US735595A - Device for locating shipwrecks. - Google Patents

Description

No. 735,595. PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903.

R. SATO. DEVICE FOR LOGATING SHIPWRECKS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1902. RENEWED APR. 6, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented August 4', 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.-

DEVICE FOR LOCATIN'G SHIPWRECKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of letters Patent No. 735,595, dated August 4, 1903. Application filed January 31, 1902. Renewed April 6, 1903. Serial No. 151,412. (No model.)

10 00M whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUJI SATO, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a new and useful Device for Locating Shipwrecks, &c., of which the following is a specification. g

This invention aims to provide a practical and improved device for locating shipwrecks or for designating the position of valuable jetsam or other objects submerged in water at unknown or varying depths.

It comprises a float or buoy, a cable or other strong flexible line of indefinite length connecting the buoy with the vessel or submerged "object, a reel or other apparatus by which this line is conveniently paid out or rewound, and means, asa self-adjusting clamp or check, for automatically meting out the line or cable to accommodate the depth at which the object is submerged, as well as the gravitation thereof and the buoyancyof the float, all of which will be hereinafter explained in detail.

The accompanying drawings are integral herewith as means of illustration, in which I employ like reference characters to designate like or analogous parts in the sevoralfigures. Figure 1 presents a form of my invention in side elevation, showing a cylindrical buoy, an elongated reel from which the cable is antomatically paid out,and a-bank-safe attached to the free end of the cable as if in the act of descending into the water. The water-line is indicated by 0c 00. Fig. 2 shows in plan a simple form of a cable-clamp or spring-check used with my invention Figs. 3 andA. are bottom and top views, respectively, of this check closed and without the cable. Fig. 5

is a sectional elevation of the same check.

Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a plan and a cross-section of a modified form of the said check. Fig. Sis an end elevation of the formof my invention of which Fig. 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 9 is an inverted plan intended to illustrate a protective covering for my reel and its embracing cable. Fig. 10 is a trans verse section of this covering, showing reel containing a socket for holding the modified check shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation of this check-bar, giving detail.

Since clearly there is no limit to the forms which my invention may be made toassume,

Fig. 11 is a plan of a bar it will evidently be sufficient to explain its principles by the elongated horizontally-disposed cylindrical form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 8.

The principal parts of my invention are the above-mentioned float 0r buoy A, line or cable B, reel C, and check D. The reel comprises a spool (designated by C) and a mounting-frame C which frame consists of a bar or strip of metal, hickory, or other suitable material bent somewhat in the form of a rectangle, as shown, and disposed when in use with sides horizontal and ends vertical. This frame thus disposed is secured by its two ends-and upper side or. by flanges of its two ends to the buoy A. In these two ends of the frame are fitted the journals C of the reel. 1 have shown the frame 0* secured to the top of the buoy A as well as at its ends and provided with sockets C as a means of securing to each or either end thereof a flag or other signal and holding it in erect position to better facilitate the locating of the submerged object or to attract the attention of passing vessels. Centrally in the lower side of the frame C and beneath the coil of to admit of the proper passage of the said cable or line Bin performance of its function.

In Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 I have illustrated my simple spring-clamp for checking the downward passage of the line B. This clamp or line-check comprises an integral portion D of the lower part of the reel-frame C which portion D is made witha vertically-disposed longitudinal slot D arranged centrally as to the bottom side of said frame, and having an aperture D in the middle for the line B, but somewhat smaller in diameter than that of theline. In Fig. 2 a section of the line B is seen in position with the slot D opened to admit of its freeinsertion. This illustrates the action of the clamp, which is by the springpressure of the sundered parts. The line B,

as suggested, being larger than'the aperture D holds the parts on both sides of the slot D asunder, which by their elasticity or tendency to return to normal press against the line and retard its descent. It is manifest that if the line were not retarded in its descent by some clamp or checking device it would not cease unreeling when the descend- 'cable' B the line-check D is arranged so as ing object thereto attached reached the bottom, but would continue uncoiling until the said line were all unwound, actuated by its own weight and by the action of the sea against the buoy A. Therefore the function of the check D is to prevent this uncoiling tendency after the wreckage or jetsam has reached its soundings. The form and buoyancy of the lioatA and the spring force of this line-check D are made to accommodate the force of the waves against the sides of the buoy as well as the weight of the descending body-that is to say, the form of the buoy A and the spring force of the check D are such as to hold the line B from further uncoiling by the action of the seas against the surface of the buoy after the object to be h located has reached the bottom, While it ad- 'mits of this object descending by its own weight aided more or less by the vibration of the float by wave action, which causes the float to rise and fall, thereby drawing upon the line B and away from the descending object suspended thereby, whereby the unwinding of the line is facilitated. The line-aperture D is somewhat funnel-shaped with up.- per edges rounded, as best seen in Figs. 4 and 5, to obviate abrasion in the downward passage of the line B.

For recoiliug the line B on the reel C or for hauling up the jettison or Wreckage I would apply a crank to the outer end of each one of the journals C It is a known fact that the gravitation of a submerged object is its weight minus the Weight of the water displaced thereby. The line therefore for va1uable cases of jettison or wreckage, such as bullion, would be provided sufliciently strong to raise the object to which attached. For thus raising the object the combination of buoy and reel would be first taken aboard the vessel making the salvage and the line or cable 13 removed from the check D by severing it, or the spring of the check would be wedged out of compression, so as to admit of the free upward passage of the cable. The object could then be hauled up and shipped aboard. Where the device simply indicates the location of the wreckage to which the line B is secured, the divers would be guided to the vessel by following the line down. In Fig. 1 I have shown an ordinary safe E suspended from the reel 0 to illustrate the double function of my invention, such as for private or other uses, both for locating and hauling up the submerged object.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate another springclamp or line-check of an interchangeable and wheel-like form, and Figs. 11 and 12 show the mountings therefor. As to the forms of line-check which I have herein shown let it be here understood that since the number and variety of such line-checking devices are limitless I anticipate hereby every possible form of line-check for the purposes herein. This check, Figs. 6 and 7, comprises two sets of springs F F, F F, each pair oppositely disposed with relation to the line B, which is placed between them. The springs F sustain at their inner ends or are integral with semi bearings or boxes F (one to each,) which parts are disposed oppositely for the reception and clamping of the intervening line B. The other springs F press against the springs F as supplemental thereto. The opposing half bearings or boxes F3 may mesh into each other laterally, or one may overlap the other, as shown in Fig. 6. These springs FF constitute the spokes, as it were, of a wheel-like or disk-formed device, of which the bearings F and an exterior rim F are the hub and fellies or tire, respectively. This provides an interchangeable line-check foradj usting purposes, since the springs F F can be made of dilferent forces and interchangeable, and, moreover, the entire disk check can be removed from its mounting, Figs. 11 and 12, to be next referred to.

In Figs. 11 and 12, G represents the like integral check-containing part of the frame C as is shown in Figs. 2 to 5 and there marked D, or it may be a separable part from the frame C and fastened thereto in any suitable manner. As illustrated in these Figs. 11 and 12, however, the part G is an integral part of the lower side of the frame 0 and contains a socket G for the reception of the clamp detailed in Figs. 6 and 7. This interchangeable clamp or line-check when inserted in its socket G is held securely therein by a capplate G which is bolted to the socket-bearing bar or central portion of the reel-frame O Suitable perforations are provided, as at G in both the bar G and plate G to let pass the line B to and from its check or clamp.

To protect the line B, I provide a watertight tubular covering or line-case H, Figs. 9 and 10, of which Fig. 9 is an inverted or bottom view and has parts removed to show detail and the within-lying cable 13, and Fig. 10 is a cross-section of same. In these figures the spring-bar forming the check D is shown as if bolted to the inner surface of the case H; but it may be on the outside instead of the inside of the case, if preferred. The several openings provided in the case H for the cable and reel-journals are suitably packed or boxed, as will be understood. This line-protecting case H, however, is quite dispensable for most of the uses to which the invention may be put.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A device of the kind described comprising a buoy, a line of suitable length carried thereby attachable to an object exposed to be submerged, and a line-check carried by the V buoy and arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A device of the kind described comprising a buoy, a line of desirable length connected therewith designed for attachment to an object exposed to submersion, means for automatically paying out said line according to the depth of water into which the object may descend and a line-check carried by the buoy and arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding, substantially as set forth.

3. A device of the kind described comprising a reel with a convenient length of line adapted for fastening to an object exposed to be submerged, abuoy carrying said reel and line, and a line-check carried by the buoy and arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A device of the kind described comprising a reel and line designed for attachment to an object exposed to submersion, a buoy connected therewith, means for .meting out the line in proportion as the object may be come submerged, and a line-check carried by the buoy and arranged to be engaged bythe line when unwinding, substantially as set forth.

5. A device of the kind described comprising a buoy, a reel suspended therefrom, a line wound on said reel attachable to an object exposed to be submerged, and a line-check arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. A device of the kind described comprising a reel with aline of suitable length securable to an object exposed to be submerged, a buoy, a frame for supporting said reel and line from said buoy, and a line-check carried by the buoy and arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. A device of the kind described comprising a buoy, a reel and line of suitable length attachable to an object exposed to be submerged and secured to said buoy, a protective covering for the line on the reel and a line-check carried by the buoy and arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. A device of the-kind described comprising a buoy, a line of suitable length carried thereby attachable to an object exposed to be submerged, and a line-check carried by the buoy and arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding, said line-check comprising an elongated spring-clamp provided with a longitudinal slot the greatest width of which is less than the diameter of the line and through which said line passes and is retarded in its passage; substantially as described.

9. A device of the kind described comprising a buoy, a reel carried thereby, a line wound on said reel attachable to an object exposed to be submerged, and a line-check disposed centrally beneath said reel and arranged to be engaged by the line when unwinding; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RUJI SATO. n s.]

\Vitnesses:

GoRo. HOMMA, A. H. STE. MARIE.

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