Improvements in Means for Indicating a Ship's Roll, and for giving other Indications and Alarms.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Oct.,
1097
Complete Specification Left, 28th July, 1898-Accepted. 1st Oct.. 1898
Date of Application, 2004, 1097
Complete Specification Left, 28th July. 1898-Accepted. 1st Oct. 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Indicating a Ship's Roll, and for
giving other Indications and Alarms.
We, JAMES JOSEPH HICKS, of 8, Hatton Garden, Meteorological Instrument.
Manufacturer, and GILES HENRY ZEAL, of 118 and 119, Great Saffron Hill,
Experimental Glass Blower, both in the County of London, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention has for its object improvements in means for indicating a ship's
roll, and for giving other indications and alarms.
We will first describe the instrument in its most complete form and capable of
electrically transmitting indications and alarms.
For this purpose we employ a chamber containing mercury and within the walls
of which are sealed two contact wires, one of which is permanently in contact with
the mercury whilst the other is at a suitable distance from the normal level thereof.
This chamber is of circular form and is made of a tube bent into hoop shape and
having the ends connected together in such manner as to give free communication
all round the same, it is also of such a bore as to avoid nearly all capillary action
on the mercury.
We also in order to avoid undue oscillation of the mercury make a contraction in
the lower part of the tubular chamber.
Within the chamber above the mercury on either or each side thereof we place
an index and on the top of the mercury we place either a small quantity of creosote
or we nearly fill that part of the chamber not occupied by the mercury with
creosote, leaving only an air bubble to allow for expansion.
The chamber is mounted in such manner as to be capable of being moved around
a central point or axis concentrically with a ring shaped scale on a fixed board or
plate and it is provided with an index or pointer to facilitate adjustment and thereby
enable the mercury to complete the electric circuit with a greater or less roll or
inclination of the instrument.
The mount carrying the chamber is capable of being fixed rigidly to the back
board or plate by a clamping screw and nut or of being set free for adjustment.by
loosening the nut.
The instrument is provided with a level to facilitate the fixing thereof in proper
position.
An instrument constructed as above serves as a ship's clinometer and may be
employed to operate an alarm or indicator in any desired position when the ship
arrives at a given degree of roll, and in the event of the ship rolling beyond the
angle at which the instrument is set to complete an electric circuit the index or
ndices will record the amount of such roll. By freeing the chamber on its back
board or plate and turning it round, the index or indices may be reset after which
he chamber is again clamped in the required position.
For some purposes, whilst retaining the scale, the contact wires may be dispensed
vith, as may also the index or indices; in such cases the chamber is a fixture with
espect to the back board or plate and when retaining the index or indices the

page_text: latter may be reset by loosening the instrument on its support and turning it round
after which it is again fixed.
In other cases the scale may be dispensed with and the chamber mounted so that
it can be rocked around a central point or axis and thus close an electric circuit by
the opening of a safe or other door or window &c. acting thereon by suitable
connections.
D10001
HARRIS & MILLS,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.
Improvements in Means for Indicating a Ship's Roll, and for
giving other Indications and Alarms.
We, JAMES JOSEPH HICKS, of 8, Hatton Garden, Meteorological Instrument
Manufacturer, and GILES HENRY ZEAL, of 118 and 119, Great Saffron Hill,
Experimental Glass Blower, both in the County of London, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The invention has for its object improvements in means for indicating a ship's
roll and for giving other indications and alarms.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a front view of the instrument in its most complete form and capable of
electrically transmitting indications and alarms.
Fig. 2 is a plan or top view.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section.
Fig. 4 is an interior face view of the back-board or plate.
Fig. 5 is an interior face view of the mount carrying the mercury chamber, and
of the scale ring.
Fig. 6 is a front view of the instrument without electrical contacts, and
Fig. 7 is a front view of the instrument arranged to give burglary and other
alarms.
In all the figures like parts are indicated by similar reference letters and
numerals.
We will first describe the instrument represented at Figures 1 to 5.
According to the invention we employ an annular glass chamber a containing
mercury, and within the walls of which are sealed two contact wires bc, b being
permanently in contact with the mercury, whilst c is at a suitable distance above
the level of one side thereof when the instrument is in its normal vertical
position.
The annular chamber a is made of a glass tube bent into hoop shape and
having the ends connected together in such manner as to give free communication
all round the same; it is also of such a bore as to avoid nearly all capillary
action on the mercury. Also in order to avoid undue oscillation of the mercury,
a contraction a¹ is made in the lower part of the tubular chamber a.
Within the chamber a above the mercury, on either or both sides thereof, is
placed an index d, and on the top of the mercury, the upper surfaces of which are
level with the horizontal zero points of the scale e is placed a small quantity of
creosote or, as represented in the drawings by the broken lines f, that part of
the chamber a not occupied by the mercury, is nearly filled with creosote,
leaving only an air bubble f to allow for expansion. When two indices are
used, the one on the side of the chamber containing the contact c will be above
such contact.

page_text: The chamber a is mounted on a metal disc g, the back of which is shown at
ig. 5, and such disc g is mounted on a stud or axis h¹ at the centre of the
xed board or plate ; the ring-shaped scale e surrounding the chamber a is
lso fixed to the board or plate h, whilst an iudex or pointer g¹ is fixed to
he disc g to facilitate adjustinent and thereby euable the mercury to complete
he electric circuit with a greater or less roll or inclination of the instrument.
The mount or disc g carrying the chamber a is capable of being fixed rigidly
to the back-board or plate h by a clamping nut screwing on to the screw-
threaded stud or axis h¹, or of being set free for adjustment by loosening said
nut.
The instrument is provided with a level j to facilitate the fixing thereof in
proper position.
The metallic contacts b c are connected as follows with the terminals kl
The contact b is held in metallic
which are mounted on the scale ring e.
connection with the disc or plate g by means of the screw g², see Fig. 5,
and is in metallic connection with the terminal through such plate g,
The contact c is insulated from the frame and is
plate hand scale ring e.
connected with one end of the insulated conductor c¹, the other end of which is in
metallic contact with the spring or brush contact c², which latter is insulated from
the plate or disc g. The spring or brush contact c² presses upon, and is in metallic
contact with the ring shaped contact c³ (see Fig. 4) which latter is fixed to, but
insulated from the disc or plate h; the ring-shaped contact c³ is connected with
the insulated terminal by the insulated conductor ct. The terminals klare
connected with a battery and with a suitable alarm.
The instrument is fixed to any suitable support by means of the lugs m.
By the above arrangement the mobility of the mercury chamber is not interfered
with, whilst at the same time the contacts b and c are always in connection with
the main conductors, the circuit being completed only when the contact c comes
into contact with the mercury.
We would here remark that the terminals kl may be otherwise placed, and the
connections between them and the contacts bc may be varied, so long as freedom
of motion is left to the glass chamber a.
An instrument constructed as above serves as a ship's clinometer and may be
employed to operate an alarm or indicator in any desired position when the ship
5 arrives at a given degree of roll, and in the event of the ship rolling beyond the
angle at which the instrument is set to complete an electric circuit, the index or
indices d will record the amount of such roll. By freeing the mount g on the
back-board or plate h and turning it round the index or indices & may be re-set by
the mercury or such index or indices may be re-set by a magnet after which the
10 chamber is again clamped in the required position.
For some purposes, whilst retaining the scale e and index or indices d, the
contact wires bc may be dispensed with; an instrument of such description is
represented at Fig. 6, in which case the chamber a is a fixture with respect to the
back-board or plate, whilst the index or iudices d may be re-set by loosening the
45 instrument by unscrewing the clamping screw n, thereby liberating the open
slotted lug m¹ and then turning the instrument round on its upper lug m or by a
magnet then, when the index or indices are re-set, the instrument is again turned
The clamping screw n screws
into its normal position and fixed by the screw n.
into a fixed plate o.
50
In some cases, as represented at Fig. 7, the index or indices d may be dispensed
with and the mercury chamber a fixed to a back-board or plate h mounted on a
fixed stud or axis h¹, so that the chamber a can be rocked around a central point or
axis and thus close an electrical circuit by the opening of a safe or other door or
window, or by the movement of any other article, acting on the projection h² by
55 suitable connections. This instrument has terminals ¹¹fixed to the back-board
or plate h, and to these terminals the contacts b c are connected, whilst a spring p

page_text: is attached to the said board or plate h to return it to its normal position by bringing
the projection h² against a stop.
our said
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. An instrument for indicating a ship's roll and for giving other indications
and alarms, comprising an annular tubular glass chamber, half filled with mercury
and held in a vertical plane and means for carrying such chamber, substantially as
herein set forth.
2. The combination of an annular tubular glass chamber half filled with mercury,
a vertical board or plate carrying such chamber, and an annular scale surrounding
the same, substantially as herein set forth and for the purpose stated.
3. The combination of an annular tubular glass chamber having one half filled
with mercury and creosote on the top of the mercury, a vertical board or plate
carrying such chamber, an annular scale surrounding the chamber, and an index or
indices within the chamber, substantially as herein set forth and for the purpose
stated.
4. The combination of an annular tubular glass chamber half filled with
mercury, a vertical board or plate carrying such chamber, a central stud or axis on
which the board carrying the chamber can oscillate in the plane of the chamber,
and two electric contacts sealed within the chamber, one at the lower part and the
other above the level of the mercury, substantially as herein set forth and for the
purpose stated.
5. The combination of an annular tubular glass chamber half filled with mercury,
a vertical plate carrying such chamber, a fixed back-board having a stud or axis
on which the chamber-carrying plate is mounted and on which it can be oscillated
in the plane of the chamber, two electric contacts sealed within the chamber, one at
the lower part and the other above the level of the mercury, and an annular scale
surrounding the chamber, substantially as herein set forth and for the purpose
stated.
6. The combination of an annular tubular glass chamber half filled with
mercury, a vertical plate carrying such chamber, a fixed back-board having a screw-
threaded stud or axis on which the chamber-carrier is mounted and on which it
can be oscillated in the plane of the chamber, a clamping nut mounted on the stud
or axis, two electric contacts sealed within the chamber, one at the lower part and
the other above the level of the mercury, an annular scale surrounding the chamber,
two terminals fixed to the instrument, and means for connecting the contacts of the
annular glass chamber with said terminals so as to permit of free motion of the
chamber on said stud or axis, substantially as herein set forth and for the purpose
stated.