US31125A - Ships - Google Patents

Description

UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WV. NYSTROM, OIF ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. f

APPARATUS FOR BOOKING SHIPS, cac.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom Lt may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN IV. NYsTRoM, a citizen of the United States of America, now residing at St. Petersburg, in the Empire of Russia, have invented certain new and Improved Apparatus or Machinery for Docking Ships and other Vessels, for Carrying Large Vessels Over Shoals, and for Raising Sunken Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and clear and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My improved apparatus or machinery consists principally of one or more pontoons of novel character and construction, which are navigable, self-propelling and have within themselves the power of sinking and floating again under the control ofpersons on board.

Figure'l, in the drawing, is a midship vertical section of one of my pontoons, showing also a stern view of a large steam-ship which is supposed to be docked on a number of such pontoons. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same pontoon. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same exhibiting thev interior in section. Fig. 4 exhibits a dock or camel composed of a number of suchv pontoons and carrying a large steam-ship. Figs. 5 and 6 are views illustrating the operation of raising sunken vessels with these pontoons.

Similar letters of reference indicate correfsponding parts in the several figures.

I will now proceed to describe the con struction of a pontoon. It is in the form of a fla-t bottomed boat with a close'deck with two upright towers A, A', which commence at the bottom as shown in Fig. 1, and eX- tend to a considerable height above the deck. These towers A, A, are at a distance apart to admit between them the largest class of vessels for which the pontoon is to be employed, and the said towers are connected below the deck D, of the pontoon by a corridor C, which runs along the centers of the pontoon, said corridoi' being wide enough to permit the passage through it of one or more persons. The towers and corridor are shutoff from the remainder of the hull of t-he vessel which is divided into a number of water-tight compartments B, B, which will be hereinafter spoken of as tanks, and which may be filled with water for t-he purpose of sinking the pontoon, and have the water pumped out again Yfor the purpose of 31,125, dated January 15, 1861.

floating it. The pontoon represented has l j twelve tanks. The towers A, A, serve a similar purpose to the balance tanks of what is known in the United States as the floating sectional dock,^viz: that of keeping the pontoon at any required depth below the open at the top, are ventilated and serve j to ventilatev the corridor where the engineer is stationed for the purpose of man-- aging the pontoons inA accordance with commands given by a person stationed on a railed platform at the top of either of the towers to direct the operation.

The several pipes for connecting the different parts of the apparatus are arranged within the corridor, and the necessary cocks or at least` the handles of them are all brought close together about midway between the towers so as to be all at once withinthe control of the engineer. The pipes, cocks, or valves and their connections may be variously arranged so that it will only be necessary to give a general idea of how they are applied.

g, (Figs. 1 and 8), is the steam-pipe running direct from the boiler to the engine.

h, is the feed-pipe for supplying the boiler.

i, is the suction-pipe of the pump running to the engineers kstation in the middle of the corridor, and having branching from it four pipes j, each connecting with three of the tanks, and having a separate cock 7c, to open and close it.

' Z, is an air-pipe passing the engine-tower B, to admit air to the tanks or allow it to escape therefrom by four branches m, each branch connecting with three tanks and having a separate cock n, to open and close it. The air-pipe is also so connected with the pump that the latter may be used as an air forcing pump to force air through a pipe p, into the branches m, and through them into the tanks for the purpose of driving the water out at the bottom thereof, which may be necessary or desirable in some cases not necessary to specify. Each tank may be provided with two valves, or a cock and a valve, viz: a valve or cock 1', operated by hand for letting in the water, and a valve s, opening outward bythe pressure of the agir, to permit the latter toV force'out the water. Instead however of having every tank provided with the valves r and s, only four of them may. be thus provided, and the tanks may be divided into four series with those of each series communicating with each other. j

The pontoon may be built wholly of iron,

which, all things considered, is the cheapest and safest material for the purpose. The steam-engine for pumping and propelling should, preferably, be of the condensing kind, as in pumping out the tanks the water drawn from them may be employed for the condensation of the steam. The propeller should be capable of being uncoupled during docking and lifting operations, 'and the propeller and pumping machinery generally so applied that either can be operated independently, or both simultaneously. The towers and the corridors are lighted by small lights or windows u, u. The towers may have suitable ladders inside and outside to enable them to be descended by the persons employed on board.

In each tower are placed `four truss-tim- 1 bers y, which serve to keep a ship, or other vessel, in a proper positionon the pontoons.. These truss-timbers pass right through the towers; and each is surrounded inside of .its tower by a square tube o, which is closely secured to the sides of the tower to keep the water out when the timber is submerged. Each pontoon has four chock-blocks w, w, arrangedin such manner as to be capable of being adjusted under the bottom of a .vessel under which the pontoon is placed, such chocks being operated by blocks and tackles. Each pontoon is furnished on deck with two windlasses G, G', one near the stem ,and the othernear thestern. The pontoons may4 be fitted with sails to aid them in voyaging from place to place. j v

The pontoon may be ballasted by the admission yof a suitable quantity of water into its tanks to give it such a draft of water as may be best for its propulsion' and navigation from place to place, say` to the line a, a', Fig. l. When it is to be lowered the engineer opens .the cocks or valves 7, to let water into the tanks, and when it beginsA to sink and the air in the tanks becomes compressed he opens the cocks n, sufiic/iently for the escape of air fast enough to permit the gradual descent of the pontoon, and if it descends faster on one side or end its descent can be corrected by giving more or less opening to the proper air-cock as soon as the fault is discovered by the glass-gages e, `(Fig. l). The pontoon may be sunk nearly to the top of the towers, or if pipes are secured by water-tight connections with the contracted open mouths of the towers it maybe sunk still deeper.

v 'lV hen the pontoon is to be raised there are several"circumstancesto be considered, viz:

The operation of docking a ship is as fol-y lows: The form of the bottom of the ship having been ascertained as nearly as practicable, in order that chock-blocks of suitable form may be placedA on` the pontoons, a sufficient number, of pontoons are arranged side by-side, as shown at F, F, in Fig. t, and connected together by suitable lines. The chock-blocks being placed as nearly as possible in proper positions the pontoons are at a given command, caused to commence sinking. Care should be taken by conductors stationed at the tops of the towers to direct the engineers that all the pontoons sink vtogether. lVhen the pontoons are sunk suficiently deep, the ship S, Figs. l and 4:, is propelled, towed, or hauled in between their towers A, A, ,and is adjusted midway between the latterby the truss-timbers y; after which' the pontoons are all carefully raised ,till they touch the keel of the ship, when the pumps are stopped, and the chock-blocks drawn tight under the ships bottom by the tackles provided for the purpose. The trusstimbers y, are now secured to the sides of the ship, and the pumps set in motion again, and the pontoon-dock commences to rise with the ship upon it, till the latter is lifted out of the water, and the decks of the pontoons are just above the surface of the water.b

A precisely similar system of pontoons may be employed as a self-propelling camel for carrying large vessels over Shoals or taking them into shallow harbors to discharge and receive cargoes.

The operation of raising a sunken vessel, illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, is as follows: The location of the vessel having vbeen ascertained a number of men in Vdiving-dresses are sent down to make a sufficient number of lines fast to the shrouds or other convenient part of the vessel, and this having been done the divers ascend and the other ends of the lines are made fast to a sufficient number of pontoons to raise the vessel, said lines being led over blocks and sheaves to the two capstans of each pontoon and secured thereto. The pontoons are then lowered till their decks are level with the water, and a new hold taken by the lines on the capstans. 4A suitablegnumber of men in diving-dresses are Athen placed at each capstan to keep the lines as tight as possible while the pontoons are being lowered to the required depth. The lines having been secured to the capstans with pawls, the men can ascend to the top of the towers and the engine can be set in operation to pump the water out of the tanks. In this way the vessel will be raised a considerable distance, and then by setting the propellers of the pontoons in operation it may be carried into shallower water where it will rest on the bottom. The same operation may be repeated as often as necessary till the vessel is deposited in quite shallow water, when it may be raised by slings 7, applied, as .shown in F ig. 6, in connection with pontoons arranged alongside till it is high enough to have its bottom inspected and any hole plugged up or closed up, that the water may be pumped out of it by the pontoon pumps and the ship floated, when it may be docked by the pontoons, as before described. In the slinging operation, illuscommunicating towers and corridors ar-v ranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

2. The combination with such pontoons of pumping and propelling machinery capable of operating together or independently, substantially as herein described.

JOHN W. NYSTROM. lVitnesses J. D. GREENE, B. J. LA MoTHE.

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