GB190614405A - Improvements in Means for Regulating the Depth of Submarine Submergible or other Vessels. - Google Patents

Abstract

14,405. Spear, L. Y., and Bailey, T. S. June 26, 1905, [date applied for under Patents Act, 1901]. Submarine vessels.-In apparatus for the automatic regulation of the depth of submergence of a submarine vessel, the regulator, being acted on by the pressure of the outside water, at any predetermined depth admits air under pressure to the ballast tanks, thus expelling the.water and raising the vessel. The compressed-air admission valve, attached to a diaphragm, is jointly controlled by the pressure in the apparatus and by a second diaphragm subjected to the varying pressures of the outside water. The regulator shown in sectional elevation in Fig. 1 comprises a casing a closed by caps b, c, between which and the casing a are diaphragms d, e. Air under pressure is admitted to the chamber o by the pipe t, either from the pump 6, Fig. 2, or the storage tank 4, until the pressure gauge v indicates the pressure equivalent to the depth of greatest submergence. By closing the sea valve z and opening the valve 2, air under pressure is admitted to the chamber x until the pressure as shown by the gauge 3 equals the pressure indicated by the valve v ; the valve q should be then adjusted so that it is just off its seat. When the valve z is opened and the valve 2 closed, the regulator is ready for use. The air under pressure in the chamber o, pressing against the diaphragms d, e, causes the valves f, q to be held tight against their seats. When the boat reaches a depth such that the pressure acting on the diaphragm e in the chamber x exceeds that in the chamber o, the diaphragm e is forced inwards, opening the valve q, and the air then escapes. The reduced pressure then acting on the diaphragm d is insufficient to hold the valve f against the pressure on the pipe h ; the air under pressure is thus able to pass from the pipe h to the ballast tank 5, displacing the water in the tank, and forcing it through a valve in the bottom ; the boat then rises to the surface. Very small vent holes n drilled in the cap b allow any leakage of air past the valve f to escape.