US223855A - Half oe his eight to thomas f - Google Patents

Description

L 2 sheetssheen 1. W. H. MALLORY.

. 'Torpedo-Boat.

No. 223,855. Patented Jan. 27, 1880.

A `4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. H. MALLORY. l i Torpedo-Boat. No. 223,855. Patented Jan.' 27, 1880.

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,WILLIAM'E MALLOEY, OE BEIDGEPOET; CONNECTICUT, AssIeNOE OE ONE-l HALE vOE yLuis EIGHT TO THOMAS E. EOWLAND, OENEw YORK.

SPECIFICATION ferrnng part of Letters Patentl No. 223,855, dated January 27,1880. Application nIeJun 2s, 1879. v

To all whom it'mcy concer/1t:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. MALLORY, of Bridgeport, county ofFairtiel( l, State ot Connecticut, have inventeda new'aud useful Im-` provement in Torpedooats, of which thefollowing is a'i'ull', reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

, My invention relates to short-range freexo going torpedoboats, which are intended to be substituted for the Ordin ary torpedoboom carried on. torpedolaunches.' These boats contain within themselves sufficient propulsive power to run a short distance-say ve or six 'I5 hundred feetand are so constructed as to travel through the water in the'direotion iu which they are pointed. By this means it ,bey comes unnecessaryl to run the torpedo-launch as close to the vessel to .he blown uplas 'was zo previouslythe case, because this torpedo, when y started, 'will itself, from its own'power, traverse the distance betw'en the launch and th'evessel to be'blown' up.

lVarious attempts have'bei'orenow been made to accomplish asimilar purpose-'-as, for inl stance, in the Whitehead torpedoes, manufac tu'red'iu England, whiehrun by compressed air, and are provided with an automatic steering apparatus. These torpedoes are, however, complicated and expensive, and when in action do not follow a straight line, but rather a series of curves. v L

My improved torpedoboat, on the contrary, is very simple, its tnotive powerbeing obtained from a series of coiled springs, whereby rotation. around itsown axis,'like a ride-bullet, is obtained, insuring great accuracy of aim.- This revolution, moreover, is the natural result of the motive power, as will be presently 'eX- y 4G plained, and therapidity of revolution is controlledby means of wings or tins. The general construction of my improved torpedo-boat is as'follows: The shell itself consists of a long cigar-shaped vesselsay twelve or fifteen feet in .length and ten inches in diameter; but these Vproportions may be varied. The propelling-power is a centrally-located screw-propeller, which is mounted on aring about the center of .the boat, and is provided 5 with a suitable number of propeller-blades.V

true,'and exact description,

however, being the same This ring is attached to 'one end ot' a coiled spring similar to an ordinary clock-spring, but VOi' course much heavier.

The inner endl of this spiral is-conn'ected with ametallic douhle-connectin g drum, which 5 5 joins it' to the outer end of an adjacent parallel coiled spring similar to the first. There is a series' of these sufficient to give the number of rotations which maybe required to advance the boat the-distance designed. They 6g are so connected together that the inner end of each spring is connected to the outer end i of the next, or vice' versa, so that the'total number of revolutions which can be given to 'A the 'propeller-wheel dependsp'n the number 65 of` turns wliichaeaclrspringis capable of producing multiplied by the number of springs. In this way we getva great capacity for rotation from a series of springs coiled in a cylin- `der having a very small diameter, ,their'eiiech 7o as that of a single spring, one end of which is attached tothe propeller, the other to the boat.l

,It will be plainly seen that a boat so |cone trived must have a tendency to revolve in the opposite direction from that in which the prel peller is moving, owing to the reaction he--f` tween the propeller and the boat. This tend# ency isfutilized in my improved torpedo-.boat

by`allowing the spring to give to the boat .az-8o rotation about its' own axis, and this rotation is controlled by means of 'fins or' wings attached 'to' the lstern of the boat, which' allow it to rotate about one and oneh-alf turn-in advancing its own length, and serve'also as a 8 5 base' fonthe spring the propeller.V Y i e My boat consists, generally, of three sections, connected together bya central tube, the bow or frontend being pro vided with the explosive, 9o the stern or rear end :containing a coil'ot' explOding-wire,'if one is required. The details of my boat will be clearly understood from Vthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lrepresents a general view of my boat suspended in what is known as the gun.

to act against iny rotating 4 ,whichcohsists simply of an opeuftube suffi-V ciently large to allow the boat to lnove 4freely through it.

roo

5 as described, and shown more clearly in Figs'.

2 .and 3, which represent sections through said springs.

-The propeller l shouldpreterably be placed about the middle of the bo'at.

C' represents a coil of wire in a compartiment communicating with the water. This coil of wire C is so arranged that the twist which is naturally given to the wire in uncoilin g is compensated by the rotation of the propelled boat in the opposite direction, so that when the wire is nncoiled to its full length it is practically untwisted, which is not true in the case of .a boatnot` revolving around its own axis, unless some special arrangement is made tocounteract the twist due to the uncoiling of'the wire'. This is continued out of the stern 'of the' boat and forward into the magazineM- in the bow'.`

This magazine is also provided with a tiringpin, N, and may be'fired 'in connection with the wire, or independently, as may be desired.

The springs are arranged in a series of metallic drums. (Shown in-detail in'Fig. 4.) The springs are coiled alternately inside of .the outer ange and outside of the inner-Harige,

the outerspiral or coil of each spring` is connected inside of the outer iiange, while its inner coil is connected outside of the inner tlan ge of the next drinn in the series-iii other words,

3 5 the ,motive power consists of a series ofcoile'dl springs,which are connected together by double drums, (shown in Fig. 4,) the outer end of one .spring being connected to the-inside ot' the drum, while its inner end is connected to `the 4o spindle of the next drum.

It`will thus he seen that each of tliese' drums lcontaining springs has a capacity of revolution independent' of the others; but they are so connected that the' propeller-blad es will re A45 volve as many times as" all the springs are capahle of being wound. l

The propeller is prevented from revolving when the apparatus is notin use by means of a. key, K, which passes through the stationary' 5o part of the boat and through the revolving propeller-rin g.

The springs may either be wound by revolving the propeller by hand, or, the propeller be' ing locked by the hey K, the worm-wheel U, provided with a suitable revolving stem, may be revolved at the other end, thelast drum' S of the series being* connected with a cylinder revolved by said worm-wheel, as shown.

The end compartments are connected by the 6o central tube, T, through which the tiring-wire R may pass, and thestern is provided with blades W, previously described. lhe water is allowed to enter the spring-compartments and the wire-coinpartinents freely; but the 6 5 series of springs are protected from any external injury by the free sheathing V outside,

which cxtendsus far as thc revolving propelleri and are connected in series, as shown, so that.

ring. The propelling-ring is arranged approxiinate'ly in the center of the lateral resistance of the boat, so that there, is no tendency to slue the boat in either direction, which might i be the case if' it were placed at the stern or at any other position.

The 'operation ot' my boat can now be read'-v ilyr understood. The boat B is first placed in the gun G, which is suspended by means of the swivel H at the side or end ofthe launch. The launch having been brought within striking distance, the proper direct-ion is given to the gun and the-key K iswithdrawn from the propeller, the springs having been previously wound. The boat immediately assumes a central position in the gun, and passes freely through it in a direction coincident with its axial line.

By depressing the tube the boat can be caused to strike at any distance under water. i

-After leaving the gun the boat follows a straight line in thedirection in which it started, and assumes a rotation around its .own axis equal to a turn and a half in moving its own length .and opposite to the direction in which the propeller1 is moving, or a rotation approxi- "mately equal to that dueto the fins W.

In striking the vessel the iiringpin- N is driven in, and this may either directly tire the charge `orfit'may be used to make an electrical connection between the wire R and the.` boat, thereby firing the charge. a lt. is` evident that the rotating tins may be used in connection with other means of propulsion than that here 'shown 5 also, that the coiled springs could heused to operate a screwpropeller at the stern and various other modi- 'iications might he made' without interfering with the'principle of my invention.

I do not wish to be'u'nderstood as claiming.'

the application of any spring-power mechanism to a shaft of la boat propeller for the purpose of propulsion; nor do Iclaim the particular spring-power mechanism described, ir- `respective of' its application to the centrallylocated shaft of a ltorpedo-boat.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

l. The combination, in a torpedo-boat, with a centrally-located propeller-wheel, of a springthat is 'to say, with the axis about which the springs are coiled coincident with that of the torpedo-boat,substantially as shown and described, Whereby rotating translatory move- IOO power mechanism arranged axially thereinment is imparted to the boat in a true'rectilinear direction, as herein set forth.

2. In a torpedo-boat' provided with a propellerwheel as the motive power, the hereindescribed spring mechanism, the same consist'ing of a series of coiled springspwhich are connected together by double drums, as shown and described, the outer end of one spring heing connected to the inside of the druni,wliile its innerend is connected to the spindle of the next drum', and the endonc of the series beingconnected with the'propeller-wheel, the several drumsof `said spring mechanism being arranged with their axes coincident with that of the torpedo-boat, substantially as shown and set forth.

3. In a torpedo-boat, the combination, with a central propeller and spring-newer' mechanism to actuate the same, oi' spirally-arranged iins ,permanently attached tothe rear end of the boat, so that rotation around itsaxis may give to the boat when in motion a direction opposite to that of the propeller, thereby maintaining i t on a direct un varying course through the water, substantially as set forth.

V4.. A torpedo-boat provided witha propellerwheel and with 'spirally-arran ged wings astern of the center thereof, as described, permanentij;h attached to thel boat, for the' purpose ofallowingfthe boat to assume a determined rotation in the opposite direction tothatin which the propeller is moving, substantially as described. -j'

5. Atorped'o-boat arranged propeller-wheehand withV spirallyarranged wings permanently attached to the boat, for the purpose1ofal1owing the boat to "assume la determined rotation-in the opposite.

direction to that in whichthe propelleris movin g, substantially as. described.

6. Inl the combinationwitharotarytorpedo-- boat, a firing-wire coiled in the ,same direcprovided with al centrallyl the surface of thesuspending and givingdirection to the torpedo- 5o tion as that in which the torpedo itself is revolved, whereby said wire is delivered 11ntwisted, substantially as described.

7. A torpedo-boat consisting of two independent Iioating sections and a central con- 3g nection,.w.hieh serves to maintain a permanent boat, the said tube 'or gun being adapted to beturned in all directions position vof the launch or vessel from which the tubeand, contained torpedo-boat are suspendedfsubstantially as described.

` WM. H. MALLOR-Y.

- Witnesses:

S. F. SULLIVAN, GEO. W. MIATT.

irrespective oi' the

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