IMPROVEMENTS IN MOORING BUOYS."
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Fosbery Lyster, of Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOORING
BUOYS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Fosbery Lyster
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd March 1863.
I, GEORGE FOSBERY LYSTER, of Liverpool, in the County of. Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN MOORING BUOYS," to be as follows:-
. In mooring buoys of present construction the mooring chain is attached to:
some part of the buoy, and the latter is provided with one or more rings, to.
which the mooring cables of the vessels are attached. The disadvantages of
this arrangement are, firstly, that the vessels very seldom have a direct pull at
the moorings, but on account of the strain of their cables not being in the
same line with the mooring chain, they rather have a tendency to submerge
the buoy, and consequently also the ring to which they are attached, (which is
especially the case at high water, and when the ship's cables are heavy,) thus

page_text: making it at times exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to attach or detach
the ship's cables to or from the buoy; secondly, it is very inconvenient to
attach more than one ship's cable to the buoy at one and the same time, and
it is still more inconvenient to detach a ship's cable when several are attached.
Now, my present Invention is intended to obviate these objections; it
consists in constructing mooring buoys in such a manner that, instead of being
attached to the mooring chain, and serving as the point of attachment for
the vessels, the buoy acts simply as a float or carrier for keeping the end of
the mooring chain above water, the latter being in no way attached to the
buoy beyond passing through an aperture formed in the same, and, when not
attached to a ship's cable, being prevented from falling through the aperture by
the larger dimensions of the mooring ring. By this arrangement, if a sufficient
amount of "slack" is giving to the mooring chain, it will, when a ship's cable
is attached to it, be drawn more or less out of the water, the ship having a
direct pull at the moorings, whilst the buoy will slide along the chain according
to the rise and fall of the tide, and the terminating ring of the chain (which
may even in certain cases be brought on board the vessel itself) will always
be above water, and accessible for disengaging the ship's cable.
Furthermore, I, in most cases, pass several mooring chains, or several lengths
of chain attached to one main mooring chain, through the aperture of the buoy,
providing each chain with a ring, so that several vessels may be attached each to
a separate chain, which all have a direct pull at the moorings, and the ends of
which being raised more or less out of the water, and away from each other,
will always be readily accessible.
I prefer to construct the buoy for this purpose of a hollow metal vessel of
an annular form, the central aperture being somewhat smaller than the rings
of the mooring chains, and in order to reduce the depth of the central aper-
ture as much as possible, so as to facilitate the passage of the chains through
the same, I form either the top or the bottom surface, or both the top and
the bottom surfaces of the buoy concave or recessed, more or less, by which
also the angle at which the chains are held will not prevent the buoy from
floating in a level position.
If I recess the upper surface of the buoy to a greater depth than its water
line, I prefer to fix suitable hooks to the same above the water line, upon
which hooks 1 hang the rings of the mooring chains when not in use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Fosbery Lyster in the Great Seal Patent Office ou
the 2nd September 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
FOSBERY LYSTER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Fosbery Lyster, Her special licence that I, the said George Fosbery
Lyster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, tho
said George Fosbery Lyster, 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 MOORING BUOYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said George Fosbery Lyster, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Fosbery Lyster, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
In mooring buoys of present construction the mooring chain is attached to
some part of the buoy, and the latter is provided with one or more rings to
which the mooring cables of the vessels are attached. The disadvantages of
this arrangement are, firstly, that the vessels very seldom have a direct pull
at the moorings, but on account of the strain of their cables not being in the
same line with the mooring chain, they rather have a tendency to submerge
the buoy, and consequently also the ring to which they are attached, which is

page_text: especially the case at high tide, and when the ship's cables are heavy, thus
making it at times exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to attach or detach
the ship's cable to or from the buoy; secondly, it is very inconvenient to attach
more than one ship's cable to the buoy at one and the same time, and it is
still more inconvenient to detach a ship's cable when several are attached.
Now, my present Invention is intended to obviate these objections; it con-
sists in constructing mooring buoys in such a manner that, instead of being
attached to the mooring chain, and serving as the point of attachment for the
vessels, the buoy acts simply as a float or carrier for keeping the end of the
mooring chain above water, the latter being in no way attached to the buoy
beyond passing through an aperture formed in the same, and when not
attached to a ship's cable, being prevented from falling through the aperture
by the larger dimensions of the mooring ring. By this arrangement, if a
sufficient amount of "slack" is given to the mooring chain, it will, when a
ship's cable is attached to it, be drawn more or less out of the water, the ship
having a direct pull at the moorings, whilst the buoy will slide along the chain
according to the rise and fall of the tide, and the terminating ring of the chain
(which may even in certain cases be brought on board the vessel itself) will
always be above water, and accessible for disengaging the ship's cable.
Furthermore, I, in most cases, pass several mooring chains, or several lengths
of chain attached to one main mooring chain, through the aperture of the
buoy, providing each chain with a ring, so that several vessels may be attached
each to a separate chain, which all have a direct pull at the moorings, and the
ends of which being raised more or less out of the water, and away from each
other, will always be readily accessible.
I prefer to construct the buoy for this purpose of a hollow metal vessel of
an annular form, the central aperture being somewhat smaller than the rings
of the mooring chains, and in order to reduce the depth of the central aper-
ture as much as possible, so as to facilitate the passage of the chains through
the same, I form either the bottom surface, or both the top and the bottom
surfaces of the buoy concave or recessed, more or less, by which also the angle
at which the chains are held will not prevent the buoy from floating in a
level position.
If I recess the upper surface of the buoy to a greater depth than its water
line, I prefer to fix suitable hooks to the same above the water line, upon
which hooks I hang the rings of the mooring chains when not in use.
On the accompanying Drawing is shewn the construction of my improved
mooring buoy, which I prefer to employ.

page_text: Figure 1 shews an elevation of the same; Figure 2 shews a plan; and
Figure 3 shews a transverse section. The same letters of reference indicate
the same parts in each of the Figures.
:
A is a hollow metal vessel, by preference of wrought iron, strengthened by
bulkheads B, B, provided with man-holes, as shewn. A circular aperture
C is formed through the centre of the vessel A, and the under side of the
same is recessed conically or splayed from this aperture downwards, as shewn,
in order to facilitate the passage of the mooring chains through the same,
and to enable the buoy to remain in a horizontal position when the mooring
chains are at an angle. The aperture C is protected by extra thicknesses
of metal, and by a cast-iron bolster D, from the rubbing action of the mooring
chains; the lower edge of the conical recess is also protected by a thick rim
of iron; E is a wood sponson to protect the outer surface of the buoy. Three
mooring chains F, F1, F2, provided with rings f,f,f, are shewn passing
through the aperture C of the buoy, serving each as a separate point of attach-
men tto the hawsers G, G1, G2, of different vessels; at some distance below
water lines these chains F, F1, F2, are connected to one main mooring
chain H, which is made fast to the moorings I. When not in use, the chains
F, F, F, are held suspended in the water from the buoy by the rings f, f^,ƒ³,
resting upon the bolster D, such rings being made of such a size that they
will not pass through the opening C. When the ship's cables are attached to
the chains, these are drawn up through the openings to an extent corre-
sponding with the amount of slack allowed, as indicated on the Drawing, and
the buoy itself does not in any way serve as a point of attachment to the
vessels.
Figure 4 shews a transverse section of a buoy in which both the upper and
lower surfaces are recessed, and in which hooks j,,, are provided, upon
which the rings of the chains are hung, as indicated, instead of resting upon
the central opening, as in the previous arrangement.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise forms or proportions of my improved
mooring buoy as shewn upon the accompanying Drawing, as these may be
variously modified without departing from the nature of my Invention; but
what I claim is,-
Firstly, the construction of mooring buoys in which the mooring chain or
chains is or are not attached to the buoy, but passes or pass through an
opening or openings formed through the same, and is or are free to be drawn

page_text: up through such opening or openings, the buoy itself not serving as point of
attachment, but merely to support the ends of the mooring chain or chains
above water when not in use.
Secondly, constructing mooring buoys of hollow metal vessels, either with
flat top and bottom surfaces, or formed concave on the under side, or both on
the under and upper side, and provided with an aperture at or near the
centre through which the mooring chain or chains passes or pass, such
mooring chain or chains not being attached to the buoy, but merely sup-
ported by the same or hung upon hooks fixed to the same when not in use,
substantially as herein-before described with reference to the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Fosbery Lyster, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
GEORGE FOSBERY LYSTER. (L.S.)