US1030869A - Wreck-raising appliance. - Google Patents

Description

VLBUPPULINI & R. ROTTENBACHER.

WREGK EAISING APPLIANGE.

APPLIUATION HLBD No1/26, 1911.

1,030,869. Patented July 2, 1912.

UNITE @l STATES` PATENT OFFICE.

VITTORIO BUFFULINI ANnRIcoARDo RoTTENBAeHi-z'r., 0F TRIESTE, AUSTRIA- HUNGARY. y.

WRECK-RAISING APPLIANCE.

Be it known that we, Virfroino BUFrULiNI the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and residents of Trieste, Austria-Hungary,.have invented certain Improvements in Treck- Raising Appliances, of which the following is aspecilication.

Our invention relates to a device for indicating the position and facilitating the raising of sunken ships, and consists in the provision of a buoy which is so connected to the vessel as to allow of being set free to float on the water surfaceA if the vessel should happen to sink or, in the case of submarine vessels, get out. of control. Hoisting cables for raising the vessel are permanently connected thereto which cables are in their .turn connected by minor cables to the buoy, the latter being thereby held on the Water surface so as to indicate that the vessel is sunk and in need of assistance. To raise the vessel it is only necessary' to haul in the cables and connect the hoisting cables to the cranes Aof the salvage vessels, for Which operation no divers need be employed. Electric communication, which is automatically put into operation, is established Vbetween the vessel and the buoy for the purpose. of illuminating the latter at night. .Telephonie communication is also provided.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is illustrated by way of example in'connection with a submarine vessel, the ligure representing a sectional view of the complete arrangement.

On the deck l of the vessel a hollow cylindrical buoy 3 is supported by means of feet 2. A 'screw-spindle 4 is titted in the deck 1 so ,as to-nengage a socket in the bottom of the buoy and thus hold the latter connected to the vessel. .The buoy, which has a bev'- 1 eled upper edge, is surmounted by a lamp casing 5 fitted with light refracting lenses 6 and is divided by two horizontal partitions 7 into three superposed compartments. In the lower compartment four horizontal cable drums 9 arezradially arranged about a centrally disposed tube 8, said being` Specification of Letters Patent. Application tiled November G, 1911. Serial No. 658,687.

Patented July?, 1912.

wound with thin steel cables lthe ends of which are passed 1n a water-tight manner through the bottom of the buoy and con.

nected to the free ends of ystrong cables which are lodged in cages 11 and fastened I to eyed brackets 12 on the deck 1.

` The, central compartment of the buoy has ltwo vertical supports 12 which carry another horizontal cable drum 13. This drum is made of electrically insulating material such as stabilit or the likev and is fitted at each end with two mutually insulating fianges of conducting material. A cable 1.4,

composed of four electrically conducting strands is wound on the drum 14 and passed through the bottom of the buoy and through the deck 1, in a water-tight manner, into the interior of the vessel. The inner end of this cable is untwisted, andthe separate strands are connected to the four conducting flanges'of the drui'n, one to each. The single strands are preferably insulated by a rubber coating and the four strands together wrapped up in several layers of linen which has been saturated with paraffin, tar,

pitch, or the like. Access to the upper compartment of'the buoy can be had through a normally covered manhole 15. In this compartment a telephone apparatus 1G is arranged which is connected by means of a pair of sliding contacts 18 to one pair of the conducting flanges of the drum 13. An electric lamp 17, preferably fitted with salted carbons, is arranged in the casing and connected by means of another pair of sliding contacts 1S to the opposite pair-of conducting flanges of the drum 13.

In the interior of the vessel an'electrc accumulator 25 is provided which is connected by means of leads 24 to a double pole switch 23 and to a time switch 2G, these elements being also connected to those strands of the cable 14: which lead to the lamp 1'?. The circuit is normally interrupted by the switch 23 Whoseswitch lever is connected by means of a traction element 22 t0 a double-armed lever 21. A vertical rod 20 is pivotally attached to one armv of t-he lever 21 and has its upper end project- Ving through and guided in the deck 1'. A

spring 19,

encircling the rod tends to press the same u ward so as to turn the lever 21 and the switch lever for closing the circuit.

Such closing of the circuit is normally prevented by the buoy against the bottom of which the rod 20 abuts. The t-ime switch 26, which may have the. construction disclosed in the German Patent No. 2187 82 of May 22, 1909, is adapted to maintain the circuit closedby night-and interrupted in the day-time. A telephone apparatus 27 in the vessel is connected by leads 29 to a battery 28 and to those strands of the cable to take her to the water surface by her own- 14 which lead to the telephone apparatus 16. To tighten the cables 10 and 14 t0 the bottom of the buoy, cork rings may be ems ployed which are secured to the buoy so as to embrace the cables. l

The 'modus operandi is as follows :-If, the vessel being submerged, it should be found impossible for one reason or another power, then the screw 4 is turned so as to set the buoy free. Being lighter than its'volume of water, the buoy at once rises to the water surface, thereby unwinding the cablesv 10 and-14 from the drums and pulling them through its bottom.4 At the separation of the buoy from the-vessel the rod 20 is released so that, influenced by the spring 19, it can operate the switch 23 for doing its part of the closing of the lamp circuit. The circuit is now cont-rolled by the time switch 26 which switches the lamp on in the even` ing and' off in the morning. The buoy,

which is thus visible night' and day, indicatesthe position of the vessel and her need for assistance. The salvors, called 'to the place after the discovery of the buoy, have merely to haul-,in the ends of the hoisting cables by means of the cables 1 0 and connect them to the cranes of the pontoons whereupon the submerged vessel can be raised to the surface Withoutthe assistance of diversi- Telephonic communication is meanwhile kept between the salvors and the crew of the vessel through the medium ofthe instruments 16 and 27 and the cable 14. The lamp 17 may under normal conditions be employed for signaling purposes.

When the apparatus is employed in connection with an ordinary Vvessel the screw .spindle 4 can be discarded, the buoy being then mounted in a casing which it is capable of leaving spontaneously in case the vessel should happen to sink. It is also possible to discard the drums 9 and simply roll the cables 10 up together with the hoisting cables in the cages 11. For ships running on shallow water the hoisting cables may be dispensed with and the raising of the vessel effected by means of pulley blocks. In that case the cables 10 are connected directly to the brackets 12, and the lower pulley of each block is fitted with a guide element means of which it can be guided along the cable 10 through the Water, a hook being secured tothe pulley in such a manner as to snap automatically vinto connection with the bracket 12 when it reaches the latter.

`We claim:

1. A device for indicating the position and facilitating the raising of sunken ships,

comprising a buoy mounted on the deck of the vessel so as to allow of being set free to ioat on the water surface if the vessel should sink, hoisting cables for raising the comprising a buoy mounted on the deck of the vessel so as to allow of being set free to tica-t on the water surface i the vessel should happen tosink, hoisting cables for raising the vessel connected to and carried by the latter, minor cables connecting the hoisting cables with the buoy for controlling the position of the latter when aoat and enable the ends of the hoisting cables to be brought to the surface, a casing itted with light refracting lenses surmounting the buoy, an electric lamp in said casing, an'electric source inthe vessel, electric connections between said lamp and said electric4 source, a switch keeping the circuit normally interrupted, and means for automati-` cally actuating said switch so as to close the circuit when the `buoy leaves the vessel, substantially as setfforth.

3. A device tor indicati-ng the -position and facilitating the raising of sunken ships,

comprising a buoy mounted on the deck of.

the vessel.V so as to allow of being Set free to iioat on the water surface if the vessel should happen to sink, hoisting cables for raising the vessel connected to and carried by the latter, minor cables carried by drums in the buoy and connected to the hoisting cables so as to control the position of the buoy when afloat and enable the ends of the hoisting cables to be brought to the surface,

an electric lamp onthe buoy for indicating theposition at night, an electric source in the vessel,l a cable supplying power from said .source to said lamp, an electric switch vessel connected to and carried by the lat-- and facilitating the raising of sunken ships,

sit-ion to its spring when the buoy rests on arranged in the vessel and adapted to hold rod is released by the buoy, substantially as theelectric circuit normally interrupted, a set forth. spring-actuated rod arranged in the vessel so as to be depressed by the buoy in oppo- VITTORIO BUFFULINI" RICCARDO ROTTENBACHER.

Witnesses PAOLO VILSING, GIovANNi CovACOCH.

the vessel, and connections between said rod and said switch causing the latter to be operated for closing the circuit as soon as the Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

Images