US1070033A - Apparatus for launching ships' boats. - Google Patents

Description

L. LHEURBUX.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1912.

, 1,070,083,I Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

(NSM ajl Snom/4201,

L. LHEUREUX.

APPARATUS PoR LAUNGHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1912.

1,070,033. Patented Aug. 12,1913.

4 SHEETSvSHEET 2.

@2... 4wd. QM/g L. LHEUREUX.

APPARATUS PoR L'AUNGHING SHIPS' BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1912.

1,070,633., Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Amr-nay COLUMBIA PMNouR/APH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

L. LHBUREUX.

APPARATUS POR LAUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLIoATIoN FILED Nov. 2o. 1912.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

LUDGER LHEUREUX, OF MONTREAL, QUEPEC, CANADA.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

Application filed November 20, 1912.

To all whom, i may concern Be it known that I, LUDGER LHEUREUX, residing at 92 St. Hubert street, in the city of Montreal, in the Pro-vince of Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada, a marine engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Apparatus for Launching Ships Boats, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The invention relates to an improved apparatus for launching ships boats, and has for its objects to secure greater safety to the passengers in stormy or calm weather, by the provision of an apparatus simple and sure in its operation which can be operated to launch boats one after another from the same davit with great speed and automatically prevent the upsetting of the boat as soon as it touches the water which is so frequently the case with the' apparatus at present in use.

To attain these objects, the invention consists essentially of a downwardly swingable davit to which the boat is attached after being pushed into position on a traveling truck, said davit being governed in its fall or rise with the boat, by a fluid controlled device hereinafter more fully described, and said davit also being provided with a universal hanger whereby the boat supported thereon can be turned around to a direction for properly negotiating the waves.

The invention will now be fully described with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a portion of a ship showing the general arrangement of the invention thereon and the swinging davit in several positions denoted by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the controlling cylinder and the adjacent parts. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the controlling apparatus with a portion of the cylinder broken away to disclose the interior. Fig. 4f is a sectional View showing an arrangement for hanging the boat on the davit by means of a lowering platform. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a life boat showing the device for finally freeing the boat from the davit. Fig. G is an underside plan view of the universal hanger at the upper extremity of a davit. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section through the universal hanger. Fig. 8 is an underside plan view of the hanger with the Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Serial No. 732,482.

rotatable plate cut away. Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the davit. Fig. 10 is a vertical section through the swivel joint portion of the davit. Fig. 11 is a sectional view showing a modified arrangement for hanging the boat on the davit by means of a lowering platform.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the davit in t-he forni of a lever, pivoted at its lower end in bearings 2 secured to the side of the ship at a point a few feet above the water line, and extending upwardly to the forked upper end 3, normally overhanging the edge of the upper deck or whichever deck the life-boats are situated on. As shown in the drawings the davit 1 is constructed by a pair of bars 4l and 5 braced together by struts 6, but this is merely a matter of convenience to secure strength and the davit is to all intents and purposes a single lever with a forked upper end.

Intermediate of its length the davit 1 is divided into upper and lower parts connected by a swivel joint 7 vcomprising a flange plate 8 rigidly secured to the upper part and having a depending pivot pin 9 fitting a socket 10 depending from a corresponding flange plate 11 rigidly secured to the lower part. A ring of ball bearings 1Q is interposed between the upper and lower flange plates and the pin 9 is secured within the socket 10 by a nut 13 threaded onto its lower end and abutting the socket thus obtaining a free running and strong swivel oint.

14v is a catch lever fulcrumed at its lower end in bearings 15 adjacent the edge of the flange plate S and having a hook extension 16 normally engaging a notch 17 in the edge of the lower flange plate 11, and thus locking the upper davit part against rotation in relation to the lower part, this condition prevailing except at such time as the boat has been loaded and suspended and ready to be lowered, then the lever 14C is pulled to release the part 16 from notch 17 and the upper part of the davit is swung around with the boat on it until the forked upper end faces outwardly as in Figs. 1 and 9, when the arm falls down by the weight of the boat thereon as hereinafter described.

18 is the carrier plate of the hanger formed of elongated shape, reaching across between the bearings 19 at the extremities of the fork 3 and provided with trunnions 20 at its end rotatably secured in said bearings 19 by the caps 21 and a central cut away part forming the toothed annulus 22.

23 is a suspension plate of substantially similar shape to the carrier plate 18 and provided with the central pivot hole 24, the adjacent journal orifice 25 and the four eyes 2G at the outsidel corners.

27 is a washer mounted on the upper surface of the carrier plate 18, and 28 is a pivot bolt securing both said plates and washer rotatably together, sets of ball bearings 29 being interposed to secure perfect free running.

30 is a shaft extending through the journal orifice 25 in the suspension plate 23, said shaft having the pinion 3l rigidly secured at its upper end meshing with the toothed an# nulus 22, and the operating handle 32 at its lower end having any suitable clutch connection with the shaft so that the pinion may be rotated little by little instead of completely swinging around the handle.

33 are four chains depending from the eyes 26 respectively and each having a roller eye 34 at the lower end (see Fig. 5).

In Fig. 5 is shown the means for quickly detaching the boat from the davit as soon as it is properly placed in the water and in this ligure it will be seen that a shaft 35 extends across and is journaled at its ends in the sides of the boat with a rigid operating` lever 36 intermediately arranged.

37 are draw plates rigidly mounted adjacent the end of the shaft 35.

38 are pairs of connecting rods extending outwardly from opposite sides of the draw plates 37 toward the bow and stern of the boat and pivotally connected to said draw plates at their one ends and at the other ends to the bolts 39 sliding respectively in blocks 40 and 4l secured to the sides of the boat, each of said bolts having a hook member 42 adapted to thread into an eye 34 and engage an orifice 43 in the block 40 when the bolts are drawn simultaneously by a single moven ment of the lever 36.

Having now completely described the construction of the davit and the suspension and releasing device for the boat, I will now proceed to describe t-he means for hitching the boat to the davit while loaded or un loaded, it being understood that the davit is normally disposed with its forked upper end pointed inwardly, or in other words overhanging the edge of the deck and not necessarily having a boat hitched thereto. le will assume therefore, that the four chains 33 are dangling free from the suspension plate 23.

,According to my invention the lifeboats ori a ship are simply supported respectively on a traveling truck which preferably runs on rails leading from any point or points on the deck to a point immediately beneath the forked end of the davit and at the latter point the deck is provided with a lowering floor section. Thus a boat may be run beneath the davit, then hitched up by the means already described, the iioor section lowered by means such as hereinafter described and the boat is left swinging freely on the davit.

There are many ways in which the floor section may be lowered and raised but a convenient arrangement is that shown in Fig. 4, in which 44 is the deck of the ship having an opening therethrough filled by the lowering floor section 45 supporting sections of rail 46 in alinement with the deck rails hereinbefore mentioned.

47 are cylinders preferably four in number and supported respectively beneath each corner of the floor section on a suitably rigid frame 48.

49 are plungers depending from the underside of the floor section 45, respectively into the cylinders 47.

5() is an air pipe leading from a suitable compressed air supply and having branches 5l to the lower ends of the cylinders 47 respectively and exhaust branch 52.

53 is a three way valve in the pipe 50 at the junction with the exhaust branch 52 and 54 is an operating lever on the deck 44 operatively connected with the valve 53.

Vhen it is desired to lower the floor section 45 the lever 54 is thrown over to operate the valve to a position cutting off the supply on the inlet side of the valve thus permitting the free out-How of the air previously let into the cylinders or forcing up the floor section and the consequent fall of y the floor section.

To raise the floor section again the valve is operated to cut off the exhaust and open a free passage through the valve from inlet pipe 50 to the branches 51 thereby forcing up the pistons 49 and the floor section therewith.

55 is a sprocket wheel rigidly mount-ed to turn with the valve 53, and 5G is a chain running on the sprocket 55 and an upper sprocket 57 and having a block 58 rigid thereon at a point in its length.

59 is a rod rising and falling with the iioor section 45 and having a finger G0 adapted to contact the block 58 at certain times to automatically turn the valve to an olf position. For example when the lever has been thrown forward to raise the floor section the operator may safely leave it as the finger GO rising with the floor section engages the block 58 and consequently turns the valve 53 to off by the time the floor section has risen to the proper height.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the apparatus for governing the rise and fall of the davit is shown, and in these figures 61 is an air cylinder securely fastened to the deck of the ship or a suitable frame7 and having an air port 62 at one end thereof. 63 is a piston traveling in the cylinder 6l and whose piston rod 64 extends through said cylinder at the end opposite to the port 62. 65 is a yoke rigidly secured to the piston rod 64 and carrying a set of independently rotatable pulleys 67 near each end thereof, that is to say one set on each side of the piston rod. lheels 68 are rotatably mounted at the eX- treme ends of the yoke 65, run on tracks 69 and thereby guide said yoke in its movements back and forth. 70 are sets of independent pulleys rotatably mounted in fixed bearings 71 one on each side of the cylinder 61 and in alinement with and corresponding to the sets of pulleys 67. 72 are a pair of cables rigidly connected at one end to the davit l intermediate of its length and extending over guide pulleys 73 secured to the underside of the deck and pass along beneath the deck and upwardly therethrough and respectively over one of the pulleys in the sets 70 then over the alining pulleys in the sets 67, back over sets 70 and so on, said cables being finally fastened at these ends respectively to the anchors 7 3. It will thus be seen that on the fall of the davit the cables 72 will be pulled at that end the other end being anchored, the said cables tend to straighten out, thereby pulling the sets of pulleys 67 toward the sets 70 but at a much reduced rate of travel, consequent upon the back and forth winding of the cables in a manner very similar to the ordi nary hoisting block and tackle, therefore the yoke 65 also travels and consequently the piston 68. Similarly if the piston 63 is pushed in the opposite direction the reverse operation will occur and a slow movement thereof will result in an increased rate of rise of the davit.

74 is a main air inlet pipe leading from a suitable compressed air supply and having a U-shaped extension 75 leading to a common pipe 76 which serves at different times for inlet and exhaust purposes.

77 is an outlet pipe substantially U-shaped and joining said common pipe at two spaced points and 7S is a pipe leading from the cylinder port 62 into the said common pipe between said points while 79 and 8O are three way-valves introduced in said common pipe 76 at the aforesaid junction points. l 8l is an ordinary pop safety valve introduced in the outlet pipe 77 between the valve 79 and the exhaust pipe 82, and 83 is an ordinary reducing valve introduced in a short length of inlet pipe 84 joining the main pipe 74 to the common pipe 76.

It is not thought necessary to describe in detail any of the valves hereinbefore mentioned as all such valves are so well known particularly in steam engineering and are used without modification for the present purposes.

is a sprocket rigidly mounted on the upper end of the stem of valve 79, and 86 is a similar sprocket rigidly mounted on the upper end of the stem of valve 80.

87 is a handle for hand operating the valve 80, and 88 is a chain operatively connecting the sprockets 85 and S6 so that the rotation of one valve will simultaneously operate the other valve.

89 is a stop block rigidly secured at a point in the chain S8 and at certain times engaged by a finger 90 extending laterally from one side of the yoke 65 to move said chain and consequently rotate both valves 79 and 80.

Vith the governing apparatus hereinbefore described it is possible to secure results which are very essential to the safe launching of the boat from the vessel, and the operation thereof will now be described.

Assuming the boat has been loaded With passengers, hitched to the davit and the latter swung around so that the boat hangs over the water, the operator turns the handle 87 of valve 80 to a point where the inlet is shut off and the exhaust opened. The davit is now free to fall with its load as indicated in Fig. 1 and in falling it pushes in the piston 63 toward the port 62 as here- -inbefore explained which has the effect of forcing out the air in the cylinder 6l by way of the pipes 7S, 76, valve 80 and exhaust pipes 77 and 82 and it will be obvious that the fall of the arm will be grad ual as the air can only be forced out gradually through the comparatively small exhaust pipes. However this outrush o-f air can be nicely regulated if necessary by a hand operating valve 91. It should be mentioned that the turning of the valve SO as just described, simultaneously turns the valve 79 to a position shutting off the inlet pipeI and opening the pipe 76 to the pipe 77 though the passage exhaust air that way is obstructed by the pop safety valve 81 which thereby takes up any extra pres' sure and avoids strains on the parts through sudden Jerks or ]olts. At a certain point 1n the inward travel of the yoke 65 which may be regulated by the davi-t, that is when the boat just touches the water, the finger 90 on said yoke contacts the block 89 and thereby pulling the chain 88, automatically turns the valves 79 and 80 to a position closing the pipe 76 at valve 80 but opening same through valve 79 to reducing valve S3, thus preventing the further outflow of air in other words arresting the fall of the davit in the required position, the reducing valve S3 having been regulated to only lift the weight of the davit. If everything is favorable to a cast-off, the occupants of the boat now free the boat by pulling lever 36 as before described and immediately the weight is taken off the davit by the loosing of the boat, the inlet pressure overcomes the reducing valve and compressed air passes through the short pipe 84E past valve 79 through pipe 78 into the cylinder, forcing the piston 63 out again and lifting the empty davit which is then swiveled around in position to receive another boat which has meanwhile been loaded and run into position on the floor section 45. This feature of automatically returning the empty davit is extremely important as it also performs another function of vital importance to the safe launching of the boat namely that the davit will rise with the boat if the latter is suddenly dashed up by a wave therefore the boat need not be cast loose until the proper safe moment and the dan ger of sudden capsizing when the boat touches the water, is avoided. This rising of the davit with the boat will be apparent from the foregoing description as the lifting of the boat on a wave also takes the weight of the boat off the davit. If it is desired to bring the boat load back on deck again this can also be accomplished by turning the valve 80 to a position giving a free inlet of air therethrough from pipes 74 and 7 5' into pipes 7 G and 7 8 simultaneously shut ting off the outlet pipe 77.

Another important feature of the present invention is the hanger arrangement at the extremity of the forked upper end of the davit, for by the simple operation of the handle 32, the plate 23 and consequently the boat can be twisted around in relation to plate 1S as the pinion 32 is thus caused to travel around the annulus 22 and pull the plate 23 with it (see F ig. 6.) Thus the boat, while suspended in the air can be properly positioned to meet the waves before being lowered onto the water.

In Fig. 11 is shown a modified form of means for raising the floor section 92 and consists of cylinders 93 telescoping in one another supported respectively beneath each corner of the floor section on the rigid frame 94 or on the deck 95. Beneath the upper deck 96 are plungers secured to the under side of the floor section 92 fitting with the cylinders 93. 97 is an air pipe leading from a suitable compressed air supply and having branches 9S to the lower ends of the cylinders 93 respectively and an exhaust branch 99. 100 is a three way valve in the pipe 97 at the junction with the exhaust branch 99 and 101 is an operating lever on the deck operatively connected with th-e valve 100. In this novel arrangement of' the floor section, the' said floor section may be lowered down to the lower' deck where many boats may be stored. Rails may be laid in the same way as on the upper deck and the boats from. this lower deck can be transported to the upper deck. In this way a great many life boats may also be stored on drawings may be modified to a certain extent without departing from the' invention as set forth in the following claims for novelty.

Vhat I claim as my invent-ion is 1. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, an up and down moving davit, means for raising and lowering said davit, and automatically operable means connected with the aforesaid, means to cause the lifting of the davit when the boat load weight is relieved therefrom.

2. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swinging davit, a fluid pressure cylinder suitablymounted on the ship, a reciprocating piston in said cylinder, means for securing simultaneous inward movement of the pisto-n when the davit falls, fluid supply and exhaust pipes leading to said cylinder valves in said pipes and means for automatically obtaining an inflow of Huid to said cylinder with consequent lifting of the davit, when the boat load weight is relieved from said davit. K

3. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swinging davit, a fluid pressure cylinder suitably mounted on the ship, a reciprocating piston in said cylinder adapted to be pushed outwardly by a suitable luid supply, means for securing simultaneous movement of said piston and the davit, fluid supply and exhaust pipes associated with said cylinder', a pair of coupled three way valves in said pipes and hand operating means therefor and a reducing valve in one of said pipes for obtaining a reverse movement of said piston as herein described and set forth.

t. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swingable davit having a forked upper end, boat suspension means mounted to oscillate on a horizontal axis in said forked part, means for turning the boat on a vertical axis in said suspension means, whereby the boat may be swung around to meet the waves, and means for lifting and lowering said davit.

5. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swingable davit having a forked upper end, a carrier plate having trunnions supported in said forked end, a suspension plate connected beneath and to said carrier plate by a vertical pivot7 means for suspending a boat from said suspension plate, means for manually turning said suspension plate on said pivot and means for controlling the rise and fall of said davit.

6. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a- Vertically swingable davit having a forked upper end, a carrier plate supported by its trunnions in said fork end and having a toothed annulus in the center, a suspension plate disposed beneath said carrier plate and supported therefrom by a central vertical pivot, a shaft extending through said sus` pension plate to one side of the center with a pinion at its upper end meshing with said annulus an operating handle mounted on the lower end of said shaft chains for suspending a boat from said suspension plate, and means for controlling the rise and fall of said davit.

7. In an apparatus for launching ships boats, a vertically swinging davit having a forked upper end, a plate carried in said' fork chains suspended respectively from the four corners of said plate and having eyes at their lower ends, a pair of draw bolts slidably secured to each side of the boat and each having a hooked part adapted to engage an eye o-f said chains a shaft extending across the boat between said bolts, means connecting said shaft and draw bolts for simultaneously operating all the latter from the rotation of said shaft, and means for controlling the rise and fall of said davit.

Signed at the city of Montreal, Canada, this 13th day of November, 1912.

LUDGER LHEUREUX.

Witnesses:

REN A. PIGEON, V. LABELLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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