Improvements in Signal Buoys.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 23rd Dec., 1893
CUBILETE
Improvements in Signal Buoys.
I, JAMES BIGLER, a citizen of the United States of America and a resident of
Newburgh, in the County of Orange, and State of New York, Engineer and
Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-.
My invention relates to improvements in automatic sounding buoys of that class
which employ a vertical tube depending from the buoy, proper, and adapted to
contain a column of water, a valved air-inlet tube, and an air-exit tube to convey
the compressed air to a sounding device, the parts being combined to automatically
compress a certain volume of air as the buoy rises and falls by the action of the
waves thereon.
The objects of my present improvement are, first, to simplify the construction of
the mechanism for compressing the air and supplying it to the sounding device, and
thereby permit the size and weight of the buoy to be decreased as compared with
the ordinary buoys in use; to provide means for relieving the buoy of the dragging
weight of the anchoring chain or cable, which permits the buoy to have more
freedom of movement under the action of the waves and which contributes
materially to the efficiency of the buoy as well as serving to prevent it from.
breaking loose from its anchoring devices; and to so construct and connect the
siren horn with the air compressing devices that it will give a louder blast with less
wave-motion and pressure of air.
With these and such other ends in view as pertain to my invention, the first part
of the improvement consists in the combination with a buoy, and a water tube
depending therefrom, provided at its upper end with a fixed diaphragm, of a
vertical air tube fixed within the body of the buoy and having its lower end
opening through the fixed diaphragm in said water-tube, a siren horn fixed to the
upper end of said air-tube and communicating directly therewith, an air-inlet chest
arranged at the upper end of the buoy and having, at its lower end, a pipe
connection that opens into the air-tube below the siren-horn, and an automatic
valve contained within said air-chest and adapted, as the buoy is lifted to the crest
of the wave, to open for the admission of air to the vertical air-tube and to be
closed by the back pressure of compressed air in the tube as the buoy descends,
whereby the air is compressed in the tube by the column of water therein and
forced into the siren horn to give a sounding blast.
The invention further consists in the novelties of construction, and combination
and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and
defined by the claims.
The accompanying drawings, forming a part of this Specification, fully illustrate
my improved sounding buoy, in which-
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the buoy and float, showing the air
compressing and sounding mechanism in elevation.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are enlarged detail views through the valved air chest.
I will now proceed to a detailed description of the preferred embodiment of my
improved sounding buoy, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in
which like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in both figures.
1 is the buoy proper, constructed in the usual manner of metallic plates riveted
or united together in any suitable way.
From the bottom of the buoy depends a vertical water tube 2, which is fastened
rigidly to the buoy, and in the preferred embodiment of my invention this tube
passes vertically and centrally through the buoy, its upper end protruding above

page_text: the body thereof and having an arched support 3 fastened thereto, which upper
part of the tube and the support serve as the means for holding the operative
devices of the air compressing and sounding mechanism.
Within the water tube 2 is fixed a diaphragm or partition plate 4 that is arranged
a suitable distance above the mean water level of the column of water contained in
said tube 2, the lower end of the tube being open, as is usual, for the free ingress
of water.
In the upper part of the tube 2, above the diaphragm 4 therein, is fixed a single
air-tube 5, the lower end of which is secured to and opens through the diaphragm 4
so as to communicate with the chamber between the diaphragm 4 and the mean
water level in the tube 2, and the upper end of said air tube being held and
braced by a strut 6 that is secured within the upper part of the tube 2 at, or
near the points where the arched support 3 is united to the upper end of said
tube 2.
On the upper extremity of said single vertical air tube 5 is secured, in any
preferred way, the siren horn 7 having a coiled or twisted body 8 and the flared
mouth 9, through which horn the air compressed in the tube 5 is forced to give
the warning blast.
At its
10 is the air chest or cylinder which is situated in the upper part of the buoy,
preferably above the fixed strut 6 thereof and secured rigidly thereto.
upper end, this exposed air chest or cylinder is provided with an inlet mouth or
nozzle 11 which is exposed or open for the free rapid ingress of air; and the lower
end of said air chest or cylinder is connected with the single air pipe 5 by means
of an intermediate branch-pipe 12 which has its other end connected to the air-
pipe 5 at a point below the siren horn 7.
Within the air chest or cylinder is provided the regulating valve 14 which is of
any preferred style and is arranged for automatic operation to admit the air from
the cylinder or chest in the air tube as the buoy rises to the crest of the waves, and
which is closed, by the back pressure of compressed air, as the buoy descends due
to the passage of the wave, thus directing the air compressed in the tube 2 and the
tube 5 into the siren horn, to give the warning blast or sound.
The buoy is prevented from turning or rotating on its axis by means of a
rudder 15 which is fixed to the lower side of the buoy and the depending part of
the water-tube 2.
Instead of connecting the anchoring cable 16 directly to the buoy, I employ a
float 17 which has the cable 16 fastened thereto and which in turn is connected to
the buoy by the intermediate chain or cable 18. This float is preferably of the
cylindrical form shown by Figure 1, and at its lower side is fastened a swivelled
eye 19 to which are loosely connected the contiguous ends of chains or cables 16, 18.
The operation of my invention may be briefly described as follows: The rudder
prevents the buoy from rotating and the anchoring cable and floats hold it in
position while allowing the necessary freedom of movement with the action of the
waves. The depending water tube being open, a column of water constantly stands
therein up to the mean water level, and as the buoy rises to the crest of the wave,
the valve is opened to admit air to the tube 5 and the space or chamber between
the mean water level and the diaphragm so that air accumulates in said chamber
while the water falls therein due to the lifting of the buoy. As the buoy descends,
due to the receding wave, the valve is instantly closed to shut off further ingress of
air, so that as the column of water rises in the tube 2, due to the buoy sinking, the
air is compressed below the diaphragm and forced through the tube 5 into the siren
horn, thus giving the warning signal blast.
One of the important features of my improvement is the simplicity and efficiency
of the air compressing and signal mechanism, as I am able to employ a single air
tube instead of three tubes in the old style buoy and at the same time produce a
much louder blast, which is very desirable in a device of this kind, intended
especially for use in foggy weather along the sea coast or in other places to mark
dangerous localities. As the float relieves the buoy of the weight of the anchoring

page_text: chain, it is capable of very free motion under the action of the waves and contributes
to produce a louder blast, and the buoy is also relieved of the great strain of the
heavy waves thereon which, in the old style of buoys, causes the chain to break and
sets the buoy adrift.
The buoy, on the whole, is much simpler and less expensive than the ordinary
buoy, and its size and weight can be materially decreased without impairing its
efficiency in any manner, and it is more reliable in operation as the siren horn
produces a louder blast, with less wave motion, that can be heard a long distance
in foggy weather while under similar conditions the old style buoy could not be
heard at all.
In Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings I have shown in detail the improved form
of air chest which is employed in connection with the buoy and siren horn.
This air chest has a vertical external shell 20, to the upper end of which is
fastened the branch pipe 12 that leads to the single vertical air pipe 5.
Within
this shell 20 is provided an internal chamber 21 closed at its upper end, and said
shell 20 is further divided by suitable walls or partitions into four passages 22, 22,
23, 23. The passages 22 are the inlet passages and they extend from the upper
open receiving end of the shell, down the sides thereof, and beneath the internal
chamber so that air can freely pass into the latter chamber through a valved
opening 24 provided in the bottom thereof; while the other passages 23 extend
from the sides of the chamber 21 down to and open into the neck 25 to which the
branch pipe 12 is fastened. It will be understood that the inlet and egress air
passages are non-communicating, and that the flat passages 22 do not communicate
with the neck 25 of the branch pipe 12. Around the inlet opening 24 in the bottom
of the internal chamber is provided a seat 26 on which rests the ball valve 14; and
when the buoy rises the air flows down the passages 22 and lifts the valve 14 so
that it is free to pass out through the passages 23 and into the pipes 12, 5, but on
the reverse motion of the buoy (its descent on the wave) the air is forced through
the pipes 5, 12, down upon the valve so as to hold the latter closed and thereby
force the air to pass through the pipe 5 into the siren horn to sound the signal.
In the practical construction of my sounding buoy, I prefer to arrange the siren
horn and the air chest wholly within the guard or arched support 3 at the top side
thereof so that the parts are protected by said guard from floating or passing objects
and prevented from sustaining damage thereby. The siren horn preferably has its
lower end screwed into a stand which is fixed to the plate 6 and the coiled body of
said horn partially overhangs the valve chest which is made of smail size and yet
sufficiently large to supply and properly regulate the air to the air-tube 5. The
end of the siren horn terminates within the sides of the guard which are extended
high enough to cover said horn, and thus both the valve chest and siren horn are
compactly and completely disposed within the guard. The upper end of the air
tube 5 is connected directly with the stand in which is secured the shank of the
siren horn, so that the stand serves practically as a continuation of the air pipe
while at the same time it affords a convenient means for rigidly sustaining the siren
horn and the upper end of the air pipe and for attaching said siren horn to the
plate and the buoy.
In the embodiment of my invention shown by Figure 1 the open part or mouth
of the siren horn faces in the same direction that the rudder 15 extends from the
buoy, whereby the blast from the horn issues in the direction in which the wind is
blowing. In the use of the buoy it is found that the rudder will turn or change
the position of the buoy according to the direction from which the wind blows,
and to prevent the wind from blowing into the open mouth of the siren horn, I
arrange the horn in the manner shown and described so that the blast or sound will
issue therefrom in the direction opposite to the quarter from which the wind is
blowing.
The length, and consequently the weight, of the anchoring chain varies according
to the depth of water in which the buoy is immersed, and consequently I find it
important to use floats of such sizes and proportions as to sustain the different

page_text: lengths and weights of anchoring chains used in different depths of water. Thus,
an anchoring chain may be used to anchor the buoy in ten fathoms of water, and a
float is used of such size as to sustain such a chain; but when the anchoring cable
is increased or diminished a corresponding change is made in the size of the
float employed, to suit the change in the weight and length of the anchoring
cable.
To prevent the float 17 from interfering with the vertical movements of the
buoy, I may employ the spacing bar 30, shown by Figure 1, in which case the
chain 18 is dispensed with. The ends of this spacing bar 30 are connected by a
swivel, or other means, to the float and to the buoy, in order to keep the buoy at
the
proper distance from the float and at the same time enable the buoy to move
vertically very freely when acted on by the passing waves.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. The combination with a buoy, and a depending water-tube containing a
diaphragm, of a single fixed air-tube opening through said diaphragm and provided
with a sounding device, and a valved air supply chest connected to said air-tube
below the sounding device, as and for the purpose described.
2. The combination with a buoy, and a depending water tube, of a fixed
diaphragm within said tube above the mean level of the water column therein, a
single air-tube provided at its upper end with a siren-horn, and an air-inlet chest
connected to said air pipe below the siren horn and containing an interior automatic
valve, substantially as and for the purpose described.
3. The combination with a buoy and a depending water-tube containing a
diaphragm above the mean water-level therein, of a single fair-tube fixed at its
lower end and opening through said diaphragm and provided at its upper end with
a siren horn, and a valved air-chest having an exposed inlet mouth and a pipe that
is coupled to the air tube below the siren horn, substantially as described.
4. The combination with a buoy, of a depending tube, having a diaphragm, the
single air tube, the siren horn mounted thereon, and the valve chest connected to
the air tube and provided with the internal chamber having the valve seat, the
valve seated thereon, and the isolated inlet and egress passages communicating
with said internal chamber and having connection, respectively, with air inlet
and exit ports of the valve shell, substantially as and for the purpose described.
5. The combination with a buoy, and a depending water tube containing a
diaphragm, of an air tube connected to said diaphragm, a siren-horn carried by
the air tube, and an automatic air-inlet chest connected to said air tube at a point
between said diaphragm and the siren horn, for the purpose described, substantially
as set forth.
6. The combination of a buoy, the water-tube having its ends extended through
said buoy and provided with the fixed support at its upper end and with a
diaphragm at an intermediate point of its length, an air-tube connected at its
lower end to said diaphragm and stayed at its upper end by the fixed support, the
siren-horn fixed to the upper end of said air-tube, and the valved air-inlet chest
fixed to the support and having a discharge pipe coupled to the air-tube at a
point between the siren-horn and the diaphragm, substantially as aud for the
purpose described.
7. The combination of a buoy, a depending water-tube containing a diaphragm,
a rudder fixed to the buoy and tube on one side thereof, an air tube connected to
said diaphragm, a siren-horn communicating with the air tube and having its open
mouth facing toward the side of the buoy to which the rudder is secured, and a
valved air-chest coupled to the air-tube below the siren horn, substantially as and
for the purpose described.
8. The combination of a buoy, a water tube having its ends extended through
said buoy and provided with a diaphragm, the open hood or guard fixed to the

page_text: upper end of said water-tube, an air-tube connected at its lower end to the
diaphragm, a siren-horn fixed to the upper end of the air-tube and arranged wholly
within the guard, a valved air chest also arranged within the guard and connected
to the air-tube below the sireu-horn, and a rudder fixed to the buoy and water tube
5 on the side toward which faces the open mouth of the siren horn, substantially as
and for the purpose described.
DL: 2nd day of Lune 1902
JAMES BIGLER.