A Buoy that can be Sunk or Raised Electrically from a Distance.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 1st July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 29th Mar., 1897-Accepted. 22nd May, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
A Buoy that can be Sunk or Raised Electrically from a Distance.
We, SIEMENS BROTHERS & Co., LIMITED, of 12 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster,
in the County of London, Electrical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
It is often desirable that the buoys which mark a channel should be removed by
action from a distance, so that they may no longer serve to guide vessels.
Our invention relates to a buoy which, by means of electrical currents transmitted
from a distance can be caused to sink out of sight, or to be raised again when desired.
For this purpose, the buoy is conveniently made as a cylinder floating with its axis
vertical.
It is moored by a cord containing insulated conductors to a trumpet mouthed bent
tube fixed at the bottom of the sea, through which tube the conducting cord passes to.
a suitable electric generator and switch on shore. In the upper part of the buoy is
arranged an electric motor, preferably of the kind worked by a rotating field, and
arranged to turn in either direction according to the current transmitted.
From the motor rotation is transmitted through speed reducing gear to a vertical
central spindle which, near the bottom works by a crank or eccentric a single acting
pump, the valves of which are also worked by eccentrics or cams on the spindle, these
being so arranged that, according as the spindle revolves in the one direction or the
other, the pump draws water from without into the buoy, causing it to sink, or
discharges water from the buoy causing it to float. The upper compartment
containing the motor is separated from the lower by a cup shaped partition the hollow
of which holds oil to lubricate the gearing and to prevent passage of water through
the stuffing box through which the vertical spindle passes.
The buoy may carry a lantern which may contain electrical lamps. Also the buoy
may be of other than cylindrical shape, with the motor and pump suitably arranged
in separate compartments.
The conductors on shore may be connected to an indicator of the torque exerted by
the motor, and consequently of the performance of the pump.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Buoy that can be Sunk or Raised Electrically from a Distance.
We, SIEMENS BROTHERS & Co. LIMITED, of 12 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster
in the County of London, Electrical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (as communicated to us from abroad by Siemens & Halske, 94 Mark-
grafenstrasse, Berlin, in the German Empire, Electrical Engineers) and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
It is often desirable that the buoys which mark a channel should be removed by
action from a distance, so that they may no longer serve to guide vessels.

page_text: Our invention relates to a buoy which by means of electrical currents transmitted
from a distance can be caused to sink out of sight or to be raised again when
desired.
For this purpose the buoy is conveniently made as a cylinder floating with its axis
vertical.
It is moored by a cord containing insulated conductors to a trumpet mouthed bent
tube fixed at the bottom of the sea, through which tube the con lucting cord passes to
a suitable electric generator and switch on shore. In the upper part of the buoy is
arranged an electric motor, preferably of the kind worked by a rotating field and
arranged to turn in either direction according to the current transmitted.
This motor imparts motion to a suction and force pump, the suction pipe of which
communicates with the water surrounding the buoy. The pamp is worked by valves
or slides so arranged and actuated that according to the direction of rotation of the
motor, the pump is made either to pump water. from the outside into the inside of the
buoy, or to pump water out of the buoy. Thus for example, if the motor is caused to
revolve to the right, it pumps water into the buoy and thereby compresses the air
contained therein until the specific weight of the buoy has increased to such an extent
as to cause it to sink. If afterwards it be desired to raise the buoy again, it is only
necessary by reversing the direction of the electric current to drive the mot ir round
to the left, when the pump will expel the water from the interior of the buoy until it
attains sufficient buoyancy to cause it to rise to the surface again.
On the accompanying drawing is shown a buoy constructed according to the present
invention.
Fig. 1 shews a general view of the apparatus to a small scale,
Figs. 2 and 3 shew vertical sections of the buoy to a larger scale, taken at right
angles to each other,
Fig. 4 is a cross section at X X Fig. 3.
The cable 4, Fig. 1, serves both for mooring the buoy and for supplying the
electrical energy to the motor in the buoy, for which purpose it contains the necessary
insulated conducting wires.
It is passed through a trumpet mouthed tubular guide S, suitably anchored to the
bottom, so that the buoy can move in every direction without damaging the cable.
The buoy is so constructed as to be immersed to the point a when containing no water.
If however the valves of the pump should be leaky, water will penetrate into the buoy
until the air pressure therein is equal to that of the column of water above the pump
inlot, and the construction is so arranged that the buoy will in that case only sink to
the level of the point b.
On the head of the buoy is fixed a lamp pedestal 1 which may advantageously
carry a lantern L with glow lamps.
This lantern serves the double purpose of illumination at night, and on the other
hand of affording an indication of the continued effectiveness of the electrical
apparatus of the buoy.
In the centre of the buoy A is mounted a vertical shaft G the upper end of which
is geared with the shaft of the electromotor D while the lower end is geared with the
shaft of the pump H.
The cable is passed through a stuffing box at the lower end of the buoy, and
is connected by suitable leads to the motor 'D.
The lantern support I is formed by a hermetically fitted tube into which the
branched conductor for the glow lamps is passed through a stuffing box.
The motor D is preferably a rotary field motor because the reversal of such motors
is particularly simple and because it is most suitable for the purpose on account of
the absence of all sliding contacts.
The space below the motor is hermetically separated from the upper space by a
dished partition E in order to protect the motor against moisture.
In such upper space may if necessary be introduced suitable appliances for drying
the air.
The dished part of the partition E is filled with oil which serves the double purpose

page_text: of still farther ensuring an air tight separation of the upper from the under part, and.
of lubricating the toothed gearing F by means of which the motion of the motor is.
transmitted to the shaft G. V is a valve of any suitable construction serving to effect...
the equalisation of the pressure in the upper and lower parts of the buoy, in order
that the oil may not be forced through the shaft bearing when a lower air pressure
exists below than above.
The pump H is preferably a single acting ordinary suction and force pump the-
valves or slides of which are actuated by excentrics mounted on the pump shaft and
operate in a well known manner.
A single acting pump is employed by preference in order that the variations of the-
torque exercised by the motor may be read off on land from a current indicator
introduced into the circuit.
In this way it can be ascertained at the current generator station whether the pump-
is in action or not. If the motor were to remain in action after emptying the buoy,
it would gradually produce a partial vacuum therein and the water passing in through
leaky valves after stopping the pumps would be able to sink the buoy.
To prevent this, the dead spaces between the pump piston and pump valves are-
made excessively large; as long as the pump passes water, the action will not be
detrimentally affected thereby, but such spaces will prevent the production of any
material exhaust of air.
It will be evident that the arrangement of the above described devices may be.
variously modified without departing from the nature of this invention; for example,
the motor and pump might be arranged in one and the same space, separated.
hermetically from a second space, from which the pump might be made to exhaust.
air and to compress it into the first space, so that the second space would become filled
with water and thereby sink the buoy.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-.
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
A buoy capable of being sunk or raised electrically from a distance, consisting in
the combination with an air tight shell of a pump driven by an electromotor supplied
with current from a land station and arranged so that it can be made to run in either
direction, the actuated valves or slides of the pump being so arranged that according
to the direction of rotation of the motor, the pump will either be made to draw water
into the buoy or be made to discharge water from the same in order in the one case
to sink the buoy and in the other case to raise it, substantially as described.
Dated this 25th day of March 1807
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants..