US1815680A - Pontoon diver - Google Patents

Description

4 sheetsheet l i. A

PONTooN DIVER Filed May 1S. 1929 w i --i| M n .ww ...mf v

INVENTOR 5oz/E 5,4115- BY I ATz-ORNEYS July 2f, 1'1931. SALTER 13815680 PONTOON DIVER Filed May 15. 192s 4 sheets-sheet 2 L, 5.5. /E SAL refr. B Y

A TTORNE YS.

July 21, 1931. SALTER 1,815,680

l PoNTooN DIVER .Filed May 15, 1929 4 sheets-sheet s :Ii-13 5 INVENTOR L ESL/E SALTEE,

l/lMM'M, F6 of' A TTORNE YS.

l Y y laiented Myra-1,1931 Y f t y UNI-Teo LEsLIE saLtrniz,` on VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA PONTYQONDIVER l A `Application filedr May 15.,

i The presenty invention relates to improvements 1n means for raising submerged boats,

such as submarines oreven"larger boats,

t that `have met with any accident and the t5 principal object offtheinvention is to provide a means of `vthe character'l described! which allows theboat to `be raised in a single operation that'ma-y be performed possibly within a fewY hours` so that HJche lives oftheoccupant's l0 of the submerged boat may be saved.

raised. v f f v p c c* l 5A further object ofthe inventionl is to vprof y(vide, in'combination with said floating unit, grippingy members which maybe made to straddle the boat while the float isjswinging into operative position land to closer upon the boat for gripping'thefsame afterthe'floatf Y ing unit has beenloweredso that when the ylatter is 'raisedthe boat' willbe raised with the floating unit. y t f ji ,"It .is furtherproposed inthe presenty ing vention to usethe principlefof the pontoon for lowering and raising the floating unit,` the pontoons rbeing filled with waterV for the pur- Ypose of lowering the float, and means being is desired,y to raise the floating unit. f ,y ffOther objects andV advantages of my inventionwill appear ceedS. c

VThe preferred y f yillustratedY in theaccomp'anying drawings, in

^ Figure 1 shows'a'side elevation ofvmy boatralising means as the same is positioned above the correct position relative tothe boatto be provided for ydriving loutthe water whenitA as the specification pro- ,forms offmy-invention are l 1329.4'sera1 No. 363,333. f

a submerged boat at the beginning of the operation,

Figure 2 shows the clingfthe boat; y v .n y VFigure 3 shows a plan view of the float en- 55 floating unit as encir- "circling the boat to be raised,

t Figure 4 is an enlarged sectionalview taken alongthe line 4 4 of kFigure 3,'

Figure 5 is ahori'zontal section taken along the line 5 5 ofrFigure 4, y y. Y

Figure 6 is a vertical section showing a modified form of gripping means,

Figure 17 'is a vertical section taken `along f the line 7 7 of Figure 6. 1

forms of my invention, I wish to haveituny derstood that various changes or modifications maybe made within the scope of the claims hereto attached without departing from the spirit of the invention.

- In the' form shown in Figures l to 5, Iprovide a huge, oating body l which maybe Y Y made of any suitable shape and is preferably constructed in such aV manner as to leave' a large vinner opening or well indicated at 2 '75 of such proportionsthat the boat to be raised,

which isindicated at 3,'may be encircled by Y the floatingvunit. ,Y

This unit maybe made in the form of a frame or inthe form of a shell so that the en- S0 tire unit would form a single pontoon. It` may, however, be provided with a number f of individual' pontoons -indicated at 4, and in the latter casel no attention need be paid to makingv the ioating unit water-tight; in fact, i side plates may be done away with altof gether, andr theindividual pontoons 4 supported ina'y strong frame only. ASuitable means areprovided in a flexible hose 5 for admitting a pressure medium into the pontoons i 'i 'i for driving theV water out of the same, and

` suitable discharge ports for the ywatercare indicated atp. The structuralfeatures of the vpontoonsare conventionalin character and form no part of the present invention.

Vi'thin the well there'are supported'on strong cross members 7 a suitable number of gripping jaws kadapted to encircle the f boat `tonfbe raised and to' lift the same when the p o, iioat rises.. Each set of gripping elernentsln y While I have shown only thepreferred 65 consists of three jaws 10 pivoted on a longitudinal shaft 8 supported in one of the frame members 7, one jaw being made to engagethe boat from one side and the other tWo jaws being made to straddle the first jaw and to engage the boat from the opposite side. The lower ends o f the jaws, below the pivot 8, are made to substantially confor-in fte the shape of theboat to be lifted. The j avvs terminate at the bottom inpointed ends shown at 1'1 and these pointed `ends lare adapted 'to fbe' pushed through the mud and are formed With shoulders 12 near the pointed ends -for -engagingwith the duct keel 13 of tlieboat tobe raised from opposite sidesso thata-fter'engagementit .isinipossible for `the j aWs .to lose their" ho'l'd. Y`Water*j ets 11 maybe proiiided 2.11? the `-points of the jaws for facilitating movement through 4clay and -.m.a.'y be `fed p through pipesnot shown in the drawing.

`Forvlocking thethree jaws in .their :boatgripping positiomlrprovide fthe bridging ,gomeloclzed in'ithei-groove. A cable A2O may be provid-ed forliftingthe vbridge ..141 5to allow f the jaws to beopened. Y I y Y 5;: .'lv-ojprevent `the yboat* f-roinyrocking Within thejawmsuiftable 'Wed-'ge blocks may be slidl a-blyvlnountedonithe [inner faces ofthe kframe foreoperatien fromabover-by':means`l of :chains oratlieiliilreg flhe .upper ends of the aWs are intcizcennectedfbyinreansfofsa cylinder 21pm-- otedbetW-eenfthe double ,jawsanda connectv ing rod 22 pivoted to the single-jaw 'and havinga fpiston .-23 riding/in the cylinder'. f Suitagbfleyrneafnsg aregprlovideld iin @the tubes 24 .f and 25 foradin-ittingyair yunderi-pressu're JEfthroug'h the l:cylinder lfreni opposite :sides -whereby 1the f vjavvsnfnay'floeapushedapar-t or drawn together respectively 't yshould be liinderstood Athat other' 'suitable means be used ffor i the j ourpose ,of operatingthe j aWs,v` Aand that particularly hy draiilic; means might `loe found ivellaclapted 'forthis purpose.

y IQf centering the' r'floating unit relative to hebogatsubmerged in the .WaterQIeprefcrably BSc buoi-Is 2)6fgconected Withthe .front andthe sternfof the Qboatthroug-h ropes or cables2'?.

` Bnoysof hischanacterareprovidedon submarines-fa @present-time, and-the position Orf@ liciboatfmayzbe ascertained thereby;l i 'My floatififf initd-s :irst .farranged i. relative fto :the

beat sotlrat 'tavoabuoys v:would be confined n tvitl'iifn the uw ellv of i oating V"runt, vvhich `would"iindicatetlnatithe foating unit lies icl-if rectly over the boat and that if sunk in a straight line it Will encircle the boat.

For guiding the Hoat, I provide a number of chains v28, preferably four, one in front andl one in the rear and tvvo on the sides.

These chains are suitably Wound onvvvinches 29 and A,pass through havvse l pipes 30 -passing vertically ,through the float. They have anchorsBl preferably of the mushroom type secured'to their lower ends, and I provide mun-ber fofzbnoys Aitil-iat may be fastenedY to their upperends after a desired amount of filiali-ibas been unreeled.

invention as thus far described operatesas-follo-Ws. As soon as neWs of the which he locates the submarine and then t tows the :Heat .in place sothat thebuoys 26 are confined .Within the well, which indicates that ,the float lies .directly over the :sugbmerged .boat in such a manner that 'fsunk the .float will .encircle `the' boat. Neat .the anchors lare l.dropped .Ybyfunreeling fthe 'iifi'nchesQfQ until fthe anchors reach aplace the saine distance above the bottoni of Uthe sea as the surface of the ioat is above the surface `ofthe sea. When jthe anchors are in thisposi'tion, which is .indicated ,in .full lines k,in rFigure r1, each .chain is sepa-rated from its Winch and ,attached rto :a vbuoy :shown at 32. lNext1-the float zis lowered by letting Water into the pontoons7 care being taken that at this time thegjavvsfareinlopen position `-so xas lto clear the `boat on opposite sides When the Fica-t Vsini-rs. Ail/,Vhile.thefloatwslowly submerges, the l anchors 31 l:keep :sinking Vwith the float funtilfthe surface lofthe :oat reaches the levelfofthe Water,;at Whichtime thefan.- chers are firmly ,inbedded ainthe bottomwogf the sea. As ,the fioat `sinks `still* further, .the buoys 32 take the load ofthe anchor chains so that `the latter are held taut betweentthe buoys andgthereanchors `and vserve as a lguide means for the descending float.l The buoys are V'partially*filled with Water so'that'if the chains are'notftaut enough the Water can be Vblown out With air.A lVt-should be particularly Aobserved that even if the *float should drift slightly; due to a slight drifting lof thebuoys "by the time fit descends-toward the `bottom Iit will `reach thecorreet Vposition due to the fact that the anchors cannot 'nuove "5 under fthe :influence-0f ocean currents.

Thus the float assumesaazp'osition in which it encircles the sunken boat approXimatel-y4 as :shown Fin :Figure 4. dlt Wil-l be 5seen Afrom this figure that as fthe bottom .ofg-thflfflt He forces air into the pontoons ,whereby the reaches the bottomof the water, the points of the jaws are substantially on a level with the bottomoffthe floatf'andthat the operation of lthe jaws will cause Ythe latter to work through the mudand to reach a depth sub-y stantially below'th'efbottom of the float so asto 'be sure to 'get-below the' bottom of the boat evenif'the latter has dugy itself into the rbottom of the sea. f

VNext, the operator causesl'air to kenter into the cylinder 2l whereby the upper ends ofvk Vthe jaws are pulled togetherand the lower ends are broughty together into gripping engagement with the bottom'of theboat to be lifted. VlfVhen the end position is'reached,

the jaws are Vfirmly locked by the bridging member 14. f

Now the operator is ready to lift the boat.

water is driven out of the rsame and whereby ythe combined weight of the float andthe boat is reduced soasto be less than thatl of the amount of water displaced by their combined'volumes when the entire unit will gradually rise tothe surface of they water and thence may be towedv to any place del i rsired, preferably to a drydock.

verse rod 33 suitably supported in the iioaty and formed with opposite threads p 34 on` Vwhich nuts 36 are made rkto ride, the nuts being pivoted to the jaws as shownat 38. The ,rod 34 has 'a central pinion 39 thereon which Y In the form shown yin Figures 6 and 7 ,'a different operating means is provided kfor the jaws lO, the same, comprising a transmeshes with angear wheel 4l adaptedto lbe rotated by any suitable'powery indicated at 42.' It will be seen'that when the gear wheel through the pinionl 39 to the rod 33, which causes the 'nuts 36 to', be moved inwardly or f outwardly, as the case ymay be, for separating or drawing togetherrthe jaws .10. In other respects, the structurey shown in Figures v6 and 7 is similar to ,thatV previously disclosed.

' 'It will thus be seen that with the aid of my apparatus a submerged boat may be readily j and quickly raised without theaid of a diver.y This allows operations to be carried on at greater depths than'was'possible heretofore,

it being well known that human divers cannot go further than about 200 feet below the Ysurface of the waterwhile pontoons can go 500-feet without collapsing.` v

As a precaution against storms, I use two or more air or hydraulic cylinders, placed at each end` of the pontoon diver where the submarine :rises up 0E the mud. These cylinders are fastened to the bottom inside of the pontoon diver and pushfa large square girder in a slide,` acrossfundergthe bottom of the submarine, where it isv the highest out of the mud, throughr another slide in' the opposite side of the pontoon, so asto lift the submarine. f

j IV claim: f

kl. In means for raising a submerged boat, a floatingunit having means for gripping the boat in a single operation, means for lowering and raising the same, operating means s for both of said means disposed outside of said floating unit, and guide means for the funit supported by the same while it is floating and freeing itself automatically asthe unit sinks. e p f j 2.y A device for raising submerged boats comprising a normally oatable unit, means for submerging the unit and for raising it, boat-gripping means carriedby the unit,V guide members for the unit, buoys secured to the upper ends of saidmembers and normally resting on the unit when the latter is floating,

anchors suspended from the lower ends of said members and embedding themselves in the sea bottom during the initial lowering of the unit, whereupon the buoys will support said members when the unit submerges.

SQA device for raising submerged boats comprising a normally floatable unit, means for submerging the unit and for raising it,

41 revolves, rotary motion is [imparted

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