IMPROVEMENTS IN CODE OF SHIPS' FOG SIGNALS AND FOG SIGNAL APPARATUS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Warren Fowle, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk,
and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CODE OF SHIPS' FOG SIGNALS AND FOG
SIGNAL APPARATUS.”
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Joseph Warren Fowle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd April 1879.
JOSEPH WARREN FOWLE, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of
Massachusetts, one of the United States of America, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CODE OF SHIPS' FOG SIGNALS AND FOG SIGNAL APPARATUS."
My Invention relates to improvements in code of ships' fog signals and fog signal
apparatus, and consists in indicating by means of a sounding instrument the course
in which the ship is sailing or propelled, as, for instance, a single tone repeated at
constant intervals would indicate to other vessels that the vessel signalling was
going due north; one note, a pause, and two notes would indicate north cast;
one note, a pause, and three notes would indicate north north east, and so on; the
exact arrangement of tones and pauses for each point of the compass is of course
arbitrary, but once established by law or trenty or otherwise between maritime
nations they should remain unchangeable and standard. By such a code of signals
vessels passing by each other in foggy weather would know by the sound in what
direction or locality each one was, as usual, but in addition to this by the use of
this code of fog signals, each vessel would know exactly in what direction the other
was sailing or propelled and by this means avoid collisions or accidents. The
apparatus I employ for this purpose is constructed as follows:-It consists of a
cylinder provided with pins or projections on its periphery, which projections are
arranged in parallel circles on the said cylinder, and said projections act upon a
tooth or incline on a shaft to which is secured the hammer of a gong or bell or
suitable sounding instrument, and in this manner the gong or bell is struck during
the rotation of the toothed cylinder. The respective rows of teeth on the said
cylinder are so arranged that the first row, for instance, has all its teeth located
equidistant from each other so as to act upon the hammer shaft to produce a
repeated single sound of the gong or bell. The next row of teeth may so be
arranged as to operate the hammer shaft to produce one blow, a pause and two
final blows representing the number 12, and so on. Said cylinder is set in a
rotary motion by means of bevel gears or equivalent devices operated by hand or
weight or other power. The said toothed cylinder is laterally adjustable in

page_text: stationary bearings, so that either of the rows of teeth on it may be located in such
a position as to engage with the projections on the bell hammer shaft. The said
cylinder is moved laterally by means of a toothed disk or wheel secured to a shaft
that is movable in stationary bearings, and to the forward end of said shaft is
secured an index finger or pointer that swings in front of a stationary and graduated
index plate, having compass point marks as well as numerals indicating the number
of strokes to be sounded for the respective points of the compass according to the
course in which the vessel is going. Thus, for instance, if the vessel sails due north
the index is moved to the place marked N on the index plate, and the cylinder is
moved laterally to a corresponding position, and when rotated the gong or bell
will be sounded repeatedly according to the number directly below the mark N,
thus 1-1-1. If the course of the vessel is changed to north east, for instance, the
operator moves the index to the place marked N.E. on the index plate, when the
toothed cylinder is laterally moved to a corresponding position, and when rotated
in such position the gong or bell will be sounded repeatedly, according to the
numbers directly below the marks N.E., thus 1-2, 1-2. I prefer to provide one
end of said rotary cylinder with an extension provided with parallel circular grooves
on its periphery, into which a movable locking plate is arranged to rest according to
the position in which the cylinder is moved laterally, so as to prevent the said cylinder
from moving laterally as long as the course of the vessel remains the same, and until it
is released by the operator. I also employ a simple stop mechanism so as to always
stop the rotation of the cylinder in one and the same position previous to changing
the lateral position, so as to allow the toothed wheel on the index shaft to engage
with the first longitudinal row of teeth on the cylinder, as will hereinafter be more
fully shown and described.
On the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of my
improved fog signal apparatus; Fig. 2 represents an end view scen from r in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 represents a cross section on the line A, B, shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 represents
a central longitudinal section on the line C, D, shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 represent a
plan view; and Fig. 6 represents the arrangement of teeth on the rotary cylinder
for corresponding points of the compass.
a is the rotary cylinder with its teeth b, b', 6, 61, located in circular rows
thereon; c is the shaft around which the cylinder is made to rotate as well as to
move in a lateral direction; d is the bearing for the shaft c, as shown; e is the
extended hollow end of the cylinder a, which hollow end has its bearing within the
hollow hub f of the bevel gear f; the hub fl of said gear is supported in the
bearing y, as shown, it being for the purpose of preventing a Interal motion of the
said gear provided with aunular flanges f", f, as shown; h is the small bevel
pinion gearing into the gear by means of which a rotary motion is imparted to the
cylinder a by manipulating a crank i on the pinion shaft ', or by applying a clock
mechanism or other automatic motor to the said shaft h¹; e¹, e¹, e, are annular
grooves on the hollow extension e, which groove serve as a locking device in
combination with the movable locking plate k that is adjustable on the arm 2, tho
latter being secured to the hollow hub f¹ of the gear f, as shown. By moving the
adjustable locking plate k outwards on its arm the lower end of said locking plate
is disengaged from the groove e¹ in which it was retained, and the cylinder a may
now be moved in the direction of its axis until any desired row of its teeth come
into operative position with the tooth or incline m on the oscillating hammer
shaft n for the purpose of sounding the signal for any desired course of the vessel.
When the cylinder is properly adjusted as above named the locking plate k is
moved towards the extension c until the inner end of said locking plate rests in the
corresponding groove e thereon, when the cylinder a may be continuously rotated
without liability of working laterally; o, o, are the bearings for the index shaft p¹
to which the index or pointer p is secured; p" is a crank on the forward end of
the shaft p', by means of which the latter is rotated for the purpose of moving the
pointer p to any desired position in front of the stationary index plate q that is
provided with compass pointmarks, as shown, below which the number of strokes

page_text: of the bell corresponding to the course of the vessel are arranged in concentric
circles, as shown, and also for the purpose of adjusting the cylinder a laterally to
a corresponding position, so that its teeth shall act upon the haminer tooth m to
strike the gong or bell such number of strokes as are indicated on that part of the
index plate to which the index is set. For the purpose of moving the cylinder a
laterally in its bearings I secure a gear wheel r to the index shaft p', the teeth of
which are made to engage with the first longitudinal row or starting row of teeth
on the cylinder a; for this purpose it is necessary, previous to moving the said
cylinder in a lateral direction, to hold it temporarily in its starting point position,
which is shown in Fig. 5, and to accomplish this I provide the rotary arm with
a slot or recess in its upper end, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, into which the
movable block or projection 8 is inserted when the cylinder a is to be locked so as
not to turn on its axis. The movable block or locking piece a is jointed to or
otherwise made adjustable on the upper part of the stationary bearing 9, as shown
in Figs. 1 and 4. When not locked into the recess the said locking piece s is
withdrawn, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and is held back by means of a
spring or other similar device; and I wish to state that I do not confine myself to
nny exact locking device for this purpose, as it may be changed without departing
essentially from my Invention; n' is the hammer on the hammer shaft n, and t is
the sounding bell or gong against which the hammer is made to strike during the
rotation of the cylinder a, the teeth of which act upon the tooth or incline m on the
said hammer shaft. As each tooth in the row on the rotary cylinder a passes by
the incline m the spring u on the hammer shaft n is wound up as usual in the
ordinary gongs, and the hammer is made to strike the gong by the action of the
spring as soon as a tooth on the cylinder a has passed by the incline m on the
hammer shaft. I also wish to state that I do not confine myself to the exact
arrangement of the hammer bar, spring, hammer, and bell, as shown in the Drawings,
as these parts may be varied without departing from the spirit of my Invention.
What I wish to secure by Letters Patent and claim is,-
1st. As an improvement in code of ships' fog signals to indicate the course of a
vessel by a sounding apparatus so arranged as to sound different number of tones
or combination of number of tones for the various points of the compass, sub-
stantially as described.
2nd. The herein described ships' fog signal apparatus consisting of the rotary
and laterally adjustable cylinder a with its annular rows of teeth 61, 61, 6111, the
movable index p, index shaft p', stationary index plate q, wheel r, and sounding
mechanism m, n, u, t, as and for the purposo set forth.
3rd. In combination with the laterally adjustable and rotary toothed cylinder a,
the extension e, with its annular grooves el, el, e', the bevel gears f, h, rotary arm
,, movable locking plate k, and locking device 8, as and for the purpose set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Warren Fowle, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 31st day of March. A.D. 1879.