Improvements connected with Torpedo Indicators.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Aug., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 4th May, 1897-Accepted, 19th June, 1897
IDIONA
Improvements connected with Torpedo Indicators.
'I, THOMAS MANWELL, 8 Great Winchester Street, London, E.C., Manufacturer;
of Life-saving Equipments, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
. A nozzle to prevent water entering a torpedo indicating light before the torpedo
is launched or fired, and to open automatically, to allow the water to enter after
the torpedo is launched or fired and a simple arrangement for making a watertight
joint between the nozzle and the indicating light.
The nozzle is constructed of a suitable material and is preferably of a cone shape,
having a fan or movable disc placed over the water or flame hole, and which when
raised into position raises a piece of india rubber, or other suitable material, tightly
against the underside of the water or flame hole thus making it watertight.
When the torpedo is fired or launched the pressure of the water on the fan, or disc,
makes it fall and frees the water or flame hole admitting the water into the indicating
light.
On the base of the nozzle is a hole and a piece of cone shaped pipe and inside of the
cone shaped pipe is a ring, preferably india rubber, loosely placed. The end of the
indicating light has a projecting flange slotted so that when it is pressed into position
and slightly turned to right or left it passes under catches and is thus held in
position; and from the end of the indicating light a tapered pipe projects, which when
entered into the ring at the base of the nozzle and pressed firmly expands the ring
and makes a watertight joint.
THOMAS MANWELL..
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements connected with Torpedo Indicators.
I, THOMAS MANWELL, of 8 Great Winchester Street, in the County of London,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements connected with torpedo indicators and is
designed to improve the construction of such indicators; to render the same more
certain in their action, and to avoid the trouble that sometimes occurs owing to
the ball valve usually employed on the conical head of the indicator, becoming
displaced and getting jammed between the wall of the torpedo tube and the torpedo
in the firing of the latter..
An important feature of my invention consists in making the head of the indicator

page_text: 15 nred.
A further important feature of the invention consists in providing means for
adjusting the position of the said valve and also of regulating the sensitiveness of the
flap to any required degree.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into
effect I will proceed to describe the same fully by aid of the accompanying drawings,
in which:-
Figure 1 is a side view, and
Figure 2 an end view of the body of my improved torpedo indicator.
Figures 3 and 4 are longitudinal sections of the head thereof showing the parts in
two different positions.
Figure 5 is a rear view, and Figure 6 is a front view of the head of the torpedo-
indicator.
a is the tube or body of the indicator, that is to say the part in which the
compound to be acted upon by the water is placed. is the removable head
thereof, which may be conveniently of conoidal form or approximately so and is
closed by a removable end plate e secured by screws c¹ to a flange b' in the said head.
The aforesaid body and the removable head are secured together by means of a notched
disc or flange a on the end of the body, which flange is adapted to be engaged with
hook like projections or catches c2 on the plate c in the manner indicated by the chain
lines in Figure 5.
d is the orifice in the head b whereby the water is admitted to the interior of the
indicator and whence the gas produced by the reaction escapes. e is the internally-
opening valve whereby the said orifice is controlled. This valve consists conveniently
of an india-rubber ring or ball which is passed on to the screw-threaded stem of a
hook, and can be adjusted in position on such stem by a nut f and washer f³,
such adjustment being effected through the open end of the head after such head has
been detached from the tube a and its end plate c removed.
g is the pivoted flap by which the valve e is operated through the medium of
the aforesaid hook . This flap conveniently consists of a metal disc formed with a
pair of pins or pivots g' engaging in holes in pivot-plates h secured to the outer surface
of the head b. The hook f is passed through an aperture in the flap above the line
of the pivots, and the position of the valve e on the stem is so regulated that when
the disc is in its raised position (Figure 3) the said valve is compressed tightly into the
orifice d, so that the resulting tension on the hook f¹ tends to turn the flap on its
pivots in a forward or backward direction, according to the position of the said plate.
The movement of the flap in a forward direction, that is towards the point of the
indicator, is limited by a stop or cheek ' formed on one of the pivot-plates h, and the
arrangement is such that the flap abuts against the said stop after passing the dead
centre or line of pull of the hook f', and is held in this position by the retractile
force of the compressed valve e. By arranging the stop sufficiently near the dead
centre and by regulating the tension on the hook f¹ due of the compression of the
valve e, the sensitiveness of the flap can be adjusted with great nicety.
Immediately therefore that the torpedo is fired, the water strikes against the flap
and throws it over, so allowing the valve to descend, and opening the orifice d.
The communication between the body a and the head 6 of the indicator is effected
by a short tapering tube a² which is adapted to enter an opening'e in the end plate c
of the head,
a tight joint being formed by an elastic ring situated in a conical
tubular projection on the inner side of the said plate c. When the tube a' is inserted
in the opening ca the ring c is jammed between the said tube and the inner surface of
the projection c and a hermetic closure is effected.
My improved torpedo indicator is secured to the torpedo in
any
suitable manner.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A torpedo-indicator having a removable head, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
2. A torpedo indicator having an adjustable internally-opening valve, substantially
as described and for the purpose specified.
3. My improved torpedo indicator constructed and arranged substantially as herein-
before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 4th day of May 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.