AN IMPROVED AUTOMATIC SIGNAL BUOY
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of-53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED AUTOMATIC SIGNAL BUOY."-A communication from
abroad by John Mervin Courtenay, of Cornwall on the Hudson,
in the County of Orange, and State of New York, United States of
Amonion
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 30th November 1875, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 30th November 1875, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention of "AN IMPROVED
AUTOMATIC SIGNAL BUOY," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant
) unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters

page_text: Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has
been communicated to me from abroad by John Mervin Courtenay,
of Cornwall on the Hudson, in the County of Orange, and State of New
York, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
and to the letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to construct an improved buoy, in
which the power of the waves is utilized to produce automatic signals
for indicating the position of the buoy in stormy and foggy weather;
and the Invention consists of a buoy that is anchored in the usual
manner, and supported in fixed position by means of a horizontal
steadying disk attached by stays or braces at a depth below the influence
of the surface waves.
A central tube or well admits the water to rise
with the waves, and compress the air at the upper part of the well so as
to raise a weighted valve and sound a whistle or other signalling
device.
Air tubes and ball valves near the top of the well admits the air
when the water is receding in the well. Projecting flanges run longi-
tudinally along the outside of the buoy down to the steadying disk for
preventing the turning of the buoy in the water.
The accompanying Drawing represents a vertical central section of
the improved automatic signal buoy.
In the Drawing A represents a buoy, which is constructed in the
customary manner of plate iron and stiffened by suitable interior braces.
To the lower part of the buoy are attached downwardly extending stays
or braces B that are rivetted at their lowermost ends to a horizontal
steadying disk C of about the same diameter as the buoy at its point of
greatest width. The disk C is arranged at such depth below the surface
of the water that the wave action at the surface will exert no influence
thercon, and retain thereby the buoy in a more or less fixed position,
whether the surface of the water be in a disturbed or quiet condition.
The buoy, instead of floating up and down with the waves will assume

page_text: a fixed or rigid position towards them, being held by the disk in steady
position, so that the waves will rise or fall above or below the point to
which the buoy is commonly submerged in quiet water. A central tube
or well D extends throughout the whole length of the buoy, being open
at the bottom to allow the water to rise and fall therein in connection
with the rising and falling of the waves at the outside of the buoy.
The upper end of the well D is made of conical shape, and connected
by a weighted valve E sliding in a guide casing and air chambers a with
a whistle, gong, syren, or other sounding device F at the apex or top of
the buoy. The valve E is adjusted by means of weights or springs in
such a manner that a certain pressure of air in the interior of the well
I only will raise the same and sound the whistle.
The waves produced by the undulations of the tides or by stormy
weather cause the water to be forced with considerable power in an
upward direction in the well, so that the difference between its extreme
height and depth will be increased, and thereby the air at the upper
part compressed to such an extent that the weighted valve is raised
and the whistle sounded in a powerful manner, each time sounding at
intervals and being equal to the duration of the upward motion of the
wave.
The conical top part of the well D is also provided with inclined
tubes G, which extend outside of the buoy, elastic ball valves g being
arranged at the outer ends of the tubos so as to close them by the
compression of the air and open them by the falling of the water in
the well for admitting instantly air to the interior; thus the signals
are given automatically at intervals corresponding to the receding action
of the waves.
From the point of largest width of the buoy, up to which the same
is usually submerged in quiet water, run in downward direction to the
steadying disk four or more T shaped ribs H, which are suitably riveted
to the same, and braced below the bottom of the buoy in suitable
manner. These ribs or flanges gradually approach each other, and are
jointed above the disk to the link, to which the anchor chain is swivelled.
The object of the ribs or flanges is to steady the buoy against the
rotating around its axis by the currents of the tides, which exert a very
injurious action on the swivel joint and tend to cut the same, exposing
the buoy to the danger of getting away from the anchor. The lower

page_text: part of the flanges being in perfectly still water resists the influence of
the current on the upper part, which resistance is further assisted by
the rudder-like action of the flanges in the direction of the current.
The steady position of the buoy as regards the action of waves and
currents is thus secured, and thereby the buoy enabled to give the
automatic signals in a perfectly reliable manner when the water is
disturbed to a certain degree.
The dangers of the coast in foggy and stormy weather are greatly
reduced by the use of automatic signal buoys, which require only
revision from time to time, any leak water being pumped out by means 1
of a pipe extending to the bottom of the buoy, and an air hole with
tightly closing cover.
As the steadying disk prevents the up-and-down motion of the buoy
with the waves the anchoring devices are not subject to the usual stress
or strain, and may therefore be made tighter, and the buoy anchored 1
with perfect security in any depth of water. The buoy can thus be
used for anchoring telegraph cables with great advantage in mid-ocean,
as no stress except that caused by float or current can be exerted on the
anchoring cable.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner 2
of performing the same, I declare that what I claim as new and desire
to secure by Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination of a buoy by supporting braces or straps with
a horizontal steadying disk placed at a depth below the wave motion at
the surface of the water, substantially in the manner set forth.
2nd. A buoy provided with a central tube or well extending through-
out its length, and being open at the bottom to admit the water to
rise and fall with the level of the outside waves, substantially as set
forth.
2
3rd. The combination of the interior well of the buoy with a weighted 3
slide valve and sounding device at the top of the buoy to produce
signals when the pressure of the air in the well is sufficient to raise the
valve, substantially in the manner set forth.
4th. The combination of the well by inclined air tubes with ball
valves at the outside of the buoy to admit air to the interior of the well 8
when the water is receding in the same, substantially as specified.

page_text: 5th. A buoy provided with outer longitudinal steadying flanges or
ribs that are jointed near the steadying disk to enable the buoy to
resist the turning motion of the currents, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.