US2015963A - Salvaging equipment - Google Patents

Description

E. L. RADER 2,015,963

SALVAGING EQUIPMENT Filed Feb. 5, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l @ch 1, 1935.. E. L. RADER SALVAGING EQUIPMENT Filed Feb. 5, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 51/5/94 1 L- HQ 054 Patented Oct. 1, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE 6 Claims.

My present invention relates to an improved salvaging equipment for marine vessels, liners, ships, etc. designed especially for the purpose of saving property from sunken or submerged ships.

In carrying out my invention I employ a salvaging tube or shaft as part of the equipment of the ship, which extends from the ships strongroom or vault where valuable comparatively small articles are stored, to the top deck of the ship where the tube is provided with a trap closure or spring-opened twin-door or hatch that is closed and bolted at the inner side of the closure. A buoyant-container for the storage of valuables is housed in the salvaging tube within the ships vault, where the container is readily accessible to authorized ofiicers for storing valuables during the ships passage, and from which the valuables may be withdrawn at the end of the passage.

Means are provided whereby the buoyant container may be floated from the salvaging tube to the waters surface when the ship is sunk, as in the event of a wreck, and thereafter the buoyant container performs the functions of a signal buoy in addition to its functions as a salvaging appliance, for acquainting a rescue ship with the location of the wreck.

In addition to the use of the buoyant container for valuables in the ships vault or store room, I provide non-buoyant containers that are connected with the buoyant-container, and which may be lifted to the deck of the rescue ship by suitable hoisting apparatus, through the salvaging tube for the purpose of recovering their valuable contents.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts for accomplishing the purposes as here broadly stated, as will hereinafter be more fully set forth and claimed. In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my equipment in which the parts are combined and arranged according to one mode I have thus far devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention, but it will be understood that various changes and alterations may be made in the exemplifying structures, within the scope of my claims, without departing from the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a ship indicating by dotted lines the location of the salvaging equipment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a detail, longitudinal, vertical sectional view of that portion of the ship in which is located the salvaging equipment, the salvaging tube and strong room of the ship being shown in section.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, detail sectional view showing the ships vault, and the buoyant container in its normal position.

Figure 4 is an end view of a cable drum, forming part of the equipment, and illustrating a tension brake for the drum that controls the unreeling of the salvage cable.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the closure or hatch at the upper end of the salvaging tube, and the operating means by which the hatch is released, and spring opened.

. Figure 6 is a top plan view of the hatch closure of Fig. 5.

Figure '7 is a detail sectional view at the bottom of a modified form of salvaging tube, showing a portion of the buoyant container, and Figure 8 is a View showing three of the non-buoyant containers, one of which is illustrated as in section, and all connected in a string with the buoyant container.

In order that the general arrangement and location of parts of the equipment may readily be understood I have shown in Figure 1 a portion of a ship or oceanliner S with its several.

decks D and the top deck D indicated in Figure 2. The strong. room of vault V of the ship is provided with a suitable door V and located in the usual position of the ships structure. The salvaging tube T is preferably of cylindrical shape, built into the structure of the ship, and as indicated in Figure 2 the tube extends upwardly from the interior of the vault to and through the top deck D. The lower end of the tube has a lateral adit opening I located within the vault, and the bottom of the tube is provided with openings A, A that are preferably tapered inwardly toward the interior of the tube, for circulation of air, and passage of water in the event that the ship sinks.

The upper end of the tube, above the upper deck D is provided with a twin-hatch or closure in the form of semi-circular doors 2 and 3 that are hinged at 4, exterior of the tube, and provided with overlapping free edges 5 to insure an inaccessible closure for the tube, and unauthorized tampering with the equipment.

The twin hatch doors 2 and 3 are each provided with vent holes 2, which, together with the Vent holes A at the bottom of the tube, provide for ventilation of the tube, and also provide for escape of air from the tube, as well as provide for equalization of water pressure'in the tube when the vessel or ship becomes submerged.

' The spring hatch doors are normally locked in closed position but when the lock is released the twin hatch doors are swung upward and outwardly by springs 6 coiled about the hinges of the doors, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 5.

' The twin hatch-doors are locked at their inner sides by means of a slide bolt 1 extending transversely of the doors and mounted in straps or loops 8 fixed to the under surfaces of the two doors, and of course the bolt extends across the joint at the meeting edges of the doors. At one end of the slide bolt a link 5! ispivoted, and this link is pivotally connected to one arm of a bell crank lever to, which is pivoted at H in brackets of one of the doors. A weighted head l2, which is located at the center of the tube just below the from its locking position.

twin hatch doors, is pivoted at I3 to the longer arm of the bell crank lever, and this operating head is thus suspended in the path of movement of a buoyant container M, which is designed to ascend through the tub, when the ship sinks and water fills the submerged interior portion of the ship. The ascending buoyant container strikes the head l2 and lifts it, thereby swinging the bell crank lever and withdrawing the bolt The twin hatch doors are thus released, and the springs 6 swing the doors open for the passage from the tube of the buoyant container, which latter rises to the surface of the water and performs the functions of a signal buoy for a'rescue ship. 7

The buoyant container is fashioned from light but strong material, and its cylindrical exterior is provided with suitable anti-friction devices, as balls or rollers I l for contact with the interior of the cylindrical salvage tube to facilitate the ascending movement of the container as it passes up through the tube.

The container is formed with an inner shell l5 spaced within the 'outer'shell, and reinforcing partitions I6 between the shells provide air cells l1 that form a jacket surrounding the interior of the container. This jacket may contain air or light gas .to insure the buoyance of the container in order that it will float to the surface of the water after leaving the salvage tube.

The top portion of the container is preferably provided with a gas chamber 18 for confining a suitable lethal gas that is used as a precaution against possible tampering with the tube or with the container. Thus for instance, should burglary be attempted through the top of the container while'it is confined in the bottom of the tube, the release of gas from this chamber would be an efiective means for preventing such operations.

. The buoyant container is designed to contain various valuables that may be stored therein during passage of the ship by the purser, and for this purpose the interior of the inner shell is provided with horizontal partitions I9v forming compartments 2B, and doors 2 l, with the usual combination locks, are provided for each ofthe compartments, the doors being accessible through the adit opening. I in the lower end of the tube, as

indicated in Figures.

. An audible signal, as a bell 22 is mounted on the top of the buoyant container, to be sounded after the container reaches the surface of the water, by the rockingmotion caused by waves, and a lifting frame or spider 23 is secured to the top of the container, over the bell, and provided with a ring 24, for attachment of a hoisting line or cable, when the container is hoisted aboard the rescue ship.

Under normal conditions the buoyant container rests in the bottom of the tube, within the strong room or vault of the ship, where it is readily accessible to authorized parties, as the purser or other ofiicer of the ship, and the container is supported above the floor of the vault or strong room in such position as to insure freedom of movement of a cable 25 that is attached to a ring 26 secured at the bottom of the buoyant container. This cable passes freely down through an eye 2'! in the floor of the strong room, into a drum-chamber or compartment 28 beneath the strong room, and a drum 1 29 is mounted in this compartment with the cable- Wo-und thereon, the inner end of the cable, preferably, being loose from the drum. The cable of course is unwound from the drum when the buoyant container rises through the salvage tube, and 2 the cable is hauled up through the tube and suspended from the buoyant container when the latter performs its functions as a signal buoy on the surface of the water.

The shaft 38 of the drum is journaled in bearings as 3!, and the unreelingof the cable is preferably controlled by a tension brake which operates to retard paying out of the cable after the buoyant container has reached the water-surface; The tension brake applies a light frictional engagement of the brake shoes 32, hinged at 33, to

the brake ring 34 that is mounted on the brake drum. These shoes encircle the brake ring as seen in Figure' l, and a tension bolt35 is passed through holes in the two arms 36 of the shoes. 3

'A tension spring 31 is coiled about the bolt and .the frictional contact of the brake members may also be varied for control of the rotary movement of the drum. 415

The container is made extremely buoyant by the use of light structural material having great strength, and the cells forming the jacket around the interior of the container may be exhausted of their air content to provide a vacuum, or the cells 5 may be filled'with a buoyant gas, as is found desirable. The heavier articles are placed in the lower, water-tight, compartments of the con tainer, and the lighter articlesor valuables are placed in the upper compartments, to insure a low center of gravity and upright position of the container when it floats on the surface of the water. V The buoyancy of the container is sufficient to .unreel and lift the cable as the buoyant container from the drum and lifted free of the ship, the

cable then serving to stable the movement of the 7 buoyant container as it rides on the surface of the 7 water, and to hold it in upright position. Should the container reach the Water surface before the 7 entire cable is unwound, the tension brake onthe, drum provides an anchorage for the cable and the container, and'the buoyant container indicates the location ofthe sunken ship to the rescue ship.

In the modified form of my invention illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, the use of the cable-drum is dispensed with, and the buoyant container and its salvage tube" are utilized for salvaging other and heavier valuable property in addition to the lighter articles stored in the container.

In Figure '7 it will be seen that the container, as [4, is supported adjacent the adit opening I of the tube, and just above an open, flaring end 39 of the tube. The container is supported in its normal position on displaceable trips 40 of angular shape, which are hinged at M in lugs 42 on the exterior of the tube, and the container is supported on the horizontal arm 40, while the upright arm of each trip is provided with a weight as 43. To support the containerthe trips are swung in through slots 44 of the tube-wall and the bottom of the container rests on these in wardly extending trips. When the container is lifted through the tube, as heretofore described, the trips are free to be turned on their hinges or pivots 4|, and swung outside of the tube as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure '7.

The cable 45, which is connected to the container I4 is anchored to the first one, as 46, of three carriers, the other two being designated as 41 and 48. These carriers may be. increased or decreased in numbers, and are designed in size and shape to pass freely through the inlet opening 39 of the tube, and thence up through the tube. The three carriers are connected by cables 49 and 59, and they are to be successively hauled up through the tube to the water surface, by suitable hoisting means on a salvage ship, after the location of the sunken ship has been signalled by the buoyant container I4 performing the functions of a signal.

The carriers are preferably cylindrical in shape and formed with one fixed head and a removable head, which are joined by means of a tie bolt, as indicated in the sectional carrier of Figure 8.

This tie-bolt 5| extends through the longitudinal axis of the carrier, and exterior of the carrier heads the bolt is provided with coupling rings 52 and 53 to which the cables, as 45 and 49 are connected, thus providing a string of carriers with intermediate cables connecting them through the tie-bolts of the carriers.

The fixed head of the cylindrical carrier has a countersunk portion 53 to accommodate the coupling ring 53, and the floor of the strong room or vault may be provided with a groove V2 to ac commodate the cables 49 and 59, and thus permit storing of the carriers in suitable positions so that they may successively be picked up, lifted, and hoisted through the salvage tube T.

The removable head 54 of the carrier, which head is of circular shape, is countersunk below the top of the carrier to permit coiling of the pull cable or hoisting cable 45, 49, or 59, and the removable head is locked in closed position by means of a transversely extending bolt 55 having its ends secured in the wall of the carrier at opposite diametrical points. The underside of the removable head is fashioned with spaced eyes 55 and the locking bolt is passed through these eyes with its ends seated in the wall of the carrier, thereby securely fixing the head in the carrier.

The cable is coiled, as at 5'! in the recess formed by the countersunk head within the carrier, and the formation of the coil is retained by the use of a flexible and resilient guard in the form of a disk 58 having a radial slot 59 to accommodate the cable, and formed with a central depressed cup 60 in which the eye or ring 52 of the tie bolt is enclosed. The resilient and flexible guard 58, it will be understood, holds the coils of cables 49 and 50 in the recesses of the carriers 41 and 48, even though these carriers are shown as resting on their sides. Thus the coils of cables 49 and 59 are retained in position similar to the coil 51 in order that they, like the coil 51 may be unreeled Without danger of tangling.

In Figures 7 and 8 it will be apparent that when the buoyant container I l rises from its supports and the cable 45 is uncoiled to its last turn, the strain will be imposed on the eye 52 of the tie bolt 5i, and then the first carrier 46 will be in position to be hoisted by suitable machinery on a rescue or salvage ship to the waters surface.

The upper end of the cable 45 is detached from the salvaged buoyant container and this end is attached to and may be wound upon a hoisting drum. As the drum is turned the carrier is lifted through the flared guide-opening 39 at the bottom of the tube T, and as the carrier passes the trips 49 these devices are turned from the inner to the outer side of the tube, out of ,the way of succeeding carriers. As soon as the carrier 46 is started on its upward movement the coil of the cable 49 starts unwinding from the carrier 41, and this carrier is eventually lifted from its rest ing place on the floor of the vault and passed upwardly through the salvage tube. Finally the last carrier of the string is lifted to the waters surface and loaded onto the salvage ship.

These carriers are usually stored in a strong room or compartment of the ship directly below the ships vault V, and the carriers are arranged in positions so that they may readily follow one after another, up through the salvage tube during the salvaging operations.

While the buoyant container I4 is designed for storage of valuables of comparatively light weight, the carriers, on the other hand, are designed for storing heavier valuable cargo, such as specie, bullion bars, and other valuables that are heavy in weight, and are usually inaccessible during passage of the ship.

The buoyant-container, after its floats to the surface of the water, provides a signal for the salvage or rescue ship, and the buoyant container is anchored by means of the carriers in the hold of the ship, it being understood that the cables 45, 49 and 59 are of sufficient length so that they may extend from their respective carriers to the waters surface. Thus, after the ship is sunk, the first rescue ship may pick up the buoyant-container with its stored valuables, and replace the container with a suitable buoy attached at the upper end of the cable 45. Then, when the salvage ship arrives, the buoy is picked up and detached from cable 45, the cable is wound upon hoisting mechanism to bring the carrier 46 to the surface. Carrier 46 is then disconnected from cable 49 and the buoy attached at the upper end of this cable to hold the cable 49 until it can be attached to the Windlass or Winding drum on the salvage ship, and the same proceeding is carried out with respect to cables 49 and 59 and the carriers 4'7 and 48.

In this manner it will be apparent that valuables, documents, currency and the like may be recovered from a sunken or submerged ship or liner carrying my salvaging equipment, without the necessity for the services of divers or the use of expensive salvage operations.

Having thus. fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

' 1. In salvaging equipment for a sunken ship, the combination with a buoyant container having a salvage cable attached thereto, of a carrier connected to said cable, said carrier having a countersunk head forming a recess for the coiled cable, and a coil-guard comprising a resilient flexible member overlapping the coil and means for securing said guard to the head. V

2. In a salvaging equipment for a sunken ship, the combination with a buoyant container having a salvaging cable attached thereto, of a carrier having a countersunk head forming a recess for a coil of the cable, a coil-guard overlapping said coil, and means for securing said guard to said head.

3. In a salvaging equipment for a sunken ship, the combination With a buoyant receptacle having a salvaging cable attached thereto, of a pair of carriers, one of said carriers having a tiebolt mounted therein and connected to an end of saidcable, a second cable connected to said tie bolt and connected to the second carrier, each of said carriers having a countersunk head forming a recess for the coiled cable, a coil guard overlappingeach of said coils, and means for securing said guard to a head.

'4. In a carrier for salvaging equipment the combination with an open end receptacle, of a removable, countersunk head and means for securing said head in thereceptacle, a cable attached to the head, said cable being wound in a coil within the recess, a coil guard overlapping said coil, and means for securing said guard to the head.

5. In a carrier for salvaging equipment, the combination with a receptacle having a closed head and an open end, of a countersunk head having bolt eyes and a bolt passed through said eyes and secured in the wall of the receptacle, a tie bolt extending through said heads and a cable attached to said tie-bolt, said cable being wound in a coil in said recess, a resilient flexible guard overlapping said coil and provided with a slot for the cable, said guard having a central cup,

and a coupling eye on the tie bolt located in said 7 cup for securing said guard.

6. In salvaging equipment, the combination with a salvage tube having a top closure confined within the tube and means for automatically opening said closure, of a buoyant container, a pair of L-shaped supports pivoted exterior of the tube and projecting through holes in the tube for supporting the container, a cable connected to the container and a carrier fastened to the cable, and said supports being gravity actuated to swing out of the tube when the buoyant container is floated.

ELISHA L. RADER.

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