CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE PAYING-OUT OF SUBMARINE OR SUBMERGED TELEGRAPH WIRES OR CABLES
Year: 1858

page_text: by the Act.)
atent was not given within the time prescribed
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th January
1858. A communication.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE PAYING-OUT OF SUBMARINE
OR SUBMERGED TELEGRAPH WIRES OR CABLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the attachment to the wire or cable (at suitable
Intervals as it runs out from the vessel), of buoys of such capacity that they
will not remain at the surface of the water, and hold the wire or cable sus-
pended from them, but as they sink slowly with the wire or cable, will retard
the descent thereof to such an extent as to prevent almost entirely or in a
great degree the tensional strain that would be due to the weight of the wire'
or cable between the vessel and the bottom of the ocean or other water in
which it is laid, and thereby prevent almost entirely the liability to fracture of
the cable. These buoys, which may be made of metal, or of india-rubber, or
other material capable of being inflated, or of containing air, or of any suf-
ficiently buoyant material, are to be attached to the wire or cable as it. runs
from the vessel by a person stationed between the water and the last point-
where the wire or cable has any support on board the vessel, the said buoys
having short lines attached to them, and at the ends of the said lines hooks
or clasps of such construction that they may be attached instantaneously with-
out any difficulty or danger to the person whose duty it is to attach them.
The Invention further consists in an indicator of novel construction, which is

page_text: operated upon by the wire or cable as it runs out from the vessel in such a
manner as and properly placed to indicate the degree of tension upon the
part of the wire or cable outside of the paying-out apparatus, to the attendant
stationed for the purpose of attaching the buoys, who will attach a buoy as
soon as a certain tension shall have been produced.
The indicating apparatus is constructed as follows:-The shaft or axle
of the drum or pulley over which the wire or cable last passes as it leaves the
ship is supported in bearings carried by beams or bed-pieces which rest on
springs or blocks of india-rubber. To one of the beams or bed-pieces there
is attached by a pin one end of a lever indicator or hand which rests upon a
fixed stop placed between the joint pin and the free-end or point which works
close to a stationary graduated arc. The wire or cable passing over the drum,
or pulley will by the weight and traction of the portion suspended astern tend
to compress the springs on which the drum or pulley rests, and to depress
the said drum or pulley, and this effect will increase as the distance increases
between the vessel and the nearest submerged buoy; and as it thus increases
the jointed end of the lever hand will descend and cause the other end to move
up the graduated arc, upon which, if properly graduated, this lever will
indicate the strain on the wire or cable.
When made of india-rubber, the buoys are to be made in the form of bags
or bottles, and fitted with stoppers like those used in air cushions and life
preservers, so that they may be stowed away in a collapsed state in casks and
boxes as may be found most convenient, and inflated as fast as required for
use. The buoys may have a small hole in the bottom for the admission of
water, and another in the top for the emission of air, to allow them to fill with
water in a given time. The hooks which I propose to use for attaching the
buoys are made each with a spring, which opens to allow it to be hooked on
to the wire or cable, but afterwards closes to prevent the buoy from detaching,
and the insides of the hooks are made of such angular shape that they will
jam on the wire or cable. These hooks are attached instantaneously by
striking the spring sharply against the wire or cable as it passes out.
.
The buoys when of tin or other metal, should be made in halvės, which need
only to be soldered together as fast as required for use. The object to be
derived from this is, that the halves can be stowed together in nests one
within another.