US413091A - Pneumatic dredge - Google Patents

Description

Patented Oct. 15,

C. L. RIKER. PNEUMATIG DREDGB.

(No Model.)

Uurrnn STATES PATENT CARROLL L. RIKER, OF ESOPUS, NEINT YORK.

PNEUMATlC DREDGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 413,091, dated October 15, 1889.

Application iiled February l, 1.889. Serial No. 298,367. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, OARROLL L. RIKER, of Esopus, :in the county of Ulster and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Dredges; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and

to the letters ot reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

rlhe object of my invention is to dispense with the need of continually lifting, swinging, and dumping the dipper of a crane or boom dredge in the work of excavating therewith and lo provide means for discharging the material scooped up from the river-bed without elevating the dipper for the purpose and without material change in the devices customarily employed for moving the dipper into contact with said material.

It consists in the combination, with the scoop-dipper and traveling dipper-handle in a crane or boom dredge of any approved form of construction, of a suction-pump mounted in the hull of the dredge and provided with a iiexible suction-pipe cou pled to the bottom of the dipper, and in the details of equipment and construction of the several coacting parts,

as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of my improved pneumatic boom dredge; Fig. 2, a transverse section in line so a: of Fig. l, illustrating the machine iitted with dischargepipes to deposit the material excavated thereby over or upon an embankment on either side; Fig. 3, a side elevation illustrating the machine at work in deep water, and Fig. a a detail illustrating a modification in form of the dipper-tube and dipper.

A represents a dredge of approved construction fitted in the customary manner with a light boom B, from which "is suspended the traveling dipper handle C. The boom is hinged at its lower end tothe turn-table D of the usual form, and its outer end is supported and adjusted by chains or cables extending to the upper end of an A-frame E. This frame is preferably jointed at its lower end to iron sockets S, bolted to the deck of the hull.

F F are the spuds which anchor the dredge in position when at work, and which are lit ted to be hoisted by steam-power by means of chains and friction-drums, or by a rack-and- ,pinion gear to be worked by hand.

A steam-engine (not shown in the drawings) `is provided `lor adjusting the dipper and pulling it into the bank.

As thus 'far described, the dredge and its mechanism are of well-known form, and my invention may be litted thereto without material changes therein.

The scoop or dipper G is of the usual form and is secured to the handle C in the usual manner. The bottom of the dipper, however, instead of being made in two parts to form a door, is left entirely open and is provided with an annular flange II, Fig. l, by means ot' which a flexible suction-pipe J may be readily connected thereto, and the area of its mouth is preferably reduced by means of an upper plate T, (see Fig. 3,) covering a third or more of. its upper portion, the area ot the opening being made to correspond with that of the diameter of the pipe. The pipe .I is adapted for connection at its opposite end to the inner section K (see Fig. 1) ot' a telescopic tube, which is mounted in a recess L, formed longitudinally and centrally under the hull at the bow of the dredge, the outer concentric section M of said tube being lined to the hull l in said recess, so as to be submerged in the water and made to extend at its inner end into the hull to connect with the bottom of a steam vacuum-pump N, which may be of any approved construction and of suitable dimensions, or with a centrifugal pump as an equivalent therefor. The inner section K of the telescopic extension-tube is adapted to play freely longitudinally within the outer section M, the friction between the two being reduced to a minimum by a series of interposed concentric friction-rollers fu, a and the joints packed by rings of suitable material.

The suction-valve XV fbr the pump is fitted at the inner end of the tube M, and consists of a hinged metallic iiap set at an angle and left free to lift and open inward. This valve extends from side to side ol' the valvechamber and finds a seat therein at its lower edge only, leaving the valve-chamber unobstructed by lateral offsets or recesses.

Where a steam vacuum-pump is used, it

may consist simply of a cylindrical chamber N, fitted at its upper end with a steam-supply pipe P from a suitable steam-generator and witha condensing-pipe from an elevated water-tank or otherwise under pressure. The steam and condensing pipes both open centrally into a defiecting device fitted in the top of the chamber, and which consists of a hollow vessel having a solid bottom and perforated sides, but which constitutes no part of the present invention, and need not therefore be herein more fully described. Two discharge-pipes R R may be provided-one on each side of the pump N-to extend from the bottom thereof at an angle upward to the level of the deck near to its outer edge. Each discharge-pipe R is governed by a suitable open-way valve Q, placed near to the pump, and is fitted with check-valves W W similar in form to the suction-valve W. Spars V V are rigged to extend out from the dredge horizontally over the discharge-pipes R R, and said discharge-pipes may be extended by means of sections R, adapted to be coupled thereto, so as to reach out therefrom to such distance as may be required for the delivery of the material discharged by the operation of t-he pump, these additional sections being supported, as required, by suspension-straps depending from the spars V V. v

Instead of using a suction-pipe flexible throughout its entire length, a metallic suction-pipe J may be connected by means of a double or universal joint, as shown at O, to the horizontal suction-pipe fixed to the p u mp, so that the pipe may be readily adjusted both vertically and horizontally. The end of this metallic suction-pipe may be iitted to any suitable form of scoop, or be itself beveled at its end, as shown in Fig. 4, to operate as a scoop to take hold of the sand and mud to be drawn up by the action of the pump. It is also made adjustable in length by means of a telescopic joint J 2.

In the operation of the machine the dredge is properly anchored by the spuds F F in position to allow the scoop-dipper G or the end of the scoop-pipe J to be carried into and through the bank of mud or sand to be excavated. The discharge-pipe R, on the side of the machine next to the river-bank, if the material is to be delivered on shore, or next to the scow if it is to be carried away, is then properly extended and supported by the spars V V and the discharge-valve of the pipe on the opposite side of the pump closed. The dipper is then adjusted, by means of the boom B and the traveling handle C, so as to tion of the steam, the material in front of the dipper lis drawn into it and, through the suction-pipe J or J, into the pump, to be thence discharged by the next charge of steam admitted thereto. The dipperis drawn forward automatically as the material in front is drawn into it, and this forward feed of the dipper is assisted and its direction determined by the action of the hoisting chains and drums.

It is evident that my invention is applicable to dredges having the dipper and its traveling handle supported, adjusted, and operated in the customary way by means of a triangular crane instead of a boom, and I contemplate its use with a traveling scoop-dipper suspended in any well-known manner.

Every advantage and every desirable point which characterize the boom-dredges heretofore employed are retained in this invention, while the loss of time, the expenditure of power, and the strain required in raising and swinging the dipper each time it is filled, in the old machines, are hereby avoided, and superior facilities are provided for the ready discharge of the material at an y desired point, irrespective of the position of the dredge.

I claim as my invention- The combination, with the dredge boat, the scoop-dipper, the traveling handle supporting the same, and means, substantially as described, for supporting, guiding, and moving the handle, of a suction-pump, an adjustable suction-pipe extending from the pump to the bottom of the dipper, one or more discharge-pipes extending from the pump outwardly, and valves controlling said pipes, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

C. L. RIKER.

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