IMPROVEMENTS IN DREDGING MACHINES OR VESSELS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Xavier Buquoy, Merchant, of 19, Rue de
Sevres, Paris, France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DREDGING MACHINES OR VESSELS."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Xavier Buquoy at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 11th July 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, XAVIER
Buquor, Merchant, of 19, Rue de Sevres, Paris, France, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN DREDGING MACHINES OR VESSELS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to
grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal
Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I,
the said Xavier Buquoy, am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Xavier Buquoy, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,

page_text: fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to dredging machines or vessels removing sand,
slime, and mud, from rivers, canals, lakes, harbours, and so on, by means
of suction, the drawback to those in use being the want of a proper
mode of separating the substance to be removed. With this view my
improved dredging vessel is supplied with a separator or picker, set in
motion by an endless chain or band, or by other suitable means.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a sectional elevation of a
floating vessel on which the improved dredging appliances are mounted;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, and of the mechanism.
G is a sucker made of sheet iron, strengthened by angle irons in its
length and breadth for producing the requisite rigidity; the bottom of
the case or envelope is hollow to allow room for the free action of the
picker or separator; the upper part of the sucker is provided with a
hinged lid for admitting of the adjustment and removal of the separator,
as occasion may require; this latter, F, is placed in the centre of the
sucker, and is maintained by four pedestals, brackets, or plumber blocks,
which are attached to the angle irons at the ends. The upper part is
adapted to a slide and borne by the lid of the sucker. The number of
picks in each crusher, separator, or picker, and their dimensions would
naturally vary according to circumstances, the power of the machine,
and the nature of the substance to be operated on or dredged.
For facilitating and aiding the working of the dredging machine, and
to avoid the delay frequently occasioned by the breakage of some of the
organs of the ordinary dredging apparatus, the picks are arranged
spirally on the shaft, so that one part works only at a time, each one is
fixed on the shaft by a brittle pin, so that in case one or more picks
should come in contact the pin would break by the resistance and not
impede the motion of the crusher without doing harm whilst turning in
the sockets of the picks whose pin is broken.
The separator is constructed so as to allow the picks to reach beyond
the lower part of the sucker from 5 to 6 centimètres, so as to set the
substance to be dredged in motion and raise it at the same time; at
each end of the sucker a pick is placed, so that the dredgings are set
in motion throughout the length of the sucker, and to prevent the latter

page_text: being suspended at the extremities. A pick is also fixed at each side of
the toothed wheel in the centre also to prevent suspension at this part,
but allows the sucker to always rest its whole length on the soil. The
picks are actuated by the transmitting chain E, which is governed by the
transmitting shaft D.
The transport of the dredgings effected by my pumping and dredging
machine is effected in the following manner :-)
:-The pumper and dredger
is established on a barge or other vessel, or on a rolling platform,
according to circumstances and the work to perform, and in all cases
is directed as required by hoists or otherwise, set in motion by the
engine.
The traction pump A raises the dredgings by the suction pipe B and
conveys it by the discharge pipe C to a box or other receptacle, placed
at a convenient distance from the bottom, or on one of the banks of the
basin, dock, or river, as the case may be.
A second pump arranged at a suitable height for giving a sensible
inclination or gradient to the discharge pipe re-takes the dredgings
which flow naturally to their destination by reason of the gradient,
without the necessity of employing the engine to force it; this action
would have the effect of impelling the current of water and hasten
the transport of the dredgings.
If the distance is further than the gradient given to the tube or pipe
of the second machine, a third is used in the same manner placed some
mètres above the earth to give an inclination to the discharge pipe as
far as desired. This system of removal of the dredgings may be
advantageously employed with ordinary dredging machines, instead of
employing barges, and so on, often long distances either to empty their
contents into the sea or to deposit them on the banks; a machine and
reservoir in form of a funnel may be established on the bank near
where the dredging takes place, furnished with a pick for regularly
introducing the dredgings; the reservoir is placed below the water
draught of the dredging vessel, so that the dredgings may be therein
discharged, the raising and transport thereof is effected as before. By
this arrangement the dredgings may be removed and transported
economically and with profit, as they may be used for agricultural
purposes instead of returning them to the sea or otherwise disposing of
them.

page_text: The system herein mentioned may be adapted to dredging machines
at present in use with advantage.
What I claim as my Invention is, the combination with dredging
machines of the sucker G and picks or separators F, as and for the
purposes herein described.
The special arrangement of the suction and discharge pipes by which
the dredgings are raised and transported any distance without the aid of
auxiliary vessels.
The whole disposition of the system; that is to say, the suction and
force pump A, in combination with the suction and transport and 1
discharge pipes B and C.
The form, dimensions, and material of construction of the whole may
vary without departing from the principle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Xavier Buquoy, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of July, in the year of our 1
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
E. Heébré,
Montraynard.
XAVIER BUQUOY. (L.S.)
i