US2742A - Iiiiiiiiij - Google Patents

Description

rra s Ars Nrerum (DensionV JOHN s. GILBERT, or NEW vonk, N. Y.

FLOATING DRY-DOCK.-

Specifcation of Letters Patent No. 2,742, dated July 28, 17842.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. GILBERT, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, engineer, have invented new and useful improvements in floating dryfdocks for the purpose of raising vessels out of water for repairs and also for the purpose of carrying loaded vessels or vessels without cargo over bars or shoals in rivers or harbors, which improved dry-dock I denominate the improved floating balance dry-dock; and I declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof.

`In constructing this dock of wood instead of iron I in the first place make a platform of timbers of such length and breadth as may be required for the class of ships for which the dock is intended, for vessels of one thousand tons the width should be about sixty feet and the length about one hundred and sixty five feet.

My mode of constructing this platform or bottom is as follows-If the bottom is to be sixty feet wide I take pieces of timber sixty feet long and treenail them together or if pieces of Vthat length cannot be obtained pieces of various lengths may be used avoidas much as possible placing the joints opposite to each other, when the requisite number of these cross floor timbers or lower clamps are thus fastened together to make a platform of the required length and breadth I calk the seams with wedges of soft dry wood in this wav I make a platform perfectly water tight without the use of oakum. i The ends of the timbers that form this lower thickness are seen at -oof the drawing which is a perspective view. I in the next place build up the sides and ends as high as the dock will be immersed when finished which will be say about iive feet. My mode of building up the sides and endsthus far is to bolt regular courses of thick timber one on the top of another. The first or lower course may be screw bolted to the platform, the end at which the vessel enters is left lower than the other as seen at -B I drive all the joints made by building up these sides and ends with wedges as before described, I then lay an-` other thickness of timber on the top of the platform lengthwise of the dock and treenail one piece to another in the same manner as the first and also bolt each piece down upon the lower clamps #ct- This second thickness is wedged in the same manner as the first, the ends of this fore and aft platform is seen at I then bolt on upper cross timbers to form the rests for a cradle on which the weight of the vessel is borne and they also give additional transverse strength. -C- on the drawing. Willen the dock is thus far finished it may be launched into the water. v

*clrepresents the riders or cradle on which the vessel rests. These are raised or lowered according to draft or weight of the vessel by dogging on more or less in number t-he object and uses of which will be more fully explained in another part of this specification.

Having made a substantial bottom` and sides as high as above described of thick timber well bolted to the platform I put up the posts to form ribs for theV outsides of the side camels or chambers, These posts are about twenty two feet high. They are fastened at their lower ends to the cross timbers Q- and alsoto the thick work --B-- These posts are seen at ll- They are also put up across one end of the plat-` form to form a continuation of the outsides of the side camels and also to 4form one side of a pumpwell at the end of the dock having put up sufficient posts along the sides and across one end I plank the end up in the ordinary mode Of planking up ships.

The sides are planked up about twelve feet in the ordinary mode of planking up vessels; above this the sides are planked in sections only leaving openings for a passage through which to pass timber` and other materials to the vessel in the dock overrthe decks of the side camels; the sections planked up are seen at-s-and the openings are seen at-t-these openings are provided with gates that slide up and down in grooves and they are each provided with a watertight tank which closes the gate as the dock sinks and thereby prevents the sea heaving in and as the dock rises the tank follows the water down and again opens the gates; the tank attached to the gate is seen at u, I next proceed to divide the transverse section of the platform into three parts; the middle division is set off of suiiicient width to give room between the side camels or chambers for the workmen to repair the bottom and sides Of the vessel; the space left on each side for the side camels is seen at g and g2 and the space reserved for the These upper clamps are seen at i ship and workmen is seen at f. I next proceed to put up the posts that form the inside ribs of the side camels or chambers; these ribs are bolted to the sides or stepped on to 5 the to-p of the upper clamps as may be preferred and are seen at J the lower ends of both the inside and outsidey ribs are supported by a timber bolted on to the upper clamps and running the whole length of the platform these inside ribs extend up on such an angle as shall give room for the workmen and at the same time approximate to Y the shape of a vessels bottom as nearly as possible; they sometimes are made to extend up on a straight line and are fastened at their upper ends to the ribs that form the outsides of the side camels or chambers but in the drawing that accompanies this specilication they extend up about half way say twelve feet and are joined to the outside ribs by a deck beam as seen at K. This form may be preferable for steamships with paddle wheels on each side. I next proceed toset up the ribs that form the inside of the end or continuation of the side camels; these may be put up exactly to correspond with the side camels but I generally set up po-sts about six feet from the latter end and make the end camel or forward pump well extend entirely across the forward end of the platform. This arrangement will divide this compartment from the middle and also from the sides. These inside ribs being planked up I build a tight deck in this v Pump well about seven feet above the bottom of the dock. This divides the pump well into an upper and lower hold. The pumps are cut through this deck and extend up to the top of it and no farther. They lift the water into the upper hold or chamber and fro-m it the water passes overboard. This lower hold or well' is seen at Z).

The forward end of the dock in the drawing is left without planking in order to show the internal arrangements; the upper chamber and deck is seen at o; the pumps are seen at m; a gate to let the water out of the Aunner chamber is cut through the forward end of the dock directly opposite the pumps and even with the upper side o-f the deck r; this gate cannot be seen in the drawing.

I-Iaving planked up. all the ribs and calked the planking the dock is divided into four separate water tight vessels all joined together and having as yet no communication one with another. In the next place proceed to the organization of the machine by 6o which all the parts are made to act in concert or each one may be made to act alone in raising or depressing.

I divide each of the side camels or chambers into vtwo or more separate compartments by building up tight bulkheads across them fastening the bulkheads to the frames already described all the frames may be strengthened by bulkheads or braces. In the dock which the drawing represents the camels or chambers on each side are divided into three separate compartments the middle compartment is small and is sometimes used as a pumpwell instead of placing the pumps at the camel or chamber that connects the two side camels together this middle chamber is seen at -D- the bulkheads that form it are seen at -O- and -P-- a gate -lis cut through the outside planking of this middle chamber, a gate -3- is cut through the bulkhead O- and a gate -lis cut through the bulkhead -P-.

The conductor -2- passes through the bulkhead -P- along the whole length of the compartment. g2 and through the bulkhead that divides the end camel or compa-rtment from the middle of the dock, and this bulkhead also divides the end from the side compartments, this conductor forms a communication from the middle to the forward chamber for the passage of water, a gate -6- is made to close the end of this conductorua gate -5- is cut alongside of this conductor through the bulkheadl of the pumpwell-a gate -7- is also cut through this pumpwell bulkhead to admit water from the`middle of the dock to the pumpwell-a gate is cut through the planking of the inside of the side camels directly opposite to the gate 1- by the two gates a passage is made for the water to pass from the outside through the middle chamber to the inside of the dock but as the inside planking is left off to show the internal arrangements this gate is marked 2.

The organization of the side camels are alike on both sides and all letters of reference are meant to apply to both sidesa platform is built on the top of the outside ribs and extends over the pumpwell and forms a deck. There is a deck across the cornerfor the engine house this deck is spotted off and is seen at -W- the platg form is seen at 7l/ It will be seen that I can use my dock for lifting vessels out of water without a gate to inclose the vessel for any reasonable amount of lifting power may be obtained by the side and end camels or chambers by raising my cradle in the manner heretofore explained in this specification and I need not of necessity have a tight bottom yet in all cases I think it better to have a tight bottom and a gate to inclose the vessel, because if the vessel proves very heavy I have a reserved power which I can bring to bear up the vessel and because I can exclude the action of the waves the inclosing gate y' seen at -fn/- the wicket through which the water passes out as the side camels are exausted and in which the dock is sinking is seen at a2- this entrance gate may be made to fold by having the upper part hung with hinges as seen at -v-e,

Having constructed my improved floating balance dry dock in manner substantially as herein set forth and described, I use it for docking vessels in the following manner: When I sinkit for the reception of a vessel I open the gates l-B-l that communicate with the middle tank on each side I then openthe wicket gate -x- I then open the t3- and 74- on each side this allows the water to pass into all the separate compartments of dock, as it sinks I shut the gate that communicates with any part that sinks too fast and thereby preserve the equilibrium when the dock is low enough for the reception of the vessel all the gates are closed and the main or entrance gate is opened this entrance gate is furnished with ballast suilicient to sink it the ballast being placed outside of the center upon which the gate turns it opens of itself when the tackles are slacked the vessel is then hauled in and placed as near the middle as possible. The gate is then closed behind the vessel the Wicket -azbeing left open the pumps are started and the water is exhausted wholly or in part from the side and end camels or chambers and as the dock rises with its load the water passes out at the wicket from around the vessel the equilibrium of the dock being maintained by taking more or less water from any particular compartment by means of the conductor and the gates as already described in the process of sinking.

The height to which the vessel will be lifted above water by the power of the chamber or camels on the side and at the end will depend upon the height of the cradle but in most cases it will be found better to close the wicket and pump out the middle, the platform on which the workmen stand to repair the bottom of the vessel is made to float.

Thus far I have described my dry dock as being capable of sinking by its own weight but I sometimes sink it to great depths by pumping water into the side camel. My mode of sinking it in this way is very simple. There is a gate in the forward end of my dock to pass the water out of the upper chamber -fvinto which the pumps lift the water this gate being closed and the gate -7- being opened the chamber cwill be iilled by the pump. I then open the gate 8 and pass the water by other conductor Q, and the gate in the side camels to any compartment required. The gate 7 is closed when the gate 8 is opened.

Having fully described my improved floating bottom dry dock and also the mode of using it, I do not claim simply making and using camels placed against each side of a vessel and by which she is raised and floated over shoals, they having been used before my invention-neither do I claim making and using a floating dry dock with tanks, or trunks, on each side divided into separate compartments by tight bulkheads because that kind of dry dockI have patented and further I do not claim simply uniting the separate compartments of a float with a pump will by means of pipes governed by cocks or valves as this has been patented, but in the patent referred to the separate compartments of a float are united with a pump well the dock being composed of a series of such floats on the tops of which the vessel rests but Vhat I wish to claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The method of connecting all the chambers or separate compartments on each side of the dock with vthe pump well by means of pipes or conductors governed by cocks, gates, or valves whereby all the separate compartments are made to :act in concert or alone or any number of them in depressing or raising the dock in manner substantially as herein described, and I wish it distinctly understood that I claim this arrangement whether applied to docks with two side camels united together or to side camels disconnected.

2. I claim the dividing the camels into an i JOI-IN S. GILBERT.

Witnesses ISAAC BEERs, WM. CHASE.

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