GB539237A - Improvements in or relating to distress buoys and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

539,237. Buoys. INTERNATIONAL MARINE RADIO CO., Ltd., and McALLISTER, W. H. March 1, 1940, No. 3868. [Class 68 (i)] [Also in Group XXXVIII] , A floating light-buoy comprises an electric lamp, an electric motor for operating a device that closes intermittently the circuit of the lamp, a battery for driving the motor and lighting the lamp, and a switch for closing the circuit of the lamp when the buoy is brought to a substantially vertical position. The buoy comprises a watertight metal container 11, Fig. 3, in which the battery 1 and a control apparatus 17 are placed. The container is extended by a metal tube 20 supporting at its upper end the housing for the electric lamp 23. A float 29, of cork or other buoyant material, is fixed around the tube 20. The control apparatus comprises an electric motor 3, Fig. 4, that drives a cam disc 4 the edge of which is provided with projections that close periodically a switch 5 and completes the circuit of the lamp. The projections may be arranged to cause the lamp to flash code letters, or the arrangement may be such that the lamp flashes at intervals, instead of being illuminated continuously, in order to economize battery current. A gravity-operated switch 38, preferably of the mercury type, is included in the circuit of the motor and the lamp in order that the device may come into operation only when the buoy is in an upright position, as when floating. Alternatively, a spring-controlled switch may be used with a releasing-pin that is extracted when the buoy is required for use. The buoy may be used for life-saving purposes, or as a marker to indicate the position of anchorages or objects such as fishing nets.