US1296983A

US1296983A - Apparatus for salvaging sunken vessels.

Info

Publication number: US1296983A
Application number: US25821418A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles E London
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1918-10-15
Filing date: 1918-10-15
Publication date: 1919-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 1936-03-11

Description

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 15.15MB.

Patent-ed Mar. 11, 1919.

54a 2 7 05 Z linden.

"- Fig. 7

I CHARLES n tonnon, or s'rnvnsron, nnrrrsn COLUMBIA, CANADA.

I ALEIPARA'IUS FOB SALVAGING- SUN'KEN VESSELS.

reac es.-

To all whom it may ccncern:

Be it'knownthatl, CHARLES LONDON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Steveston, in. the Prcvince cf British Columbia, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for. Salvaging Sunken Vessels,

bf which the following is a. specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the salvaging of sunken vessels, including those sunk in a depth in which it is not possible orfeasible for a diver 'tc operate, and the object of my invention is to devise an apparatus by means'of which the lifting cables are permanently secured to the vessel in a, highly practical manner so as to sink with itand are capable of'being thereafter raisedto the surface so that a hold may be obtained at once by the lifting medium without the necessity of any intermediate operations, the cables being provided with means operative on the sinking of the vessel adapted to float to the surface and indicate the position of the wreck.

I attain this object by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which' a Figure 1 is a transverse section of a floating hull illustrating the arrangement of my apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a sunken hull showing the lifting cables ready for attachment to the lifting medium.

Fig. 3 is adetail view of the cable reel and lifting wheel. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the reel flange and trunnion.

Fig.5 is a detail View in perspective of a spring'cable guide.

F 1g. 6 1s a view illustrating the roller bearing for the lifting wheel.

is a cross section through the runway.

- Similar figures of reference indicate similar parts throughout the'several views.

1 indicates the hull of a vessel in which are built pairs of strong runways 2, as indi cated in Figs. 1 and 2, the upper ends of the runways curving outwardly and terminating close to the sides of the vessel under the I deck. There may be any number of pairs of such runways according to'the size of the vessel, the respective pairs being located at spaced intervals throughout the vessels length, and adjacent each runway is positioned a Heel, indicated by the numeral 3,-

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Mar, 1 1 1919, Application filed Detober 15, 1913. Serial No. 258,214.

rotatably mounted in suitable hearin s a and 5 rigidly secured to the hull and adapted to carry sufficient length of lifting cable 6 as will reach the surface when unwound after the sinking of the vessel, and in addition to the lifting cable 6 the reel also carries wound thereon and attached to the free end of the cable 6 a small cable 7 to the free end of cable 6 passes over the flange 10 of the reel and down the face of it the cable being laid in a groove 11 formed in the flange so that it will lie flush with the surface thereof and then carried along a groove 12-forined in the reel trunnionl3 sotliat it may be connected by a swivel 14 to a'lifting wheel 15 of great strength -mounted in the runway, which wheel may be supported by a suitable roller bearing 16, if preferred, indicated in Fig.

6. The cable 6 is held in place on the reel flange and trunnion by gers 17 capable of opening outwardly, how ever, under strain, to permit? the release of the rope.

The manner in which the invention operates will be apparent as it will be seen that on the sinking of the vessel, the buoys will float to the surface carrying the cables"? up With them, the floating buoys indicating the position of the wreck. raise the vessel the lifting cables 6 are then hauled to the surface by means of the smaller ones 7, this action causing the reels 3 to rotate to unwind the cables until, when the cable on. eaclrreel is all unwound, the

When it is desired to means of spring finstrain thereon causes the spring fingers l7 and guides!) to spread apart, thus freeing 'raised by continued lifting strain on the cables.

What I claim as my invention is:-

1. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising lifting cables secured to the vessel and means for enabling the free end of each cable to be raised'to the surface after sinking, said means being, adapted to permit travel of: the secured end'of the gable from its-normal point of attachment to a predetermined liftingpoint.

22 Apparatus-"for raising sunken vessels,

:comprising' rotatably mounted reels secured transversely tothe vessel at suitable points,

"a lifting 'caihle normally wound on each'reel having its ower end rotatably connected to the vessels structure and capable of limited vertical movement under strain and having secured-to its free end a smaller cable also wound on the reel, said smaller cable being rovided on its free end with a buoy of sufcient buoyancyto unwind the small cable ofi the reel as thevessel sinks.

' its 3. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising-outwardly curving runways the lower ends of .which' are secured to the vessel at suitable points on each side of the longitudinal center line and terminating at small cable off the reel as the vessel sinks.

, 4:. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels,

comprising a plurality of suitably located flanged cable reels having trunnions by which they are rotatably mounted .in bear ings secured to the vessel, each said reel having a groove cut in the periphery of its outer flange extending down the face thereof and continued through the outer trunnion, a lifting cable normally wound on each reel having its lower end passed through said groove, means for retaining said cable 1n the groove during rotation of the reel, and means for rotatably connecting the lower end of the cable to the ves sels structure.

'- 5. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising a-pluralit-y of suitably located flanged cable reels having trunnlons by which they are rotatably mounted in bearings secured to the vessel, each said reel having a groove cut in the periphery of its outer flange extending down the face thereof and continued through the outer trunmm, a lifting cable normally wound on each reel .having its lower end passed through said groove, means for retaining the said cable inthe groove during rotationof the reel, means for rotatably connecting the lower end of the cable to the vessels structure, and means operative on the vessels sinking for enabling a grip on thesunken cables to be obtained.

6 Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising a plurality of suitably located flanged cable reels having trunnions by which they are rotatably mounted in bear ings secured to the vessel, each said reel having a groove cut in the periphery of its outer flange extending down the face there of and continued through-the outer'trunnion, a lifting cable normally wound on each reel having "itslower end passed throu b said groove, spring fingers secured to t e flange and the trunnion to retain the cable in the said groove 'during'rotat-ion of the reel and adapted to be spread under strain to free the cable from the reel, means for rotatably connecting the lower end of the cable to the vessels structure, and means operative on the vessels sinking for enabling a grip on the sunken cables to be obtained.

7. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising, a plurality of suitably located flanged cable reels having trunnions by which they are rotatably mounted in bearings secured to the vessel, each said reel having a groove cut in the periphery of its outer flange extending down the face thereof and continued through the outer trunnion, a lifting cable normally wound on each reel having its lower end passed through said groove, an outwardly curving runway adjacent each reel the upper end of which'95 terminates close -to the vessels side. a lifting wheel rotatably mounted and normally supported in the lower end of each runway and havinga swivel attachment whereby it may be connected to the lower end ofits respective cable, means for detachably retaining the cable in the said groove during rotation of the reel, and means operative on the vessels sinking for enabling a grip on the sunken cables to be obtained.

Signed at Vancouver, C., this 26th day of September, 1918.

P CHARLES E. LONDON.