US109899A - Improvement in canal locks - Google Patents

Description

lvii-1211i (time GEORGE HEATIL' 0F ANNAPOLIS, .MARYLAND Letters Patent No. 109,899, dated December 6, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN CANALA LOCKS.

` The Schedulg referred to in these Letters Patent: and making partof thesame.

To all whom yit may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HEATH, ot' Annapolis, in the county of Anne Arundel and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Canal Locks; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, cle-ar, and exact description thereof,- reference beingy had to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification, in which-4 Figure 1, plate 1, is a section taken vertically and longitudinally through thelock.

Figure 2, plate 1, is a view in detail, and partly in section, of several of the devices forl operating the gate and also the valves.

Figure 3, plate 2, is a vertical transverse section through the lock an d gate-operating mechanism.

Figure 4, plate 2, isaplan view of the lock.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

The first part of my invention relates to a floating self-closing tumble-gate, constructed and voperating in a novel manner, and also to devices which are designed for facilitating the management of the tumble or dump gate of canal locks, that is to say, gates which, when they are open, drop down into the lock below the breast-wall so that boats pass over them.

rlhe object'of this part of myinventiou is to save time, labor, and water in opening and shutting a tumblc gate, by constructing such gate so that it will possess suflicicnt buoyancy to close itself when released from the devices used to hold it in position when open; and also by the employment, for the purpose of opening and keeping open this gate, of a chain which passes over pulleys, one of which is keyed on a shaft that is rotated by means of spur-wheels provided with a pawl, a clutch, and a hand-wheel, and another of which is hung insuch manner that it operates by its gravity to take up the slack inthe chain while the gate is being opened, as will be hereinafter explained.

The second part ot' my invention relates to a mode ofl operating valves which are applied to a horizontal platform constructed in front of the gate, and the object of the same is that the valves may be opened from a position upon the lock-wall upon one side of the gate, each v alve being controlled independently of the other by means of a lever and rack and connectingrods, the latter being attached to the valve and also to a crab or right-angular lever, as will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled-in the art to understand my invention I will explain its construction and operation: 'v

In the accompanying drawing- 'A A represent the vertical side walls, extending down as far as the-horizontal valve-platform G, and receiving the ends of the gate B.

the gate abuts when shut, as shown in iig. 1.

Hitherto the practice has been to provide the tumble or dum ing-gates with vertical abntmen'ts so that when these gates werevshut they stood perpendicular or nearly yso to the bed of the canal. One objection .to this plan is that surplus water tlows over thc. tops of the gates upon thevboats in the lock.

It will be seen that the abutments s 5 are inclined, and that the gate B, when shut, assumes such position, thus preventing the surplus water iiowiug over its top from being received upon a boat in the lock, and also requiringa less amount of movement to open and shut the gate.

lith the inclined gat-c B the water which escapes over its top will tlow gently down its vupper side and will not cause any material commotion in the water below.

This gate B i's hinged below aa a, in the'well# known manner ot' .hinging the tumble-gates, and itis made suiiiciently buoyant to float in the water and shut' itself when released from lthe devices which are used to hold it open. l

This gate has attached to it a chain, a', which is passed around and guided by pulleys, tl, d', c, ands.

The chain ispasscd severa-l times around the pulley s, which latter is keyed on a shaft, c, that is mounted in bearings upon the lock-wall and operated as will be' hereinafter explained.

The pulleyc is applied to abearing which has vertical slots, c', through which the journals of this pulley pass. Y

The hearings or standard-box is arranged in a depression or well, 6, made into the platform C, andthe pulley c'y is allowed to risc and i'all as the gate B vis swung open and shut. 4The weight-of `pulley e thus arranged and mounted keeps the chain under tension.

This arrangement of the pulley' and bearing iu the well or recess is very important, as it allows of ther .gate being lowered to or below a horizontal position.

'lhe pulley d is inserted into the cap timber of wall A, in line with but below the level of the gangs of pulleys, d d', which latter have their bearings in long standards, G G, which are firmly secured down in place above the recess A.

The tlanged pulley or winding-drum, s, is keyed on a horizontal shaft, r, which is supported by suitable bearings, and which has a large toothed-wheel, r, ap-l plied loosely on it, and also a sliding clutch, f.

To this clutch a lever, K, is applied, by means of which the clutch-pins j' f can be introduced into holes made in the hub of the wheel r, as shown in fig. 2, thus engaging thc wheel r with its shai't c.

Above wheel fr, and engaging with vrit, is a pinion, t, which is keyed ou the shaft i' of al hand-wheel, H.

Shaft t has its bearings ina frame, J, to which isV applied a pawl, p, that can kbe made 'to engage with the teeth of the large'spurwheeL A -It will be seen from the` abovesdescription that when the wheel r' is engaged with its shaft fv, the gate B can be lowered to a horizontal position by turning the `hand-wheel Hfaud held in this position by means of the pawl p also, that the gate will oat to the surface of the water and shut against the inclined abutmeuts zz by simply disengaging the clutch j" from wheel fr.

Openings are made vertically through the platform O for the purpose of allowing water from a higher Y levelto How into the pond below. Each openiug is The upper part of rod u has atooth-rack'applied to it, the mode of applying which isA not claimed under this application, the teeth of whichare engaged by a toothed-segmentd', on theeud of a hand-lever, L.

The anti-friction roller fw and the segment of lever L have their bearings in a long standard, G, secured in position' on itop of the cap-timber A3, and canal-wall A.

'lhe drawing shows but 'one valve, butit will be undelstood that each opening through the platform' C is provided with avalve, and with devices, as above described, for operating it.

The crab or angular lever consists of a tube having two arms, h h, on it at the required angle, and this crab or lever is applied to andsupported by a bearing-box which is arranged in a subrecess, A, made into the side wall A. By this means might-angular movement` masse can be obtained with very little friction, and as each valve is provided with separate devices for operating it, a sudden Arush of waterinto the lower pond from the higher one is prevented. Furthermore, it will be seen that all the valves can be operated' from the side of the lock,'aud each independent of the other.

Having described my invention,

What I claim asv new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ise 1. The chain a', pulleys d e s, and self-closing tumble-gate B, in combination with the spur-wheels t r, pawl p, clutch fl', and hand-Wheel H, all arranged and4 operating substantially in the manner shown and de scribed. i

2. The gravitating pulley e in'combnation with the tumble-gate B and its chain a', substantially as de scribed.

4The combination, with the buoyant self-closing tumbling-gate B, of thereleasing clutch f', or both the releasing clutchl f' and the pawl p, andlsuitable intermediate mechanism for lowering the gate, sub-V stantially in the manner described.

4. The combination of crab-lever h h, rods a and g, rack at', and toothed-lever L, with the valve c of canallock platform C, substantially in lthe manner shown and described.

5. The arrangement of two or more crab-levers ou the same shaft, and extending rods vertically up from and horizontally out from said levers, and connecting each of said rods with its own independent rack and toothed-lever, and with its own independent valve, all in such manner that a series of valves on the canal-lock platform G may be separately or successively opened or closed from one side of the lock, as set forth.

GEO. HEATH.

Witnesses:

J. N. CAMPBELL, EDM. F. BROWN..

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