Improvements in Preventing Vessels and other Floating Bodies from Sinking from Collision and other Causes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Feb., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 19th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 11th June, 1898
Improvements in Preventing Vessels and other Floating Bodies from
Sinking from Collision and other Causes.
.
We, REINHOLD DE TIEDEMANN, of Victoria House, 32, Victoria Street, West:
minster, Engineer, and RUDOLF BUERSTINGHAUS, of 351, Camden Road, Merchant,
both in the County of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in preventing vessels and other floating
bodies from sinking from the effects of collision or from any other cause.
According to the invention around the vessel or other floating body we provide
a number of chambers or compartments formed of a suitable fabric so that the
said chambers can be normally collapsed or flattened.
In connection with the said chambers we arrange a supply of compressed air
or other suitable gas, the connection between the reservoir containing the gas
and the chambers being of such a nature that, on a collision or any other accident
liable to sink the vessel occurring, the compressed air or gas can be instantly caused
to flow simultaneously into all the chambers and inflate them so as to provide an
air belt round the vessel which is thereby kept afloat.
Dated the 10th day of February 1898.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements in Preventing Vessels and other Floating Bodies from
Sinking from Collision and other Causes.
We, REINHOLD DE TIEDEMANN, of Victoria House, 32, Victoria Street, West-
minster, Engineer, and RUDOLF BUERSTINGIIAUS, of 351, Camden Road, Merchant,
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:-
This invention relates to improvements in preventing vessels and other floating
bodies from sinking from the effects of collision or from any other cause.
According to the invention, around the vessel or other floating body either above
or below the water line we provide a number of chambers or compartments formed
of a suitable fabric so that the said chambers can be normally collapsed or
flattened.

page_text: In connection with the said chambers we arrange a supply of compressed air
or other suitable gas, the connection between the reservoir containing the gas
and the chambers being of such a nature that, on a collision or any other accident
liable to sink the vessel occurring, the compressed air or gas can be instantly caused
to flow simultaneously into all the chambers and inflate them so as to provide an
air belt round the vessel which is thereby kept afloat.
To enable the invention to be fully understood we will describe it by reference
to the accompanying drawing which represents in sectional elevation apparatus
constructed according to the invention.
a represents the hull of the vessel and bone of the chambers or compartments
which are arranged around the vessel as hereinbefore described, the said chambers
being normally folded up or collapsed as shewn in full lines in the figure and each
being enclosed in a cover c which is hinged at c¹ to the hull a of the vessel and
is provided at its free end with a hook or fastening device projecting through
a hole c³ in the hull a and adapted to normally hold the cover c in its closed position
as indicated in, full lines in the figure and to release the same in the manner
hereinafter described.
The collapsable chamber 6 is secured at its lower end to the hull a and its interior
is in connection through the pipe d with a cylinder d' having a piston 2, the
rod d³ of which passes up through a stuffing-box d in the cylinder and is pivoted
to a hooked arm de pivoted at d to a bracket secured to the cylinder '. A
spring is arranged between the stuffing-box d and the underside of the hooked
arm do and is of such strength that the piston is normally held above the
opening d and the hooked arm d in engagement with the hook 2 of the cover c
so that the latter is, as above mentioned, held in its closed position. The bottom
of the cylinder d' is provided with a valve to allow the air in the cylinder to
escape when the piston d² is depressed. The upper end of the cylinder (, that is
to say, the portion above the piston & when the latter is in the normal position
illustrated in the drawing, is in connection by a pipe e with the compressed air
or other gas contained in the apparatus which we will now proceed to describe.
h
The said apparatus comprises a cylinder or vessel f in which the air, gas or the
like is stored under pressure, the said cylinder or vessel f being filled through an
inlet pipe f provided with a pressure gauge f2 for indicating the pressure of the
contents of the cylinder f which is provided with a safety valve f³. The vessel f
communicates by a pipe 9 with a valve-box g¹ by an opening g³ underneath a
piston when the latter is in the normal position indicated in the drawing, the
said piston having a spindle g provided with a double valve 95, 96, the upper
part of which normally closes an opening e¹ by means of which the said valve-
box g communicates with the pipe e from the cylinder d', so as to normally shut
off the communication between the cylinder and the vessel f. The lower part g
of the double valve attached to the spindle g is designed to close an opening by
which the pipe e communicates with the atmosphere when the piston g³ is raised
as hereinafter described, that is to say, when the valve 5 uncovers the opening el.
The space in the valve box g' below the piston g³ communicates by a passage
with a chamber h¹ which communicates through a valve opening h2 with a
chamber h³ communicating by a passage h* with the valve-box above the
piston and with the atmosphere through an opening h5. The chamber
provided with a double valve 2 which normally closes the opening 5 and leaves
the opening 2 between the two chambers h¹ and h³ open so that the compressed air
or other gas can pass from the vesself through the pipe g into the valve-box gl
below the piston 93 thence through the passage h, chamber h¹, valve passage h³,
chamber and passage * into the valve box gl above the piston g³ so that the
valve is normally held upon the opening el by which the valve-box g¹ com-
municates with the pipe c. This double valve i is mounted upon a spindle
which is attached to an arm j pivoted at j¹ to a bracket 2 upon the valve-box g¹.
The said arm is provided with an armature k which is normally held away from
an electro-magnet k¹, mounted upon a bracket secured to the valve-box, by a
is

page_text: spring. The electro-magnet ¹ is arranged in a circuit which is supplied with
current by a suitable battery 1, the flow of current in the circuit being controlled
by a suitable switch which can be operated by hand so as to close the circuit and
thus cause the magnet k¹ to attract the armature and operate the apparatus_as
follows. The attraction of the armature causes the double valve i to open the
outlet from the chamber ³ and close the opening h² between the chambers h
and h. The result of this is that the compressed gas in the valve-box g¹ above the
piston g3 will escape through the passage h and opening h5 so that the said
piston will be subjected upon its upper face to the pressure of the atmosphere
alone. The greater pressure, therefore, which now exists in the valve box 7' below
the piston g will force the latter upwards so as to lift the valve g³ from the
opening and draw the valve g against the opening & thereby opening com-
munication between the vessel f and the cylinder d', above the piston d², through
the pipe g, valve-box g¹, opening e¹ and pipe e. The pressure of the air or gas
which thus flows above the piston forces the latter downwards, the downward
movement of the piston first releasing the hooks and c2 and then uncovering
the connection d so that the compressed gas can flow therethrough into the
collapsed chamber b which pushes down the cover into the position shewn in
dotted lines and then expands, as indicated by the broken lines.
To provide for automatically putting the apparatus into operation should the
vessel leak, we make use of a float arrangement comprising a float m secured by a
flexible cord or the like to a rod n which passes through a stuffing-box o into a
water-tight compartment p and is connected to a lever q which is pivoted at q' to
a contact r connected by a wire r¹ to one terminal of the switch 12 in such a
manner that, should water enter the vessel to a predetermined height, the float m
is raised and raises the rod n until the lever q comes in contact with a contact s
connected by a wire s' with the other terminal of the switch 12 thereby completing
the battery circuit and operating the apparatus in the manner above described.
It will of course be understood that the chambers can be arranged around the
vessel in any suitable number and manner and that they can form a continuous
belt or be arranged in any other suitable manner. It is also to be understood
that the apparatus is arranged so that the chambers can be simultaneously or
otherwise filled with the compressed air or gas by the use of one or more switches
arranged in suitable parts of the vessel, and that we prefer to employ a separate
reservoir for each chamber, although two or more chambers can be supplied from
one reservoir.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. The construction and application to vessels and other floating bodies to pre-
vent them from sinking from collision and other causes of a number of collapsable
chambers in connection by suitable means with a supply of compressed air or
other fluid in such a manner that when required the said chambers can be filled
with the air or other fluid, substantially as and for the purpose herein before
described.
2. In apparatus of the kind described in Claim 1 enclosing the collapsable
chambers in covers normally held in their closed position by means of catches
designed to be released by the action of the compressed air or other fluid which fills
the air chambers, substantially as herein before described.
3. Apparatus for preventing vessels and other floating bodies from sinking,
comprising a number of collapsable chambers in communication with one or more
vessels for containing the compressed fluid through a cylinder and an arrangement
of valves controlled by an electro-magnet in a circuit which can be closed auto-
matically or by hand, substantially as herein before described.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved apparatus

page_text: for preventing vessels and other floating bodies from sinking from collision and
other causes, herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 18th day of April 1898.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.