Improvements in Sounding Apparatus.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Sounding Apparatus.
I, JAMES DUNDAS WHITE, of 3, Paper Buildings, Temple, in the City of London,
Barrister-at-Law, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
follows:-
as
A marine sounding apparatus consisting of a sinker, formed of a weight with
flanges and fitted with a trigger projecting below it, suspended by a line contain-
ing electric wires which are suitably connected to contact surfaces on the trigger
and on that part of the sinker upon which the trigger, when in normal position,
presses; when the apparatus is at rest in or is moving freely through the water
the trigger is kept in normal position by its own weight or by a spring, but on
encountering an obstacle the trigger is displaced; the arrangement is such that
when the trigger is in normal position the electric circuit is closed and when
the trigger is displaced that circuit is open.
The apparatus is suspended by the line from the vessel using it and the upper
ends of the wires are connected in circuit through an electric battery; the circuit
so formed, which I call the main circuit, governs a relay circuit on which is an
electric bell.
The general arrangement is such that when the apparatus is at rest in or is
passing freely through the water the trigger is in normal position, the main
circuit closed, the relay circuit open and the bell silent, but on encountering an
obstacle the trigger is displaced, the main circuit opened, the relay circuit closed
and the bell rung. The bell is rung in like manner if the line parts or if the
apparatus or the trigger is carried away.
When the apparatus is used as a submarine sentry the line is paid out to the
required length, due allowance being made for drift; on entering the soundings
for which it is set the trigger encounters the bottom and the bell is rung.
A plunger may be substituted for the trigger, the sinker being suitably con-
structed and the general arrangement otherwise being as described.
For obtaining a continuous line of soundings the sinker may be fitted with two
triggers set to different levels and each operating a separate electric bell in the
manner described; as the vessel moves along the length of the line is continuously
adjusted so as to have the lower trigger alone touching bottom; if the bell con-
nected with that is silent line is paid out, if the other bell rings too line is
shortened, and the depth is judged by the length of line out when the bell con-
nected with the lower trigger rings alone.
Dated this 5th day of November 1897

page_text: Improvements in Sounding Apparatus.
I, JAMES DUNDAS WHITE, of 3, Paper Buildings, Temple, in the City of London,
Barrister-at-Law, 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:-
This invention relates to navigational sounding apparatus of the electric type.
In it the electric circuit through the apparatus is normally closed, and is inter-
rupted by the apparatus striking an obstacle; the bell which gives the warning
This
being on a relay circuit which is controlled conversely by the main one.
arrangement admits of a construction which minimizes the risk of fouling, gives
sensitiveness and certainty of action, and secures that in the event of an accident
happening to the apparatus warning will be given.
The accompanying drawing represents the apparatus sketched so as to shew
part of the internal mechanism. The weight or sinker A is fitted with a trigger B
and with a doubled flange or wing C within which the trigger can move back-
wards and forwards; this doubled flange serves to guide the trigger and to
protect it from fouling, and also to prevent the apparatus from spinning. The
trigger B, hinged or pivoted to the sinker or the flange at D, is kept in the
normal position, as at X, either by its own weight or by a spring, but so that
striking an obstacle displaces it, pushing it back, as at Y; when the displacing
pressure ceases the trigger reverts to the normal position. On the sinker and on
the trigger respectively are electric contact surfaces E and E¹, so placed that when
the trigger is in the normal position they touch one another and so close an elec-
tric circuit, and that the displacing of the trigger separates them and interrupts
that circuit. The contact surfaces EE are connected by electrodes FF" to ter-
minals, which can be respectively connected to the two wires enclosed in the line
by which the apparatus is suspended; these terminals may either be outside the
apparatus, as at G, or they may be within it, the suspending line being led into
the apparatus undivided. The front contact surface, instead of being on the
sinker as shown in the drawing, may be a cross-bar between the opposite sides of
the flange immediately behind the sinker; as regards the other contact surface,
the construction should be such as to keep it clear of the sides of the flange. In
any case it is,, of course, essential to have such insulation as will preclude the
possibility of the circuit being closed otherwise than through the contact of the
contact surfaces.
The apparatus is suspended from the vessel using it by the line H, which
encloses two insulated wires JJ, of which the lower ends are connected as already
described, and the upper ends (which are on board the vessel) are connected
through an electric battery; the circuit thus formed controls a relay circuit, on
which is an electric bell. The general arrangement is such that when the
apparatus is freely suspended in or is passing through the water the trigger is in
the normal position, the main circuit closed, the relay circuit open and the bell
silent, but that striking an obstacle pushes back the trigger, opens the main
circuit, closes the relay circuit and rings the bell.
The apparatus may be used to obtain single soundings by lowering it till the
trigger strikes the bottom and the bell rings, the depth of water being computed
from the length of line out. It may also be used to give warning when a vessel
enters shallow soundings by hanging it from her at the required depth, so that
when she enters soundings of that depth the trigger strikes the bottom and the

page_text: bell rings.
In proportioning the length of the line to the depth of the appa-
ratus, due allowance must, of course, be made for drift.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a navigational sounding apparatus the combination with a sinker and
trigger of electric fittings so arranged that when the trigger is in the normal
position the electric circuit through the apparatus is closed, but that the displac-
ing of the trigger interrupts it, substantially as herein described.
2. In a navigational sounding apparatus the combination of a sinker, trigger,
flange and electric fittings so arranged that when the trigger is in the normal
position the electric circuit through the apparatus is closed, but that the displac-
ing of the trigger interrupts it, substantially as herein described.