IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR WINDING, UNWINDING, AND PAYING-OUT TELE- GRAPH CABLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO WINDING AND UNWINDING CORDS, ROPES, AND WIRES
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Archibald Brooman at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd August 1864.-A communication from abroad by Arthur Nicolas
Georges Bigant, of Paris, Elie Gabriel de Fornier de Carles de Pradines,
of Lorient, and Adolphe Sureau, of Quimper, all in the Empire of
France.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR WINDING, UNWINDING, AND PAYING-OUT TELE-
GRAPH CABLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO WINDING AND UNWINDING CORDS, ROPES, AND
WIRES," to be as follows:
In laying telegraph cables two chief difficulties are met with, viz., the
formation of knots and kinks and the rupture of the cable. By this Invention
these difficulties are overcome.
The improved machinery consists, first, of a combination of drums, on each
of which, in portions of about equal length, the cable is wound; second, of
accessory appliances hereafter described. The drums are, by preference,
fitted as near as convenient to the hold on two longitudinal shafts, one on the
starboard and the other on the port side of the vessel. Each drum is com-
posed of a truncated cone, a washer, a second truncated cone placed inversely
to the first, then a cylinder or drum proper, another washer, and a third trun-

page_text: cated cone, also placed inversely to the first. On the shaft, between every
two drums, and on the cones, a groove is formed of sufficient depth to receive
the cable; this groove takes a spiral direction round these different parts.
The drums are placed, in relation to the position of the cones, in a series,
commencing, for example, at the after part of the starboard side of the vessel,
extending to the fore part and returning to the after part of the port side.
The two rows of drums are connected by a curved fixed bar or axis, by pre-
ference at the fore part of the vessel, on which bar a number of rollers are
loosely fitted and kept at equal distances apart by wedges or filling-up pieces
on the bar. At the parts where the bent bar joins the longitudinal shafts
there are two drums of the same diameter as the wedges, and to the centre of
which the bent bar is fixed. To the front of the last or most forward cone
of each row of cones a drum is fitted of larger diameter than those just men-
tioned, and to these drums a spiral piece of iron, forming a strong coiled spring,
is fixed. It surrounds the two last-mentioned pairs of drums, the rollers,
wedges, and the bent bar, the direction of which it follows. On the exterior,
and for the whole length of the coiled spring, a groove is formed, which is a
continuation of that formed on the truncated cones, as before mentioned, to
receive the cable.. The supports of the apparatus placed between every two
of the drums first mentioned, and in which the longitudinal shafts turn, should
be formed with a cap extending partly over the breadth of the shafts to keep
them in their bearings. The drums which are fitted to the front.of the most
forward cones rest on similar but stronger supports. The after ends of the
longitudinal shafts are connected by cranks to pistons, which impart to them
and to the coiled spring a corresponding rotary motion. Above the drums
first mentioned, and between the longitudinal shafts; a rail or tramway is
placed, extending forward from the after part of the starboard side, describing
a curve at the fore part and returning aft on the port side. A wagon runs
on the tramway, and is fitted with two vertical and one horizontal roller
movable round their axes. This wagon guides the cable while being wound
and unwound. Other rollers, also movable round their axes, are fitted where
required to guide the cable, and at the aperture through which the cable
passes to the deck. When it is required to wind a cable on the machinery
before described, the cable is led first over a pulley near the stern of the
vessel, then between the guide rollers and the rollers fitted to the, wagon,
which should, in the first instance, be placed above the first drum on the
starboard side. The cable is fixed to any convenient part of the starboard
longitudinal shaft, and, after the shaft is put in motion, is engaged into the
groove formed in the first truncated cone, then into the groove in the first

page_text: washer and in the second truncated cone, until it reaches the first drum, on
which the winding must be carefully performed. When this drum is full the
cable enters the groove in the second washer and in the third truncated cone
and passes on to the first cone of the second drum, on which it is wound, and
so on for as many drums as may be required. If the length of the cable
necessitates the employment of the second row of drums the cable is led into
the grooves formed in the two pairs of drums fitted at the extremities of the
curved bar and into the groove on the exterior of the coiled spring, it then
reaches the second row of drums on the port side, on which it is wound, as
before explained. A guide, under which the cable passes, is placed between
the tramway and the coiled spring, so that the tractive force of the cable may
be exerted in a horizontal plane tangent to the lower part of the coiled spring.
During the winding-on of the cable the wagon is directed by tackle, blocks,
and cords, or by a windlass near the stern of the vessel, care being taken to
stop and fix the wagon above the middle of each drum while the winding on
that drum is being performed. The unwinding of the cable takes place in
the same manner as the winding, but inversely. The unwinding is performed
without strain or injury to the cable in consequence of the juxta-position of
the cones and the washers, and in consequence also of the depth of the groove;
which should be calculated with reference to the dilatation of which the cable
is susceptible when once wound. To prevent rupture of the cable during
immersion I arrange the pulley over which the cable passes before leaving the
stern of the vessel as about to be described. The standards or supports on
which tho pulley is mounted rest on a strong spiral spring which requires a
considerable weight to effect its complete depression. The least deflection of
this spring is indicated on a dial by a pointer the maximum position of which
corresponds to the total depression of the spring. The pointer is moved by
a rack fixed to the supports of the pulley. The dial is graduated, that the
pointer, in traversing it, may always indicate the weight of that portion of the
cable which is payed out, but not laid at the bottom of the sea; and indicate
at the same time the degree of tension put upon it. The maximum limit of
the tension being known, the rupture of the cable is easily prevented by
making the speed of the vessel correspond with the rapidity with which the
cable is being payed out. During the winding and unwinding I equalize the
load of the vessel by movable ballast, which may be obtained by admitting
more or less water into water-tight compartments at each side of the vessel.
The simultaneous rotation of the drums on which the cable is wound may be
produced in different ways, whether the drums be placed in one row or in
several rows united by curved bars, as before explained, or whether they be

page_text: placed in the same plane or in different planes, parallel or oblique, or perpen-
dicular to the medial plane of the vessel. The machinery for winding and
unwinding is applicable to cord, rope, and wire making.