A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR Suspending and MaintaininG & SHIP'S CARIN OR SALOON IN A LEVEL POSITION AT ALL TIMES."
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Walker, of No. 12, Queen Victoria
Street, in the Oity of London, Oivil, Mining, and Mechanical
Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR Suspending and MaintaininG & SHIP'S CARIN OR SALOON IN
A LEVEL POSITION AT ALL TIMES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Walker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th May 1875.
I, ALEXANDER WALKER, of No. 12, Queen Victoria Street, in the
City of London, Oivil, Mining, and Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE
OF AND APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING AND MAINTAINING A SHIP'S CABIN OR SALOON
IN A LEVEL POSITION AT ALL TIMES,” to be as follows :-
This Invention consists of an iron rib of semicircular form which
shall fit exactly and be fixed and bolted to that part of the ship where

page_text: the saloon or cabin is located. To this rib is fixed in places so as to
acquire strength an iron angular girder which shall be so formed that a
space in the centre shall be higher and thicker than any other of its
parts, and in this higher central part is a cavity or cup with a hole
through it. The said cavity or cup shall be made with such nicety that
an iron, steel, brass, or other metal ball will fit in it and work with the
greatest freedom and exactitude. The said ball at three-fourths of its
globular body is fixed to an iron plate or support which will be under
that part of the saloon or cabin forming its floor for the purpose of
giving strength to its general structure; a round or square iron, steel, 1
or other metal bar is then passed through the centre of the ball and
passes through the iron plate and floor to the roof of the saloon or cabin.
This is to give strength and leverage likewise. The other end of the bar
passes through the cavity or cup and hole in the aforesaid girder until
the ball rests in the cavity, and affixed to this girder near the cavity or
cup is a means of lubrication for feeding the ball and cup with oil.
A larger iron ball of several tons in weight, or another saloon, is then
affixed to the end of the iron bar and reaches within a few inches of the
ship's bottom, an iron plate is also provided with a round ball raised from
the centre which shall be fixed at the top of the saloon or cabin should
it be necessary for more effecient working. At the top of this ball is an
iron or other metal block with a cup in its centre which shall cover at
least one half of the ball's globular body, this block to have a smooth
surface, and at top to be of a domed form so that it will work against
and under another plate at its top; this last plate to have an arched or
concave formation, so that when the ship is rolling or pitching it shall
slide the proper and natural radius over the top of the block which rests
upon the ball at the top of the saloon; this provides a means of
steadying the cabin or saloon. The said arched or concave plate shall
be supported by iron ribs from the ship's interior sides or otherwise.
The larger iron ball and bar near the ship's bottom has, owing to the
freedom of the motion of the smaller ball which works in the cavity or
cup of the girder, a pendulum motion, and thus the equilibrium of the
saloon or cabin depends upon the position of the larger ball; hence the
greatness of its weight and power of counterbalance and gravity will
keep the saloon or cabin in a horizontal position at all times entirely
independant and unsusceptible to the ship's motion.

page_text: SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Alexander
Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
WALKER, of No. 12, Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
Civil, Mining, and Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Walker, Her
special license that I, the said Alexander Walker, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Walker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 In-
vention for "A NEW OB'IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING
and Maintaining ▲ SHIP'S CABIN OR SALOON IN A LEVEL POSITION AT ALL TIMES,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Walker,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 on or before the Eighth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Walker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheets of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :—
->

page_text: mounting the cabins and saloons of ships, whereby the unpleasant motions
of pitching and rolling are neutralized or obviated, and the floors of the
said cabins or saloons are maintained practically steady, and in a level
or horizontal position at all times.
According to my Invention I mount the cabin or saloon upon a
sphere or portion of a sphere disposed centrally immediately beneath the
floor of the said cabin or saloon, which sphere is free to turn in any
required direction in a supporting socket carried by girders, beams, or
other supports which rest either directly or through the intervention of
intermediate framing upon the keelson and frame of the ship. The
level or horizontal position of the cabin or saloon floor is maintained by
the force of gravitation exerted by a heavily weighted pendulum bar
which is rigidly secured to and always hangs perpendicularly or plumb
from the before-mentioned sphere whatever may be the angle of
inclination of the ship. when rolling or pitching.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the Figures on tho explanatory Sheets of Drawings here-
unto annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding
parts in both the Figures.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) of my Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical
section of a portion of a ship fitted with a saloon mounted in accordance
with my said Invention; and Figure 2 (Sheet 2) is a transverse vertical
section of the same.
A is a wrought-iron framing of nearly semicircular form on its upper
surface, its curve being struck from the centre of the metal sphere B,
herein-after more particularly referred to. This frame A which rests
longitudinally upon and is firmly secured to the keelson of the ship
forms the abutments or supports for taking the outward end thrust
two upwardly inclined wrought-iron girders O, O. Two other similar
inclined girders C', C', are disposed at right angles to the girders C, C,
or athwart ship, the outward end thrust of these girders C' being taken
by the wrought-iron framing A¹ (shown more clearly in Figure 2),
which is disposed transversely or at right angles to the frame A, and is
secured to the side frames of the ship. The upper and contiguous ends

page_text: against the external sides or a metal frame enclosing a socket piece D
which they thus support in a central elevated position, and within
which socket piece the sphere B rests, and is free to turn in any required
direction.
In order to reduce friction I sometimes interpose between the surfaces
of the sphere and the socket a number of loose metal balls a, a, disposed
in one or more annular grooves or channels of semicircular section made
round the inner surface of the socket; if preferred however the said
balls may be dispensed with and the sphere be allowed to work directly
against the inner surface of the socket after the manner of the well
known ball-and-socket joint. Two or more oil cups b, b, are fitted on to
the socket piece and communicate by separate ducts or passages, shown
in dotted lines in the Drawings, with the annular groove or grooves
containing the antifriction balls, or with the inner bearing surface of the
socket, as the case may be. Through the sphere B along its vertical axis
there is passed the pendulum bar E provided with a fixed shoulder or
collar F at at or near its centre which rests upon the upper surface of the
sphere; this pendulum bar extends downwards to within a convenient
distance from the keelson or from the surface of the frame A, and carries
at its lower end a heavy counterweight G, by preference composed of a
number of annular shaped metal slabs g, g, forming when combined,
together the contour of a sphere, as shown clearly in my Drawings, and
held securely on the pendulum bar by a transverse key as at h, or by
nuts or other equivalent contrivance, the object of making the said
counterweight in segments being to facilitate the handling of the same
when fitting it on to the pendulum bar. The upper portion E¹ of this
pendulum bar in the arrangement shown at. Figure 1 passes up through
the centre of the floor of the saloon H and projects a sufficient height
above the same to reach to the roof, to which it is secured by bolts or
rivets which unite the upper or converging ends of the curved ribs I
forming the framework of the roof to a flange c on the upper end of the
pendulum bar. The lower ends of these ribs I are bolted to the
girders K forming the framing of the floor of the saloon and disposed
diametrically, radially, or otherwise, so as to receive and support the
flooring boards or planking L, L, whilst they are in turn supported at
the centre by the collar F which rests upon the sphere B, and con-

page_text: sequently the entire weight of the saloon and its passengers is borne by
the socket D within which the said sphere B plays freely.
The saloon is by preference constructed in the form of a hemisphere,
or nearly so, of which the sphere B constitutes the centre. The floor is
situate on a level or thereabouts with the main deck M, whilst the
dome-shaped roof may project more or less through an opening in the
upper deck N, as shown clearly in Figures 1 and 2, windows or sky-
lights d, d, being provided in the upper projecting part of the roof for
lighting and ventilating the interior of the saloon. O is a fixed outer
roof which completely covers and protects the roof of the saloon, a
clearance space being left between the fixed roof and the saloon. This
outer covering is so constructed and secured to the upper deck as to be
perfectly water-tight, and is provided with glazed windows or ventilating
apertures d', d', so as not to interfere with the lighting and ventilation
of the saloon whilst protecting it from heavy seas, and preventing the
access of water to the main deck through the clearance space, which
must necessarily be left all round between the roof of the saloon and the
upper deck.
Although I have shown the main supporting girders C, O, and C¹, 01,
as being made straight and resting upon abutment frames A and A'
respectively disposed longitudinally and transversely to the ship, I
sometimes dispense entirely with the longitudinal frame A, and by
making the two girders C, C, curved or arch shaped towards their lower
· or outer ends cause them to take a direct bearing upon the keelson. In
all cases however it is essential that ample free space be provided
beneath and between the girders to allow of the maximum rolling or
pitching of the ship without incurring the risk of the counterweight
coming in contact with the said girders. It is also essential that the
gravity of the counterweight be so proportioned to the length of the
pendulum bar and the diameter and weight of the saloon as that it will
effectually ensure the stability of the said saloon under all circumstances.
The longer the pendulum bar the better will be the result, and the
lighter the counterweight to be carried.
In Figure 1 it will be observed that I have represented the saloon as
constructed with a closed top or roof, but in Figure 2 it is shown open at
the top, whereby its weight is reduced and a more ready access for air is

page_text: afforded. If desired, curtains or a light awning may be so arranged as
to be readily drawn over the open top when required, for the purpose of
screening the saloon from the rays of the sun. When thus constructed
it is not essential that the upper portion of the pendulum bar should
5 project through the floor of the saloon, as it may terminate in the
sphere B, which in such case would be connected to the under side of
the floor by a plate bolted or otherwise secured to the collar F, and
again bolted to the girders K of the floor of the saloon; or the collar F
may be bolted directly to the girders K (as shown in Figure 2), the
O steadying effect of the weighted pendulum being in both cases the
same.
The entrance to the saloon is constructed in the side thereof, and
within the said entrance I form a series of steps Q baving broad treads,
as shown clearly in Figure 1. Immediately outside the said entrance
and on the main deck I provide another series of steps Q' which corre-
spond with and are contiguous to those in the doorway of the saloon ;
consequently as the ship rolls or pitches one or other of the steps on the
main deck will be brought on a level, or nearly so, with one or other of
the steps Q in the saloon; thus presenting, for the time being, a level
and safe entrance platform. Should it be found requisite, controlling
guides may be provided outside the saloon for the purpose of preventing
or checking any tendency it might have to rotate on its vertical axis.
It is obvious that the arrangement herein-before described of ball-and-
socket joint and weighted pendulum bar is applicable separately to beds
and cabin furniture.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The mounting or supporting of ships' cabins or saloons upon a
ball-and-socket joint combined with a weighted pendulum rod or bar,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illus-
trated by the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Secondly. The peculiar combination and arrangement of inclined or

page_text: therein, and the weighted pendulum rod or bar E secured to the said
sphere when used with or applied to a ship's cabin or saloon, sub-
stantially in the manner and and for the purpose herein-before described
and illustrated by the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Walker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
ALEXANDER WALKER. (L.B.)
Witness,
EDWIN P. ALEXANDER,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent,
14, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
W.C.