IMPROVEMENTS IN DAS SIGNATO OTTIMANED LIGHTFANSES вор AND LICUM SUIDO
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Hale Holmes, of Mortlake, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DAS SIGNATO OTTIMANED
LIGHTFANSES
вор
AND LICUM SUIDO "
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Hale Holmes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th March 1871.
I, FREDERICK HALE HOLMES, of Mortlake, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FOG SIGNALS SUITABLE FOR LIGHTHOUSES AND LIGHT SHIPS," to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to fog signals suitable for lighthouses and light..
ships, and has for its object the affording facility for placing the signal-
ling apparatus at any distance from the air-forcing pumps, and working
it in any position, whereby the great inconvenience at present attendant
on the use of these signals by reason of their intense noise, disturbing
the rest of the light keepers, is obviated without the necessity for a
special attendant.

page_text: 86
According to this Invention the apparatus is rendered perfectly
automatic," that is to say, as soon as the air is compressed in the air
chamber by any air-pump, bellows, or other well-known means of com-
pressing air, a valve is suddenly opened, and the horn, trumpet, or
whistle continues to sound until the pressure in the air chamber has
diminished to a certain extent, when the valve is as suddenly closed,
and the sound ceases until the compressed air again arrives at its normal
pressure in the air chamber, when the sound is repeated, and so on, so
long as the supply of air is continued.
This "automatic" apparatus may be fixed at any distance and in any
direction from the air pump or bellows, the only connection between
the two being the pipe which conveys the air from the pump or bellows
to the automatic apparatus. The automatic apparatus can be set to
sound at any intervals of time, such, for example, as every quarter of a
minute or half minute. The opening and shutting of the valve is done
by a loaded piston and flexible diaphragm which is raised by the com-
pressed air as soon as it arrives at its normal pressure, and throws over
a weight fixed at the end of a bob or tipping lever, which, falling over
suddenly, opens the valve, and the valve remains open till the pressure
in the air chamber is so much reduced that the weight of the loaded
piston is sufficient to cause the weight at the end of the tipping lever
to return to its former position, and in so doing close the valve. The
intervals of time between the sounding are regulated by the weight at
the end of the tipping lever, and the capacity of the air chamber when
the supply of air is uniform.
. Such an automatic apparatus may be made to sound several horns at
the same time, or horns or trumpets and whistles together. When
only one horn or trumpet is employed and the sound is required to be
directed to all parts of the horizon another or second loaded piston is
employed, which as it rises acts on a lever carrying at its extremity
a ratchet and pall, the pall taking into a toothed wheel fixed on the
upright shaft of the trumpet or horn, and as the piston rises the lever
moves the mouth of the horn or trumpet horizontally through a certain
number of degrees, but when the pressure of the air in the air chamber
has been diminished by the sounding then this piston descends and the
pall takes up a new position in the toothed wheel ready to re-act as
before.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Hale Holmes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
HALE HOLMES,. of Mortlake, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand. eight hundred and seventy-one,. in the 34th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,. give
and grant unto me, the. said Frederick Hale Holmes, Her special
License that I,, the said Frederick Hale Holmes, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Hale
Holmes, my executors, administrators, or 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN. FOG SIGNALS SUITABLE FOR LIGHTHOUSES AND LIGHT SHIPS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Hale
Holmes, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Frederick Hale Holmes, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon,. that is to
say :-
My said Invention relates to fog signals suitable for lighthouses and
light ships, and has for its object the affording facility for working the
signalling apparatus at any distance from the air-forcing pumps, and in
any position without the necessity for a special attendant, whereby the
great inconvenience at present attendant on the use of these signals in

page_text: close proximity to the lighthouse or ship by reason of their intense noise
disturbing the rest of the light keepers is obviated.
"
According to my Invention the apparatus is rendered perfectly
automatic," that is to say, as soon as the air is sufficiently compressed
in the air chamber by any air pump, bellows, or other well-known means
of compressing air, a valve is suddenly opened and the horn, trumpet,
or whistle continues to sound until the pressure in the air chamber has
diminished to a certain extent, when the valve is as suddenly closed,
and the sound ceases until the compressed air again arrives at its
requisite pressure in the air chamber, when the sound is repeated, and
so on, as long as the supply of air is continued.
This "automatic"" apparatús may be fixed at any distance and in any
direction from the air pump or bellows, the only connection between the
two being the pipe which conveys the air from the pump or bellows to
the automatic apparatus. The automatic apparatus can be set to sound
at any intervals of time, such, for example, as every quarter of a minute
or half minute. The opening and shutting of the valve is effected by a
loaded piston and flexible diaphragm which is raised by the compressed
air as soon as it arrives at its proper pressure and throws over a weight
fixed at the end of a bob or tipping lever, which, falling over suddenly,
opens the valve, which remains open till the pressure in the air chamber
is so much reduced that the weight of the loaded piston is sufficient to
cause the weight at the end of the tipping lever to return to its former
position, and in so doing close the valve again. The intervals of time
between the sounding are regulated by the weight at the end of the
tipping lever and the capacity of the air chamber when the supply of
air is uniform.
If desired such an automatic apparatus may be made to sound
several horns at the same time, or horns or trumpets and whistles
together. When only one horn or trumpet is employed, and the sound
is required to be directed to all parts of the horizon, another or second
loaded piston is employed which as it rises acts on a lever carrying at
its extremity a ratchet and pall, the pall taking into a toothed wheel
fixed on the upright'shaft of the trumpet or horn, and as the piston
rises the lever moves the mouth of the born or trumpet horizontally
through a certain number of degrees, but when the pressure of the air
in the air chamber has been diminished by the sounding, then this
piston descends and the pall takes up a new position in the toothed

page_text: wheel ready to re-act as before, but I prefer to employ two or more.
stationary horns fixed at horizontal angles of 90° from one another,
and lay no claim to the imparting a self-acting rotatory motion to a
fog horn.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the Figures.
of
Figure 1 (Sheet one) of my Drawings represents a sectional elevation
my improved automatic apparatus for sounding fog horns or whistles,
the parts being shewn in the position they assume when the signals are
silent; Figure 2 is a similar view of the apparatus shewing the positions
of the parts when the signals are sounding; Figure 3 is a plan corre-
sponding to Figure 1.
Figure 4 (Sheet 2) represents on a smaller scale my apparatus fitted
with the stationary horns disposed at a horizontal angle of 90° to each
other; Figure 5 is a corresponding plan of the same; Figure 6 is the
same apparatus fitted with two upright horns having their trumpet
mouths directed at right angles to each other; and Figure 7 is a detail
plan of the modified arrangement, shewn in Figure 2, for holding down
the trumpet valve.
A is the compressed air vessel; B, a disc or diaphragm of vulcanised
india-rubber; C, a metal ring by which the india-rubber is held firmly
in its place; D is a piston or metal disc fitting loosely in the ring C.
and resting on the india-rubber disc or diaphragm; E is a small air
passage between the compressed air vessel and the under side of the
india-rubber dise; F is a piston rod; and G, a lever resting on the
piston rod F, and moving on the spindle a in the standard b, and loaded
with the weight c; H is a lever passing through the piston rod F at d
moving on the spindle e in the standard f, and carrying at its extremity
a toothed segment; I is a lever moving on the spindle h, and having at
its upper extremity a weight j, and at the extremity which turns upon
the spindle it carries a segment of a spur pinion i which gears into the
segment g. k, k³, are two small studs projecting from the arms / on
the lever I, all these parts moving with the lever. The spindle h is
fixed in the standard m, which standard also has fixed
able studs n, n', for regulating the throw of the lever I.
in it two adjust-
J is a detached

page_text: lever turning freely on the spindle h. K is a valve enclosed in a box o,.
from which when the valve is open the compressed air passes by the
two connecting tubes p, p, to the vibrator boxes q, q¹. The valve K is
maintained on its seating against the pressure of the air in the vessel A
either by a weight 7, as shewn in Figure 1, or by an elastic diaphragm
and pistons, as shown in Figures 2 and 7, the diameter of this piston
being slightly greater than that of the valve, and its under side being
in free communication with the atmosphere through the aperture 1.
L is a lever moving on the spindle t, and attached to the valve by the
links and connecting rod u. M is the standard for the lever L; N, N,
are the horns attached to their vibrators by the nuts v, a part only of
the horns is shewn in Figures 1 and 2, and in Figure 3 the dotted lines
indicate the position of two vertical bent horns, as seen in Figure 6. The
horns may be either vertical, as in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 6, or straight
and horizontal, as in Figures 4 and 5.
The manner in which this apparatus acts is as follows:-When the
air is compressed in the vessel A to the working pressure (or that pressure
which is found to give the loudest effect) by means of an air pump or
other contrivance placed at any distance and connected with the air
vessel by the air pipe only, the piston D rises, lifting the lever G and
weight C, and also the lever H, but the lever H cannot be clevated
without throwing over the weight j as it is geared into the pinion i,
but the moment this weight j commences its movement the weight on
the piston D. becomes diminished, and hence the weight j is thrown over
instantaneously from the position shewn in Figure 1 to the position
shown in Figure 2, but in so falling over the stud catches and carries
with it the detached lever J till the end of this lever J is in the notch a
of the lever L, and thus opening the valve and maintaining it open so
long as the weight j remains in the position shewn in Figure 2, but as
while the horns are sounding the air escapes much faster than it is
supplied the pressure in the air vessel A falls rapidly, and then the
weight C descends, the lever G forcing down the piston D and the
lever H, but this lever I cannot descend without bringing over with it
the weight from the position shewn in Figure 2 to the position shewn
in Figure 1, and in falling over the stud k knocks away the lever J
out of the notch a, and the valve K drops at once into its seating
ready to perform the same over again so soon as the pressure has been
recovered.

page_text: To regulate the intervals of sound and silence when the capacity and
speed of the air pump is known it is simply requisite to regulate the
capacity of the air vessel and its pipes.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The construction and use of apparatus for sounding fog horns,
whistles, and other like sound-emitting appliances wherein the increase
and decrease of elastic fluid pressure in a receiver is caused auto-
matically and at regulated intervals of time to open and close a valve
which communicates with the sound-emitting instrument, substantially
as herein-before described.
Second. The use of a piston or flexible diaphragm or both in com-
bination with a compressed air vessel for effecting the automatic opening
and closing of a valve in connection with a sound-emitting instrument,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Third. The peculiar combination and arrangement of compressed air
vessel, piston, or diaphragm, weighted levers, and catch lever operating
together, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described and illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Hale Holmes, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of
September One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
T TI TOIMITS
11
F,
F. H. HOLMES.. (L.S.)