AN IMPROVED AUTOMATIC SIGNAL BUOY
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
AUTOMATIC SIGNAL BUOY." A communication from abroad by John Mervin
Courtenay, of Cornwall, on the Hudson, Orange County, State of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 13th June 1876, and dated the 26th April 1876.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th April 1870.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. "AN IMPROVED AUTOMATIC SIGNAL BUOY." A communication
from abroad by John Mervin Courtenay, of Cornwall, on the Hudson, Orange
County, State of New York, United States of America.
This Invention has reference to an improved signal buoy, in which the power of
the surface waves in connection with the weight of the buoy is jointly.utilized in a
very simple and effective manner, for the compression of air, for automatical siguals,
and other purposes in foggy and stormy weather, so as to indicate the position of
the buoy and guide the vessels in their proper course.
The Invention consists of a buoy with central downward extending tube of such
length that it reaches to a depth of water not affected by the surface waves. The
central tube terminates at the mean water level, and has an air entrance pipe and
bottom valve, and an air exit pipe with whistle or other sounding device at the top
to be operated by the rising and lowering of the buoy by the action of the waves,
and the compression of the air in the central tube..
The buoy is connected near its base to a slack anchoring cable to admit the
following of the buoy vertically to the motion of the waves, while a rudder plate at
the opposite side of the tube steadies the buoy against any rotating motion by the
waves.
In the accompanying Drawing A represents a buoy which is constructed in the
customary manner of plate iron rivetted together. The size and weight of the
buoy are determined according to the pressure of atmosphere required in the
tube. A tube B of suitable diameter is arranged at the centre of the buoy, and
firmly rivetted to the lower end of the same. The central tube is extended below

page_text: the buoy to such depth below the mean water level that the open lower end reaches
the body of the water not affected by the motion of the surface waves.
The depth
required for this purpose may be about thirty feet, more or less, it being absolutely
necessary that the lower end of the tube shall even in the most stormy weather
extend below any action or disturbance caused by the waves on the surface of the
water. This furnishes a column of water at the inside of the tube that not only
conduces to the steady vertical position of the whole buoy during the up and down
motion of the same, but produces also a constant water level within the tube that
is not influenced by the wave motion of the surface water. The constant water
level retained in the tube is that of the mean water level. At or near the same
level with this constant water level in the tube B is a horizontal diaphragm
or partition plate. C, which communicates with the upper end of the buoy by
two tubes D and D¹, of which tube D is of larger diameter than tube D¹, and
provided at the lower end with a ball or other valve a. The tube D serves as the
air entrance tube, while the smaller tube D¹ that is open at the sides serves as the
exit or discharge tube for the air. .
To the upper end of the exit tube D¹ is attached a whistle, syren, or other
suitable sounding device E of sufficient power, which is sounded by the pressure of
the air in the air chamber of the main tube between the diaphragm and water level.
The compression of the air is produced by the action of the waves, which first lift
the buoy to a certain height so that the air space is cnlarged and the air allowed to
enter through the tube D and bottom valve a. The receding motion of the waves
in connection with the weight of the buoy produces the rapid descent of the
buoy, and as the water level remains constant a sudden compression of the air
which closes the valve of the entrance tube, and forces the compressed air with
considerable power through the exit tube so as to sound the device..
The greater the dimensions of the buoy and consequently the weight of the
same, and the proportionate length of the tube B, the greater will be the pressure
of air produced in the tube B; the higher the action of the waves lifts the buoy
the longer will be the duration of the signals. When the water is less disturbed so
as to throw smaller waves, the signals will be shorter, sounding with equal force,
but at greater intervals.
The elements that control the automatic soundings are, the power of the waves
to lift the buoy, and the weight of the buoy, which in connection with the stationary
column of water produce the compression of the air and consequent working of the
whistle. This allows an exact mathematical computation of the pressure, as the
same is produced by the weight of the buoy and the height of the column of water
within the tube.
The buoy is anchored by a wire cable F attached to the central tube at some
distance below the buoy. The cable is made sufficiently slack to allow the buoy to
follow readily the motion of the surface water. A rudder plate G extends at the
side opposite to that to which the cable is attached, from the lower part of the buoy
to a suitable depth along the tube, imparting a steadying and steering action of the
buoy and obviating any rotating motion, so that the upright position and motion of
the buoy is not interfered with by the cable, as the parts are balanced, more or
less, and held in vertical or nearly vertical position by the weight of the tube
and the action of the water upon the same.
The action of wind and waves thus produce in connection with the weight of the
buoy in a reliable, powerful, and automatic manner a means of compressing air
capable of sounding any instrument now blown by steam or air to its full extent,
whether the buoy be placed in mid ocean or near the coast, and give thereby means
of averting danger in stormy weather by reducing the dangers of the coast, and
guiding vessels in stormy and foggy weather.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is,—
1st. An automatic signal buoy having a central tube extending from the mean

page_text: water level to such a depth below the surface of the water that a constant water
level is maintained within the tube, and by the raising and lowering of the buoy
by the action of the waves and the weight of the buoy, the air is compressed
between a diaphragm and the mean water level in the tube, substantially as herein
shown and described.
2nd. A signal buoy having a central downward extending tube with a diaphragm
at mean water level, said diaphragm communicating by an air entrance tube with
the bottom valve, and an air exit tube with the upper end of the buoy, substantially
as herein shown and described.
3rd. A signal buoy provided with a central downward extending tube reaching
from the mean water level of the submerged buoy to a depth not disturbed by the
action of the surface waves, and serving to steady and guide the buoy during its up
and down motion, substantially as herein shown and described.
And, 4th. A signal buoy with central downward extending tube attached to an
anchoring cable at a point below the buoy, and having a rudder or steadying plate
extending from the base of the buoy to the bottom tube, substantially as herein
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, 'the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)