US56763A - Improved bilge-water gage - Google Patents

Description

W. P. KIRKLAND.

Bilge Water Gage. No. 56,763. Patented My 31, 1866.

#WW a lINITEn STATES PATENT OrFtcn.

WILLIAM P. KIRKLAND, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IM PROVED BlLGE-WATER GAGE.

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent No. 56,763, dated July 31, 1866.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. KIRKLAND, of San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Bilge-Water Gage; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of this invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the scale-tube and index detached.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to a bilge-water gage which is composed of a perforated box containing a float which acts on an index-rod extending up through a tube to the deck, so that the depth of the water in the hold can be ascertained at a glance. The starboard and larboard sides of the perforated box are provided on their inner surfaces with valves which close the holes in the lower portion of said box when the vessel rolls, and prevent violent fluotuations of the float and index. The float itself is constructed of a piece of cork coated with asphaltum or other suitable material, to protect it against the influence of the sea-water, and said float is provided with a socket the bottom'of which is composed of a glass plate, so as to prevent the end of the indexrod from penetrating into the cork.

A represents a box made of wood or any other suitable material, square, oblong, or in any other desirable form or shape. This box is arranged transversely in the hold of a vessel, and its larboard and starboard sides, a b, are perforated with holes a 1) near to the bottom edge of the box, whereas the other sides, 0 d--that is, those facing toward the stern and toward the bow of the vessel, are perforated with holes a [1, near to the top edge of the box or above the middle of the height thereof.

The interior of the box A is occupied by a float, B, of cork or other suitable material, which is coated with asphaltum or other suitable material capable of protectin g the same against the influence of the water, to which it is exposed. Said float is provided with a socket, e, on or in its upper surface, and the bottom of this socket is protected by a disk, f, of glass or other hard material which is not affected by sea-water. On this disk rests a rod, 9, which extends up through a pipe, h, that is secured in the top of the box A, and it is provided with one or more friction-rollers, i, which serveto keep said rod in an upright position and to prevent unnecessary friction between it and the pipe h. The rod g carries on its upper end an index, j, which projects through a slot, is, in the side of the pipe h, and points on a scale, 1, marked on one or both sides of said slot. If desired, the rod 9 itself may be marked with a scale, m, which is visible as the same rises above the upper edge of the pipeh, and if the rigging of the sails or other parts do notinterfere, this'scale is sufficient for all practical purposes but in cases where the rod, when raised much above the upper edge of the pipe, would interfere with the rigging or other parts of the vessel, the scale I on the outer surface of the pipe h has to be used; or both scales may be used conjointly, if desired The inner surfaces of the larboard and starboard sides of the box A are chamfered off, as shown in Fig. 1, and aprons C are secured to the same. These aprons are made of leather or other flexible material, and they are so arranged that they leave the holes a I) open as long as the vessel remains on an even keel or in an upright position; but if the vessel rolls either one or the other of said aprons drops against the inner side of the box, and the water contained in said box is prevented from escaping.

By this arrangement violent changes in the position of the float are avoided and the correct height of the bilge-water contained in the hold of the vessel can be ascertained at any moment.

The adjustment of this gage in a vessel and its operation are as follows: The box A is placed in the hold of the vessel near the pumps, the float being adjusted in the box, and a hole is made through the vessels deck (or a groove may be made in the pump-stock) sufficiently large to pass the pipe it through. Said pipe I is of sufficient length to project above the deck, and the rod g is passed down through the pipe and placed within the socket on the float, with its index-point projecting through the slot made in the upper end of the pipe h.

The water in the vessel enters the box through the holes made for that purpose, and itis detained in the same, when the vessel rolls, by means of the aprons 0. As the water rises in the vessel the float is carried up, and with it the rod g, which shows above deck, by means of the index-point, the depth of the water in inches, as indicated by the scale on the pipe h.

When the depth of the water in the vessel is greater than the length of the slot in the pipe h the rod 9 will project above the pipe and expose to view the figures thereon, and thus the capacity of the scale is increased, or, if desired, the scale on the pipe h may be omitted and the depth of the water in the hold determined by the scale on the rod, as previously stated.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The aprons 0, applied to the perforated starboard and larboard sides of the box A, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The disk f, of glass or other suitable material, in combination with the float B and index-rod g, constructed and operating substantially as and for the purpose specified.

WILLIAM P. KIRKLAND.

Witnesses:

W. A. HENRY, A. H. MEYERPETER.

Images