US69070A - Improved sluice-gate foe dams oe looks - Google Patents

Description

@uiten fatrs gatwt @frn FELIX i R. BRUN OT, 0F ALLEGHENY, -PEN N SYLVANIA. Letters Patent No. 69,070, datediiS'cptemZzer 24, 1867.

IMPROlED SLUIGE-GATE FOR DAMS 0R LOCKS.

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T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Y

Be it known that I, FELIX R. BnuNoT,"of Allegheny city, in the county of Allegheny,` and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sluice-Gates for Locks, Dams, and otherHydraulic Structures; and I do hereby declare thc following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, which represent my improvement p as a lied to the formation of a chute or sluice-wa in a dam for the slack-water 'im rovement of a navi able PP y P g i stream; the necessary modiiications for adapting my invention to other purposes, such asi docks, tide-water improvements, and the like, being such as are easily made by those who are skilled in engineering. In the` drawings, which are in two sheots- Y Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of a dam furnished with my sluice-gate, the section being made through the chute Jr sluicc.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the pier or crib at one end of the chute or sluice-way, the plane of section being parallel to that of Hg. 1. i

Figure 3 is a perspective representation oi' my sluice-gate. Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section through the dam, sluice-way, and sluice-gate. i (Figs. 3 and 4 are broken through the middle for the purpose merely of reducing thelength of the iigures.) Figure 5 is arepresentation oi' trap-gate for closing the recesses in the piers. In the several figures like letters of reference denote similar parts.

-The accompanying drawing represents one of the various applications of my invention; and "to enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my improvement, I will proceed to describe it as applied to a dam` used for creating a lock navigation in a river. A

In such improvements it frequently happens that, by reason of a Hood or freshet, the' water in the stream rises so high that, were the comb (or highest point) of the dam lowered a few feet, boatscould easily pass up and down, there being suicient water to render the use of a lock unnecessary. When this occurs the locks prove a hindrance to navigation during the time of the freshet, and it becomes verydesirable-to provide some means of lowering the crib of the dam until the water falls so much as to rendernecessary a resort to the locks.

As the sluice-way or passage thus opened' in thc dam requires to be as `wide as possible, in order te afford free passage for boats, rafts, and other craft, the gate must necessarily be long, say from one to two hundred feet, and the diiiiculty of constructing a gate of suh a length of the requisite strength, whichushall be readily lowered and raised in times of high water, has heretofore been found insuperable. My improvement is designed to eii'ect the desired object and surmount the attendent diiiiculties,rwhich I accomplish in the following manner;`

In the drawing, g. 1, A represents-c. dam made of crib-work and lled with stone, set horizontally in the stream, at right angles to its thread, and constructed in the usual manner, A sluice-way is made in thedam by removing the upper portion of the dam, from the comb or apex x to such depth as may be required to give,`

.together with the height of water above the comb of the dam, a sufiieient channel for the passage of bouts. In`

the drawing the dept-hoi` sluice-way from :l: to y is three and a half feet, which, when there areiivefeet of water over the comb ofthe dam, gives about eight feet of water in the channel. The length of this depression in the dam may be one or two hundred feet, more or less, according to the requirements of `the navigation. At either end of this depression or sluice-way is a pier, B, raised to the height of the walls of the loclg` or above thelevel` of ordinary high `water. The abutment of the dam, or one of the walls of the lock, may serve as Vone of these piers. The surface of the sluice-way is sheetcd with plank a. Below the surface of the `sluice-way, and` extending from one pier B to the other B', is u. chamber, C, made in the'crib-work `oi'fthe dam, to receive the s1uice-gate D. The dam and piers muy, if preferred, be built of stone, but if of crib-work, `with loose stone filling, as represented, the bottom `and sides of the chamber C are lined with plank, so as to be watertight. In one or both of these piers B and B is a recess, E E', extending from the level of the bottom of the chamber C to the top of the pier, forming a pit o1' well which may beV covered on top or left open, but ofsuch size and so constructed as to give ready access to the valves and other apparatus for operating the sluic`e-gate D. The

sluiccgate chamber C opens at each erld into the bottom of the recesses E E, the front of" the recesses being tightly closed by the timber and planking, (sce iig. 4,) excepting where'the gate enters and fora space above the top of the gato suliicient to allow it to risa-j. the opening in the front wallet` the recesses, above the levelj-of the gate D, being of the shape oi' a sector of a circle, the centre of which is at er near. the heel-'post e of the f" sluice-gatei The 'sluicgate is a hollow water-tight vessel, inode of sheet iron or wood, or a combination of those articles., which may be braced internally or externally, as may be necessary to give the requisite strength.` 'At the rear edge, near the top of the gate, is placed the heel-post c, which works in a quoin framed in the dam arid sot horizontally lengthwise of the dam at the level of, the floor @of the sluicc-way, asshown in fig. 2. The back wall tl el' the gato D is sloped, so as lo give a prcpoiulorance of area forward ot' the middle of the gate, so as te relieve the strain en the duoin or heel-post caused by the buoyancy of the gate when surrounded with water, and so as to piace the centre of flotation of the gate inthe proper position, parallel with its axis or centrev ol-` motion, or suchV other shape may be adopted as will seein best. The front wall e of the gate is curved to the shape el' the are of a circle, having its centre in the heel-post or centre of mot-ien of the gate D, so that as the gate D rises, turning on its heel-post c, the front wall e ot the gate may remain in contact with the wallf ot' the chamber C, thus preventing the passage of water out of the chamber. When the'gato D has risen to the position shown by dotted lines in iig. 1 its upper front corner :1, is at the saine height as the comb a: of the dam, and it is prevented from rising further by the front wallb of the recess E in the piersa It is also further restrained by the stops g g (formedv el' angle iron) fastened to the front lower corner of the gate, which stops press against a plate, L., bolted to thewallf ci the chamber C, shown in iig. 2'.' .For the stops g g may be substituted a Y single strip of angle-iron, which` when the gate is raised, will also servo the purpose of making a close `joint by pressing against the plate Zz. At each end of the gate D is a flop, 7c, (sec iigs. 2 and ef the shape of a sector, which projects upwards from the top of the gato, and being so placed :is to rest against the sheeting inside of the front wall Zi of the recess E in the piers, serves to close the triangular opening in tho pier wall when the gate is down and prevent the passage of water inte the recesses in that direction. At one end of the gate (see figs. 3 and d) there is a water-tight valve, z', operated by a rod, n., to admitk water into the gate D from the chamber C, A similar valve or valves may, in practice, be placed also at the other end. There is also placed at one end (er at both ends if prei'erred) of the gato D a standing pipe, F, open at top, and communicatingat bottom with the interior of the gate; also a pump, G, by which the gate may be emptied if it becomes lled with water. The pipe F is of such height that when the water rises suliiciently in the river to make it proper to lower the sluice-gate D it will overilow the mouth of the pipe, ill the gate, and cause it tosink automatically. The chamber C communicates with the water ot'V the river in the' upper and lower `lpools by the pipes or trunks Il H', one end of each of which opens into the chamber C yat the level et its lloor inside the piers, while the other end el' the lower trunk ll opens intov the lower pool at any point below the bottom of the chamber, while the upper end oi' the upper trunk H opens into the upper pool at any point beyond and below the level of the comb of the dam. These trunks are closed ,by valves 0r wickets Z Z", operated to open or close at pleasure by the rods nzv m which extend to thel top of the pier through the recesses E E, as seen in fig. 4. The constructien, size, and arrangement of the trunks and valves `will of course be varied according to the circumstances and the requirements of special eases. The recesses E E may be furnished with a gate or trap,p, (see Eg. 5,) situated as to close the recesses and prevent the passage of water upward above tliellevel of such door when closed, and thus make the chamber C water-tight for the purpose of raising the gate D, even when iilled with water, (its val-fe being open,) by the pressure oi.' the water from the upper pool of the river applied beneath the gate. h ese trapsp should be capable of being fastened down in order to resist the-upward pressure of the water in the chamber C, and may be opened and closed. by a toothed arc, r, and pinion, q, (as shown in fig. 5,) or by sorne other suitable device.

The operation of my sluice-gatc thus constructed is as follows: When it is desired to lower the gate so as to open the sluice-way in the dam, if the backswater or water inthe lower level of the stream is not materially above the bottom of the chamber C, the upper wicket Z is closed and the lower wicket Zl is opened, which shuts off the water from entering the chamber C from above the dam, and allows the water to escape from the chamber through the trunk H and valve Zl into the lower pool. he gate D, having then nothing to supportit, drops down into the chamber C, assuming the'pesition shown in tig. 1, and opening the sluicc-way in the dam. If this should not be attended to before the water rises too high in the lower pool to allow the chamber C to be emptied, the valve z' may be opened to allow the water from the chamber to enter the cavity of the gate; or as soon as the waterin the upper pool rises above the top of the standing pipo F the gate D will become filled and will sink by its own weight. As soon as the water in the river falls so low as to render it advisable to raise the gate, and thus restore the dam to its proper height, it is eected by reversing the wickets Z and Z and .shutting the lower wicket Z and opening the upper one, Z, when the water from the upper pool will fill the chamber C and cause the hollow' gate D to rise by its own buoyancy, unless it hasbeen filled with water in order to sink e iit, in which case, the lower wicket Z being'left open, the water is run out of the gato D by raising thc valve z',

which is closed again before water is admitted into the chamber C for the purpose of raising the gate. If it should be desired to raise the sluiee-gates while the water is too high in the lower pool to allow the chamber C f1 being supplied, this may be effected by emptying the gate D of water by means ofthe pump G, the lower wicket Z to the trunk H being elos'e'd to prevent the gate sinking when the river falls. Another mode of raising the gate D when lled with water is to shut and fasten down the trapspp iii the recesses E E', which close the only exit for water from the chamber C, and then, by opening the wicket Z of the upper trunk ll, the head of water entering the chamber C, pressing on the bottom and rear side of the gate D, raises it up and sustains it in an elevated position. The mode of raising and lowering the gate by pumping it out, or filling it with water through the valve t', is resorted to whenever' there is'but little fall from the upper to the lower pool, or when s there is dead water. The wickets Z Z and pump G and valve t' may be worked from either end of the sluice-gate, a

the apparatus being duplicated and placed at both ends for that purpose. llhesc valves and wickets may also lle,

be made self-acting by means of fioats connected with the valves in the hollow gate and the wickets `of the water-trunks H II. t t y It will be observed that the principles depended upon for the operation of the gate are its buoyancy` as a i water-tighttvessel, when iilled with air, to raise it, and the gravity of the vessel and ofthe waterwithn it` when it is filled with water in order to lower it, forces which, so long as the apparatus `is kept in, order-,cannot fail in t r their operation. The great length and weight of the gate present noserious diiiieulty, as this is counteracted by the buoyancy ofthe contained air, s o that there is more fear of the gate saggingupwardsiin the middle than downwards. This tendency may, however, be easily counteracted by means of the stops `before mentioned.

My improvement is also applicable to various other purposes in hydraulic architecture, a few of which I will name. By the use of two or more gates, one placed at each end of the piers, foi-ming the sidesot'` the ,i sluice-way in the dam, they may serve all the purposes of a lift-lock in time of high "water, and be'droppedout t of the way when the river is navigable without such help;V or two dams may be used, `with a sluiee-gate in each,`

for such a purpose. Or, on the other hand, an ordinary lift-lock may be converted into a sluice-way by the use` of such a sluiee-gatc as Ihave described placed in the bottom or breast-wall of the lock.l l It may alsobc used for wiers `in canals or reservoirs, st-opgates, Hood-gates, tide-gates, and for all similar purposes.

As a modification of construction of suchl sluice-gates, especially `when used inloclis, I may state that the` gato may be made solid, like the leaf of an ordinary lock-gate, and the power to` raise it be applied by oats or f buoys attached thereto at each end, but outside the chamber of the lock, the gate being laid horizontally across `l` i the chamber. The gate may also be made to rise and fall perpcndicularly in grooves in the lock-wall, so as` to ,i t

sink into a pit below the floor of the lock and be raised by buoys or oats, as before mentioned.

Although I have described the heel-post of the gate, on which it turns, vas placed up stream, which I con-,v Sider better, because it gives the pressure ofthe pool to aid in lowering it, and because vessels and other things passing down stream would not be so likely to injure the gate if they attempted to pass over it when raised, yet` t this is not necessary, and the position of the gate may be reversed, so as to have the heel-post down stream.

Having thus described my improvement, what rI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters u, i

Patent, isy 1. In a sluiee-way in a dam, doek, lock, or other hydraulic structure, a hollowsluice-gate furnishediwitha Valve or valves for the admission or exit of water, and so placed in a chamber ortreeess in the.sluice-way,` lock, i or other structures, furnished with apparatus for admitting the head of water into the chamber under the gate t y or emptying the chamber of water, as to raiscior lower the gate at pleasure, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described. i

2. The standing pipe, open at any required height, for the admission of water into` the `sluice-gatc, in eomt hina-tion with the hollow' sluice-gate or float into 'which the pipe opens,constructed` and operating substantially l as described, for the purpose of closing or lowering the sluice-gate automatically at the requiredstagc` of water, as hereinbei'ore set forth. Y y t i 43. The gates for sluices, docks, locks, and other hydraulic structures, `in combinationfwith hollow oats,so constructed with valves for the admission or exit of water as to raise and lower or open and `elosc'the gatesat` I pleasure, in the manner substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purposes set forth.`

In testimony whereof I, the said FELIX R. BRUNOT, have hereunto set my hand. t

FELIX n. cRUNoT.

Witnesses:

A. SfNrcnoLsoN, GEO. II. CHRISTY.

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