Patent GB-485853-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to depth-regulating apparatus or devices for submarine mines and other submerged objects
IPC: F42B22/12
Filed: 1936-08-21
Abstract: 485,853. Submarine mines. TAILLEFERRE, H. E. Aug. 21, 1936, No. 20203. [Class 9 (ii)] Relates to devices for regulating the depth of anchored submerged objects such as mines, of the kind in which the energy needed for the regulation is accumulated by means of an element which is rotated by currents of the fluid in which the object is immersed. According to the invention, additional energy is stored in a fluid accumulator when the mine rises by means of mechanism driven by the anchoring cable, which energy is employed to wind up the cable to lower the mine when the level of the liquid falls. In one construction, a sphere 1, Fig. 2, having blades which are acted upon by the currents, is rotatably mounted on the mine and is fitted with a sleeve 7 carrying a pinion 6. A vertical diametral spindle 4, carrying the other parts o f the apparatus, passes into the sphere and is fitted with a laterally extending fin so that it does not rotate with the sphere. The pinion 6 meshes with a pinion 8 on a crank-shaft 9. This shaft, when the sphere rotates, drives a pump 14 which pumps fluid 16 from the base of the sphere into the chamber 17 of a pressure accumulator. The ends of the accumulator are closed by pistons 19 which are acted upon by springs 20, 21. The anchoring cable is wound around a drum 28 on a shaft 28a. The shaft carries a pinion 41 which meshes with a pinion 42 mounted, with a free-wheel connection, on the crank-shaft 9. The shaft 28a is constantly urged in the cable winding direction by a rack 26, Fig. 3, which meshes with a pinion 27 having a free-wheel connection with the shaft. The rack is formed on a piston rod 25 the spring-controlled piston of which works in a cylinder 24 to which fluid from the accumulator is supplied. The rotation of the shaft by the rack is prevented by a worm 30 which meshes with a worm wheel 29 on the shaft. As shown in Fig. 4, the shaft of the worm is fitted with a turbine wheel 31 upon which fluid from the accumulator can impinge by means of oppositely directed nozzles 39, 39<1>. The fluid is supplied to the nozzles by the conduit 40 of a valve 36<1> which, by means of toothed sectors 32, is controlled by a deformable member 44, the interior of which is in communication with the fluid in which the mine is immersed. By means of this turbine device the shaft 28a is allowed to rotate, thus permitting the pump to supply fluid to the accumulator when the mine rises during a rising tide and to permit the fluid to effect the winding up of the cable when the tide is falling. In a modification, a reversible pump is geared by two sets of gearing, each having a free-wheel device, to the winding drum. The valve which controls the function of the pump is actuated by a deformable member such as the member 44, Fig. 4. In operation, the pump is driven through one set of gearing to supply fluid to the accumulator when the mine is rising, and serves to drive the drum through the other set of gearing when the level of the surrounding fluid is falling. In this latter case the pump is driven by the fluid supplied by the accumulator. In order to protect the member 44 from excessive pressure when the mine sinks to the bottom on being laid, this member may be housed in a chamber 44a, Fig. 5, having a bottom plate 49 which is held up by a piece of salt 50. The salt bears on a washer 48 and slowly dissolves, eventually releasing the plate 49 and allowing the surrounding fluid which leaks past the washer to reach the member 44. The latter when subjected to pressure actuates, by means of a rod 49a a further deformable member 47 which transmits fluid to a piston for actuating the sector 32 associated with the turbine. In a modification the base of the member 44 is only partly filled with oil and is in direct contact with the surrounding fluid and carries a small piston working in a cylinder which communicates with the mechanism regulating the depth of the mine.