US521208A - jenkins - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet'l.

J. 8v G. DAY & J. JENKINS.

DIVING APPARATUS.

Patented June 12, 18194.

fi m EE E J (No Model.)

3 Sheets--Sheet 2.

r J. 85 G. DAY & J.'JENKINS.

DIVING APPARATUS.

No. 521,208. Patented June 12, I894.

Fig.3.

Fig.2.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. & G. DAY 8v J. JENKINS. DIVING APPARATUS.

No. 521,208. Patented June 12, 1894.

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A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN DAY, GEORGE DAY, AND JENKIN JENKINS, OF MAESTEG, ENGLAND.

DIVING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 521,208, dated June 12, 1894.

Application filed September 25, 1893- Serial No. 486,444- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J OHN DAY, GEORGE DAY, and JENKIN JENKINS, subjects of the Queen of England, residing at Maesteg,Wales, England, have invented certain'new and useful Improvements in Diving Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to divingapparatus whereby operations may be carried on at much greater depths than is possible with diving dresses and similar apparatus.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a section of a diving apparatus constructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 is a detailed view of the grappling apparatus showing the jaws in their closed position. Fig. 3 is a view of the grappling jaws open. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan showing the under slde of the ballast chamber and detachable ballast, and Fig. 5 is a section showing the preferred construction of ballast detent or fastenings. Figs. 2, 3 and 5 are drawn to a larger scale than that to which Figs. 1 and 4 are drawn.

Like letters represent like parts throughout the-drawings.

A represents a vessel of any suitable shape, construction and material, preferably mild steel plates havinga fiat bottom or otherwise so shaped that if necessary it may take a firm hold upon the ground and provided with' a ballast chamber B in which may be inserted any suitable form of ballast or heavy material to sink the chamber. As it is very desirablefor the occupants of the vessel to be able to disconnect the ballast in case of emergency or to facilitate the raising of the vessel A to the surface, the chamber B may be provided with a door or doors operated from inside the vessel to allow the escape of the ballast when opened. Or several ballast chambers having doors controllable from inside the vessel may be placed about the vessel where required. Perhaps the most efficient plan would be to have one or more solid iron or lead blocks or plates secured by fastenings detachable from inside the vessel as hereinafter described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5; in the case of a single plate covering the whole bottom one or more holes may be formed in it so that it may not ob-' struct the bottom light or window.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 the ballast consists of three heavy metal blocks 7 viz.a central block S and two outer blocks a suitable distance apart as shown and are provided with advantageously four ballastsecuring devices, each of which, as shown in Fig. 5, consists of a T-shaped keyTT which may be supported at its lower end by means of a center point T which rests in a suitable recess formed in a transverse bar or bridgepiece A connecting the two bars A at the parts where these ballast-retaining devices are arranged. The upper part T of each key T T is cylindrical except at its upper end -T which projects into the interior of the chamber A where it is formed square or otherwise suitably adapted for being operated by a spanner or wrench. The partTof the keyT T is tightly packed in ast'uffing-box U screwed or otherwise suitably secured in the floor A and which in the usual manner is provided with a gland U. The bars A are provided with slots A to enable the ends of the part T of the key T T to project out through them and also to enable the said part T to be turned inward so that its ends may be withdrawn from the outside of the bars A and moved into the space between the two said bars A The adjacent edges of the keysTToccupy the positions shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in relation to the weights S S said weights are rigidly secured in position and that when the keys T T are turned so that the outer ends of the parts T thereof become disengaged from the recesses S the weights S S will readily fall out of the chamber B.

If desired the keys '1 T may be connected together so that at one operation they may all be simultaneously released; or they may be connected and operated in pairs.

Eye-bolts or equivalent may be provided on the blocks S S so that should they have previously been detached from the diving apparatus, they may, at a subsequent descent of said diving apparatus, be readily attached to a cable, chain or equivalent by which to raise them to the surface.

The interior of the vessel A may be supplied with air by a pipe 0 which may be carried down inside the chamber if desired or the opening may be made lower down than is shown in Fig. 1; the vitiated air may be withdrawn from the chamber by the pipe D both pipes being connected with suitable pumping apparatus upon the vessel conducting the diving operations. These pipes should be flexibly and suitably connected to the vessel and must be so supported or in themselves sufficiently strong to stand, without collapsing, the pressures to which they may be subjected, so that the pressure inside the vessel A need not exceed something like seventeen pounds on the square inch no matter what the pressure outside may be. Each of these pipes may be fitted with a suitable valve or cockautomatic if desired-and controlled from inside the vessel for the purpose of regulating the air supply or closing the entrance or exit in case of breakage of the tubes or other emergency. The chamber is lowered by any suitable rope or chain E suitably jointed as at E to the vessel A. The chamber is also supplied with any convenient arrangement of door or doors by which access may be had to the interior, the men working this apparatus being inside it so that the vessel must be sufficiently large to accommodate the men and allow room for their movements.

The vessel A is provided at any convenient part with any desired number of windows F through which the occupants of the vessel can see the outside surroundings and has also suitable electric or other search light apparatus G by which light may be thrown upon the surrounding objects. The light apparatus G may be arranged either inside or outside the vessel but preferably inside and if electric light be used the wires for supplying the current may be carried through one of the air pipes or a special conductor may be provided in connection with the cable E. The

light apparatus should be so arranged that it can be turned where required and there should either be more than one of these apparatus or it should be capable of being moved from one part of the vessel to another so as to throw the light wherever required. There should be at least one window in the bottom or reflectors to enable the occupants to see below them; a search light must also be in the bottom or so arranged with refiectorsor oth' erwise as to be capable of casting their light beneath the vessel.

The vessel is provided with any suitable number of grapplers II passing through ballaud-socket joints in the wall of the vessel so that by moving the grappler inside the vessel the outside jaws may be worked as required. The construction of the grappler may be as follows, and will be best understood by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The ball-and-socket joint consists of a suitable socket I preferably formed 1n two parts with packing J between them the outer half being bolted to the wall of the vessel A by the double ended bolts K while the inner half of the socket I is bolted to the first half by the same bolts K each of which s screwed and carries a nut at each end as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. By this means the outer half of the socket is firmly bolted to the wall of the chamber while the inner half is forced tightly upon the packing J thus making a tight joint. The ball L fits closely 1n the socket I and with the assistance of the packing J which by the pressure it sustains is forced tightly upon the ball, makes a tight joint of the socket. The ball'L is hollowed and formed into a stuffing box with a gland L the end of which maybe hexagonal so that it may be screwed up with a spanner and thus make a water-tight joint around the tube H which forms the body of the grappler.

I is a winged bolt which may be screwed tightly against or slightly into the ball L whenever it may be desired to screw or unscrew the gland L, so as to hold the ball L and gland firmly in position during such ad justment. At its end, outside the vessel, the tube H is screwed or otherwise securely fastened to the socket II or the latter may be integral with H which carries the pivoted grappling jaws M each of which is provided with a projecting lug M adapted to engage with an annular groove N formed in the head N of the rod N which passes through the grappler body II and at its inner end N is threaded for the reception of the nut O which maybe turned by handles 0; the end N preferably may have a collar N secured upon it to prevent the rod N from being forced too far outward.

Upon the inner end of the grappler body II are handles H which as shown in Fig. 2 may with advantage be screwed upon II and locked thereon by the long nut P also screwed on to the inner end of H and leaving a hollow space or stuffing box 1? in which suitable packing may be placed so as to make a watertight oint around. the rod N. A hexagonal collar P may be formed upon the nut P which is reduced and extended at P where a collar larQis fixed. Bythis means the nut when .turned by the handles 0 will turn round upon the nut P so as to force the rod N inward or outward as required. When the rod is pulled tremelimitthejawsM are wide open as shown in Fig. 3. To prevent the rod N from turning round independently of the grappler body I-I any convenient device may be employed such as a feather upon the rod working in the nut P or the head N being arranged so as to engage with one or both of the jaws M.

The operation of the grappler is as follows:-By the handles H the tube H can be pulled in or out or turned round its axis as required while by the ball-and-socket joint the handles can be caused to describe a circle or any other required figure so that the jaws can be moved about in any required direction in order to engage with the object outside the vesselA which it is required to grasp. This object would generally be a chain, cable or the like to be secured to the sunken vessel or other object to be raised, the vessel A not being intended to receive objects from the outside when beneath the water but merely to enable the divers to reach objects at great depths below the surface and to secure cables or the like to them by which the objects may afterward be raised. As already explained the jaws M can be opened or closed by means of the handles Ov as required, and a firm grip of the jaws can be secured by applying suffi cient pressure to the handles 0.

Several grapplers H may be placed at suitable intervals around the vessel and if desired at different heights; if the vessel be a large one the grapplers can either be of considerable length or in a smaller vessel they may be of reduced length and will then not interfere with each other. Or again, while one grappler is in use the others may be forced outward to their greatest extent so as not to be in the way. Or again, the grapplers which are not required may when the apparatus is above water be removed from their sockets and the holes plugged up and made water-tight by means of the gland L.

Communication may be established with the attendant vessel by any convenient means preferably by telephone.

Instead of the grapplingjaws described the grappler or thebody H thereof may be fitted 'on its outer end with any suitable form of grips, shears, drills, hooks, or other apparatus required any of which may be operated by suitable mechanism from inside the vessel. Thus shears may be operated substantially in the same manner as the grappler jaws; drills may be operated by connecting them to the spindle N and revolving that by any suitable apparatus inside the chamber. Other apparatus may be operated in the manner found most convenient.

Although the vesselA B in Fig. 4; is shown to be of rectangular form in horizontal section it will readily be understood that it may be cylindrical or of other form.

\Ve claim 1 1. In a diving apparatus, such as described, the combination with the hermetically closed vessel having the ballast chamber, in the bottom provided with fixed projections, of ballast blocks having one edge supportedon said projections and a movable key upon which the opposite edges rest, said key passing through to the inside of the vessel, whereby said blocks may be released by the diver within the vessel; substantially as described.

2. In a diving apparatus, such as described,

the combination with the hermetically closed vessel having the ballast chamber in the bottom provided with fixed projections and the angle irons slotted transversely, secured'beneath the bottom of the vessel, of the ballast blocks having one edge supported on said projections and a T-shaped ballast supporting key havingits head working through the slots in the angle irons and its shank extended through to the inside of the vessel whereby the key may be turned and the ballast released when desired, substantially as described.

3. In a diving apparatus, the combination with the hermetically closed vessel, the tube H passing through a packed bearing in the wall of the vessel, the jaws M pivotally supported on the outer end of the tube and the handle on the inner end of the tube; of the rod N passing through the tube and having the head and annular groove on the outer end cooperating with the jaws and the nut screwing upon the inner end of the rod substantially as described.

4:. Ina diving apparatus, the combination with the hermetically closed vessel the socket secured in the wall thereof and the ball secured in the socket and having an aperture through the same, of the tube passing through the aperture and carrying a tool at the outer hands in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

J GEN DAY. GEORGE DAY. J ENKIN JENKINS. Vvitnesses:

J. JUST HANDCOOK, Notary Public, Oardz'fi.

GEO. P. SUTOHER, Clerk to 111 essrs. Downing ch Handcoclc, Sohot'tors, Oardifi.

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