A NEW OR IMPROVED FLOATING LIGHTHOUSE AND TELEGRAPH AND LIFE
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Benjamin Stoner, of No. 12, Buckingham
Strect, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
" A NEW OR IMPROVED FLOATING LIGHTHOUSE AND TELEGRAPH AND LIFE
Scaled the 15th September 1871, and dated the 18th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Benjamin Stoner
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th March 1871.
I, JOHN BENJAMIN STONER, of No. 12, Buckingham Street, Strand, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED FLOATING LIGHTHOUSE AND TELEGRAPH
AND LIFE BOAT STATION," to be as follows:-
•
This Invention consists of an improved floating structure intended to
be used at sea for the purpose of a lighthouse, telegraph station, life
boat station, floating refuge for saving life from wrecks, or other similar
or analogous purposes. It may be anchored in any depth of water, and
is constructed and fitted in the manner herein-after described..

page_text: For deep water, in its general form the structure comprises a buoy or
float carrying an elevated lighthouse surmounted by a signal shaft or
column, at the top of which revolving lights or other signals may be fitted.
I form the float or buoy with an inner and outer cylinder, the latter
varying from ten to fifty fect in diameter, rising from three to five feet
above the water line, and dipping from ten to fifteen feet below the water
line, the former or inner cylinder being from three to eight fect in
diameter and rising to the floor of the lighthouse above, or from fifteen
to twenty feet above the water line and dipping from twenty to fifty feet
(more or less) below the water line, having a centre tube or pipe running
through its entire length open at top and bottom, the space between
them being filled with water. The outer cylinder or float is made in
four sections, each distinct from the other, and respectively water-tight.
The space between the outer and inner cylinder is closed at the top by a
flat cone or dome, and at the bottom by an inverted cone with plane,
concave, or convex sides. The outside of this portion of the structure is
fitted with several ladders having festoons of chains between them for
enabling persons in the water to support themselves or to ascend on to
the roof of the float or buoy, and thence up into the lighthouse above.
The lighthouse is supported from the top of the buoy or float partly by
means of the inner cylinder and partly by light iron columns and stays,
and is divided into compartments furnished and fitted as may be required.
It is covered at the top by a flat roof or deck, the sides of which are
protected by a bulwark. Openings are formed in the floor and roof for
access thereto, ladders or steps being provided where such openings
occur. The centre tube in the inner cylinder is provided for establishing
a connection between the Lighthouse and the water at the bottom of the
inner cylinder; this cylinder when filled with water gives the necessary
vertical stability or acts as ballast to the structure; it is fitted with a
valve and force pump at the bottom so that the water can be pumped
out when required.

page_text: from two to eight feet in depth. The diameter and buoyancy of this
circular float will be determined by the height and the other require-
ments of the lighthouse. This circular float is bridged across by a
strong skeleton framework, to the centre of which the framing for the
ballast is securely attached by a universal joint. To the upper portion
of this framing strong posts or stays are fixed for the purpose of sup-
porting the telegraph station and lighthouse above. By this arrange-
ment the motion given to the float by the waves but slightly affects the
steadiness of the structure above.
In order to protect the slack of the telegraph cable under water from
being destroyed or damaged by the ebb and flow of tides, the set of
streams, or the force of winds acting upon and drifting or shifting the
structure, I fix a wheel inside the telegraph station of from six to twelve
fect diameter. On the shaft which carrics this wheel I attach a drum or
wheel of from two to four feet diameter. Also on the same shaft I fix a
small wheel or pulley of twelve inches to fifteen inches diameter (more
or less). After passing the free end of the cable through the centre tube
of the structure I attach the said cable at about fifty feet from its said
end to the rim of the large wheel, thence it is carried to and passed once
round the small wheel or pulley. It is then passed over two pullies
about twelve to eighteen inches apart, fixed to the ceiling or upper part
of the office in any suitable place. Between the two latter pullies the
cable is allowed some twenty feet of slack (more or less). From the
second or outer pulley the cable is carried to the telegraph desk where it
is properly secured.
On the periphery of the middle-sized drum or wheel before described
I fix one end of a rope or chain varying in length according to circum-
stances, and to the other end thereof a weight is attached. The object
of this arrangement is that the said weight at the end of the chain
operating upon the wheel in the opposite direction to the strain of the
cable thereon shall keep an equal strain upon the cable and thus prevent
the accumulation of slack at the bottom of the water, and thus avoid
injury to the cable through kinking or chafing on the hard at the bottom
of the water.
The object of the arrangement of the small pulley on the wheel shaft
and the two pulleys fixed in the office independently of the wheel is that
the slack cable between the said two pullies last mentioned may ·
.be

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Fatent,
filed by the said John Benjamin Stoner in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 18th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BENJAMIN STONER, of No. 12, Buckingham Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Benjamin Stoner, Her special licence
that I, the said John Benjamin Stoner, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Benjamin Stoner, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
FLOATING LIGHTHOUSE AND TELEGRAPH AND LIFE BOAT STATION," upon tho
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Benjamin Stoner, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately.
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Benjamin Stoner, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
This Invention consists of an improved floating structure intended
to be used for the purpose of a lighthouse, telegraph station, life boat
station, floating refuge for saving life from wrecks, or other similar or
analogous purposes.

page_text: When to be moored in deep water, my improved floating structure in
its general arrangements comprises a buoy or float carrying an elevated
lighthouse, which includes telegraph and other offices and apartments,
and is herein-after called "the office;" it is surmounted by a signal shaft
or column, at the top of which revolving lights or other signals may be
displayed. I form the buoy or float with an inner and outer cylinder,
the latter varying from ten to fifty feet in diameter, rising at its outer
edge from three to five feet above the water line, and at its junction
with the inner cylinder from seven to fifteen feet, at the same time
dipping from ten to fifteen feet below the water line. The former or
inner cylinder being from three to eight feet in diameter, and rising to
the under side of the floor of the office above, or from fifteen to twenty
feet above the water line, and dipping from twenty to one hundred
feet (more or less) below the water line, and having a centre tube or
pipe running through its entire length for the purpose of passing the
telegraph cable through to the office. The office rests upon the upper
end of the said inner cylinder, and is further supported and secured by
light iron stays from the top of the float. It may be divided into com-
partments and be furnished and fitted as required, ingress thereto and
egress therefrom being had through an opening in the centre of the roof
by means of a ladder or stairs therefrom to the floor below. The inner
cylinder, when filled with water, gives the necessary vertical stability or
acts as ballast to the structure.
For use in channels and shallow waters generally, I dispense with the
inner and outer cylinders before mentioned, and use a skeleton frame-
work under water for the purpose of carrying the requisite ballast, the
length of which framework is regulated according to the depth of water
where the station or float is to be moored. In this case I form the buoy
or float in the shape of a hollow ring varying, say, from fifty to one
hundred feet in diameter, the tube being, say, from three to twelve feet
wide by from two to eight feet in depth, it being understood that all
these dimensions may be considerably exceeded or even diminished
according to circumstances. The dimensions and buoyancy of the tube
will be determined by the height and the other requirements of the
office. This circular float is bridged across by a strong skeleton frame-
work, to the centre of which a vertical cylinder or tube is attached by a
universal joint or by the well-known gimbal arrangement. This cylinder
or tube at its lower end is connected with the framework which carries

page_text: upper portion of the said cylinder c¹ free from water, and thereby
becoming a part of the buoy or float. Through this part c¹ ingress and
egress is had between the office and the interior of the buoy a which is
intended to be used for stowing coals and general stores. d is the centre
tube or pipe through which the telegraph cable e³ is passed to the office
by means of the endless chain or wire rope e operated by the windlass e¹;
e is a pulley for passing the said endless chain over the office roof, and
keeping it clear of the structure, as shown; e* shews a link fixed to the
endless chain e; to this link the telegraph cable is temporarily attached
when it is required to bring the same into the office, or vice versa; f¹ is
a weight attached to the valve ƒ, so as to hold the said valve securely in
its recess when closed; g is a rope by which the valvef is held open
whilst the cylinder c is filling with water; h is a belaying pin, to which
the ends of the rope g are secured; i is the lantern raised to the top of
the upright framing ; by the rope , which latter passes over the
pulley at the top of the said framing, and is secured to the cleat ³;
kare guy or stay ropes for supporting and steadying the lantern
framingj; are davits for swinging life boats; m shows the iron railing
around the roof of the office; n is a ladder fixed to the outside of the
structure leading from the surface of the water to the roof of the office;
o' are tubes or pipes through which the water is pumped out of the several
compartments of the buoy a in case of leakage; p, are mooring chains
formed of iron rods in long lengths, and attached by the ring p² to the
buoy a; p¹ are water-tight buoys, one to each link of the said mooring
chain, with floating capacity nearly sufficient to float one of the said
lengths of rod, thus taking the weight and strain of the said mooring
chain from the main buoy a; q shews a side view of a door opening into
the office; shews the dead lights for lighting the office; and s is the
chain fixed around the outside of the buoy a for persons in the water to
hold on by until rescued, &c.
8
In Figs. 4, 5, and 6, A shews the main circular buoy divided into
four water-tight compartments by the partitions A'. This buoy is also
intended to be the general store room. B is the office; C shews a hollow
frustrum of a cone attached to the bridge S, and secured and stayed by
the braces C¹. This conical casing is for the purpose of protecting the
ballast D against currents, &c. D is a tube splayed out towards its
bottom end, passing from the office, which is built upon it down-
wards for a length regulated by the depth of water, and containing the
ballast D D are strong iron braces which support and stay the office B

page_text: from the splayed tube D; H is a ring surrounding the tube D; J shews
four journals, the ends of two or a pair of which are firmly fixed to
the metal bearing H', which is firmly attached to the bottom of the
bridge S outside the ring H, and the ends of the other two journals are
firmly fixed to the tube D inside the ring H. The opposite ends of these
four journals pass through the ring H, thus forming the well-known
gimbal arrangement for the purpose, with the aid of the ballast D²; of
keeping the office always in a horizontal position. K are stays for
supporting the framing T; L are four davits for swinging boats on;
M shows the railing around the roof of the office; N is a ladder passing
through the tube Q into the buoy A; O are stairs leading from the
bridge S to the top of the tube Q; P are bridges between the tops of
the tubes Q and the platform P². These bridges are jointed at one end
to the tubes Q, their other ends being free to move on the rollers P¹ in
obedience to the motion of the buoy A; Q'arc hatches or covers to the
tubes Q; R are the dead lights on the upper part of the buoy A; S are
two bridges forming a cross on the buoy A, as shown; T is the upright
framing for carrying the signals; U is the telegraph cable passed three
or more times around the skeleton wheel U₁, and then firmly secured to
the edge of the rim of the said wheel; it is then passed over a small
drum U, and thence over a traveller U2 attached to the ceiling of the
office. Here some 15 feet of slack cable is allowed to hang free, when
the said cable is firmly secured to the ceiling of the office near to the
traveller U2, say at U³, leaving the end of the cable free to be carried
to the battery, or be otherwise disposed of as may be required. The
object of this arrangement or apparatus is to take up the slack of the
cable, and thus prevent its forming a coil and kinking at the bottom
of the water, or chafing on the hard, and at the same time to avoid all
strain or motion in that portion of the cable between U³ and the battery.
The action of this apparatus is as follows, see Fig. 6 :—The wheel U' ;
is, say, 27 feet in circumference, hence three coils of cable around it
will measure 81 feet. The length of the tube G is, say, 22 fect, and
that of the weight F 4 fect (this weight is suspended from the drum or
wheel E¹ by the chain or rope E), thus leaving the play of the said
weight F in the tube G at 18 feet. The drum E¹ has a circumference of a
6 feet, therefore whilst the wheel U₁ by the flow of the tide, the drifting
of the buoy, &c., makes three revolutions, and gives out the S1 fect of
cable wound upon it, the drum E' makes the same number of revo-
lutions, and thereby winds up the weight F 18 feet, which is much more

page_text: JOHN B. STONER. (L.S.)