US1259627A

US1259627A - Submarine life-boat.

Info

Publication number: US1259627A
Application number: US14101717A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ernest P Howe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1917-01-06
Filing date: 1917-01-06
Publication date: 1918-03-19
Anticipated expiration: 1935-03-19

Description

EP. HUWE.

SUEMARINE UFE BJT.` APPLscA-mu FILED Mk. 5.1911.

mmm Mar. 1221918.

3 sains-#sniff 1.

LP. Hows. l sum/Mams LIFE son.

L '.e.191.r.- i l APP lcATluN man JAN Patented-.Marr '19, 1918.* i l 3 SHEETS-satira wlthedubmarine' A I:.It i'sjdesirable that such a lifeboat shall be able lto both leave and return to the sub- UNITED STATES.; PATENT OFFICE.

` W i sunmnmnn Lum-non'ne'I i Specification of Letters Patent. aiipiianni mea inuajf'e, 1e-17 sereine. pinion,

To all 'whom t may concern.:v

Be if, known am I ERNEST P. 11eme` citizen of the United States yresiding at Clinton inthe county of orc` ester and StateoZ Massachusetts, have invented a new and 'useful Submarine Li'fe-Boat of whichJ the following is a spe clticationl 2 This 'invention relates to a lifeboat panv adapted fory use in association? marine while the latteris submerged. lo? oo rd-ingly, itis one object of my invention to provide mechanism by which the ascent 4of the lifeboat may be controlled andby which alsothe lifeboat maybe returned to` Another object of my invention is to provide means of communication between the lifeboat and the submarine while the'latter is ascending or descending, or while it isat` the surface of the. water for observation pur-` p ses.` .Other important features of my invention relate to devices for adjusting the buoyancy of the lifeboatjin correct proportionl to .the load; -to'improved devices for unvvinding and rewinding thecables which connect the lifeboat to the submarine; to' an improved arrangement for securing or're-4 leasing the lifeboat from the submarine, and

to other'arrangements and combinations of.

parts which will v'be lhereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferredV 'form of m invention is Figurell is a planvievvgofa lifeboat-L with the .linperotrneorf 'sk ivlfmvvd:

. Fig is" a sectional elevation taken "along the line 2-'2 in Figjl ebow-fis t be an end eleva lon' of the lifeboat ad] ace'nt 'portiono'f-v the 'submarine shown inspection;

4pine'25 are provided with t pered portie opemng/ s or- Olrf @Deming Said' Fig. I .is a side elevation, partlyin Sectio mechanism, including Eaehli'feboet is normallyrecei'ved-ind pressionforined in the upper deck or frame' 13 of the su'brnairine, thevwalls o f'saidj pression corresponding in oi1tl ine to the of, thejnfebba'. Amana teenage prit depression lgroove 15 6) lsff'orm in theframe 13 ofthe submarinefand inner 'edge'of the frame is'beveled' las ind cated at lffTlie hull of the `lifeboat pA vided with a flange-like projection 1T I shaped to correspond with the 'edge'A Aorton. n. @this purpose the" Hangs is provided withv an in l of the frame 13 above described-( vertedgroove 18 anda beveled outer por: t0n.19

Any "Suitable son packing material 2o may .be` placed i112 thelgrooves 1.5..,and 18 to` insure atight joint betweeiijthe lifeboat a d the submarine, the groovedfliange 1T ei; ing entirelyaround the lifeboat. l Whe lifeboat and' submarine are position 'and mechanism by vvl'licfli` l may be 'simultaneously Withdrawn;'-V

Referring to, Figs. 5 and 6, each"f1o 'c pin'Q is slfilable"in a:bearing'26 secure, .to the frame 2 of the lifeboat, suitable pa ing 28 preventing the entrance of .vva. around-the pins. At 'their outerendst 29, engaging :corresponding pockets 30 inthe frame' 13 o :the Submrln I one edgeI th'ereo observation 5Astru o other.;

secured to the frame 27 of the lifeboat. A roll 38 is mounted on a stud 39 carried bly; the bearing portion 36 and holds the bloc 32 with its teeth 33 in engagement with the pinion 34. An actuating arm 40 is connected to the shaft 34 and at its free end is, provided with an upwardly projecting stud 41. Y

The several studs '41" associated with the diier'ent locking pins are connected to each other by links 42 (Fig. 1), and the lwhole system of links is. preferably connected to suitable mechanism through which the entire series of locking pins may be simultaneously withdrawn. As shown in Fi 1, the link system on each side of the li eboat is -`icpnnected bya short Vlink 43 to a cross-head `44cpnnected to the piston of a pneumatic cylinder 45. The air pressure in the c linder is controlled by suitableyalvesan the piston may be thus operated to lock or releaseghe lifeboat by moving the locking pms A hand wheel 46 (Fig. 1) is mounted on a sleeve 47 threaded upon the tail rod of the pneumatic piston. The hand wheel and sleeve normally move axially with the iston as the piston is operated, but, if desire ,such axial movement of the hand Wheel and sleeve may be prevented by inserting pins 48 in a groove 1n the sleeve 47. The piston and links may then be moved manually by rotating thejhand wheel 46.

A swinging hatch 50 (Fig. 4) closes the A opening `from the submarine and a sliding in bearings 69 and 70 and each bearing is provided with a stuiiin boX 71 to prevent leakage of water throng the bearing. Upon the left-hand end of the drum shaft, as shown in Fig. 7 there is secured a gear 72 meshing with a pinion 73 upon a transmission shaft 74 to which is secured a gear 75 meshing in turn with a second pinion 76 connected by a clutch 77 to a transmission shaft 78.

The shaft 78 extends longitudinally of the boat, preferably beneath the inner bottom of the boat, and is driven by suitable gearing from `an electric motor 8O (Fig. 1). The winding mechanism at each end of the boat is identical and by the clutches 77 either or both drums ma be driven from the transmission shaft 8; The unwinding .or res winding of the cables may thus be accomplished by power and the` winding drums may be` operated simultaneously or sepa- 1ig'catily to retain the lifeboat upon an even A' pinion 83 (Fi 7) is mounted on a shaft 84 provided with a hand-wheelv 85' and slidable in bearings 86 and 87 supported on the casing 66. When in its full line position (Fig. 7) the pinion 83 engages the gear 72 for manually rotatin the winding drum. When-the drum is to e operated by power the pinion may be moved to its dotted line position (Fig.7) in which it does not engage the gear 72.

In order to establishtelephone communication-:between the lifeboat .and submarine ralvel (Fig, A1) is provided" for clsinglsduring its ascent or descent, or while it is at the correspon; opening in the bottom of the'lifeboatj The valve 51 may be operated by a rack .pinion and hand `wheel 54, or it may be actuated by a piston slidable in a pneumatic cylinder 56," the air pressure therein being controlled by suitable valves; When the lifeboat has been securely seated and locked inthe depression in the submarine, the small, amount of water remaining injthe narrow' lspace between theitwo boats nifayl be removed by a pump throughV a ',ipe 61., VAI.-.f`t 1 =ir the watch is 'removed the 5Q-'and the valve 5l 'may be, opened to permit freepassage iro'mone boat to the y. For the purposefof controlling the ascent rjde'sent ofv the lifeboatiI provide two cables forv each lifeboatgnthe lower end' ,offleach Y lcablel .being'' permanently sei, cured 'to rthi-'ef`subr'laagrine,andftlzie other end o f each cable "being" secured tothe drum Aof a Vsuitable` winding mechanism :or 'Windlass Theonstracfnfef` this.. winding' mechaestsliowll ill'jFig's. 7`and8fin which it beps'een `,thatfeach cable 6 5 is led through an openirig'` in the bottom of the lifeboat to a 'water-tight chamber or caslh; 67 within which the winding drum 68"is 'side of each circuit may be grounded or a complete metallic circuit may be obtained 'by using a second insulated wire 90 in the second cable 65.

The use of the lifeboat isiclearly indicated in Fi 3 in which the boat Lis shown connecte by its cables to the submarine S While in a position for making obs- `rvation at the surface of the water. The lifeboat L is shown disconnected from its cables, and moving to a more distant point.

I provide each lifeboat with a pair of floats 100 for attachment to the cables when it is desired to disconnect the lifeboat therefrom. These fioats may be conveniently carried in recesses inthe deck ofthe lifeboat. For securing the cables 65 to the floats 100 I provide a ring `101 loosely encircling each rotata'blypmounted.l The dru'mis supp0rted\ cable and' cqntletd by arOpe 0r .Wire 102 t0 10 a pin or ring 103 in the side, off the lifeboat. When the lifeboat has reached the surface the rope 102 may be tli'ziwo, up bringing with it a loop of the cable (i5. Atsuitable pollito`| in the. cable l provide separable conu oec-tions which permit the cable to be clisoonneftetl. The lower end may be secured to im@ fof .the floats 11.007 which is then thrown overboard., the othov @ncl of the cable being; temporarily fseouretl to the ring 103 or in any other eonroiilont nommer. 'When both cables are thus release 'L the lifeboat is free to move to any desire@ point and ulpoll its return to ite original position the floats may be picked up, the cables 65 Connected, and the winding mechanism started to gradually guhmorge the. lifeboat and retilru it to its orib, al position. in the 'flock of the sob marmo'.

In order to proportion the 'buoyancy of tbe lifeboat to the loetl to be carried, l provide Water Storage tool-:s llO @md lll suit-ably connected lo the 'water pump titl, and. also provitletl with Suitable air with lll. By forcing water into or out. those nits the lmoyuncy of the lifeboat muy he ree-lilly mlj'osted, The Water pomp SU is Comi through suitable clutch mechanism to the, motor 80, as is also the oir pump ll which supplies the air pressure to the tank: lili.

Having thus described my invention the mtnjl advantage-o to bo cleri' ed from the use thereof will be apparent, .lt y*ii-'ill also evident that, man)l changes imdmotliioetions may bommie therein by those lille/tl in the art without dopamine spirit enti. scope of my invent! ,l er; forth in the Claims, and l (lo not wish 'ne be of limited to the detalle herein f liooloseo, but what l Claim is'- l. 'lflie ofiiiiliioetioo with Salumerie@ and zi lifeboat therefor., of oleane 'to detooliably secure sold boots together, Seid me 1 rooiprlug a plurality of plus mourltoo .ofi lifeboat and adapted to enter corresponding pockets in said oubmztrine molte connected to Said pins, pnions engaging reeks to move seid pios axially7 orme Connected. to said pioions, linko Connected to seid arms, and moons to move said linke simultaneously to Withdraw said pins.

2. The combination with i submarine and o lifeboat therefor, of means 'to rletoohaloly eeoure said boots together, 'seid means comprising a plurfillty of puis mounted 1n Said lifeboat and adapted to enter corresponding pockets in said submarino, rocks Connected to seid pine, pinions engaging seid racks to move Selci plus longitudinally, arms com neotergl to said pinions, link@ connected to Seid arms and forming :i link system, and o pistoi'l connected to Said liol; system :ind operiible by 'fluid pressure to simultaneously move Suid links, and Withdraw said pins.

f. lo combination, e submurinej a lifeboat therefor, and cables carried. in water-tight casings in salti lifeboat, said casings having external openings through which the outer ends of said cables extend to 'Said submarine, and means within seid lifeboat for unwnd ing and rewinding seid cables both separately and simulteneouly.

lo combination, e submarine, e lifeboat thereforP and cables carried in Water-tight mollige m said lifeboat:` seid oasings having external openings 'tl'iroogh which the outer ends of said cublee extend to said submarine,

kerl-led by seid lifeboat5 means effective for use to drew portions of saitl ofi-bles to the deel; of ottici lifeboat9 und do melf-roble coz'meot'zioos in said Cables whereby the outer portion of each cable may be de cached from Sal-itl lifeboat and secured to' one of Suid lioats.; i

o, lo eozfiohinflt-ion7 o, Submarine, alifeboet therefor. tletzielioble oonoeotionss between seid, submarine and lifeboat, means effective through Salti connections to draw' sold life.

boat downward to Said Submarine when the letter is sub eer` ed, and floats to support the :tree el. o5 of snit ooi'meotions when detached,

6. The combination with a Submarine anti a lifeboat therefor, of means to deteoliably secure Enid boats together, Said oom.- prieing a. plurality of pins iitouotecl in seid lifeboat. and. otlapted to enter corresponding pot-lieto in. Seid submarine, lieke oonneetefl to move said plus and forming e link system, power-acto tl devices vfor moving said link system9 mai v mi vIneens for moving said "link system, intl devices for rendering seid man ual means operative.

ln 'testimony whereof l'. have hereunto eilixel signature.

ERNEST l?. HOWE.

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