IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH LIGHTSHIPS, PARTLY APPLICABLE AS MOORINGS FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pryse Protheroe, of Surbiton, in the County of Surrey,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR
ESTABLISHING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH LIGHTSHIPS,
PARTLY APPLICABLE AS MOORINGS FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Scaled the 1st September 1876, and dated the 3rd July 1876
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pryse Protheroe at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd July 1876.
PRYSE PROTHEROE, of Surbiton, in the County of Surrey.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC COM-
MUNICATION WITH LIGHTSHIPS, PARTLY APPLICABLE AS MOORINGS FOR OTHER
PURPOSES."
Great difficulty has been experienced in establishing communication by clectric
telegraph with floating lightships, the motion caused by tides and currents tending
to drag and twist the electric cables and render them defective.
To
According to my Invention I arrange such electrical communication in the follow-
ing manner:- -I lay the electric cable to the point on the bed of the sea to which
the lightship is to be moored, securing the cable to an immoveable mooring, which
may be a pile or an anchor, sunk as I have described in my Provisional Specifica-
tion, No. 2468 of 1876, when the bottom is of a sandy or soft nature, or may be an
anchor sunk as herein-after described when the bottom is of chalk or rock.
this mooring I connect by a universal joint a strong cable or rigid rod or tube lead-
ing up to a buoy, which is rigidly attached thereto. The electric cable or an
insulated and protected wire connected to it by a flexible portion, which may be a
piece of insulated wire made in the form of a helical spring, is passed up along the
cable rod or tube (in which it is by preference imbedded) to the upper part of the
buoy, which stands some height out of the water, the buoy being by preference of
an oblong or pear shape, so that its upper part is not readily immersed. On the
upper end of the buoy I provide a universal or a ball-and-socket joint to which is
attached an arm connected by a mooring cable to the lightship, which cable is
preferably of sufficient lightness to float. Within a water-tight casing in the buoy
I provide insulated contact surfaces so arranged as to allow for the horizontal rotary
movement of the mooring cable relatively to the buoy and also for its vertical
oscillation, the one of these surfaces being in electrical connection with the wire
Price Gd.1

page_text: extending from the mooring to the buoy and the other being in electrical connee-
tion with the lightship by means of an insulated wire led along the mooring. cable.
Thus when the lightship and buoy are moved about by the winds and tides the
universal or ball-and-socket jointing of the arm to the buoy permits such move-
ments whilst the electric conductors are always retained in contact.
In com-
For establishing a secure mooring for the cable and buoy in a chalk or rock bottom
I employ the following means: A metal casting or anchor having a broad circular
base and a smaller hollow stem is fitted on the lower side of its base with one or
more chisel-edged cutters, which are mounted on the base in such inanner that they
can revolve thereon. These cutters are by preference formed with oblique edges,
so that the act of penetrating will cause them to turn slightly upon the base, and
thus by successive blows they will be made to turn completely round, operating
equally upon the bottom surface within their range. The upper end of the hollow
stem is suspended from a vessel floating above by a cable, and is connected by a
flexible tube to a force pump on board the vessel, by which water may be forced
down to the boring made by the cutters to wash away the debris.
mencing operations a heavy metal cage is passed over the cable which carries the
anchor and is sunk to the bottom, the anchor being suspended within it. By
means of a crank, eccentric, or other suitable apparatus on board the vessel the cable,
and with it the anchor, is alternately raised and let fall within the cage, so that by
successive blows the anchor acting as an ordinary jumping boring tool gradually
drives a hole in the rock. When this hole is of sufficient depth arins hinged to the
stem of the anchor and held up while the boring is going on by catches connected
to a rope on board the vessel are released so as to fall in a sloping attitude against
the sides of the boring, whereupon any pull put upon the anchor will cause the
sharp ends of the arms to take firm hold on the sides of the boring-like barbs pre-
venting the anchor from being drawn out again. The anchor may be farther
secured by filling up the hole with sand or ballast. The before-mentioned cage may
have arms hinged to it, which can be let down when it reaches the bottom so as to
spread out, forming stays or struts to steady the cage against the lateral pull of
the cable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Pryse Protheroe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th December
1876.
PRYSE PROTHEROE, of Surbiton, in the County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC COM-
MUNICATION WITH LIGHTSHIPS, PARTLY APPLICABLE AS MOORINGS FOR OTHER
PURPOSES."
Great difficulty has been experienced in establishing communication by electric
telegraph with floating lightships the motion caused by tides and currents tending
to drag and twist the electric cables and render them defective.
According to my Invention I arrange such electrical communication in the
following manner:-I lay the electric cable to the point on the bed of the sea to
which the lightship is to be moored, securing the cable to an immoveable mooring
which may be a pile or an anchor sunk, as described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to me on the 14th June 1876, No. 2468, when the botton is of a sandy
or soft nature, or may be an anchor sunk, as herein-after described, when the bottom
is of chalk or rock.. To this mooring I connect by a universal joint a strong cable
or rigid rod or tube leading up to a buoy which is rigidly attached thereto. The
electric cable or an insulated and protected wire connected to it by a flexible
portion which may be a piece of insulated wire made in the form of a helical spring
is passed up along the cable rod or tubo. (in which it is by preference imbedded)
to the upper part of the buoy which stands some height out of the water, the buoy

page_text: being by preference of an oblong or pear shape so that its upper part is not readily
immersed. On the upper end of the buoy I provide a universal or a ball-and-socket
joint to which is attached an arm connected by a mooring cable to the lightship
which cable is preferably of sufficient lightness to float. Within a water-tight casing
5 in the buoy I provide insulated contact surfaces so arranged as to allow for the
horizontal rotary movement of the mooring cable relatively to the buoy and also
for its vertical oscillation, the one of the surfaces being in electrical connection
with the wire extending from the mooring to the buoy and the other being in
electrical connection with the lightship by means of an insulated wire led along
the mooring cable. Thus when the lightship and buoy are moved about by the
winds and tides the universal or ball-and-socket jointing of the arm to the buoy
permits such movements whilst the electric conductors are always retained in contact.
For establishing a secure mooring for the cable and buoy in a chalk or rock
bottom I employ the following means: A metal casting or anchor having a broad
circular base and a smaller hollow stem is fitted on the lower side of its base with
one or more chisel-edged cutters, which are mounted on the base in such manner
that they can revolve thereon. These cutters are by preference formed with
oblique edges, so that the act of penetrating will cause them to turn slightly upon
the base, and thus by successive blows they will be made to turn completely round,
operating equally upon the bottom surface within their range. The upper end of
the hollow stem is suspended from a vessel floating above by a cable, and is con-
nected by a flexible tube to a force pump on board the vessel, by which water
may be forced down to the boring made by the cutters to wash away the debris.
In commencing operations a heavy metal cage is passed over the cable which
carries the anchor and is sunk to the bottom, the anchor being suspended within
it. By means of a crank, eccentric, or other suitable apparatus on board the vessel
the cable, and with it the anchor, is alternately raised and let fall within the cage,
so that by successive blows the anchor acting as an ordinary jumping boring tool
gradually drives a hole in the rock. When this hole is of sufficient depth arms
hinged to the stem of the anchor and held up while the boring is going on by
catches connected to a rope on board the vessel are released so as to fall in a sloping
attitude against the sides of the boring, whereupon any pull put upon the anchor
will cause the sharp ends of the arms to take firm hold on the sides of the boring-
like barbs preventing the anchor from being drawn out again.
The anchor may
be farther secured by filling up the hole with sand or ballast. The before-
mentioned cage may have arms hinged to it, which can be let down when it reaches
the bottom so as to spread out forming stays or struts to steady the cage against
the lateral pull of the cable.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section (the lower part being in elevation) of a buoy
and its electrical connections according to my Invention. A being the bottom
under or nearly under the point where the floating light is to be moored, I provide
a firm mooring C which may be a screw pile, or in the case of a soft bottom may
be anchors constructed and sunk according to the Specification above referred to, or
when the bottom is of chalk or rock may be an anchor of the kind which will be here-
after described. The mooring C is connected by a universal joint D to a rigid tube E,
which extends up and is fixed to a buoy F having a tubular centre G. The cable
or insulated electric wire B has a portion at the bottom sufficiently slack to allow
or the oscillatory movements at the joint D, and is carried up within the stem E
o an insulated disc B¹. In contact with this disc is another insulated disc B*,
onnected to an insulated wire Bs that passes up a tubular stem H, which is free to
evolve within the tube G and is secured therein by water-tight packing screwed
own over a collar G¹. The stuffing box may be protected by an outer plate F¹
ecured to the top of the buoy. To the upper part of the stem H is jointed an
rm K, to which is secured the cable I leading to the light vessel. The insulated

page_text: wire B passes out through the top of the stem H and is led into the heart of the
cable I and with it to the light vessel where it is connected to the telegraph
apparatus on board. The joint at D permits oscillation of the rod E in any vertical
plane, and the rotating stem H and its jointed arm K permit the light vessel to
swing round its mooring while the electrical communication is maintained by the
contact of the discs B1 and B2 without any straining of the conductors. The rod
E may be solid, the insulated wire B being carried up mostly outside of it and
entering it only at or near its junction with the buoy. Also the insulated con-
ducting wire B instead of being led into the heart of the cable I may be twined
round it or otherwise secured to its outside. I prefer, however, the arrangement
shewn in Fig. 1, as giving greater protection to the wire.
Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of a modified form of jointing at the top of
the buoy. In this case the insulated wire B is led up through the buoy to a contact
dise B on the spherical surface of a ball L attached to the buoy, this disc B₁ being
in contact with another disc B attached to the insulated wire B³. The ball Lis
enclosed in a socket M having an arm M to which is attached the cable I. This
ball-and-socket jointing permits the rotation and oscillation of the arm M', the discs
B¹, B, remaining always in contact.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent respectively an elevation and a plan shewing the method
of establishing in a chalk or rock bottom a mooring of the kind shewn to an
enlarged scale in elevation at Fig. 5, and in plan (looking from below) at Fig. 6.
The anchor for this purpose consists of a heavy piece R, through which passes a
tube S open at the bottom and connected at the top to a flexible or jointed
pipe leading from a force pump. On the lower face of the piece R is mounted a
disc T, which is free to revolve in the horizontal plane, and which has projecting
from its lower face a number of chisel-edged cutters U, formed each with an
inclined surface so that in the act of penetrating they are caused to turn partly
round along with the disc T to which they are affixed. To the upper part of the
piece are hinged by stop joints the flukes V. A cage or framing W is sunk
with the anchor R suspended within it, its tube S being passed through a hole at
the top of the cage along with two chains or cables X attached to the anchor
which above the cage are connected to a single cable led to a crank, eccentric, or
other like apparatus worked by suitable power on board ship, so that the anchor R
is alternately raised and allowed to drop. The anchor guided to move vertically
by the cage W is thus made to act as a jumping boring tool, its chisels U penetra-
ting the bottom, and by the action of their inclined surfaces being caused to turn,
partly round at each stroke so that the rock in the circular space within their range
is uniformly acted on. While the operation is proceeding a stream of water
directed down the tube S washes away the debris of the rock, and this stream may
be directed through oblique orifices against the chisel blades U so as to assist their
turning. The flukes V are during the boring held in an upright attitude by any
suitable means, such as a rope passed round them, and when the hole is bored to
a sufficient depth they are let go, so that they can take the inclined attitude, as
shewn in Fig. 5, with their outer edges resting against the sides of the hole so that
they act as barbs to resist a force tending to pull the anchor out of the hole. The
anchor may be farther secured by filling the hole above it with sand or ballast.
When the anchor is thus set in its place the cage or framing W can be hauled up.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I claim-
First. The method, substantially as herein described, of establishing electric
telegraphic communication with lightships by means of two separate conductors,
the one leading from shore to a floating buoy, and the other from the buoy to the
lightship, the two conductors being maintained in electrical contact at rubbing
surfaces which permit oscillatory or rotary movements of the one relatively to
the other.
Second. In constructing, for the purpose above referred to, connections from a
mooring to a lightship, the combination with a buoy of the universal joint D, the

page_text: rotating stem H and its joint K, the two conductors B and B3 with their contact
discs B, B, substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 1 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Third. The modified construction, substantially as described with reference to
Fig. 2, wherein a ball-and-socket joint is substituted for the rotating stem and arm
jointed thereto.
Fourth. The method, substantially as herein described, of obtaining a firm
mooring for lightships or other purposes in a chalk or rock bottom by means of an
anchor worked as a jumping boring tool so as to form a hole into which it is sunk.
Fifth. The use, for the purpose referred to in the preceding claim, of an anchor
with chisel cutters on a rotating disc at its bottom, and with flukes jointed to its
upper part, substantially as herein described in reference to Figs. 5 and 6 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pryse Protheroe, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
PRYSE PROTHEROE. (L.S.)