US1352992A - Observation-station - Google Patents

Description

W. G. RUGGLES.

OBSERVATION STATION.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14,.1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. G. RUGGLES.

OBSERVATION STATION.

APPLICATIONVHLED SEPT. I4, 1916.

1,352,992, Patented Sept. 14,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR 'A TTORNEY w. e. RUGGLES.

OBSERVATION STATION.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1 I916.

PatentedSept. 14, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- A TTOR/VEY UNITED STATES OBSERVATION-STATION.

Specification of Letters Patent. P t nt d Septf14, 1920.

Application filed September 14, 1916. Serial No. 120,173. 1

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known thatI, WILLIAM GUY RUG- GLns, a citizen of the United States, and resident of San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Observation-Stations, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to an observation station or buoy and particularly relates to such a device designed to constitute a control and observation station for a submarine or other anchoring orreceiving station positioned beneath the water.

7 At present submarines have the disadvantage in that when at the surface they are subjected to attack either by gun fire or by ramming because the period of time required in order to submerge is suflicient to permit the enemy to destroy the boat before it can sink out of the danger zone. The submarine must sink until its periscope or any other evidence of its presence is below the surface, but when so submerged the crew of the submarine haveno means of acquiring information as towhat may be on the surface. At present it is necessary for the submarine to come up in order to make an observation.

7 As a submarine can be seen from an aeroplane when the boat is thirty or forty feet below the surface and the submarine cannot may make observations on the surface with the'least possible risk of detection.

, I attain this ob 'ect broadly by providing a water tight tank of a size sufficient to contain an observer and, if desired, equipped with a small periscope and with means for communicating vobservations back to the sub- Such a marine or other receiving station.

device can be passed out of, the submarineor other container and floated to any position slightly below the surface desired by the observer and from this position observation can be made with comparative safety.

Incidental to this general object it is a further desideratum to provide a construction in which the observer may-be quickly introduced and in which the observer-conrATEN'T OFFICE.

taining tank or vessel may be passed from A I the submarine free of any possibility of introducing water accidentally either into the submarine interior or into the interior of the'observation tank.

Another ob 'ect of the inventionis to provlde a simple and easily controlled mechanism for regulating the movements of the observation tank and still another object is to provide a simple form of communicating means between the observer and the navigating or other officer of the submarine. Stlll another object is to provide a type of observation tank which can be opened as desiredto the outside air for the purpose of supplying air to the observer and thus conserve the supply of artificial air carried by the tank.

Various-other objects and advantages of the inventlon will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawings and in part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying my inven tion, and the invention also consists in certaln new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a View of a body of water showing asubmarine: in outline, submerged below enemy battleships on the surface and enemy acronautical devices above the surface and showing a preferred embodiment of my invention in connection with the-submerged submarine;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of a transferring tank constitutlng part of the submarine and with its parts in closed position;

r Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, taken at right angles theretoand showing both the transferring and observation tanks with their parts in openposition to receive the observer; 1 V v Fig. e is a view partly-in side elevation and partly broken away to showsome of the internal construction and. contents of the.

observation tank;

Fig. 5 is adetail of the joint between the two parts of .either the observation or the transferring tank; a

, Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view through an enlar ed view of the, closing cap at the bottom of the observation tank Fig. 7 1s a transverse sectional-view taken through the cable connection of-Fig. 6; and taken on the line 77 of Fig. 6;

Figs. .8, 9, 10 and 11 are transverse sectional views taken respectively on the lines 8-8, 99, 10-10, and 1111 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings and referring particularly to Fig. 1 there is shown a receiving station 12, which for the purpose of this disclosure may be considered as a submarine herein shown to be submerged and positioned a distance below the surface, indi cated by the line 13 sufficient to remove the submarine out of any danger of ramming, of gun-fire from the war-ships '14 on the surface, and belowthe depth at which it might be seen from the aeroplane 15. There is also shown in Fig. 1 an observation tank 16 of relatively small size but of suflicient capacity to contain an observer positioned therein. This tank is" shown in its normal observing position and provided with a periscope 17 with its eye l8positioned slightly above the level of the water and with the observor-containing-portion of the tank sub merged below the surface. The tank is shown floating above the submarine and connected thereto by means of a flexible cable 19.

This flexible connection may also provide a means of communication between the observation and the receiving stations and for this purposemay include an insulated telephone wire 20 (see Fig. 4) connected with a telephone head-piece 21 worn by the operator in the observation tank. The other end of the telephone wire makes proper con- 7 nection with a coacting telephone apparatus in the submarine.

The twist of the flexible connection 19 is very apt to cause a rotary movement of the observation tank and in order to minimize this rotary movement about the vertical axis, the upper end of the tank is, provided with I a guiding fin construction 22 in the form of a flat plate extending longitudinally of the tank and on opposite sides of the periscope tube 23 and attached to the lower ring 45 to form a buttress brace for this tube.

The observation tank and its contents are nonmagnetic so as to permit the use of a magnetic compass, if desired and is pref erably of cylindrical form with a frustoconical lower end 24 and a dome-shaped upper end 25 constituting closing means at opposite ends of the tank and designed to withstand the severe external waterpressures without distorting the construction. The tank is preferably formed of two parts or sections with the adjacent open ends telescoping with an interrupted bayonet form of screw joint usually used in form- ,ing water-tight joints. The quick acting joint includes loosely fitting threads 27 (see Fig. 5) and suitable ring packing members 28 disposed between the end threads of one part and the adjacent side of the other part. The threads are of materially less crosssection longitudinally of the tank than their containing grooves 29 whereby slight longi-= tudinal play is permitted between the parts or sections and the packing is so arranged hat a collapsing movement between the sections affected by end pressures on the tank causes the packing to become compressed and thus further insure a watertight condition at the joint. The upper end 25 is provided with eye ports 25, through which the observer can see out through the top of the observation tank. I

The apex of the lower'end 24 is formed of a bushing plug 31 (see :Fig. having a reduced threaded portion 32 screwed into the end 24 and recessed from its inner end to a compartment 33. The flexible connection 19 containing the electric cable or wire 20 is passed through the plug and the wrappings 34 of the cable are separated and flared. outwardly. The flared portionof the wrappings is fastened between a ring 35 and a plate 36 which coact to form a carria ge rotatably mounted upon roller bearings 37 within the compartment. The conducting wire 20 of the cable is passed through a tube 37 rigidly attached to the plate 36 andpassing up through a gland 38 threaded into the inner end of the portion 32 thus closingthe compartment. 7 The gland includes a stuffing box 89 designed to provide a water-tight joint between the conducting wires and the bushing plug to pre'-' vent leakage into the interior ofthe tank at this point.

The periscope tube 23 is formed of a plu-i scope and at the same time provide the least possible size of target for the enemy gun'- ners, and is rotatably mounted in the domeshaped head 25 preferably to one side of the axis of the tank'so as to position the periscope eye piece 40 as close to one side of the tank as possible and thus give the operator the maximum available moving space within the small quarters provided by the tank. The tube is rotated by some suitable crank mechanism 41 and is arranged to direct the eye 18 of the periscope in any direction about its vertical axis. Two fluid conducting tubes are fixed to the outside of the periscope tube, one of which tubes 43 has its upper end positioned relatively close to the eye 18 in a position to direct a cleansing substance across the eye to clean the same and the other tube 44 has its upper end positioned slightly below the upper end of the tube 43. The fluid tubes are carried by the periscope tube and are' supported 'on a plurality of rings 45 spaced longitudinally of the periscope tube andfixed inposition so that the periscope tube is free to rotate. The fluid tubes are positioned close to the outer surface of the periscope tube as shown in the sectional views in Figs. 810 and are positioned approximately 90 to each other so that the apparent diameter of the periscope tube is increased by not more than the diameter of one of the fluid tubes when viewed from any horizontal angle, and are led into the float through the head 25 and adapted to be closed by stop cocks provided with nipples to receive the flexible air tubes hereinafter described.

A cleaning outfit may be provided, which in this instance includes a tank 46 of alcohol and a tank 47 of compressed air adapted to be connected by a flexible tubing 48 with the inner end of the tube 43 to project a mixture of alcohol and air forcibly across the eye of the periscope to clean the same of oil or other foreign substances which might interfere with the clear, vision through the periscope. These two tubes can-also be used in connection with a breathing bag to draw air into the tank through the tube 43 and to expire through the tube 44. V V V In this way the supply of artificial air may be conserved while the observer is at the surface of the water. The observation tank is also provided with a pressure gage 49 or other mechanism for indicating the depth at which the; observation .tank is floating.

In order to transfer the observer from the interior of a submarine or other inclosed space to and from the observation tank, there is provided a transferring receptacle, shown more particularly in Figs. 2 and 3. This receptacle includes a two-part cylindrical casing, designed to project above the deck of the submarine and attached thereto by some suitable means, such as the flange plate 50, encircling the upper portion 51 of the receptacle. This plate is preferably adjustable on the tank so as to fit within'a suitably constructed man-hole in the top deck of the submarine and to space the lower end of the upper section a distance from the floor 52 of the submarine merely sufiicient to swing the lower section into its engagement with the upper section with theminimum amount of lifting operation. The'upper portion of the receptacle is designed to contain the relatively short upper portion of the observation tank together with the periscope tube and the lower portion 52 is similarly designed to contain the lower portion of the observation tank when the parts of the tank are separated from each other as shown. in Fig.3. When the-parts of the transfer tanks are separated, the upper portion of the observation tank is maintained in positlon by means of some suitable keeper 53. The parts of, the transfertank are. fastened together by means of interrupted thread connections similar to those described for the parts of the observation tank, which connection maybe reinforced by an exter-- nally disposed strap band 55, the ends of Which are arranged to be drawn together by a turn-buckle 56. Av pair of differential hoist mechanisms 57 positioned on opposite sides of the tank may be used to handle the lower section of the transfer'tank. The up per end of the transfer tank is positioned above the deck of the submarine, and is designed to be opened to permit the passage of the, observation tank to and from the interior of the transfer tank. The upper end of this tank is closed by means of a cover 58 provided with a pivoting extension 59 projecting to one side thereof. and positioned between a pair. of brackets 60 projecting from the side of the tank. The cover is manipulated from within the submarine by means of an actuating rod 61 having a worm and segmental gear connection 62 with the extension of the cover. The cover is securely fastened to the tank by means of bolts 63 passed through'the plate 50, operated from' the interior 'of the submarine and having threaded ends 64:- engaging in threaded sockets 65 in extension 66 projecting from the periphery of the cover.

The portion of the flexible connection 0p-' posite the end attached to the observation tank is passed about a winding drum 66 rotatably mounted within the'lower portion 52 of the transferring-tank and actuated exteriorly of the tank through a worm and gear drive 67 in turn actuated from a suitably disposed electric motor 68; As pre viously suggested the flexible connection contains the telephone or other electric wires communicating with. the observation tank and the inner end of theseelectric wires are passed through an opening 69, in the hub shaft 70 of the drum and through a waters tight plug 71 into the interior of the submarine so as to make proper connection with the receiving station and other mechanism controlled from the observation tank. A water pipe 7 2 designed to be connected with the water ballast tanks of the submarine In order to. permit the I fluid communication with the pipe 72 and leads either to the outsideof the submarine or to any apparatus containing a pressure equal to the water pressure about the submarine. A device of this characteris sufliciently self contained that it may be secretly manufactured, stored at convenient points, and in time of war installed in submarines prepared to receive it simply by bolting flange 50 (Fig. to a man-hole in the deck designed for this purpose.

In operation and with the tank parts in their open position shown in Fig. 3, the observer takes his position within the lower part of the observation tank with some suitable breath purifying apparatus and the two parts of the tank are raised into telescoping position by means of the differential hoists and the parts are securely fastened together by any approved means, as by means of a large wrench rotating the threaded parts into interlocking position. Likewise the parts of the transfer tank are similarly tened together, so that there is a water-tight connection between the parts of the observation tank and between the parts of the transfer tank. The water pipe is then open to the water ballast tank in the submarine so as to admit water to the space between the tanks and at the same time air is permitted to escape from the transfer tank through the cock 75. Finally the pipe 7 6 is opened so as to equalize pressure and permit an inspectionof the joints before the cover is opened. The cover controlling the, opening into the transfer tank from the outside of the submarine is then loosened by rotating the bolts holding'the cover in place and when free of the holding means the cover is swung into open position. The buoyancy of the observation tank will cause it to rise out of the transfer tank and move upwardly toward the surface of the water, the ascent being permitted and controlled by any suitable mechanism regulating the rate at which the take-up drum is allowed to rotate. The observer in the tank can ascertain, by means of his pressure gage, the approach to. the surface and eventually can judge by the amount of light seen through the ports just how close he is to the surface and can indicate to the receiving station to apply a brake to the drum orotherwise control the position of the tank. 1

The observer connect the flexible tubing attached to alcohol and compressed air tanks 46 and i? to the nipple of the stop cock clos ing the inner end of fluid pipe 43, and upon reaching the surface, should floating oil or other matter dim or obscure the eye of the periscope he may turn same until the outer lens faces the outer orifice of the pipe 43 and by gentle blasts of alcohol and air clean and dry same quickly.

- The observation tank may be. equipped with a type of periscope in which the field bounded by the horizon is vertically disposed anu associated with a compass card arranged so that the observer can report by phone or otherwise to the submarine ofthrough same, inhaling through pipe 43. using a breathing bag to arrest any moisture that may enter pipe 43. Observations covering considerable periods of time are thus made possible in a locality patrolled by air-crafts in advance of the movement of ships, and the submarine by lying quietly gives no warning to enemy microphones of her presence.

The observerreturns to the submarine by reversing the operation by which he leftit.

This device renders unnecessary the fatal danger of a submarine being shelled or rammed by rising close to a boat lying quietly on the surface, and upon which'the submarines microphones are not operative.

In the last analysis this invention enables a submarine boat to enter the sea under the midst ofan enemy fleet, and from a position of minimum danger to itself intelligently direct the maximum of destruction upon the most important ships of that enemy.

In this specification reference has been made to a submarine as the receiving and control station for the observation tank, but it is obvious that the device may be operated from a stationary submerged compartment and when considered in this connection it will be noted that the device may constitute a feature of coast and harbor defence. Such an observation station situated off the coast may be utilizedas a fire control station for shore batteries and can 2. In a device of the class described,'a.

floating body provided with' a periscope and provided with a fin construction held in fixed position relative to the periscope and thus tending to hold the field of view through the periscope.

3. In a device of the class described, an

observation tank provided with a periscope controlling the same and a fin construction at the upper end of the tankrigidly fixed thereto and extending parallel to the length of the tank. 7 I

5. An observation tank having a periscope tube extending upwardly therefrom and a fin construction for resisting rotary movement of the tank, said fin construction constituting a brace for the periscope tube.

6. An observation tank provided with externally actuated means for controlling the submerged position thereof, and a thin guiding fin fixed to the upper portion of the tank for retarding rotary movement thereof about a vertical axis.

7. A metallic cylindrical observation tank having a rigidity sufficient to withstand water pressure at great depths and having a of said shells being provided with an 0b servation port, and means within the closed tank for communicating exteriorly. of the tank.

8. In a device of the class described, a cylindrical observation tank including two interfitting sections, a bayonet screw-threaded connection between. said sections, the threads of said connection being materially less in cross-section than their containing grooves whereby slight longitudinal play is permitted between the sections and a packing compressed by a collapsing movement between the sections.

9. In an observation tank, a bearing ex-' tending through a side of the tank, an electric cable passed through the bearing, said bearing provided with a compartment, a carriage rotatably mounted in said compartment with the outside wrapping of cable aflixed thereto, the conducting wires of the cable extending through the bearing into the interior of the tank.

10. In an observation tank, a bearing extending through a side of the tank, an electric cable passed through the bearing, said bearing provided with a compartment and a bushing, a carriage rotatably mounted in said compartment with the outside wrapping of cable afiixed thereto, the conducting wires of the cable extending through the bushin into the interior of the tank.

11. I n a device of the class described, the combination of an observation tank, a continuous electric cable leading through a side of the tank and provided with wrappings leading to'the tank and rotatable means for fastening the wrappings of the cable to the tank, and anti-friction bearings disposed be tween said rotatable means and said tank:

12. In a device of the class described, the combination of an observation tank, an electric cable leading continuously through a. side of the tank and into the interior thereof, rotatable means for fastening the wrap pings of the cable to the tank and a watertight joint between the cable and tank to prevent leakage into the tank.

13. In a device of the class described, a periscope tube, a pair of relatively small tubes carried by said periscope tube, the upper end of one of said tubes being disposed above the upper end of the other tube, one of said tubes designed to consti tute an air inhaling tube and the other tube designed to constitute an air exhaling tube.

14. In a device of the class described, a periscope tube, a pair of relatively small tubes carried by said periscope tube, the upper end of one of said tubes being disposed above the upper end of the other tube, one of said tubes designed to constitute an air inhaling tube and the other tube designed to constitute an exhaling tube, said tubes disposed at approximately 90 to each other circumferentially of the periscope tube whereby the apparent diameter of the periscope tube is increased not more than the diameter of one of the small tubes when viewed from any angle.

15. In a device of the class described, a

tubes carried by said periscope tube, theupper end of one of said tubes being disposed above the upper end of the other tube, one of said tubes designed to constitute an air inhaling tube and the other tub designed to constitute an air exhaling'tube.

16. In a device of the class described, the combination of an observation tank, a periscope tube projecting upwardly fromsaid tank, a plurality of rings spaced apartlongitudinally on said tube, a tube paralleling the periscope tube'and fastened to and supported by said rings, one end of said tube terminating adjacent the periscopelens and the other end of said tube opening into the interior of the tank.

17 In a device of the class described, an observation tank provided with a periscope having a relatively smallv cross section, means for rotating the periscope tube, a fluid conducting tube positioned close to the outside of the periscope tube and opening into the interior of the tank, and means for fastening the fluid conducting tube to the 18. In a device of the class described, a V

transferring receptacle having an opening at one end thereof, a tank designed to be moved into and from the receptacle through said opening, means for closing the opening, said tank and receptacle-bein formed of separable parts With the joint of one positioned adjacent the joint of the other whereby they may be separated to provide access to the interior of the tank While said opening is closed. 7

19. In a device of the class described, a transferring receptacle formed of a twopart cylindrical casing adapted to be sepatank Within said receptacle and removable therefrom through said outlet, said tank provided With means for giving access to the interior thereof When the parts of said receptacle are separated from each other.

Slgned at New York city in the county of New York and State of New York this 12" day of September, A. D. 1916. r r

WILLIAM GUY RUGGLES.

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