Year: 1885

page_text: I EDGAR EBENEZER MANN of the City of Lawrence, in the County of Essex,
State of Massachusetts, one of the United States of America, Civil Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of my invention is to produce an Automatic Signal Buoy that when
floating upon the water will be oscillated by the waves and at each oscillation will
give forth a sound that can be heard for a great distance.
The invention consists of an outer shell in which are fitted large pipes at the
base that are connected by tapering pipes to other small pipes communicating with
a valve chamber above to which is attached a horn or whistle, the large pipes
being supplied with a suitable quantity of water or other liquid which as the buoy
is oscillated compresses and forces the air contained in the pipes on the then lowest
side up through the air chamber above, thence out through horn or whistle creating
a great sound, while at the same time drawing a proportionate quantity of
atmospheric air into the buoy and pipes on the opposite side.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1, represents a vertical section through the centre of an apparatus embodying
my invention.
Fig. 2, is a longitudinal section on line x, x, fig. 1.
Fig. 3, is a longitudinal section on line z, z.
Fig. 4, is a longitudinal section on line y, y, showing top of valve chamber.
Fig. 5, is a vertical section through the horn and reed, and
Fig. 6 show detail views of reed, strap, plate and thumb screw.
A, represents a shell of Iron made watertight, I prefer to make the bottom of
the shell saucer shaped by which a light draught is obtained and it is easily rocked
by the slightest motion of the surface of the sea.
B, is a hood secured to the upper part of the shell A, by means of a perforated
ring or plate a, (see figs. 1 and 3) that is also fitted with four pipes b, having their
upper ends bent over as shown in fig. 1.
By means of the perforations a', a¹ in ring a, air is admitted to the inside of the
hood B, and then through the pipes b, into the interior of the shell A.
C, is a four-way joint, (shown in section in fig. 1 and in dotted lines in fig. 2)
secured in the centre of the bottom of the shell and to which are attached four
water pipes D, D, D, D, that pass up and through the deck E, to which they are

page_text: firmly secured by means of angle irons, and to the upper ends of the said water
pipes D, D, are secured tapering pipes F, F, the small ends of which are connected
to pipes G, G, that communicate with valve chambers H, H, that are provided on
the bottom with induction valves I, I, and at the top with eduction valves J, J,
that lead to the reed chamber K, it will be seen that although there are four
separate water pipes D, taper pipes F, pipes G, valve chambers H, and eduction
valves J, they all lead to one common chamber K.
L, is a horn (see figs. 1 and 5) secured at its lower end to a plug M, provided
with a conical chamber N, into the lower part of this plug M is screwed a cap P,
carrying the reed; p, being the body of the reed, p¹, the tongue, pl, an adjustable
strap for regulating the note or tone, pl, is a plate bearing on the tongue p', and
against which the thumb screw pl111, has its bearing for clamping the strap in the
desired position (see figs. 5 and 6) the outer periphery of the plug M, is screw
threaded and is screwed into the top of the air chamber K, as shown in fig. 1, the
horn L, passing upward and out through the top of the hood B, where its upper
end is protected by means of stout iron straps or guards Q.
R, is a water supply pipe communicating with one of the tapering pipes F, and
is fitted on the outside of the shell with a screw plug r, the object of this pipe is to
admit the necessary quantity of water to the water pipes D, when the buoy is first
put into operation or to supply an additional quantity should it become desirable.
S, is a bilge pipe extending to the bottom of the shell from which any water
that may accumulate in the shell may be pumped out.
T, is a man-hole in the shell A, so that if necessary a workman can enter to
repair any part or tighten joints of pipes as may be required.
U, is a man-hole in the centre of the deck E, inside of shell A, so that the lower
parts can be reached if required.
To the bottom of the shell on its outward surface is secured a ball and socket or
universal joint, so as to enable the buoy to rock in any direction, V, is the ball and
W, the socket which is firmly secured in position.
To the ball V, is secured a rod formed at its outer end into a loop or eye X, to
which is connected the mooring chain to hold buoy in position, to the bottom part
of the buoy is attached four eye loops at equal distances apart for the attachment
of chains if necessary as shown at Y, Y.
The bottom of the socket W, is to be of such diameter as to allow the buoy free
motion to rock to any desired angle, preferably to an angle of 35°.
The operation is as follows:-
The buoy being moored in the place required and the pipes D, supplied with a
suitable quantity of water or other liquid. As the buoy is rocked by the
undulatory motion of the sea, or in other words the waves, the water in the
pipes fall to the lowest side of pipes D, compressing the air and forcing it upwards
through the valve chamber H, raising up valve J, into reed chamber K, from
thence out and through the horn L, producing a volume of sound that can be heard
a great distance, while on the opposite side a fresh supply of air is drawn into the
pipes F and G, through the valves I, from the interior of the buoy which is kept
supplied by air passing through the holes a', in plate a, between the outside of the
shell A, and inside of the hood B, and thence passes through the pipes b, to the
interior of the shell A, thus it will be seen, at each oscillation of the buoy air
is compressed and forced out of onę series of pipes, at the same time a fresh supply
is drawn into the opposite series of pipes ready to be compressed at the next
oscillation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination of the hood or cover B, forming the upper outer casing with
11
Ethe

page_text: 2. The combination of the hood B, shell A, perforated ring or plate a, and
pipes b, substantially as shown and described.
3. The four-way joint C, water pipes D, D, pipes F and G, connecting with
valve chamber H, in combination with the shell A, substantially as described and
shown.
4. The shell A, and water pipes D, D, in combination with the deck E, for
supporting said pipes D, D, substantially as shown and described.
5. The four-way valve chamber H, provided with induction valves I, I, and
eduction valves J, J, substantially as shown and described.
6. In combination with the shell A, and hood B, the water pipes D, D, pipes F,
and G, valve chamber H, reed chamber K, and horn L substantially as described
and shown.
7. In combination with the horn L, the cap P, reed body p, tongue p¹, adjustable
plate p, and band p¹¹, provided with thumb screw pl, for securing the band on
any part of the reed body to regulate the note or tone substantially as shown and
described.
8. In combination with the shell A, the ball and socket joint V, W, chains Z,
and eyes Y, substantially as shown and for the purposes specified.
9. A floating buoy provided with pipes containing water or other liquid which
when the buoy is rocked compresses air.and forces it through a horn or whistle
and at the same time creates a vacuum for drawing in a fresh supply of air
substantially as shown and described.
10. A shell having a saucer shaped bottom whose diameter greatly exceeds
its height and the upper portion being conically shaped thereby precluding the
possibility of its upsetting and enabling it to be moored in very shallow water
rendering it available for the purposes specified.
Dated this fifteenth day of Santambor 188k