US303830A - Portable caisson for use in building subaqueous structures - Google Patents

Description

5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A PORTABLE GAISSON FOR, USE IN BUILDING SUBAQUEOUS STRUCTURES.

Patented A'u hifnanrar:

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' u Ztn ass as (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. FLA];

PORTABLE GAISSON FOR USE IN BUILDING SUBAQUEOUS STRUCTURES. N0.'303,830. Patented Aug. 19, 1884.

19 fianwy N. PETERS. Pmrmum m hn. Washingiofl. m c.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet s.

H. FLAD.

PORTABLE GAISSON FOR USE IN BUILDING SUBAQUEOUS STRUCTURES No. 303,830. Patented Aug. 19, 1884..

N. PETERS, Photo-Lilhogmphen wmun zm DC.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

H. FLAD.

PORTABLE GAISSON FOR USE IN BUILDING SUBAQUEOUS STRUCTURES.

N0. 803,830. 3 Pa ,1884

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

H. IE'LAD.

PORTABLE CAISSON FOR USE IN BUILDING SUBAQUEOUS STRUCTURES. No. 303,830. -1 a,tented Aug. 19,1884. 7 i

n itnesses iluirnn STATES PATENT rica HENRY FLAD, OF ST. LOUIS, MTSSOUBI.

PORTABLE CAISSON FOR USE IN BUILDING SUBAQUEOUS STRUCTURES.

LPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 303,830, dated August 19, 1884.

Application lied Jul 15, Iloncwcd September 11,1683. A gain renewed A pril 19, 1884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY FLAD, of the city and eountyof St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Portable Caisson for Use in Building Snbaqueons Structures; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and clear description thereof.

The object of this invention is to construct a portable caisson having a central workingchamber at the bottom, from which the water may be expelled by means of compressed air, so as to allow workmen to enter the said workingchamber and construct whatever work may be required therein, and then, aftcrhaving completed such work, to allow the air to escape and water to ,re-cnter the said worki ngchamber, and the arrangements to be made so that alter completing the work in the caisson, the caisson may be moved off to an other section of the work, as of a continuous wall or duct, or to another site, as in the case of a pier.

Detail features of the invention will be fully explained in the subjoined specification, and the invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, of which-- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of one of the improved caissons as it appears when sunk ready for work on the end of a COllhlllllflllS wall. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan otthe same, taken on the line a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a general deck plan oft-he improved caisson. Fi g. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the improved caisson, showing the method of usingit for laying a continuous duct or pipe. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the caisson, taken on the line Y Y of Fig. 4, and looking toward the raisinggates at the opening end of the caisson. Figs. 6 and 7 are, respectively. a longitudinal sectional elevation of the shield for closing a pipe or duct while it is being laid, and a front elevation of said shield. Fig. 8 is a ccntralscctional elevation of the caisson, taken through the elevator or duinlrwaiter, and showing the caisson in position for building an upper section of a wall.

The caisson is divided interiorly into two chambers, A and A, by means of a transverse partition, a, and the sliding doors or gates D and D. The sides and stationary end of the compartment A which is the larger and also the working compartment) are formed of inner and outer walls or plates B and B, so as to leave a chamber between them, which said chamber is subdivided into smaller cells or compartments B by means of the transverse partitions b. The whole of the compartments A, A, and B are roofed or decked over by the roof or ceiling plates B, and if the caisson be a large one it will require a second cover or deck, B, placed some distance (possibly one or two feet or more) above the ceilings B, and in this latter case transverse and longitudinal partitions I) and b subdivide this deck-chamber into small compartments B. The transverse partitions in this case not as deck-beams. The chambers or cells B have sloping bottoms b, which slope downward and out from the interior wall, B, so as to form a chisel-shapcc'l cut ting-edge, I)", vertically below or a little outside ofthc outer wall B, and these cuttingedges 3)" should be made of steel plates, and have their lower edges as sharp as practicable.

All of the walls, partitions, and roofing of this caisson will be made of sheet metal, and secured in place to angle-irons or I-beams, wherever required, by means of suitable rivetlug.

All of the work forming the compartments of this caisson will be put together air-tight, so as to make the said compartments as nearly as possible air and water tight. The working compartment A is separated from. the smaller or outside compartment or overhang, A, by means of sliding doors or gates D and D, in such a manner that the said doors or gates may be closed oropen, so as to form the two compartments or unite them into one, as may be desired. These doors or gates D D must necessarily be made strong and air-tight, and move as nearly as possible air-tightly in their ways a and a, which are secured to the inside of the wall or partition If the caisson be a small one, or there be a chamber of sufficient size made above the deck for the working of these gates or doors, the whole slide or gate may be made in one single piece; but for ordinarily large work I prefer to have the door or gate made in two IOO 2 eoacso gates are arranged to move up and down in their said ways a a by means of the aetuating-screws D and D, which are applied to their respective doors, D and D, and work through their fiXed nuts (I d, the former of which, however, is preferably only relatively fixed,

for it is or may best be fixed to the top of the upper door, and therefore moves up with it. The outer end or front of the overhang, or part outside of the gates D D, will only be partially closed in ordinary cases by the outer wall or casing B, an aperture being formed in it to fit, as nearly as possible, the contour of the work under construction. This work is represented in Fig. 1 as a continuous wall, the unfinished end E of which is terminated within the outer chamber, A, of the caisson; and in Fig. 4 the work is represented as a pipe or sewer, E, the unfinished end of which also terminates in the chamber A of the caisson; but in Fig. 8 the work represented as being under construction is a detached pier, FF. In the first two of these cases the outer wall or casing is formed (in each case, of course, especially for the particular work intended) with the aperture in the said casing B just a little larger than the section of the work, be it wall, pipe, or anything else, and, as aboy'e remarked, as nearly coinciding with the centour of the said work as possible, so as to afford the opportunity for calking or packing the interstice between. the casing B and the work E E, as the case may be, with any suitable packing-such as cotton bags, felt, blankets, or any other suitable materialso as to form an air-tight or nearly air-tight joint between the said work and the said plate 13.

In the case of a detached work,as of a pier, (shown in Fig. 8,) the outer wall B will be dispensed with, and in lieu thereof the end closed by gates similar to those described as D D, or the caisson constructed as first above described, except with the end B left off, the gates D and D being fully sufficient for closing this end of the caisson in the positions first above described.

Suitable man-holes, F F, with proper airlocks,will beformed in the top orroof of the cais son, for the ingress and egress of the workmen and the admission of materials for the work; but as there is nothing new about this part of the caisson no particular description of it will be made. The lower or acute angle formed in the bottoms of the chambers or compartments B" will be filled with astrong timber backing, R, which will give stiffness and the proper strength to this part of the caisson, and this timbering will also serve as a floor on which to place weights \V, of pig iron, stone, or any suitable weighting material for sinking the caisson. These weights WV may be put in or removed from the compartments as occasion may require, proper doors or apertures being formed in the walls of these compartments for this purpose; but of course such doors or apertures must have proper covers arranged to be secured air-tightly over these openings. Each of the compartments B will have three ducts, (marked on the drawings, respectively, G, G, and G These ducts or pipes will each have suitable valves or. stop-cocks, g, g, or g", as the case may be, and suitable rods or devices (not shown) will be attached to these stop-cocks,and arranged to open or close them at pleasure, as the requirements of the service in the caisson may arise. It will probably be advisable to place the rods or devices for working these valves so they may be operated by the workmen in the chamber A, or above the deck; but this is a matter of no particularimwork can arrange that to suit himself. In loeating these ducts or pipes, however, one of them, G, must be placed in the bottom of the chamber 13, through the sloping plate forming the bottom thereof, soas to admit or expel water to or from the said chamber B by means of withdrawing or forcing in compressed air for the purpose of sinking or raising the caisson, as required. The pipe G must be placed through the wall or partition B and curedthereto, and this pipe or duct will provide communication between the interior or working chamber, A, and the ballast-chamber 13 so as to allow the compressed air from the chamber, A, to enter and fill the chamber 13* when required, or be shut off therefrom by means of the stop cock The pipe G will be placed in the'top part of the cell B", and extend through and be secured to the decking, so as to allow air from the cell B to escape into the open air outside the caisson whenever required.

\Vithin the working-chamber of the caisson there are longitudinal ways or beams H,formed of channel bars or other suitable form of beams, which are suspended from or bolted to the ceiling of the caisson, and which said beams furnish longitudinal ways on which a traveler or cross-bar I will slide or travel on suitable sheaves or rollers for moving or carrying material for use on the work in progress. The cross-bar or traveler I maybe a single beam or a pair of beams bolted together, and provided with sheaves or rollers t at their ends, so arranged as to rest on and roll on the flanges or ways of the beams H, so as to carry heavy material for the work in progress from one end of the caisson to the other.

J represents a set of differential pulleys attached to or carried on the transverse beam or traveler I, and arranged to lower material upon the work in any desired position, the said pulleys J,with their load, having a transport'ance here, as the engineer in charge of the verse movement on the traveler I by means of their sustaining-sheave i (which is allowed to roll back and forth on the said traveler) and a longitudinal movement in the caisson on the beams H, in the manner above described. (See Fig. 8.)

The material is lowered into the caisson on a truck, K, which is loweredinto the caissonchamber A on the dumb-waiter M through one of the air locks or man-holes F. The dumb-waiter M is such as is described in Patout No. 109,505,dated Xovember 22, 1870, and issued to myself, and its particular description herein therefore becomes unnecessary.

In operation, when the stone or other material shall have been lowered by the dumb waiter to the proper position within the caisson, the truck K will be landed on the plat form 7;, and from this position the stone or other material will be taken up or lifted by the differential pulleys J, and thereon conveyed to the required position on the hook,.in the manner above described.

For the purpose of sinking and trimming the caisson properly when in use, in addition to the weights above described as being placed in the chambers or cells B I place weights WV and W on the deck of the caisson. The weights W are placed on trucks 20, so as to be adjustable as to positiomand consist simply ofhcavy weights, of iron or stone, in any desired or convenient form. The weights \V" are formed of water contained in troughs or tanks to, and any of these tanks may be wholly or partially filled or emptied, so as to regulate the position and quantity of weight as desired. The overhang or outer chamber, A, will not have any side cells, 13 but the outer wall or plating, B, of the caisson will continue straight along to the full length of the caisson, and be supported and held in the proper position by inside bracing and angleiron frame-work. Access to this outer compartment, A.,will be established from the main chamber A. through the two cells B next to the said outer chamber, A, the upper parts of which said cells or compartments B will be formed into air-locks by placing in them and securing air-tightly to their sides transverse plates or partitions b, and placing in the sides of the said cmnpartments 1 thus cut oft'from the bottom sections of the said compartments or cells, man-holes or doors 1 P, the doors P leading from the caisson-chamber A into the air-lock thus constructed, and the doors 1 leading from the said airlocks into the outer chamber, A". Of course these doors must close air-tightly. Access from the chamber A to the chamber A,when the doors or gates .D I) are closed, will be made through these air-locks in the usual manner of entering cais sou-compaitmcnts where compressed air is used, and need not, therefore, be herein particularly described.

The caisson being built as above described, the operation or using it will be as follows:

The chambers B will be empty, except as to the weights \V, which are disposed therein, and the stop-cocks or valves 9, g, and g will be closed. In this condition the caisson will be floated to the position it is intended to 00 cupy on the work; but if the depth of water in which the operations are to be conducted should be too shallow to float the caisson, in creased buoyancy or floating capacity may be given to it by means of pontoons placed by the side of and lashed to it. If, however, the caisson is to be used on marshy ground where floating it is impracticable, it may be suspended from a tram e-work erected for the pa rpose, or from piles driven in the ground, so as to sustain it. When the caisson shall have been placed in the position itis desired it shall occupy on the work, it will be lowered into the water and mud by opening the valves or cocks g and 1 so as to allow water to flow into and air out of the chambers B and thus sink the caisson. If more weight be required to sink the caisson, it can easily be supplied by pumping water into the chambers to on the deck, so as to allow the weight \V" thus supplied to sink the caisson as far as required;

The weight thus placed upon the caisson must be sufficient to not only sink the caisson, but

also to counteract the upward pressure of the compressed air, which is now forced into the be in all. cases where the caisson is used for building a continuous work, like a quay-wall, or laying a pipe or sewer. In all such cases the workmen, in placing and lowering the caisson will take care to have the outer or cutout wall B of the caisson embrace the end of the unfinished work, whether it' be a wall,

pipe, duct, or any form of work the unfinished end of which will. terminate within the outer chamber, A. As soon as the workmen enter the outer chamber, A, where they will at first find but little air-space in the top part of the said chamber, they will commence to force the packing material, consisting of bags, felt, blankets, oakum or any suitable packing material, into the open space between the wall, pipe, or other work and the edge of the open ing in l, which is left in the said wall or side of the caisson for the entrance of the said wall or pipe, as the case may be. As soon as the upper part of the aperture between the work and the caisson is thus stopped up and the outward flow of air is prevented compressed air will be let into the chamber A from the chamber A, and the work of calking or stop ping up the aperture between the work and the caisson will then proceed from the top downward until the whole aperture shall have If the work to be performed in the caisson.

be the building of masonry, all of the material for the work may be sent down into the caisson by the dumb-waiter; but if it be a section of pipe which is to be laid, the pipe, or rather the section of pipe, to be placed must be sent into the chamber A through the open doors or gates D D before the caisson is lowered, and such section of pipe or duct will be held up by chains or ropes to the ways H, or to some other suitable part of the caisson, until the water shall have been forced out of the working-chambers, so as to give the workmen an opportunity to lay and adjust the pipe or duct.

In working with this caisson on laying of pipes or ducts, it will be necessary to step up the otherwise open end of the pipe within the caisson to prevent the escape of the compressed air through the pipe or duct, and in order to do this I use the pipe stopper or shield S, which is shown clearly in Fig. 4, and which his as closely up to the inside of the pipe or duct as possible, the intervening space be tween the shield and the pipe being calked up with any suitable packing each time the shield is set or placed. In using or setting this shield,

each time a new section of pipe is added to the duct, as soon as the new section is fully set and fixed in place the shield is drawn forward toward the outer end of the said pipe by means of a chain, S, which has been previously passed through the newly-laid section of the pipe or duct and attached to the outer side of the said shield by means of some suitable catch attached to the shield, so as to receive it. By means of this chain the shield is then drawn forward close up to the end of the pipe, and the said shield is then calked air-tightly in its new position, and so on, the shield S is moved forward to the end of the pipe as fast as the pipe is laid.

In building detached works, like piers, the caisson may be lowered over the position required, and the doors or gates D D, either in the position shown. in Fig. 1 or placed at the cndof the caisson in lieu of the wall 13', used in precisely the manner hereinbefore described, except that they will remain closed during the entire time of conducting operations within the caisson, and be opened only when the caisson is to be raised or moved. In building works of greater height than can be built in the limited dimension of the compartment A, the work 'may be built in sections, one higher than the other, in which case the caisson will first be sunk to the lowest position required; and after as much work shall have been completed as possible in that position the caisson will be raised up to the next position, and in the more elevated position the caisson will be steadied and partly supported on temporary transverse beams N, laid across the wall in notches or openings left in the work for that purpose, as shown in Fig. 8. These beams N will have to be taken into the caisson before it is sunk into-its first position, and held in the caisson out of the way until required for use, and planking a may be put on top of them, when these are in use, as shown in Fl 8, so as to afford a scaffold for the workmen within the caisson while the men are engaged on the work of the upper section.

The shield S, which is inserted in the completed pipe or tube, is shown best in Figs. 4, 6, and 7 ,and as rapidly as aseetion of the pipe is laid and completed, as is shown in Fig. 4, this movable shield will be drawn to the inner end of the said completed pipe F, so as to prevent the compressed air of the caisson from escaping through the otherwise open tube or conduit. This shield is formed of two parallel disks connected together by suitable stays and braces, and the said disks of which it is formed are made enough smaller than the pipe in which it is placed to allow the said shield to be easily drawn forward therein by means of the traction chain or rope S, attached to it :for that purpose. On the front face of the outer disk i. 0., the one nearest the caissonthere will be attached flexible paekings s, which will fit tightly to the inside of the tube or pipe, and thereby prevent the escape of air from the caisson; yet these packings will be attached to the traction-bars at the front end of the shield, so as to be drawn forward and partially off of the pipe, so as to afford no impedimen t to the forward movement of the shield when it is to be moved forward in this manner. There should be suitable anti-friction rollers attached to the sides of the shield, so as to keep it off of the pipe sufficiently to prevent undue friction thereon.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. Ina portable caisson, the central working-chamber, A, and extension A, formed of continuous double side walls, and transverse partitions forming air or waterspaces within said double walls, and compressed air locks provided with air-tight doors P I and the vertically-moving air-tight partition D D, and suitable elevating screws, whereby the two compartments or chambers are separated, substantially as shown and described.

2. In aportable caisson,the combination of the air-tight working-chamber A, provided with suitable vertically moving partitions, with the projecting overhanging building-chamber A,-formed with end wall, B, supported on the completed portion of the structure, and suit able packing interposed between the end wall and the structure, and adapted to be retained able vertically-moving air-tight partitions, of

the fixed Ways or track H, the traveler Land differential pulleys J, depending from and adapted to move across the said traveler Land a suitable dumbwvaiter or elevator, substan tially as shown and described.

6. In a portable caisson, the combination of the continuous outer and inner walls, B B, and rectangular braces or partitions 1), forming air and water cells 13 provided with cocks g, communicating with the working chamber, the air-locks F F 1*,doors P 1?, partition B, the suitably-located ballast-compartments N and movable trimming or coun ter weight-s \V,the vertically-moving separating partition D D, and elevating-screws, and the end Walls, B, adapted to be supported on the completed portion of the work, and suit able interposed packing, substantially as shown and described.

7. The supportingbeams N, arranged on the pier E, and in combination with the caisson, substantially as described.

HENRY FLAD.

\Vitnesses:

M. RANDOLPH, J. B. THURsToN.

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