Improvements in Ice Breaking and Clearing Apparatus.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Sept., 1891-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ice Breaking and Clearing Apparatus.
We JOHANNES ANTONIUS KRUISBRINK, Manufacturer, of Amsterdam, and
JACOBUS JOHANNES VAN LEEUWEN, Engineer of Arnheim, both in the
Kingdom of Holland, 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 :-
This invention has for its object the construction of a powerful machine capable
of breaking and clearing with ease and rapidity a passage in frozen rivers, harbours
and canals from its ice so as to keep it open for navigation even during the most
severe winters; and consists essentially in dividing the ice into parallel strips and
in collecting the ice blocks thus formed in a receptacle and in subsequently expelling.
them and forcing them under the fixed ice at the sides of the clear and regular open
passage thus formed. The passage is thus cleared of broken ice and is consequently
kept open after each cutting for a much longer time than when the ordinary
breakers leaving the broken blocks of ice in the passage are used. The ice is cut.
into uniform strips or bands by means of saws.
In the accompanying two sheets of illustrative drawings:
-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a breaking and clearing apparatus constructed
according to this invention, and
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section,
Fig. 3 is a plan,
Fig. 4 is a front end view,
Fig. 5 is a back end view,
Fig. 6 is a cross section in front of the boilers,
Fig. 7 is a cross section through the clearing apparatus,
Fig. 8 is a cross section through the cutting apparatus,
Fig. 9 is a cross section through the propellors, of the same.
The whole of the machinery for cutting and clearing away the ice is carried in
front of a boat and the propelling mechanism in the rear. The bow is much
deeper in the water than the stern; the bottom is flat in a transverse direction and,
is completely submerged in front and is curved longitudinally so that at the back it
is raised completely out of the water.
it
.be
The bottom of the boat terminates in front in a triangular stem E which is
always submerged and forms, with a frame Ca pivotted to the bow and covering
the stem E above the water line, the front part of a chamber Ch of the same
width as the boat and inclining downwards towards the rear. A series of equi-
distant saws S separated by distance rings a are keyed on a shaft A mounted in
suitable bearings immediately behind the stem E and serve to divide the ice to be
removed into regular strips or bands. The shaft A is in one piece or
may
divided in the centre to prevent the saws from jarring on extraneous motions of the
boat, and it is sufficiently below the water line to allow the cut ice strips or bands
to pass above the distance_rings into the chamber Ch where they are broken up or.
enter in a broken state. The two extreme saws are even with or extend beyond
the sides of the boat so as to cut a sufficiently broad passage for the boat. The
shaft A is driven from both ends by means of two pitch chains G which gear with
chain wheels on a crank shaft A' and with pinions fixed at the ends of the sbaft A
between the two extreme saws. The strips of ice cut by these extreme saws ascend
with the chains and are intercepted by the guides E which project outwardly from
the frame C and deposit the strips or bands of broken ice upon the fixed ice at the
sides of the passage being cut.
Two horizontal Archimedian screws. V are mounted in the back part of the

page_text: chamber Ch on a common shaft A' one on either side of the chamber and extending
inwards for about a quarter the width of the chamber. The diameter of the
screws is equal to the height of the chamber and their shaft is driven by pitch
chains G from the shaft A. Two guide plates P extending the whole height of the
chamber Ch and meeting centrally at an angle guide the cut ice towards the screws V
which force the ice laterally through openings T in the side of the boat and under
the fixed ice at the sides of the passage being cleared.
The engine driving the cutting and clearing mechanisms is situated in an engine
room C™ situated above the chamber Ch and is a triple expansion engine working
onto three separate cranks on the shaft A'. In front of the engine room C" is a small
cabin C for the workmen. Behind the engine room C are the boilers K for
supplying the cutting and clearing engine and the propelling engine with steam.
and which are arranged with a passage P between them communicating with the
engine room Cm and with the engine room CP at the back of the boilers and con-
taining the propelling engine. Above and between the two boilers is a super-
heater S through which passes the boiler flue C. The coal bunkers St are
arranged on both sides of the boilers K and also on the sides of the superheater Su
if required.
"
The propelling engine is a compound tandem engine, the single piston rods of each
high and low pressure cylinder being directly connected to cranks on the propeller
shaft A³. The propeller is a paddle wheel placed axially in the rear of the boat,
as it can be more readily repaired than a screw.
In front of the paddle box is a cabin C for the engineers and in front of this
a staircase leading down to the engine room Cr. In front of the boilers K is the
captains cabin C2 from which all the operations can be directed and two staircases
at the side lead to the engine room C™.
The operation is as follows:-Supposing the passage to be open for the short
distance in which the boat floats, the saws S are rotated and the boat propelled,
the stem E passing below the ice and the saws being forced into the ice and cutting
it into parallel strips which pass over the distance rings a into the chamber Ch and
are guided by the guide plates P towards the screws V which force the broken ice
below the fixed ice at the sides of the passage being cut and against which it
ascends and congeals upon it to form a solid mass with it. The saws are advanced
continuously and the passage opened and cleared as the boat advances under the
action of the propeller. The hinged frame C covers and protects the saws and
clears away the snow or other obstacles on the ice. Within the frame are a series
of tubes through which the exhaust steam from the engines is passed and escapes
finally in front of the saws and prevents them from being covered with ice.
When a larger passage is required to be opened than can be obtained by a single
traverse of the boat, the boat after cutting one track is traversed back over a
parallel course and the inclined guide plates are arranged to form a single guide
to the screw at that.. side adjacent to the fixed ice under which the broken ice is
forced that is to say away from the clear passage previously cut. The ordinary
position of the plates is shown in dotted lines P P in Fig. 3 and the interrupted or
broken lines show now one plate is altered so that the ice is guided to one side or
the other.
It will be seen that by means of this apparatus, large water courses can be
opened for navigation with comparatively little expense and during the most severe
winters and that it is easy to keep the cleared course open by removing from time
to time the thin sheet of ice formed since the last clearing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. Clearing from its ice a passage for navigation in frozen waters by breaking up
the ice and collecting the broken up ice substantially as described.
2. Clearing a regular passage for navigation in frozen water by cutting up the

page_text: ice in the track to be cleared into regular strips and by collecting the cut up ice
and delivering it laterally under the fixed ice at the sides of the passage substan-
tially as described.
3. Clearing a passage for navigation in frozen water by mechanism consisting of
a collecting chamber provided with a front extension passing under the ice to be
removed, of saws mounted on the extension and extending beyond the width of the
chamber, of guide plates behind the saws, of lateral orifices in the chamber below
the under surface of the unbroken ice, and of screws to which the cut ice is guided
by the guide plates and which force the said ice through the lateral orifices and
under the unbroken ice at the sides of the passage being cut substantially as
described.
4. Clearing a passage for navigation in frozen water by mechanism consisting of
a floating vessel provided with means for propelling it, of a series of saws mounted
on an extension in front of the vessel and under the ice to be cut and operated by
an engine on the vessel, of a collecting chamber in the vessel and behind the saws
and provided with guide plates and lateral orifices below the surface of the ice and
of screws to which the cut ice is guided by the guide plates and which deliver the
said ice under the unbroken ice at the side or sides of the track being cut substan-
tially as described.
Dated this 18th day of September 1891.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.