IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUBMERGING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles William Siemens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
November 1868.- Partly a communication from abroad by Werner
Siemens, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
1, CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of No. 3, Great George Street, Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUBMERGING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH
CABLES," to be as follows:-
The method of submerging submarine telegraph cables usually employed
consists in coiling the cable in layers or "flakes" into the ship's hold, and in
allowing the same to pass through rings and over pullies, including a break
wheel, to the stern of the vessel and thence into the sea. The retarding
force applied at the break wheel is so regulated by hand as to prevent the
cable from running overboard with undue velocity. This method of coiling
the cable subjects the same to torsional action, changing in degree at each
time of passing from the outer circle or coil of one layer or "flake" of cable
to the inner coil of the succeeding layer, which changes of torsional action
sometimes give rise to irregularities in the operation of paying out or to
"kinks" in the cable.
The present Invention has for its object the obviating of these difficulties,
and consists in one part in winding the cable to be submerged upon a drum in
the hold of the vessel, which drum is, by preference, mounted upon a vertical
spindle, and made to rest upon a series of rollers running upon one or more
circular rails or grooves at the bottom of the ship's hold, or of the water-tight
cistern or tank constructed to receive the cable. The spindle of the drum is

page_text: properly guided in bearings, and is connected by means of wheels, strap,
pullies, or other gearing to a steam engine, the special or principal duty of
which is to impart rotary motion to the cable drum in the proportion as such
propelling force is needed. The drum may moreover be supported laterally
by means of guide pullies to steady it when the ship rolls. The cable passes
from the drum over proper guide rollers into the sea. In order to regulate its
tension, and consequently the speed with which it passes overboard a dyno-
mometer is provided, which may conveniently consist of three or more pullies,
two or more of which are stationary, and one or more moveable, the latter
being weighted or pressed down by springs, weights, or by a weighted piston,
and made to press upon the cable which rests upon the two or more first-
named pullies. The moveable pulley or pullies, which should work through
a considerable range, so as to provide a certain amount of cable under a
determined tension between the heavy reel or drum and the sea, is or are
connected with the regulating valve of the steam engine above referred to,
diminishing the supply of steam as the amount of cable under determined
tension increases, and augmenting the supply of steam when such amount of
cable diminishes. The power of the steam engine can at the same time be
regulated by hand through a separate regulating valve or expansion gear.
A nearly uniform tension of the cable is thus maintained, notwithstanding the
pitching and other irregularity in the motion of the vessel. If the requisite
tension (which is regulated by the weight upon the pulley or pullies) should
exceed the resistance offered by the friction of the cable drum and rollers con-
nected with the same, then the steam will be entirely shut off and the engine
will act as a break. This method of submerging telegraph cables is applicable
with the best advantage to specifically light cables to be submerged in deep seas.
In paying out heavy cables it will be necessary or advisable to pass the same as
usual over a break wheel to be placed between the cable drum and the dyna-
mometer. The, break wheel or one of the dynamometer wheels is provided
with a counter expressing the length of cable passing out in knots or
kilometers. A log is also provided, which is connected by means of elec-
trical step-by-step mechanism, or by gearing to a counter or index on board
ship expressing the rate of motion of the vessel through the water in knots
or kilometers. By comparing the two counters from time to time the amount
of slack can be accurately determined and regulated by simply weighting the
free dynamometer, pulley, or pullies more or less, or in the case where a break
wheel is used, by increasing or decreasing the retarding force supplied. By
providing a differential motion between the wheel turned by the log and
another wheel turned by the brake or other pulley over which the cable passes,

page_text: and in connecting this motion with the throttle valve of the engine driving the
cable drum, it will be possible to regulate the amount of cable paid out by the
motion of the ship through the water, allowing any arbitrary per-centage for
slack. The break is, by preference, made to be self-acting, that is, to adjust
itself automatically to the retarding weight applied by any of the known
methods. Instead of an actual weight I prefer to apply a cylinder and piston
subjected to the pressure of a column of water, the hydrostatic pressure of which
I regulate by pumping water continually into the cylinder to make up for
leakages, allowing the excess to escape through a valve weighted down to the
required degree by a spring. In releasing this spring the retarding force of
the break will also be immediately released. The water overflowing con-
tinually through the weighted valve serves to lubricate the break. The pump
may be worked conveniently by the break wheel itself or by other means.
In paying out a heavy cable I sometimes allow the drum upon which it is
wound to remain stationary, and to uncoil the same by means of a hollow arm
or pendulum, which being held at one extremity is free to rotate round the
coil, in order to conduct the cable from the circumference of the drum to a
point in the continuation of the axis of the same, where it is received upon
a guide pulley, to pass on to the break wheel and thence into the sea. When
this mode of paying out is adopted, I prefer to wind the cable upon the drum
by means of the same hollow arm or pendulum, imparting to the cable a
uniform twist, which is taken out when it is uncoiled; this arm or pendulum
should when used for coiling on board receive a slow reciprocating vertical
motion, so that the cable may wind itself up and down the reel in regular
spirals. In paying out cables the pendulum lever may be dispensed with in
providing the upper flange of the stationary reel or drum with a smooth
rounded edge, over which the cable is drawn on its way to the sheave situated
on deck over the axis of the said reel or drum. When either of the just-
described stationary drum arrangements are applied I prefer to connect a
steam engine to the regulating wheel over which the cable has in these cases
to pass, the action of which engine is regulated by the means described with
reference to the former arrangements.