US66613A - Improvement in submaeine telegraph gables - Google Patents

Description

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Letters Patent No. 66,613, dated July 9, 1867.

IMPROVEMNT IN SUBMARINB TELEGRAPH CABLES.

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TO `ALL WHOM 1'1 MAY CONCERN:

le it known that we, SIDNEY-E. MORSE and LIVINGSTON MQRSE, of Harrison, in the county of Hudson, Stute of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in .Laying and Raising Submarine Telegrnphic Cables; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ci' this specification, in4 which- Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a portion of a submarine cable, laid with angles or curves at intervals, according to our invention, the bottom o'f the ocean, on whichit is laid, being shown, and also a portion of the surface of the water immediately above.

Figure 2, Sheet 2, is an elevation of an apparatus which `both indicates the position of thecable and enables us to raise it to the surface at pleasure.

Figure 3 is a peripherical View of one oi' the buoys, which are connected or incorporated at suitable intervals with the gnidngwirethat extends from the surface or signal spar-buoy down to the cable.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section thereof.

Figure 5 is a detached View, in red' outline, of a sparkling vane, which may be put on the top ot' the signal or` sign-post spar-buoy.

Figure G, Sheet -3, is a detached view of one oi' the clasps which surround the cable at certain points, and

`of the hook connected with such clasp.

Figure 7 shows the clasp open.

Figure 8 is a transverse section'of the clasp, its hook being also seen in side view.

Figure 9 is a `top View of the hook and clasp.

Figure 10 is an under side view ofthe hook and clasp.

Figure 11, Sheet 4, represents the lifting-buoys S S, a detachable -sinking apparatus vfor sinking it' being shown iu red. i i i Figure 12 shows the lifting-babys S S in the act of descending the guiding-wire.

Figure also shows the lifting-rope Z, after the ring P has engaged the barbs L L.

Figure GX shows the ring P attached to the lifting-rope.

The' ship in fig. 1, from the ditleulty of drawing it otherwise, s represented with its side, instead ot' its stern, towards the observer.

Similar letters of reference denote like parts.

Y Submarine telegrnphc cables have hitherto been laid as nearly as possible in straight lines on the bottom of the Sea, without provision for raising them unbrokento the surface at points between their termini. Consequently, whenever it was desiredV to make repairs in a submarine cable, or to inspect it for any purpose, 4it could be donc only by breaking the cable, and then lifting its parts, or by raising vone of the ends and underrunning the cable until the place which required examination had been reached, it 'not being practicable t0 raise a cable which has been laid in one continuous straight line at' intermediate points, by grappling and lifting it from the bottom ofdcep water, because the cable is incapable of the requisite elongation, and'therefore, unless its strength can endure the strain produced by dragging its ends towards each other, it must part.`

Our invention renders it possible tarnise a submarine cable unbroken at any assigned points on the line, and'it consists in a novel vmethod of laying theV cable, and also inthe device of an apparatusfor raising it at pleasure.

The {rst part of this invention involves the employment cfa vessel which we will call the pilot-vessel, because its usual position will be in advance of the ship that carries and lays the telegraph cable, and which we will call the eable-ship. The pilot-vessel must have-on board a su'lieient number of bueyvs, and a suiiicient length oi' buoy-anchoring rope, both of our peculiar construction. In laying the cable, at any point where it may be intended afterwards to raiseit, the pilot-vessel must stop and lie with its bow pointing at 'right angles to the line-ofthe general 'course of the cable, until the cable-ship comes up, and, laying the telegraphic cable across the stern of the pilot-vessel, shall pass'on,stil1 payingl out the cable, and until time enough shall have been allowed for the c'able again to touch the bottom, and theeat'enarian curves on each side between the stern of the pilot-vessel and the bottom of the sea'shall havebeen fully formed. A few inches of Aseele 3 if desired, he lined with a cushion of cloth, leather, or any suitable material, to protect the cable from injury hy abrasion. 'lhe clasp E is connected with wire rope H (whose upper end terminates in a spaiwbu'oy I) by a hoolntl, which underlies the bottom of the clasp, and is fastened thereto by a pin, K, that is inserted through thc middle leaves of the hinge of said clasp after these leaves are themselves projected through the bottom of 'thc hook, as is most clearly shown in figs. 6 and 10, sheet 3. The shank of` the hook J is provided with barbs or points, L, projecting downwards and outwards, and the wire rope is connected to the shank of the hook by aeonical nut, O, iig. 8, to an eye, in whose pointed end the wire 'is fastened, while the broad end of the mit is screwed upon the end of said shank. Any other convenient mode of connecting the hook J and wire rope I'I may be adopted, which will `enable the lifting-ring, hereinafter mentioned, to run down from the wire and get below the barbs L. The wire rope His made as light as possible, so that the spar-buoy, attached to its upper end, need not vbe very bulky. We have made it, in this example, of several strands,

and have incorporated with them, at -proper intervals, hollow glass spheres, M M, iig. 4, sheet 2, ,hermet` rically sealed, the glass being only suiiiciently thick to 'resist the pressure of the sea to which they will be exposed, and containing air suiiicient to make them -as buoyant as possible. The hollow glass spheres are'onclosed within a wooden or other casing, N, to protect them from fracture, the easing being pointed at each ond to allow the liftingring to slide over it with facility. The strands of the wire rope embrace the casing lengthwise, lying in longitudinal grooves, the places of which, as well as the strands, are indicated in figs. 2

and 3. 'Ihe strands can be kept in place in their grooves by means of bands, which may themselves be sunk in circumferential grooves. ,The glass spheres and casings are to be as numerous as are necessary to make the weight of the wire rope of a specic gravity as near to that of water as is desired, the advantages of this device boing, first, that it enables `ns greatly to reduce the size o f the spar-buoy, and secondly, to use a wirerope of a size and strength barely sufficient to hold the said spar-buoy, and to serve as a guide for the lifting-ring when it is lowered on it to catch upon the barbs. The lifting-ring P, iig. GX, is a stout metallic ring of a size suiiicient to passiover the sparbuoy I and casings N of the wire-rope buoys, and the ends of the barbs L. It is secured to one end of a strongrope, of a length suiiicient to reach from the surface to the bottom of the sea.

When the slack or curved part of the cable is to be raised to the surface forre'pair or for any other purpose, the ring I? is passed over the spar-buoy I, and allowed to run down the wire r'ope I-I till it gets belbw the barbs. On pulling it upwards itjcatches vunder the barbs, and by applying suiiicient power to hoisting the rope attached to it, the slack part ci' the cable to which the clasp E is connected will be raised to the surface. During the operation of hoisting, the vessel from which the lifting-ring was lowered should be moved towards the -line ofthe straight portion ofthe cable, so as to relieve the cable from unnecessary strain. The guiding-wire is connected with the lower end of the spar-buoy by passing it through the small end of a long and tapering conical tube or ferrulc, Q, thc broad end of which passes over and encases the lower end of the buoy. y The small end of this conical tube may be lined or cushioned on the inside with leather or other suitable material, (as seen at R, iigs. 3 and 4,) which is to project beyond theV end, so as to diminish gradually the rigidity and prevent wenn and damage to the wires or wire rope from sudden jerks by the action of the waves. The same device may be used at the ends of the casings which enclse the buoys M. (See iigS. 8 and 4.) The spar-buoy may have a sparkling vane or other device on itwhich'willreadily attract the eye, and such device may have inscribed thereon the degrees of latitude and longitude of its locality. Figure 5 shows such avarie in red. Vessels which sail near the lin of the cable may be'furnislied with rings, P, iig. 6X, and lifting-ropes, and with a Morse or other telegraphicapparatus, so that if occasion arises to send a message to either end ofthe line the cable may be raised and communication may be had with the offices at the ends of the line by temporarily connecting such telegraph 'pparatus with the conducting-wire of the cable. The cable may be raised also at any time for the purpose of giving a fresh impulse to'the electric current, when from any cause the current from the shore ends is weak, using for that purpose a relay instrument according to the method patented by Professor Morse, and often applied to land telegraphic lines. Fig. 1 represents a vessel that has been engaged in raising the cable at the angle ofone of its curves, and it shows also a boat, W, from which a grappling-ring, like P, has been lowered around a guiding-wire for the purpose o frcngaging the barbs,and thereby raising the cable. In raising any of the curved portions of the cable the vessel employed in theoperation should be moved towards the line of the general course ofthe cable, as is shown in the case of the boat W, represented in fig. l. The arrow indicates the direction.

We doinot limit onrselves to making the rope H of wire, as it may be made of other material than metal, nor do we 'coniine ourselves to the use of glass buoys of spherical form, as hollow glass vessels of .other forms may sometimesbe used with advantage.

I Claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

I. lLaying a submarine telegraphic cable at assigned places on the line, overa Boating body, and then after the catenariancurves on. each -side are fully formed, depositing the part of the cable included in these curves on the bottom of the sea at right angles, or at nearly right angles, with the main line, so that'it maybe raised unbroken to the surface from deep water, substantially as described. i

2; The formation'of a floating buoy, whose lower, larger, and more buoyant part shall always be in ldeep and comparatively still water, below the violent action-of the waves, while the upper part, which isito pass through and rise above the waves, shall present a small surface to their destructive power.

The combination of a sliding-ring, a liftingrope, a guidingwire or rope, andahook with a barbed shank, to lift4 a cable or weight in the water, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a sliding-ring, a buoy or buoys, loaded with a weight thatsinks them, a guidingwire, a hook with a. barbed shank, and an apparatus to detach the weight at the proper time from thc buoy o1 buoys, to raise a. cable or other body in the water.

5. We 'also claim the hook J in combination'with the tubular hinged clasp E, substantially as set forth.

6. We also claim the combina-tion of a. rope, H, with hollow'glass vessels fastened and incorporated therein, so as to diminish the specific gravity of said rope, substantially a-s described. f

7. We also claim protecting the `hollow glass vessels by casings of wood or other suitable material, and J passing the strands ofthe rope over tbe casings in grooves made for the purpose, substantially as described.

8. We also claim connecting a. buoyianohoring 4rope or` a guiding-rope with its encased buoys and its floating buoy by cushioned ferrules, with projecting cushions to diminish the liability to wear nt these points from the action of tbe waives on the oating buoy, substantially as described. i The above specification signed by us the 12th day of December, 1866.

SIDNEY E. MQRSE, G. LIVINGSTON MORSE. `Witnesses:

AMASA A. REDFIELD, J. VAN SANTyooRD.

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