US12130A - Strom - Google Patents

Description

UNITED PATENT OFFICE;r

ALEXANDER HoLMsTRoM, or NEw YORK, N. iz..y

APPARATUS Fou ATMSPHERIC PILE-DRIVING.

specis'cation of Letters Patent No. 12,130, dated January a, 1855.

T0 all whom t may concern t Be it known that I, ALEXANDERKIrIoL-M- sTRoM, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aapparatus for Atmospheric Pile-Driving;and I dohereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference, being made tothe annexed drawing s, making a part of this specification, in whichl Figure I is a perspective viewl showing partly the interior; Figs. II and III are. sections in detail; and similar let-ters referto similar parts throughout. y l y l l My invention is for certain improvements in the pneumatic process for driving .hollow piles or cylinders in the constructionof hydraulic works of various kinds, said process being known as Pottss.7 .p

I call my invention an air-lock, and the object of it is to enable all the variousoperations -of taking in materials, exhausting, or forcing air, Sac.` to be performed without discharging the workmen and by which also the said workmen have complete control of the pneumatic apparatus from within, so that they can apply the pressure, or vthe vacuum., or'regulate the same as may be required, and ca n also govern `the valves for ingress or egress; whereas in the old plan these, have to be varied by signals to others outside.

a By meansA of my improvementlthe' amount of work which can be performedin av given time is much greater than bythe other plans, while the safety is not only much increased but it isl falso found that ythe lmenwillhvvork much better under the sense of (security given by their possession of the entire controlof the apparatus from within., j

, The mannerofr constructing and operatr ing my said air-lock is as follows: At A is a portion of a metal cylinder or pileintended to be sunk in' the ground beneath the wat-er, as usual by the air pump, .The air-lock is bolted fast upon the top ofy the pile and the joint made air-tight in thesame manner as if the common cap or `plate were used. v'Ihe air-lock is V"shown at B, and as, represented, consists ofl a strong air-tight cylindrical chamber. This ought to be. of a suiiici'e'nt height to allow men to stand upright to work therein-(the side in Fig. I is shown, as if partly cut away, merely to exhibit the interior). Upon the top at (a, a) are two or more lights of strong glass, and at- (b) is 'a man-hole. This is capablel of being Closed l i by two covers, one of which is on theoutside at (b), and the other opening inward' at (6), Fig. III, where it is shown open and hanging by its hinge. Through the bottom of the lock there is a second man-hole, preclsely like that just described, of vvhic-h (c, c,and 0) Figs. I and III, will indicate the relative parts. a

At C there is a windlass, the shaftfof which is supported in bearings in the sides of the lock, the ends passing through s'o as to be operated by a winch or otherwise'from the outside, and the joints being kept tight by stuiing boxes as shown in Figs. lI and II. The windlass is so contrived that its shafts may rotate without also turning the barrel except at the option of those inside. Thisis accomplished by means of the pinch-nut Fig. II, which when screwed up against the windlass causes that to turn with theshaft,

while if unclamped, the windlass remains stationary, in which latter position itis shown in Fig. II. The position of the .windi lass is directly over the lower manhole` (c) leading into the hollow` pile.

The several pipes are situated andl operated as follows: (d) Figs. I and III is an. air pipe forming a communication-from theinside of the air-lock to the outside, the cock yor valve being inside. When there is a greater pressure in the inside thanoutside the man;

hole cover (6) is always closedandis jkept up by said pressure. (It may be remarked that all the covers are either ground or, gumv joints and keep tight by mere contactof surfaces.) When therefore a workman on the inside wishes to get out he first' opens this f pipe (d), when as soon as the pressurefis equalized, the cover (5) fallsv uponv its hinge, as shown 1n Fig. III, and thus opens a passage, the cover (b) not being on in-anycase except there isa vacuumwithin when of course there will be no workman there. At (e)is another air pipe and cock, serving a purpose somewhat like that at (d) viz. .to

effect from the inside of the hollow pile an V equalization of the. pressure betweenit and.

the lair-lock from within the former, and at (f) is another air pipe leading to the pile,

Aand as represented, is to be operated from withinthe air-lock.

At (g, it) are two pipes which have com@ i l.'

munication with the interior of the hollow pile A, from without the air-lock', the dis.- charge being through the oor as shown.

One of these (g), leads tonand terminates' in l Vio a receiver connected with the air-exhausting pumps, as usual, and the other (z) leads'to fulli ascertained by the following descrip of Potts.

tion of its operation in connection with the sinking of the pile; and first to show its' use more completely I will brieiy state the mode In t-he first place in sinking the pile a cap must be put on the upper end and made air-tight; from this a pipe leads either to an exhausted receiver, or to an air-pump; if to the former, as soon as the communication is made, a partial vacuum is formed within the pile which causes the water, sand, &c., to rush violently out by the connecting tube, while it is at the same time forced down by the external pressure thus obtained. When it has been driven deep enough the interior is to be filled with mason 'l form a superior quality of work.

known that both vacuum and compressed work to give it weight and stability, and it is here that my improvement comes chiefly into play to facilitate the Vworking and reduce both the time and expense as well aspert is air are used in this mode of performing submarine works. The compressed air 1s brought 1nto play at such times as 1t 1s necessary for men to work within and near `or upon the bottom, as for instance, if before the pile has been sent down to the intended depth it shall be opposed by some obstructions, as rocks or trunks of` trees, then these must be cleared out of the way. For this purpose the ,i must also be kept free from water.

pile must be kept free from water, or if sent down to its proper depth, then inorder to carry on the laying of the mason work it To accomplish this the cap is put on, (the men and materials being within), enough air is forced in to counter-balance the pressure of the water from the outside, and hence as l none can enter, the workmen mayoperate free from that obstruction. Now it 'will be seen that as soon as the materials are used up, (which can be put in but in very limited quantities,) the cap must be taken ofi', the men get up and take in the supply and the operation of forcing out the water be gone over. There is also a certain amount of danger, for the lives of the workmen are wholly dependent on those without, or on the perfection of the pumping-apparatus, or of the system of signals. Hence they always work with more or less of fear.

Now by my improved air-lock as before mentioned it is wholly controlled from within and it has also this advantage, the materials may be constantly supplied to the pile Without taking off the necessary pressure required to keep it free from water. In the first place I will suppose that the hollow pile A has been sent down to a certain depth by the vacuum, and has been arrested by an obstruction, as a rock. The base of the air lock B being bolted upon the head of the pile forms the cap equivalent to the old mode. The force of compressed air is now to be employed to empty the water and leave the rock bare for the operation necessary to remove it. The cover (b) is taken away from the man-hole (b) and as many men enter as are required for the work, taking in also such tools and materials as are necessary. The cover (c) is next taken olf of the man-hole (c) and a length of pipe sufficient to Lreach to or near the bottom is bolted upon the Hange (i) of the dischargepipe (i). The cover (5) is then raised andthe man-hole (b) closed from within. The compressing-air-pumps are then set in motion, and air forced in through (h) and inasmuch as the man-hole (o) is open the pressureextends throughout both the airlock and the pile, the upper or top becoming the cover. This pressure keeps up the cover (5) The pressure upon the surface of the Water begins to force it out through the discharge pipe (t) in a continuous jet or stream, the operation being continued until the interior ofy the pile is free. The workmen can then descendbeing lighted by the glass (a) or by artificial means as required. The operation on the bottom now commences. The shaft of the windless C is to be kept in continued rotation from without. Any weights can be raised from the bottom of the pile by throwing the barrel of the windlass into gear. The stone forming the obstruction to the descent of the pile, as fast as quarried, is thus brought up and piled upon the floor of the air-lock. As soon as the quantity raised has filled the air-lock as far as can be conveniently done it must be emptied. This can accordingly be done without disturbing the menat work in the bottom of the pile, for they can go on and get stone ready for hoisting.v In order however to be able to open the cover (6) the pressure of the air within must be made the same as that without, and this must be so done as not to relieve the pressure within the pile. The cover (0) is therefore shut up against (e), the cock (d) may then be opened and the compressed air rushing out, an equilibrium will be produced, at which moment the cover (5) falls open, the pressure of the air being still maintained within A by the continued Working of the forcepumps. The stone and other matter exea vated is then taken out, and anything resurface of the water.

quired within may be received. The cover (6) is once more closed against (b), the air-cock (f) opened, and the pressure within the air-lock and pile equalized, at which moment the lower cover (0) falls open and the communication is once more restored. The work of raising the accumula-ted stone, &c., then goes on as before. It will be seen that the men in the pile can work with perfect security for should anything occur whereby it was rendered necessary for them to come out all that would be required would be to open the air-cock (e) when the pressure would soon be taken o' and the cover (0) thereby opened. It is vnow supposed that the obstruction which prevented the descent of the pile has been removed; it is then ready to receive the eect produced by the vacuum. The men all come up into the air-lock and the cover (0) is put on to (c). The pipe (i) being closed from the outside, the cock (g) leading to the exhausted receiver, or directly to the air-pumps, (as may be requisite to produce a sudden or a gradual descent,) is opened and the vacuum in A produced, the pile descends as usual. Of course the air-lock is never to go below the As soon. therefore as the top of A approaches the surface as near as deemed safe the air-lock must 4be unbolted from the flange and hoisted out of the way by a crane, and another joint of the pile put on; the air-lock is then raised to the top of this last and made fast as before, descending with it to the waters edge.

When the pile has been driven to the intended depth and the interior is to be filled with masonry the same general plan before described is to be followed. Materials are to be put into the air-lock in such quantity as may be convenient and they are to be replenished from time to time without interruption to the workmen in the hollowA pile, by cutting o the communication with said pile and the air-lock during those intervals.

What I claim as of my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. Constructing the air-lock in such manner that the pressure of the air, either within the lock or within the hollow-pile, may be governed by the workmen inside, whereby they are thus enabled wholly to control the means of escape for themselves.

by `those men are not only relieved from any extra exertion but the ability is also maintained of applying greater force than could be done were the motive power given from within, the whole being constructed and operating substantially as set vforth herein.

y y ALEX. HoLMsTRoM. Witnesses: I i

S. H. MAYNARD,

JAmis L. ROBERTS.

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