same for Maritime and other Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: same for Maritime and other Purposes.
I, FREDERICK WALKER of No. 10 Park Villas, St. Stephens Road, Upton Park E.
Engineer, 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:-
The object of my invention is the production of an electrical lamp enclosed in a
suitably mounted lantern or projector for facilitating the night navigation of narrow
waterways such as ship canals; as also for signalling purposes, and as a search light
generally, and which may also be applicable for use on board Police, Admiralty and
other launches and boats, mounted in any suitable manner otherwise than upon a raft
as hereinafter set forth.
In order that my invention may be the better understood I have appended the
accompanying two sheets of drawings in which Figure 1 Sheet 1 represents a longi-
tudinal section of the projector and lamp, Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same,
and Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the focussing coupling hereinafter referred to.
Figure 4, sheet 2 is a plan of a raft with projector attached, and Figure 5 a side
elevation of the same; Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of one of the safety winches
hereinafter to be more fully described; Figure 7 is an enlarged view of the crescent
cam used in connection therewith and Figure 8 a sectional plan of the safety winch
above referred to. Figure 9 illustrates the compound clutch gearing forming part of
the equipment of the raft shown in Figures 4 and 5, and Figure 10 is an elevation of
the screw propeller showing the method employed by me for transmitting rotary
motion thereto.
In carrying out my invention, I employ a tube or barrel, hereinafter termed the
"lantern," A Figures 1 and 2, preferably formed of sheet metal, having a suitable
ventilating hood B affixed thereto. A concave mirror C is attached to, and forms the
back of the lantern A. Said mirror is formed preferably of a suitable metal or alloy,
the concave reflecting surface being prepared by either the rotation of a sphere or of
a parabola upon its axis, and the reflecting surface is finished by polishing, and also
by the electro-deposition of a coating of silver, or other non-absorbent metal. The
1D 017

page_text: lantern A is mounted upon the swivel fork G by means of trunnions D, D¹, one of
which D is elongated and provided with a lever F and lock nut E to allow of the
projector heing elevated or depressed as may be required. The swivel fork G is
mounted by means of the set screw H upon a suitable pedestal I so as to allow of the
lateral adjustment of the beam of light. The lower portion of the lantern A is
grooved, and a V slide S formed therein so that the electrical hand lamp L may be
slid into its proper position in the focus of the mirror. Said hand lamp consists of a
tube a enclosing a spindle b upon which is formed a right and left handed threaded
male screw carrying the nuts d d¹ which fit freely within the tube a. Two carbon
holders ff carrying the positive and negative carbon pencils i¹, are formed with
rings or sockets so arranged as to slide freely upon the exterior surface of the tube a;
a slot c cut through the latter allowing of the carbon holders f, being attached to
the screwed nuts d d within the tube a by the screws e e¹ in such a manner that the
electric are may be adjusted, and the carbons fed together as they are consumed by
means of the small hand wheel m. The base J of the lamp, which engages with the
slide S before referred to is bored and suitably chambered to receive the screwed
socket upon which is cast the hand wheel o. The lower portion of the tube a is
screwed so as to freely engage with the female screw formed within the socket / so
that a rotary movement of the hand wheel o serves to raise or lower the whole lamp
and allow of accurate vertical adjustment of the focus, the point of the screw k
engaging with the slot c and preventing the tube a from turning. A shield or
screen p is also adjusted upon the tube a by means of the screw q. The positive
carbon i is electrically connected through the body of the lamp with the terminal n',
and a suitable insulation g is arranged so as to avoid a short circuit" through the
negative carbon holder f. The current is conducted to the negative carbon i from
the insulated terminal n through the metal spring or brush h which bears upon the
carbon holder fand affords a perfect electrical contact therewith. I may in certain
cases prefer to joint the arm of the positive carbon holder f, and attach thereto suitable
adjusting screws for the purpose of maintaining a symmetrical crater upon the positive
carbon, and thereby regulate the are with great accuracy. I prefer to incline the
whole lamp as shown in Figures 1 and 2, to a suitable angle, so that the crater in
the positive carbon may direct the incident rays emanating from the arc, directly
upon the concave mirror (whence they are reflected in a parallel direction. Should
a greater lateral divergence of the rays be required, I may employ a dioptric
divergence lense K made up or composed of vertical plano-convex elements. In order
to increase or diminish the longitudinal focal distance of the arc, I employ a thumb
screw shown more particularly on the enlarged view. Figure 3-A lug to, attached
to the body of the lantern, has a female screw thread formed within it, in which the
thumb screw may work; A Swivel s carries the hinged catch t which latter is con-
trolled by the spring u. On the lamp L, being slid into position, the catch t may be
caused to engage with a ring formed upon, or attached to, the base of said lamp, so
that the latter may be held in position, and moved in a longitudinal direction when
required.
"
When applying the electrical projector as above described to the navigation by
night of narrow waterways, such as ship canals, and where the speed of the vessel is
necessarily slow, I prefer to mount the projector P. upon a raft-(the arrangement
devised for this purpose is illustrated at Figures 4 and 5 Sheet 2)-formed of a
platform S supported by two cylindrical pontoons T T. A boiler B, and Steam
Engine E of any suitable-type may be arranged to drive a dynamo electric generator D,
the spindle of the latter being preferably coupled direct to the shaft of the Engine in
the manner shown in the elevational view. Figure 9, in which a represents the shaft
of the Engine and 6 the spindle of the generator. The former terminates in a pin or
cylindrical projection which fits freely within a corresponding recess in the spindle b,
A disc A, is keyed upon, or otherwise attached to the shaft b, and said disc is furnished
with clutch jaws f, so that the sleeve clutch C, which slides upon a feather on the
shaft a, may engage with it when thrown into gear by the lever L. A similar
dise A is freely mounted upon the shaft a in such a manner that it does not revolve

page_text: unless the sleeve clutch ( is caused to engage with the clutch jaws j formed thereon.―
Said disc A¹ is arranged to carry a pitch chain H, serving to transmit the motion of
the engine to a suitable screw propeller, G, Figure 10. Thus by this arrangement,
the Engine may be employed to drive the generator by placing the sleeve clutch C
into gear with the disc A, the disc A' meanwhile remaining stationary, the shaft a
revolving freely within it, or, the generator may be stopped, and the disc A' caused
to rotate by disengaging the sleeve clutch C from the disc A, and causing it to gear
with the disc A. The screw propeller above referred to is supported in suitable
bearing brackets between the pontoons T T¹ Figures 4 and 5, as indicated by the
dotted lines.
When using the projector mounted as above described for the purpose of facilitating
night navigation of narrow waterways, (and still referring to sheet 2) the raft is
floated into position so that the stem of the ship may fit within the recess r, Figure 4,
formed in the after end of the platform S, Figure 4 and 5.-Two guy ropes are then
passed from each side of the bows of the ship to the two small hand winches W. W¹
so that the raft may be hauled "taut" against the stem of the ship and adjusted so as
to be perfectly straight and in a line therewith. The screw propeller of the raft is
disengaged from the Engine and the dynamo electric generator D thrown into gear
by means of the sleeve clutch hereinbefore referred to, and the raft is pushed along by
the vessel. Should, however, the ship leave the marked course, and take the bank,
the operator at the projector may immediately release one of the winches W. W₁, and
wind the guy rope upon the barrel or drum of the other so as to clear the raft from
the bank, and when the vessel has been straightened in her course, the raft may be
again hauled into position by the winches.
Figures 6 and 8 Sheet 2 show a sectional elevation and plan respectively of the
winch head; a being the spindle, d the barrel a drum; the ratchet; q the pawl;
and, the disengaging lever. The latter is keyed or otherwise attached to a spindle s
carrying a crescent cam c, shown more particularly at Figure 7. When it is desired
to release the winch, the lever is moved so as to cause the crescent cam c to engage
with a projection t upon the pawl spindle y, thus lifting the pawl out of the teeth of
the ratchet and releasing the barrel of the winch.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 wish it to be understood that
I do not confine myself to the employment of any particular type of boiler engine or
dynamo-electric generator in combination with the "projector-raft" herein described,
nor do I limit myself to the use of a sleeve-clutch for transferring the motion of
the Engine to the generator or to screw propeller, as I may in some cases employ
any suitable form of friction clutch or coupling, but what I claim is :-
:-
First The Improved Electrical Lamp and projector and method of applying same
for maritine and other purposes substantially as herein set forth.
Second In an Electrical projector the use of a hand lamp in which the main
stem is formed of a tube, and the vertical and longitudinal adjustment for focussing
and feed are performed in the manner and for the purposes substantially as herein
set forth.
Third In an electrical projector the use of a inetallic concave mirror, of spherical
or parabolic cross section for reflecting the incident rays of an electric arc in a parallel
direction, said mirror forming part of the projector lantern substantially as and for
the purposes herein set forth.
Fourth In the application of an electrical projector as referred to in the three
preceding claims for the purpose of night navigation, the employment of a raft built
upon cylindrical shells or pontoons, and carrying the projector and the power and
mechanism for generating a current substantially as herein described.
Fifth In the application and adaptation of an electrical projector for night
navigation of narrow waterways, the use of a winch for regulating the position of the
raft referred to in the preceding claim and the crescent cam as and for the purposes
substantially as herein described and shown.

page_text: Sixth-In the adaptation of an electrical projector to night navigation of narrow
waterways, where said projector is mounted upon a raft, the method of, and means
employed for transferring the rotary motion of the steam Engine to the screw
propeller or the dynamo electric generator at will substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
Seventh-The application of the electrical projector and hand lamp comprised in my
Invention separately for signalling, as a search light on ships and launches, substan-
tially as herein described.