IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS OB APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE PURPOSES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Trajan Teodoresco, of Galatz, in the Kingdom of
Roumania, Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS OB
APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE PURPOSES."
(Void by reason of the Patentee having neglected to file a Specification in
pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Trajan Teodoresco at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th January 1882.
TRAJAN TEODORESCO of Galatz in the Kingdom of Roumania Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS OR APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to improvements in vessels or apparatus for submarine
purposes and it consists in providing means for maintaining such vessels in state of
constant equilibrium at any desired depth and at the same time enabling them to
ascend or descend with precision when required.
My said Invention is applicable to vessels, torpedoes or other apparatus or sub-
marine machines employed in all descriptions of submarine operations where it is
required to maintain the vessel constantly at a given depth or to cause it to move
in a vertical direction at will. According to my Invention this result is obtained
by means of an automatic apparatus which being regulated or adjusted by hand
in the first place either when the vessel is at the surface of the water or after the
vessel has been submerged afterwards operates automatically in such a manner as
to maintain the vessel in the required condition of equilibrium at a given depth
being actuated and controlled by the variations in the pressure of the surrounding
water, that is to say, the vessel is maintained constantly in equilibrium and at the
required depth by the action of the pressure of the surrounding water in com-
bination with the elasticity of the air in an air chamber. This pressure is utilized
in such a manner as to render the apparatus perfectly automatic and self acting
and to cause the vessel to remain steadily in any given position without rising or

page_text: falling or oscillating on a longitudinal or transverse axis even when a considerable
disturbing force or pressure is applied externally in any direction or at any depth.
The apparatus is capable of being operated and adjusted with great precision and
the same apparatus which causes the vessel to sink to the required depth also
ensures its equilibrium when submerged by utilising the pressure of the surrounding
water
In carrying out my Invention I provide the submarine vessel with a reservoir
of compressed air and an air chamber which latter is in direct communication with
the surrounding water at its lower part and is capable of being placed in com-
munication with the reservoir of compressed air or with the interior of the vessel at
its upper part by means of passages provided with valves operated by the pressure
of the surrounding water as hereinafter explained. The valve controlling the
communication between the air chamber and the reservoir of compressed air may
be constructed in the form of a piston or plunger working in a cylinder open at
one end so as to expose one side of the piston to the pressure of the surrounding
water.
The piston or plunger is perforated by a passage which when the piston or
plunger is pressed inward by the pressure of the water coincides with ports or
apertures in the side of the cylinder and admits air from the reservoir to the upper
part of the air chamber. The valve controlling the passage between the air
chamber and the interior of the vessel is operated by the piston or plunger and
consists of a piston valve for example. mounted on a piston rod connected to the
piston or plunger which is loaded to counterbalance or correspond with the pressure
of the water at any given depth.
In order to enable the load upon the piston or plunger to be adjusted or
regulated with precision the piston rod may be provided with a vessel or receptacle
communicating with a reservoir containing mercury. By allowing a certain
quantity of mercury to flow into the vessel on the piston rod the piston or plunger
is enabled to overcome the pressure of the surrounding water at any desired depth
and under these conditions the communication between the reservoir of compressed
air and the air chamber is cut off as the passage through the piston or plunger is
brought below the ports in the side of the cylinder. Now if by any cause what-
ever the vessel is caused to sink to a lower level for example the increased pressure
of the surrounding water overcomes the load on the piston or plunger which is
consequently forced inwards until the passage in the said piston or plunger
coincides with the corresponding ports in the cylinder and admits air from the
reservoir to the air chamber.
The air under pressure from the reservoir being thus admitted to the upper part
of the air chamber displaces a certain quantity of the water in the lower part of
the said chamber and thus increases the buoyancy of the vessel which consequently
tends to return immediately to its normal depth where the decreasing pressure of
the surrounding water being unable to overcome the load on the piston or plunger
allows the latter to move outwards thus cutting off the communication between
the reservoir of compressed air and the air chamber.
In case it is desired to cause the vessel to sink to a greater depth the load on
the piston or plunger is increased (by admitting mercury to the vessel on the
piston rod for example) so as to correspond with the pressure of the surrounding
water at the depth which it is desired to cause the vessel to descend.
The piston
or plunger is then forced outwards drawing down the piston rod and with it the
piston valve which is thus caused to open the passage between the air chamber
and the interior of the vessel. The consequent decrease in the pressure in the air
chamber enables the surrounding water to fill the lower part of the air chamber
and thus decrease the buoyancy of the vessel which immediately sinks to the
depth required where the increased pressure of the surrounding water balances the
load upon the piston or plunger.
When it is desired to increase the buoyancy of the vessel in order to cause the
latter to rise on the contrary the load upon the piston or plunger is diminished by

page_text: drawing off for example a quantity of the mercury in the vessel on the piston rod
corresponding to the pressure of the water at the level to which it is desired to
ascend and thereby enabling the pressure of the surrounding water to force the
piston or plunger inwards and open the communication between the air chamber
and the reservoir of compressed air.
The compressed air then drives out a portion of the water in the air chamber
and thus enables the vessel to rise. In order to maintain the vessel constantly in
equilibrium and in a horizontal position it is necessary to provide it with four or
more apparatus constructed as hereinbefore described.
The pipes by which air is conveyed to and from the air chamber are provided
with suitable cocks or valves operated by hand when required.
When my Invention is applied to torpedoes the load on the piston or plunger
corresponding to the pressure at the depth at which it is desired that the torpedo
should remain is previously ascertained by calculation or experiment and adjusted
accordingly. The apparatus then operates automatically increasing its buoyancy
when caused to descend by any external cause whatever to a lower level and
decreasing its buoyancy in like manner when caused to rise so that it invariably
returns automatically to the depth for which it is adjusted.