Year: 1889

page_text: I, ALFRED WINSOR, of 134 State Street, Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and
State of Massachusetts, United States of America, President of the Boston Tow Boat Co.,
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 :-
When one vessel is being towed by another in a turbulent sea, the tow-line, cable,
or hawser is subjected to sudden alternating degrees of tension consequent upon the
changing relations of the vessels to each other as they ride upon the waves or
settle in the troughs of the sea; and the sudden strains on the cables are some-
times so enormous as to be beyond the endurance of the cables, and the latter are
therefore liable to be broken.
<<
"
The object of my invention is to obviate this difficulty. This object I accomplish
by providing a balancing cable-drum, the balancing being effected by a steam or
air engine so geared to the drum that the normal pressure of the engine cylinder or
cylinders will balance the normal strain on the cable; but if the strain on the latter
he suddenly increased the cushioning effect of the steam or air in the engine
cylinder or cylinders will permit the cable to
pay out somewhat, and thus
yield to the sudden strain, thereby rendering the action of the cable yielding or
elastic. To counterbalance the increased strain on the cable, I provide a pressure-
regulating valve which is geared to the shaft of the cable-drum and connected with
the engine cylinder or cylinders, so that when the strain on the cable causes the latter
to pay out the turning of the drum shaft will increase (by means of the regulating
valve) the pressure in the said cylinders, and thus quickly counteract the tendency of
the cable to pay out; and when the lessening strain on the cable permits the drum to
be turned (by the pressure of the engine cylinder or cylinders) the reverse move-
ment of the drum shaft will reverse the screw of the regulating pressure-valve to
bring the pressure down to equalize the lessening strain on the cable. Thus the
cable-drum becomes a compensating winding drum to pay out the cable somewhat
when the latter is subjected to a sudden strain, (to meet which the engine power is
quickly raised by the movements of the drum) and to "haul in the cable again
32

page_text: when the strain is relaxed; the compensating movements of the said drum preventing
the cable from being broken by the sudden strains to which it may be subjected.
prefer to regulate the balancing pressure of the engine cylinder or cylinders within
certain fixed limits by providing stops to limit the rotation of the screw shaft of the
pressure regulating-valve, the said shaft consisting of two parts having a friction clutch
connection to permit the positive portion of said shaft to move when the rotation of the
other part thereof is arrested.
To enable others skilled in the art to fully understand my invention I will
now more particularly describe it in connection with the accompanying drawings
in which
Figure 1 is an end elevation of an apparatus or machine embodying my invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views to show the
regulating pressure-valve and its screw shaft and connections.
A denotes the cable-drum. and a the cable partly wound thereon. This drum is
mounted on a substantial frame, B, which is to fixed to the deck of the towing vessel.
The drum is provided with a gear wheel, C, meshing with.a.smaller gear wheel, d, (see
dotted lines Fig. 1,) on a shaft, D, having crank-disks d², provided with crank pins d²,
said crank-pins being connected by pitmen e with the engine cross heads f, sliding in
suitable ways on the frame B, and having piston rods g, the pistons of which
are within the cylinders G. The shart D is thus. properly the crank shaft of the
engine.
'
It will be obvious that the engine herein shown is a two-cylinder steam or air engine,
the same being so geared, arranged, and proportioned that the mean normal pressure
on the pistons thereof will be sufficient to balance the normal load or strain on the
cable but if this strain be increased or diminished it is desirable to increase or
diminish the pressure in the engine cylinders. To effect this result I provide an
automatic regulating valve, I, through which the steam to the engine cylinder or
cylinders passes, said valve being in any suitable or convenient location between the
boiler and engine, but being preferably closely adjacent to the cable drum and
engine, as shown in the drawings. This regulating or reducing valve may be of
any suitable or well known form, and by being opened, so as to admit of the
passage of more or less steam, the pressure in the engine cylinder or cylinders
may be regulated as may be desired. By opening the valve wider the steam-pressure of
the engine is increased; and by partly closing the valve the pressure is reduced, as
is familiar to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates. The regulating
valve 1 is operated by a screw spindle or shaft, J, provided with a bevel gear K
meshing with a similar gear on the shaft a² of the drum A. The spindle or shaft J
is in two parts connected by friction clutch L normally held in working position by
the spring but capable of separation by the hand lever .
The shaft J is provided with a collar, h, having a projection, the said shaft, passing
through the arms of a bracket M. Tapped in the said arms are screws my which may
be adjusted in and out as desired, the said screws being within the range of the pin or
projection of the collar so that if the shaft J be moved far enough in either
direction to bring the said collar to such position as to cause the pin / to strike either
of the said screws the rotation of the said shaft will be arrested, excepting that portion
thereof.which carries the positive part of the clutch, and thus the varying pressure of the
pressure-regulating valve can be regulated within certain fixed limits, determined by
the position of adjustment of the screws m.
The operation of my invention is as follows: The pressure of the engine cylinders G
will normally counterbalance the strain or load on the cable, and the drum will thus
remain stationary but when, owing to the pitching of the vessels, a sudden strain
.comes on the cable the latter will pay out somewhat, and in so doing the steam or air
in the engine cylinders will have a cushioning effect to prevent injurious jerks on the
cable. As the cable pays out, the drum will be turned, and thus the bevel gear k on
the drum shaft will turn the screw shaft or spindle J, through the gear K, to open or
enlarge the steam passage of the pressure regulating valve I, and thereby increase the
steam pressure of the engine cylinder or cylinders to counterbalance the load on the

page_text: cable. When the strain is lessened these operations are reversed, and the pressure is
reduced to the equality of the load on the cable as the latter is hauled in by the reverse
turning of the drum by the engine. The movements of the screw shaft J, to vary the
pressure of the pressure regulating valve, will be restricted, within certain limits, by
the screws m, as above described, and if the said shaft be not turned far enough in
either direction to have its movements thus limited the collar h, with its pin or pro-
jection, will simply oscillate back and forth between the said screws as the weight
of the load on the cable is increased or diminished.
It will of course be understood that I do not limit my invention to the details
herein shown and described as any well-known form of engine or any well-known form of
gearing mechanism for the pressure regulating valve may, if desired, be employed instead
of the particular form of engine and pressure valve mechanism herein before set forth.
Having thus particularly described the invention and the manner in which the
same may be carried into effect, I claim as novel and original and desire to secure
by Letters Patent-
1. In a towing machine, the combination with a cable drum, of an engine the shaft
of which is geared to. said drum to balance the load on the cable, and a pressure-
regulating valve located in the steam passage to the engine cylinder or cylinders and
operatively connected with the shaft of said drum; whereby the pressure of the engine
cylinder or cylinders is increased as increased strain on the cable causes the latter to
be paid out, and is diminished as the strain on the cable is lessened and the latter i
hauled in, substantially as set forth.
"
2. In a towing machine, the combination, with a cable drum, of an engine the shaft
of which is geared to said drum, a pressure-regulating valve located in the steam
passage to the engine, a screw spindle or shaft geared to the shaft of said drum and
serving to operate said valve, and stops for arresting the movements of said spindle
and thereby regulating the pressure governed by the said valve within certain fixed
limits, substantially as set forth.
3. In a towing machine, the combination, with a cable drum, an engine, and a
pressure-regulating valve, of a screw shaft or spindle for the said valve, geared to the
drum shaft and formed in two parts, and a friction clutch for connecting said parts,
substantially as set forth.
4. In a towing machine, the combination, with a cable drum, an engine, and a
pressure regulating valve, of a screw shaft or spindle for the said valve and which is
geared to the drum shaft and formed in two parts, a friction clutch for connecting the
parts of the said shaft, and stops for limiting the rotary movements of one part of said
shaft while the other part thereof, having the positive member of the said clutch, may
still turn, substantially as set forth.
5. In a towing machine, the combination with a cable drum and an engine the shaft
of which is geared to the said drum, of the pressure regulating valve I, connected
with the engine cylinder or cylinders, the screw shaft or spindle J formed in two
parts and having the gear K, a clutch for connecting the parts of the said spindle, the
gear on the drum shaft, the collar h, fixed to the said spindle and having the pin
or projection ', and the bracket M having the screws m, substantially as set forth."
Dated this 12th day of January 1889.
HUGHES, ELI & HUGHES,
76, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.