US1405895A - Vessel-salvaging apparatus - Google Patents

Description

C. BUNK AND H. F. KUECHLER.v

VESSEL SALVAGING APPARATUS.

APPLICAIION FILED APR.14, 1921.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

\ gs vva w 15 0 Z Z) Ehri 571i an Bunk HEP-many FKuE ch12? UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE- CHBISTIAN BUNK AND HERMANN F. KUECHLER, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN.

VESSEL-SALVAGING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHRISTIAN BUNK and HERMANN F. K EOHLER, a citizen of German Republic and a citizen of-the United States, respectively, and residents of Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vessel-Salvaging Apparatus; and we do hereby declare that the, following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.-

Theinvention relates to improvements in vessel salvaging'apparatus, and more particularly to a type ofthe same adapted to be permanently carried'on a vessel as a part of its regular or standard equipment.

The principal object of the invention is to provide for an apparatus of the character mentioned, and ,one of an extremely simplified construction capable of being installed on new vessels during, their building, or on old vessels, without seriously affecting the present design of-such vessels,-

and without utilizing an appreciable amount of the otherwise valuable space within the hull portions thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the type specified, and one which is automatically rendered available for use in connection with the raising operation of the sunken vessel simultaneously with the sinking of the latter.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus ofthe class set forth, and one embodying a tell-tale means for indicating the exact position of a sunken vessel so that the same may be readily lo cated for the salvaging operation after having-been sunk for a long period of time.

ith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides in the certain novel and useful construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, set forth in the appended claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view through a body of water in which a vessel having the invention installed thereon has been sunk, the vessel being shown in side elevation with the tell-tales of the salvaging apparatus floating on the surface of the water, and

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view through the hull of the vessel and through one of the wells thereof in which is located one of the units of the salvaging apparatus.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates generally the hull portion of a vessel, and 11 one of the wells disposed vertically within the same, two or more of such wells being provided depending upon the length of the particular hull in which the apparatus is to be installed. As shown in Figure 1, however, two of these wells 11 are ordinarily used, and are disposed on the longitudinal center of the hull 10, one spaced inwardly of thebow end thereof and the other inwardly of the stern end of'the same.

Each well 11 comprises a metal casing 12, of a suitable height to have the lower end thereof. secured to the bottom wall of the hull 10, or otherwise passed through the wall and secured to a metal sheathing or reinforcement 13 secured on the under sur face of the latter, and the upper end of the same opening through the upper deck of the vessel. The upper open end of the casing 12 is formed to provide an outwardly extending or right angular flange 1 adapted to closely overlie the'adjacent edges of the deck flooring, and an inwardly extending or right angular flange 15 upon which is to be seated a buoy or float (athe latter being held in position thereon, against all lateral displacement, by means'of a vertically extending flange 16, all of the flanges 14-, 15

and 16 being extended entirely around the walls, or wall, as the case may be, of the casing. These casings 12 may be'either square, oblong or circular in horizontal cross-section, and the floats a and b correspondingly shaped to seat on the flanges 15 thereof in a manner to normally close the open ends of the samef Each buoy, or float a and Z) is provided with an eye member or bolt 17 secured centrally in the under face thereof for the attaching thereto the free end of a rope or cable 18 which is normally coiled upon the vertically disposed cone shaped member 19, the base of which is supported upon an angle member 20 secured to the intermediate Patented Feb. 7, 1922. Application filed April 14, 1921. Serial No. 461,236.

of the casing 12, the lower end link of the same being loosely secured, but permanently, in an eye bolt 2a which is passed through the bottom wall of the hull 10 and headed on its opposite ends so as to be securely incorporated in the latter.

With two, or more, of the wells 11 installed on a vessel as indicated herein, and with the salvaging units assembled therein and otherwise arranged in accordance with with the invention, immediately upon the sinking of the vessel from any cause whatever, the buoys or floats a and b will float free from the open ends of the casings 12 and the cable will uncoil from the cone according to the depth to which the vessel sinks, and, should the cablesbe insufficient for the purpose of allowing the floats t0 1 remain on the surface, the chains 22 will be withdrawn from the lower portion of the casings, it being understood that the total length of the cables and chains will be sufficient for at least the average depth of the water on which the vessel will travel on ,a particular or regular voyage, .so that the buoys or floats will remain on the surface as tell-tales for the location of the same for salvaging operations. After a sunken vessel has been located, as indicated by the presence of the floats, the exact position of the same is to be determined by the relative position of the latter, and the savlaging crew will then be able to proceed with the necessary work of raising the vessel to the surface, such as will be readily accomplished, and otherwise greatly facilitated, by hauling the cables upward until the attached ends of the chains 22 are above the level of the water, when suitable power means can be attached thereto for the winding up of the same and the subsequent hoisting of the vessel.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that the invention provides for a very efficient means for the accomplishment of the desired purposes of the same; that under ordinary circumstances the raising or salvaging of a vessel is assured by reason of the hoisting chains being permanently secured to the hull of the same; that the salvaging operation is greatly simplified by reason of the important part of the necessary apparatus which is permanently installed on vessels as a standard part of their equipment or as an addition to such equipment; that the exact location and position of a sunken vessel will be readily ascertained' by the provision of buoys or floats con nected toward the opposite ends of the hull portion thereof; and that the expenditure in time, money and lives will be reduced to a minimum in raising simply a vessel on which theapparatus is installed as compared with the present and knownmethods of salvaging operations.

It is well understood that the construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention as described herein is subject to unlimited variations, changes, modifications, and substitution of equivalents, without the same being construed as being a departure from the scope of .the claim appended hereto. 7

Having thus fully described our invention, what is claimed is:

In combination with a vessel, of a casing formed therein, a buoyclosing said casing at its upper end, a vertical disposed conical sleeve within the casing, a cord wound'upon the exterior of said sleeve and attached at one end to said buoy, the other end of the cord passing through the sleeve and adapted to be attached to a lifting cable coiled within the casing and thelatter being attached to the ship.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

CHRISTIAN BUNK. HERMANN r. KUECHLER,

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