IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR SOUNDING OR ASCERTAINING THE DEPTH OF WATER
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Young Buchanan, of Edinburgh, North Britain,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR
SOUNDING OR ASCERTAINING THE DEPTH OF WATER"
Sealed the 30th September 1879, and dated the 20th June 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Young Buchanan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th June 1879.
JOHN YOUNG BUCHANAN, of Edinburgh, North Britain, Gentleman. "IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR SOUNDING OR ASCERTAINING THE DEPTH OF WATER."
The object of my Invention is to provide an apparatus for registering the depth
of the water under a vessel, independently of the length of sounding line or wire
used, and which shall be capable of being easily reset, and at once available for
further use.
The apparatus consists of a glass tube closed at the lower end, the other end
being finished off with a re-entrant spout with a fine aperture. The lower end of
the tube may be closed in any convenient way, such as by a cock or a glass
stopper.
I find a convenient form of stopper to be a piece of glass rod of about the same
diameter as the outside of the tube, held in place by a piece of india rubber
tubing fitted to the end of the glass tube. By this means the tube is perfectly
closed, and its internal volume when closed is always the same. The upper end of
the tube is contracted until the hole is somewhat smaller than that of the re-entrant
spout. The diameter of the tube may be uniform throughout, but for most pur-
poses it is more convenient to graduate it, the greater diameter being at the bottom.
For this purpose it is sufficient to make it up of two or more pieces of suitably
sized tube. For safety in use I attach the tube to a piece of vulcanite or other
sufficiently rigid material, and it is then enclosed in a metal tubular casing, through
the lower end of which the glass stopper and the india rubber protrude sufficiently
to enable the stopper to be removed and replaced without taking the instrument
out of the case, which has a longitudinal aperture to enable the instrument to be
observed without being taken out.
In order to determine the depth of water by means of this apparatus, the metal
tube containing it is attached to the sounding line; about one or two feet above the

page_text: lead or sinker the stopper is seen to be in its place, the tube inside containing only
air. The sounding line or wire is then allowed to run out until the sinker reaches
the bottom, when it is at onco hauled in. As the apparatus descends the air in it
is more and more compressed and its place taken by water, which enters through
the spout and runs down the side of the tube and collects at the bottom. The
amount of water which has thus entered is an index of the extent to which the
air has been reduced in volume, and consequently also of the depth obtained by the
instrument, and it is read off on a scale which may be etched on the glass or
engraved on the vulcanite, or may be quite separate from the apparatus, and
applied to it when requisite.
In order to prepare the instrument for re-use it is only necessary to remove the
stopper, discharge the water from the tube and replace the stopper.
By using suitable apparatus for working the sounding line or wire, this
instrument can be used equally well when the vessel is moving as when it is
stationary.

page_text: 3
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed.
by the said John Young Buchanan in the Great Seal Patent, Office on the
20th December 1879.
-
JOHN YOUNG BUCHANAN, of Edinburgh, North Britain, Gentleman. "IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR SOUNDING OR ASCERTAINING THE DEPTH OF WATER."
The object of my Invention is to provide an apparatus for registering the depth
of water under a vessel, and which after use shall be capable of being easily reset,
and, at once available for further use.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 ghews in front elevation the sounding
apparatus, which is intended to be enclosed in an open metal case attached to a
lead line when soundings are required to be taken; and Fig. 2 shows an enlarged
view of the same, a portion being broken away to contract the size of the figure.
A, B, is a glass tube of two diameters, contracted at its lower end, and closed by
a removable plug or stopper. Fitted to the upper end of this tube and secured
thereto by sealing is a vessel C, which may be described as a small inverted flask
terminating within the tube in a spout, which is inclined towards the side of the
tube. This vessel O has a central opening at top for the admission of water to
the interior, the size of this opening being somewhat smaller than the bore of the
spout. The bottom of this tube is closed by a glass plug D which abuts against
the bottom edge at B, and is held in place by an india rubber sleeve E made fast to
the tube. By this means the tube is perfectly closed at the bottom, and its
internal volume when closed is always the same. The diameter of the tube may
be uniform throughout, but for most purposes it is more convenient to vary it, the
greater diameter being at the bottom, as shewn in the Drawings. For general
purposes I have found that the following dimensions are suitable, viz., for the
larger portion of the tube an internal diameter of one centimetre with a length of
twenty centimetres, and for the smaller portion an internal diameter of four milli-
metres and a length of twenty two centimetres, but these dimensions may be
altered for special purposes. For safety in use I attach the tube to a plate of
vulcanite For other sufficiently rigid material by metal straps, or otherwise, and
enclose the whole in the metal tubular casing, open at both ends or at the bottom
only, which case is secured to the lead line. The glass plug D and the india rubber
sleeve E protrude from the bottom of the case sufficiently to enable the plug to be
removed and replaced, without taking the instrument out of the case. This case
has also a longitudinal aperture made in its side through which the instrument
may be read without removal from the case.
In order to determine the depth of water by means of this apparatus, the metal
case which contains it being attached to the sounding line about one or two feet
above the lead or sinker is thrown overboard, the plug having been carefully placed
in position and the tube containing only air, and enough water to moisten its sides.
without collecting at the bottom. The sounding line or wire is then allowed to
run out until the sinker reaches the bottom, when it is at once hauled in. As the
apparatus descends the air contained therein becomes more and more compressed
by water entering by the opening at the top of the vessel C, and discharging
through its spout into the tube A, B, at the bottom of which it collects. The
amount of water which has thus entered is an index of the extent to which the air
has been reduced in volume, and consequently of the depth attained by the instru-
ment, and it is read off on a scale etched on the glass or engraved on the vulcanite
plate.
In order to prepare the instrument for re-use, it is only necessary to remove the
plug E, discharge the water from the tube, and replace the plug.
By using suitable apparatus for working the sounding line or wire, this instru-
ment can be employed equally well, whether the vessel be moving or stationary.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention of "Improved Apparatus to
be Used for Sounding or Ascertaining the Depth of Water," and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
Constructing apparatus as above described, and which indicates by the admission &
of water the depth of the sounding taken, and allows of the ready discharge of the
water therefrom, for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Young Buchanan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.