AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO BE USED AS A FOG ALARUM AND TO PRODUCE AUDIBLE SIGNALS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO BE USED
AS A FOG ALARUM AND TO PRODUCE AUDIBLE SIGNALS."-A communication
from abroad by John Reinhold Anderson, of Brooklyn, in the State
of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 15th December 1868, and dated the 17th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th August 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "Ax IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO BE USED.
AS A FOG ALARUM AND TO PRODUCE AUDIBLE SIGNALS." to be as follows;-
The object of this Invention is to furnish a compact, convenient,
effective, and easily operated device more especially designed for
signalling on vessels during fogs, but also applicable to other purposes.
[Price 8d.]

page_text: The Invention consists in placing within a hollow cylinder a trumpet
or horn, which is acted upon by compressed air through means of a
hollow plunger fitted to work within the cylinder. By the arrangement
of the trumpet within the cylinder and hollow plunger great compactness
is given to the apparatus or device.
The Invention also includes a screw plug attachment of the reed to
the body of the trumpet or horn, so that every facility is afforded for
removal of the reed when necessary to renew or repair it. If desired the
instrument may be fixed to a table or frame, and the reciprocating
motion of the hollow piston to compress the air may be effected by
means of a crank and connecting rod actuated by a winch handle, or the
piston may be actuated by hand like the piston of a syringe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence
that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
INSTRUMENT TO BE USED AS A FOG ALARUM AND TO PRODUCE AUDIBLE SIGNALS,'
being a communication to me from John Reinhold Anderson, of
Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under

page_text: my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say);-
The object of this Invention is to furnish a compact, convenient,
effective, and easily operated device more especially designed for
signalling on vessels during fogs, but also applicable to other purposes.
The Invention consists in placing within a hollow cylinder a trumpet
or horn, which is to be acted upon by compressed air through means of
a hollow plunger fitted to work within the cylinder. By the arrange-
ment of the trumpet within the cylinder and hollow plunger great
compactness is given to apparatus or device.
The Invention also includes a screw plug attachment of the reed to
the body of the trumpet or horn, so that every facility is afforded for
removal of the reed when necessary to renew or repair it.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section
of a fog horn or alarm constructed in accordance with the Invention,
and Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification of the arrangement shewn
in Fig. 1.
Referring, in the first instance, to Fig. 1 of the Drawing, A represents
a hollow cylinder closed excepting by the projection of the trumpet into
the interior at its forward end, and resting or secured on a suitable
foundation bed or frame B; the trumpet or horn C is shown as inserted
from the outside through the front or closed end of the cylinder A, and
as secured thereto by screws passing, say, through a flange on the bell
of the trumpet, the whole or nearly the whole entire length of the
trumpet being within the cylinder A, and thus occupying the least
practicable room, as well as being protected from injury. The reed a
of the trumpet may be of substantially the same construction as those

page_text: commonly used in reed organs, and is inserted into the inner end of the
trumpet, or soldered at its rear (which occupies an advanced position) to
the body of the trumpet. The reed plays over a longitudinal slot b
in the narrower or inner portion of the body. Any other suitable
description of reed, however, may be used. D is a hollow plunger
closed at its back or outer end, and working in an easy but close manner
within the cylinder A, and around the body of the internally projecting
trumpet. This plunger may, if necessary, be provided with packing c
to ensure a close but free fit of it within the cylinder. This hollow
plunger D is shewn as worked by a crank d and connecting rod e
through a handle f on the shaft g of the crank. By reciprocating the
plunger D air is sucked or drawn in by or during the back stroke of the
plunger, and is compressed and expelled through the trumpet in or
during the forward stroke of the plunger. In its action on the reed
the current of air produces the requisite sound, the intensity of which
(all other things being equal) will depend upon the size of the instru-
ment. A constant or more continuous sound may be given by using
in the one instrument or apparatus two or more plungers operating in
corresponding cylinders provided with trumpets, and worked by cranks
on the same shaft, but set at different angles relatively to each other,
or the same may be effected through one plunger by the addition of a
reversed reed on the opposite side of the trumpet. By arranging the
trumpet within the hollow cylinder so that during the operation of the
hollow plunger it will project into the body of the latter great efficiency
and compactness are secured.
In Fig. 2 the same like general principle of construction and action is
carried out, but in a somewhat different and more portable as well as
direct acting form. The cylinder A may be left open at both ends, and
the bell or mouth of the trumpet C be constructed to fill or pack the
forward end of the cylinder so that on lifting or turning catches h, h,
the horn or trumpet may be readily withdrawn from the cylinder. Instead
of the hollow plunger D being reciprocated by a crank and rod it may be
worked direct by thrust and pull applied to a handle i at its rear. The
reed a of the trumpet with the slotted portion which it covers or plays
over may be fitted by a screw cap or plug to the inner end of the body
of the trumpet, so that the reed or reed portion on becoming defective
or whenever it is necessary to supply another may (on taking out the
trumpet) be readily detached from the body of the latter without injury

page_text: or much delay and a new reed substituted, or the defective reed repaired
and replaced. The same screw plug or cap k may also be used over and
over again for different reeds by simply drawing out the one reed and
the open or slotted portion it covers and is attached to from the cap, and
inserting another. This construction prevents any injury to or sacrifice
of the body of the trumpet as compared with a fixed arrangement of
the reed on the trumpet body so as to form part of the latter.
Having now described the Invention, which has been communicated
to me as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim,-
First. The arrangement within the hollow cylinder A and for operation
in connection with the hollow plunger D of the interally projecting
trumpet or horn C as specified.
Second. The attachment of the reed or reed portion of the horn or
trumpet to the body of the latter by a plug or cap made to screw or fit
into the inner end of the body as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)