IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TAKING DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS, AND FOR RECORDING THE SPEED OF SHIPS
Year: 1862

page_text: Sealed the 25th July 1862, and dated the 23rd April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd April 1862.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of.
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TAKING DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS, AND FOR
RECORDING THE SPEED OF SHIPS," a communication from abroad by William
Trowbridge, of the Engineer Agency, 5, Bowling Green, New York, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of self-
registering apparatus for taking deep-sea soundings, which apparatus is also

page_text: applicable as a registering log for recording the distance run by ships in any
given time, and consists in the employment for that purpose of a set of
revolving screw blades which are connected with the indicating mechanism
by means of a suitable ratchet coupling so as to be held in gear therewith
when descending to the bottom in taking soundings, or when being drawn
through the water when used as a log by the resistance of the water itself, and
thrown out of gear by concussion upon the bottom or by the resistance of the
water when ascending, thus allowing the blades to turn without moving the
indicating apparatus during the raising of the apparatus. These blades, which
have a slight vertical play in order to admit of the gearing and ungearing
with the indicating mechanism, are contained within a strong metal frame,
which supports also the wheelwork in such a manner that the weight of the
lead and the strain of the line are sustained entirely by the frame and not by
the axis round which the blades revolve. In the counting or indicating
mechanism it is proposed to employ a second endless screw placed or formed
on the axis of the first worm wheel, such second screw gearing with a pair of
concentric differential worm wheels, one of which has, one or more teeth more
than the other. An index is connected with the axis of each wheel, and the
amount of angular separation between these indices caused by the slightly
increased speed of one wheel over the other serves to indicate the distance
run when very long distances are to be measured. An eccentric disengaging
lever is used for throwing the several worm wheels out of gear_ with their
respective screws, so as to admit of their being adjusted to zero before using
the apparatus, the faces of the wheels being properly divided and numbered
for that purpose. In order to facilitate the adjustment of the apparatus in
the dark, it is proposed to apply a small stop-pin to one or more of the wheels
which, on adjustment will strike against a fixed stop, when the wheel is
turned to the zero point. The specimen cup which forms part of the deep-
sea sounding apparatus, consists of an annular cavity formed in the lower
part of the chamber which receives the specimens of material composing the
bottom, the inner wall of this annular cavity being the upper part of a tubular
opening formed in the bottom of the cup, the upper lip of such opening rising
some distance above the bottom of the annular cavity so as to prevent all
chance of the specimens escaping again. For further security a drop valve or
lid is placed over the opening which closes the same when the lead is
ascending.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 23rd October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, IIer heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as 1, the said John Henry Johnson, 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
"IMPROVELIENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TAKING DEEP-3EA SOUNDINGS, AND FOR
RECORDING THE SPEED OF SHIPS," a communication from abroad by William
Trowbridge, of the Engineer Agency, 5, Bowling Green, New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and scal, or under the hand and seal of one of
them, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
O 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
self-registering apparatus for taking deep-sea soundings, which apparatus is
also applicable as a registering log for recording the distance run by ships in
any given time, and consists in the employment for that purpose of a set of
revolving screw blades, which are connected with the indicating mechanism

page_text: by means of a suitable ratchet coupling so as to be held in gear therewith
when descending to the bottom, in taking soundings, or when being drawn
through the water when used as a log, by the resistance of the water itself, and
thrown out of gear by concussion upon the bottom or by the resistance of the
water when ascending, thus allowing the blades to turn without moving the
indicating apparatus during the raising of the apparatus. These blades,
which have a slight vertical plug in order to admit of the gearing and
ungearing with the indicating mechanism, are contained within a strong metal
frame, which supports also the wheelwork in such a manner that the weight of
the lead and the strain of the line are sustained entirely by the frame and not
by the axis round which the blades revolve. In the counting or indicating
mechanism it is proposed to employ a second endless screw placed or formed
on the axis of the first worm wheel, such second screw gearing with a pair of
concentric differential worm wheels, one of which has one or more teeth more
than the other. An index is connected with the axis of each wheel and the
amount of angular separation between these indices caused by the slightly
increased speed of one wheel over the other serves to indicate the distance run
when very long distances are to be measured. An eccentric disengaging
lever is used for throwing the several worm wheels out of gear with their
respective screws so as to admit of their being adjusted to zero before using
the apparatus, the faces of the wheels being properly divided and numbered for
that purpose. In order to facilitate the adjustment of the apparatus in the
dark, it is proposed to apply a small stop-pin to one or more of the wheels,
which, on adjustment, will strike against a fixed stop when the wheel is
turned to the zero point. The specimen cup which forms part of the deep-
sea sounding apparatus consists of an annular cavity formed in the lower
part of the chamber which receives the specimens of material composing the
bottom, the inner wall of this annular cavity being the upper part of a tubular
opening formed in the bottom of the cup, the upper lip of such opening rising
some distance above the bottom of the annular cavity so as to prevent all
chance of the specimens escaping again. For further security a drop valve
or lid is placed over the opening, which closes the same when the lead is
ascending.
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 I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
In the Drawings bereto annexed Figure 1 is a side elevation of the

page_text: improved apparatus, and Figure II. an edge view at right angles to Figure 1;
Figure III. is a plan, and Figures 4 and 5 enlarged details, showing the manner
of attaching the indices.
The frame consists of the plate P, in which openings are made to receive
the helical blades B, the wheel W, and the shaft S, these parts are surrounded
by the frame F, F, F, F, formed in such a manner as to offer the least
resistance to motion and have sufficient strength to protect the blades and
wheelwork from injury. The blades B are carefully bent to the form of the
threads of a screw, the distance between the thread being about one foot. They
are made as long as the space between the frames F will permit, and are fastened
at the centre to a hollow axis or barrel D of small diameter. The pivots upon
which the blades turn when in place are shewn at p, p', Figuro 1 ; the lower
one projects about one-fourth of an inch into the hollow axis D, which is bushed
with suitable metal to form a bearing for it. The upper pivot enters the upper
end of the hollow axis D in a similar manner. The
upper pivot p is the
prolongation of the shaft S, which bas a bearing at p", and another bearing a
few inches above it at p. The hollow axis D and attached blades B
are allowed a "play" or rise and fall of about one-tenth of an inch upon the
pivots; the object of this is to allow the blades to be held up when the appa-
ratus is descending by the resistance of the water against the blades. This
upward pressure is increased by a small circular flange f, attached to the
blades and surrounding the hollow axis. The upper end of the hollow axis D
is formed into a series of teeth having one side vertical as at r, and when these
are forced upward by the pressure of the water they engage with the ratchet
, and remain so attached during the descent; the endless screw E is cut on
the shaft S, which revolves by the action of the helical blades and ratchet,
and gives motion to the wheel W and the differential wheels X, Y. When
the apparatus strikes the bottom or is drawn up, the blades fall or are held
back so that the two rutchets 7, 71, are ungeared and the blades revolve in the
opposite direction without communicating motion to the wheelwork. The
reverse revolution of the blades diminishes the resistance when the instrument
is drawn up, as compared with the old mode of blocking or holding the blades
to prevent them from turning. The instrument is used for determining
the depth in sounding, or as a "log" to measure the distance passed over
by a ship, the apparatus in this case being towed astern by a small line. The
blades turn once in one quarter fathom or one and a half feet, and the
indicating apparatus shows the distance passed over from one quarter fathom
to one hundred and sixty miles. The wheel W worked by the screw E has
one hundred teeth and is divided on the face into one hundred spaces;

page_text: this wheel therefore marks a motion of one hundred and fifty-fect or
twenty-five fathoms. The axis of the wheel W carries another endless
screw E (Figures 4 and 5), which drives the wheels X and Y, which
turn independently on the axis L and in contact with each other. The
front wheel X has eighty teeth and the rear wheel Y has eighty-one teeth,
therefore the number of full revolutions will be shown by the distance of the
separation of two points that were coincident at the beginning of the motion.
The face wheel X is divided into eighty radial spaces, one for each tooth,
and the number of spaces to be read is shown by the separation of the
indices and ", moving with their respective wheels X and Y, to which they are
held by suitable sleeves or collars (Figure 4, and set screws or binders N, N¹;
by loosening the nut N, the index i may be turned by the band and set
at the zero or starting point. One entire revolution of the wheel X is equal
to eighty times one hundred and fifty feet, which is two thousand fathoms,
or about two nautical miles, and one full revolution of the wheel Y is eighty
times as much, or one hundred and sixty miles. The indicating wheelwork is
all attached to the plate U, and by means of the eccentric arm P', the wheel W
can be thrown out of geer with the screw for the purpose of setting the zero to
the index i which is affixed to the frame. A check pin may be placed in a
hole made in the wheel W which strikes a stop when the index mark and
zero are coincident; this is used when sounding at night, the instrument
A thin band or ring of
being readily adjusted in the dark for the next cast.
metal may be placed near the base of the blades to prevent seaweed and other
floating matter from clogging their motion. In sounding, the lead is fastened
to a ring or eye on the lower end of the frame and the sounding line to a swivel,
ring, or eye on the upper end of the frame. When used as a "log" the lead
is taken off and the line made fast to the ring to which the lead was fastened,
and the instrument is towed astern. In high velocities a weight of four or five
pounds may be fastened to the line about three feet from the instrument to
sink it beneath the surface, and at low velocities a float may be fastened astern
This being
of the apparatus to prevent it from sinking too low in the water.
done the instrument will record velocities as low as a quarter of a mile per
hour. The pitch of the blade is determined by practical trials on known
depths or distances. By using the two sets of wheels W and X, Y, the
instrument is adapted for sounding and without alteration can be applied as
a log and long distances measured.
My improvement in the specimen box for bringing up samples of the
bottom is represented in Figures VI. and VII.; it is made in two circular
parts C and C, placed in a suitable cavity at the base of the lead, the lower

page_text: part C, being attached by two flanges F, F, entering the opposite sides of a
groove G and held there by a bayonet clasp and spring S. The central part
of these two pieces is hollow, forming a cavity X, and below this there is
an opening O about an inch in diameter. Above this hole there is a cylindrical
aperture A, its upper end communicating with an opening B made through
the lead for the discharge of water from the specimen box. A valve v rests
at the upper end of the aperture O, and has a ribbed or fluted stem v, through
which a slot of about an inch, in length is made to receive the transverse
pin p', which prevents the valve and stem from falling out when the lower part
of the box (below the line Q, R) is taken off. While the lead is descending
the water enters the aperture O, raises the valve V, and passing through the
fluted stem escapes at B, B. When it strikes the bottom the sand or deposit
passes upwards and falls over on all sides into the annular cavity H at the lower
part of the cavity X, this annular space being below the top of the tube which
forms the opening O, the specimen taken up does not interfere with the closing
of the valve v, which returns to its seat as soon as the upward movement of
the lead commences, and prevents the specimen from escaping. The part
of the box c that is above the line O, R, may be formed in the lead L itself,
or it may be made in a separate piece and the lead cast around it.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
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
berein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,--
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus
for taking deep-sca soundings and for recording the speed of ships, as herein-
before described and illustrated by the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Second, the mode of throwing the revolving blades into gear with tho
indicating mechanism when descending, and of disengaging the said blades
or throwing them out of gear when the apparatus strikes the bottom or is
ascending as herein-before described.
Third, the peculiar combination of blades supporting frame and wheelwork,
whereby the weight of the lead and the strain of the line are sustained by
the frame and not by the axis round which the blades revolve, as herein-before
described.
Fourth, the combination of a second endless screw with the axis of the
first worm wheel, such second screw driving two concentric differential worm
wheels, for the purpose of measuring long distances, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the peculiar mode of mounting or arranging the indices, whereby the

page_text: advance of one of the differential worm wlicels beyond the other or their
angular separation may be indicated, also the mode of ungearing the wheels and
screw and clamping the wheels at zero when commencing an observation, as
herein-before described.
Sixth, the peculiar specimen cup having an annular cavity in the lower
part of the cliamber the inner wall of the said cavity being formed by the
sides of the upper part of a tubular opening, and closed by a valve, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.).