means
OF RAISING AND LOWERING VESSELS FOR REPAIRS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND
IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENTS OF SUBMERGABLE PONTOONS AND
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Turnbull, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature 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
رو
Secondly. To the construction of submergable rotating pontoons.

page_text: The submergable rotating pontoons are made of any shape in con-
formity to the framing in which they work, and in which they are
hauled round by hydraulic or other power for one or more of the
compartments to be filled and emptied of the water when in use. The
framing is composed of vertical columns or girders and carries a flooring
at the upper part to enable the workmen to move about, and on which
can be placed all the appliances necessary for the operations desired
to be effected. The lower part of the columns is attached to other
pontoons running fore and aft of the structure, and provided with keys
or other appliances for attaching a central gridiron or skeleton framing
on which a vessel can rest when floated in.
One or both ends of the side walls can be connected by girders or
end pieces to form a means of communication between them, and to
strengthen the structure temporarily at those parts.
The side walls or columns and fixed pontoons can be hauled close'
together, and the rotating pontoons can be placed between them to
enable the structure to be transported from place to place, the structure
being provided with screws or other propelling appliances for moving it.
In some cases the whole structure can be made rigid and then moved
about, the rotating pontoons being previously arranged to be carried in.
the inside. The fixed pontoons and also the rotating pontoons can be
used independently of the central frame.
The Invention will be well understood by reference to the Figures on
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the following description
thereof.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a floating dock composed of two hollow
side walls A, A, as in Figures 2, 3, and. 4, forming in themselves
pontoons with an end piece B for strengthening the structure at that
part. Above each of these pontoons is a framework C, C, sufficiently
high for fitting floors D, D, on the lower one of which the machinery
for operating the rotating pontoons, which are rolled over and over to
sink or to assist in sinking the stucture for the floating of a ship therein,
and also to lift or to assist to lift the structure with the ship, the
upper floors or deck E, E, enabling the workmen to move about at all
times with facility. The inner faces of the structure pontoons A, A, are

page_text: formed with projections F, F, for a frame K, which receives the ship
to rest upon, and this frame is of such a size and strength as to bear
the weight of the ship when it is lowered upon the masonry or brick-
work L arranged as a bottom to the dock (as in Figure 5) in which the
repairs, etc., are to be performed.
formed with projections F, F, for a frame K, which receives the ship
to rest upon, and this frame is of such a size and strength as to bear
the weight of the ship when it is lowered upon the masonry or brick-
work L arranged as a bottom to the dock (as in Figure 5) in which the
repairs, etc., are to be performed.
The side walls have vertical girders G, G, which not only strengthen
the structure but serve as guides between which the rotating pontoons
can work.
I have in Figure 2 shown five rotating pontoons H, HI, on each side
of the structure, but these may be increased or diminished in number,
as desired. They are lashed to the sides by chains I, I, which pass over
pullics or sheaves on columns at the upper part of the structure and are
led down the inside thereof and passed under other pullies or sheaves to
the rotating pontoons again, round which they are arranged. The chains
are attached to suitable gearing to enable the rotators to be rolled or
turned round, as desired. The rotators are divided by partitions J, J,
to form chambers or compartments, into some or all of which water can
be admitted by opening valves arranged upon them, thus in the act of
being submerged to carry the structure down to float or pass it under
a ship the weight of water within the same enables them to sink a
sufficient depth for that purpose. The rotators can then be hauled
round in the reverse direction, the valves being still open allows the
water to run out, after which the valves are closed and they are again
hauled round, but as their lifting power when empty is sufficient to lift
the structure with the ship upon its central frame, the lift takes place.
The whole is then hauled into the wharf or dock with the central frame
over the lower quay, the rotators are rolled, so to speak, upwards to
enable the structure to sink until the central frame rests upon the low
quay and the structure is clear, this is then hauled out of the dock and
made ready for the reception of another central frame for the next ship,
and so on.
After the necessary repairs, etc., have been effected and the ship has
to be again launched or floated, the structure is again hauled into
position with the projecting edges of its pontoons under the central
frame, the empty rotators are then rolled, so to speak downwards, but
their buoyant power is in this case sufficient to cause the structure with

page_text: the vessel to rise, for the central frame to clear the low quay, the whole
is then hauled out into the river and the rotators again turned for the
structure to be lowered until the central frame K is clear of the vessel,
when the structure is again hauled clear of the ship and is again free
to be used for a like purpose for another ship.
In some cases I form other pontoons, or more properly speaking
tanks in the structure near to the lower floors, and I so arrange the
rotators that when turned in one direction they become partially filled
with water, which they when reversed again discharge into the tanks to
help to sink or lower the structure.
The rotators or revolving pontoons may be of any shape and size, and
can be used when desired for lifting or assisting to lift vessels, generally
with structures or frames other than of the form shown in the Drawings.
The central supporting frame must have sufficient buoyant power to
support itself, and not be dependent upon the rotators when it is desired
to move the frame from place to place.
The end piece or connection may be a detachable one, and in most
cases I divide it horizontally and hinge or joint one portion to the other,
so that should, say, the lower half be fixed the upper half can be folded
over upon it to give a clearance for the vessel to enter and leave the
structure. This is clearly indicated in the Drawing Figure 4, an
aperture being formed in the central part to lighten the end, and to
allow of the water leaving the dock freely. The end of the structure
may as before stated be provided with auxiliary power (steam or
hydraulic), for propelling or moving the structure about from place to
place. If the end piece is detachable the two side walls can be drawn
close together and the rotators arranged between them, as also one or
more central frames. By this means a narrow kind of floating dock is
formed, capable of being easily handled.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. The combination of rotating pontoons, whether partitioned or
not with structures, and a central skeleton frame, substantially in the

page_text: Secondly. I claim the construction and employment of submergable
rotating pontoons with partitions and chambers into which water can
be admitted when desired, for sinking or assisting to sink, or for raising
or assisting to raise the floating structure to which they are attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Turnbull, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-three.