IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SOUNDING ALARUMS AT SEA
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George William Lenox, of Billiter Square, in the City
of London, Iron Cable and Anchor Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SOUNDING ALARUMS AT SEA."
Sealed the 26th February 1858, and dated the 1st September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George William Lenox at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st September 1857.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM LENOX, of Billiter Square, in the City of London, Iron
Cable and Anchor Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SOUNDING ALARUMS AT SEA," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for sounding
alarums at sea. For these purposes, in constructing buoys, floating lights, and
other floating bodies anchored at sea, they are made with keels, or in such
manner that they will turn with the tide, and through or under such floating
bodies passages are formed below the lines of floatation, through which the
water will flow, and within these passages the lower parts of undershot wheels
are applied. On the axes of the water wheels are cranks, which give motion to
rods which pass through guides near their upper ends. At the upper parts of
such floating bodies are fixed bells, the hammers of which are mounted on
weighted levers, and as the upper ends of the connecting rods are raised they
come under, lift, and pass the tail ends of the hammer levers, which descending
by their weights strike the bells.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George William Lenox in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th February 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WILLIAM LENOX, of Billiter Square, in the City of London, Iron Cable and
Anchor Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George William Lenox, Her special licence that I, the said George
William Lenox, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said George William Lenox, my executors, administrators, and 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SOUNDING ALARUMS AT SEA," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George William Lenox, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 George William Lenox, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for sounding
alarums at sea. For these purposes, in constructing buoys, floating lights, and
other floating bodies anchored at sea, they are made with keels, or in such
manner that they will turn with the tide, and through or under such floating
bodies passages are formed below the lines of floatation, through which the
water will flow, and within these passages the lower parts of undershot wheels
are applied. On the axes of the water wheels are cranks, which give motion
to rods which pass through guides near their upper ends. At the upper parts
of such floating bodies are fixed bells, the hammers of which are mounted on

page_text: weighted revers, and as the upper ends of the connecting rods are raised they
come under, lift, and pass the tail ends of the hammer levers, which descending
by their weights strike the bells.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 and Figure 2 show two sections of a buoy having apparatus
constructed and combined, according to my Invention. The form or shape of the
buoy may be varied; the interior construction, however, in each case being such
as to enclose sufficient space to give the floatation required, and yet leaving space
sufficient for receiving the mechanism suitable for carrying out my Invention.
The form of buoy shewn in Figures 1 and 2 is similar to what have been before
made, where the mooring is at the upper end of a concave or conical space
formed on the under side of the buoy. In the lower part of the buoy is a channel
a, a, which passes through the buoy, within which channel the floats of an
undershot water wheel work; the other parts of the wheel work in a chamber
or space above the channel a, a. The buoy has a rudder or fixed projection b
to cause the buoy to turn to the tide in order that the water may flow through
the channel a, a, whether the tide be for the time being rising or falling. The
shaft or axis c of the water wheel turns water-tight in bearings d, d, at
the sides of the chamber, within which the water wheels turn. At each end
of the shaft or axis c is formed or fixed a crank e, to which a connecting rod f
is attached, which connecting rods are forked at the upper parts, and they
slide through sockets 9 which turn on axes carried by bearings h, which are
fixed to the bar or angle iron j, as shewn. At the upper end of each of the
forked connecting rods is fixed a bar k, on the ends of which the ends of the
levers 1,1, are supported. In the upper part of the buoy is formed a passage
m, m, within which a bell n is hung, and which from time to time is struck by
hammer heads o, o, which are on levers, which are alternately acted on by the
connecting rods p, p, which at their lower ends are attached to the levers 7, 7.
By thus applying bell apparatus to a buoy, there will at all times be a constant
ringing of the bell, so long as the water is flowing through the channel. a, a;
and thus in the case of fogs or mists notice will be constantly given. The appa-
ratus for giving motion to the hammers of a bell may be greatly varied. Figure 3
shows the section of another form of buoy, with apparatus suitably arranged
for acting by means of floats on the levers on which the hammer heads are
mounted. The bell in this arrangement is, as in the former buoy, hung in an
open space or channel formed in or upon the upper part of the buoy; 7, 9, are

page_text: two floats, which work within chambers r, r, formed at the lower part of the
buoy; the stems of these floats rise.up through tubular passages h, h. On the
upper ends of the stems or rods q', q', are .catches q³, which on rising come
under the levers s, s, on which the hammer heads are mounted, and lift the
same, by which the hammer heads are moved from the bell, and when the
catches rise beyond the ends of the levers, the levers will fall, and cause the
hammers to strike the bell. When the floats descend the catches q will pass
the ends of the levers and again open out, so as to lift the ends of the levers
when the floats again rise. The form of the floating vessel, to which such like
apparatus may be applied, may be greatly varied. Figure 4 shews the stern of
a ship or other vessel, having apparatus applied thereto in such manner that
by the use of a water wheel floating on the surface of the water, and which is
caused to turn by the flow of the tide or current, motion is given by a con-
necting rods to a lever t, which in its turn gives motion by a catch u to the
end of a lever v, which carries the hammer head, as shown. The catch u and
lever t with the link w are arranged to cause the catch to act in its upward
motion, and to pass the end of the hammer lever in its downward motion.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the mechanical parts separately; but what I claim is, the combining bells
with buoys and other floating vessels in such manner that the bells may be
sounded by the action of the water, putting mechanism into motion suitably
arranged to strike or sound such bells.
In witness whereof, I, the said George William Lenox, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JNO. GEO. G. CYDER,
No. 8, Billiter Sqre.
GEO. W. LENOX. (L.S.)