IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHIC CARLES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John George Appold, of Wilson Street, Finsbury
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHIC CARLES"
Sealed the 2nd July 1858, and dated the 3rd May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John George Appold at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd May 1858.
I, JOHN GEORGE APPOLD, of Wilson Street, Finsbury Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHIC CABLES," to be
as follows:-
It
My Invention of improved apparatus for laying submarine telegraphic cables
relates to a novel arrangement or construction of self-acting or self-relieving
break, which may be adapted to the drums, pullies, or shafts of the apparatus
employed for submerging or paying-out telegraphic cables into the water.
is advisable that the strain on the cable while being payed out into the water
should be always maintained as uniform as possible under all circumstances,
so that no danger of breaking or damaging the cable by any sudden or undue
strain may be apprehended. This object I propose to effect by adapting to
the shaft of the paying-out pullies a drum, on the surface of which a uniform
friction is maintained by means of binding bands or straps, which are connected

page_text: with a vibrating or moveable lever, which is weighted to any desired extent
according to the amount of friction required to be maintained. The weight
put on the break determines the friction thereof on the rotating drum, and
consequently the amount of strain on the cable, which strain can be regulated
with nicety and great facility. The weights acting on the vibrating lever or
other convenient part of the break have a tendency to draw the friction strap or
band tight on the rotating drum, while the rotation of the drum has a constant
tendency to lift the weight, and relieve the break by loosening the strap or
band on the drum; these two forces are therefore acting in opposition, and
consequently the one has a tendency to counteract the other, so that a uniform
strain or friction is always maintained on the rotating drum, the amount of the
friction being regulated by the amount of the weight adapted to the drum:
It will now be understood that the break is perfectly self-acting, and the
friction thereof is always maintained uniform. Provision is made for relieving
the break instantaneously when required by means of suitable gearing,
whereby the weighted lever is lifted up, and the friction strap or band thereby
loosened on the rotating drum; this may be effected by means of a hand wheel
or connecting the gearing with a drum or shaft to be actuated by the engine
which works the paying-out gear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John George Appold in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GEORGE APPOLD, of Wilson Street, Finsbury Square, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John George Appold, Her special license that I, the said John George Appold,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
George Appold, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS

page_text: FOR LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHIC CABLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John George Appold, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 John George Appold, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Laying Submarine Telegraphic
Cables" relates to a novel arrangement or construction of self-acting or self-
relieving break, which may be adapted to the drums, pullies, or shafts of the
apparatus employed for submerging or paying-out telegraphic cables into the
water. It is advisable that the strain on the cable while being payed out
into the water should be always maintained as uniform as possible under all
circumstances, so that no danger of breaking or damaging the cable by any
sudden or undue strain may be apprehended. This object I propose to effect
by adapting to the shafts of the paying-out pullies a drum, on the surface of
which, an uniform friction is maintained by means of binding bands or straps,
which are connected with a weighted vibrating or moveable lever. This lever
is capable of being weighted to any desired extent according to the amount of
friction required to be maintained. The weights or pressure put on the break
determine the friction thereof on the rotating drums, and consequently the
amount of strain on the cable, which strain can be regulated with nicety and
great facility. The weights or pressure acting on the vibrating lever or other
convenient part of the break, have a tendency to draw the friction strap or
band tight on the rotating drum, while the rotation of the drum has a constant
tendency to lift the weight, and by loosening the strap or band on the drum to
relieve the break from the pressure to which it is subjected. From this it will
be understood that these two forces are acting in opposition, and consequently
the one has a tendency to counteract the other, so that an uniform strain or
friction is always maintained on the rotating drum, the amount of the friction
being regulated by the amount of the pressure or weight adapted to the
drum.
It will now be understood that the break is
friction thereof is always maintained uniform.
perfectly self-acting, and the
Provision may be made for

page_text: relieving the break from pressure instantaneously when required by means of
suitable gearing, whereby the weighted lever or levers is or are lifted up, and
the friction straps or bands thereby loosened on the rotating drums. This
may be effected by means of a hand wheel or by connecting the gearing with
a drum or shaft to be actuated by the engine, which works the paying-out
gear.
In order, however, that my improved apparatus may be more clearly under-
stood, I have shewn in the accompanying Drawings various views of the same,
which I will now proceed to describe in detail. Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and
Fig. 2 a plan view, of an apparatus for paying-out cables constructed according
to my Invention. The cable a enters the apparatus over a grooved guide
wheel or pulley b, from whence it passes to one of the grooves of a four
grooved drum or pulley c, and after passing round this drum or pulley it is
conducted round a similar grooved drum or pulley d, and so on, the cable being
made to pass four times round the two grooved drums c and d, from which it
is ultimately delivered over another pulley e, either directly into the water or
through a dynamometer apparatus, whereby the tension or strain on the cable
may be ascertained and indicated. On the axles or shafts h, of each of the
grooved drums c and d, are two friction wheels or drums f,f,f*, f*, which
are surrounded by friction bands 9, 9, 9, 9*, provided with segmental blocks of
wood, which when the bands are drawn tight are made to press on the surface
of the wheels or drums f, f, and thereby produce the necessary amount of
friction to act as a break upon the drums. On the ends of the shafts h are
mounted the toothed wheels i, i, (Fig. 2,) which are geared together by the
pinion, and therefore rotate at the same speed. This toothed gearing,
however, forms no part of my Invention, and in fact is not required while the
cable is being lowered or submerged, and therefore it may be thrown out of
gear during this operation, and will only be required when the apparatus is
used to haul in the cable, as would be required in case of accident to the
cable.
The ends of the straps or bands 9, 9*, are secured in any convenient
manner to pins k, k, (Fig. 1,) fixed on the vibrating levers 1, 1*, each of
which passes through a hole made in the arms m. The holes in these
arms form the centres of motion of the levers 1, *, and as these centres
of motion are on one side of the centre of the friction wheels f, f*, and
bands g, 9, it follows that by causing these levers 7, *, to move on their
centres of motion, as indicated by the red lines in Fig. 1, they will either
tighten or loosen the friction bands, according to the direction in which the
levers are moved. On the upper side of the bands are fixed the blocks n, n*,

page_text: to which are attached the horizontal rods o, o, which are secured at one end to
one of blocks n by an adjustable attachment, as shewn in the Drawing, and
they are jointed at their opposite ends to the vibrating bell-crank levers p, p.
These levers are supported in bearings fixed on the framing, and to the longer
end of each is adapted a weight or weights, or a system of springs or other
contrivances, whereby the levers may be depressed, and by the levers thus
drawing forward the horizontal rods o, o, they will tend to tighten the friction
bands g, g*, round the friction drums f, f. It will now be understood that
as the cable is being payed out, it (by passing round the grooved pullies c
and d) draws the friction wheels f,f, round, and by the friction of the wheels f
on the bands g*, g*, tends to open the latter, and thereby relieve the wheels
from the friction of the bands. At the same time the weights or springs on
the ends of the bell crank levers p, p, will draw the friction straps or bands
g.g, in the opposite direction, thereby having a tendency to tighten them on
the friction wheels f, f*. These two forces will always be acting in contrary
directions, and any increase in the action of the one will be counteracted by
the other. In order to prevent any jar in the machinery by the weights at
the end of the bell-crank levers p, p, suddenly descending when the friction on
the bands or straps 9, 9*, alters, I find it convenient to attach to the weights,
which are made of a cylindrical or other convenient form, a piston, which is
made to work in a cylinder q. This cylinder is supplied with water, and as
the piston is made pretty nearly to fit the internal diameter of the cylinder q,
the water will to some extent moderate and regulate the motion of the weights,
and will prevent them from jumping up and down. I also find it convenient
to cause the friction wheels to rotate or work in water, as shewn at Fig. 2, for
the purpose of keeping them cool.
When a dynamometer apparatus is employed in conjunction with the paying-
out apparatus, for the purpose of indicating the changes that take place from
time to time in the tension of the cable, I propose to employ an apparatus
constructed upon an improved plan, whereby weights are dispensed with, and
springs employed in place thereof. The cable when delivered from the paying-
out apparatus above described, passes from the delivery pulley under or over a
moveable pulley, which is mounted on a block that works up and down in
vertical guides. This block is supported at a given altitude in the guides by
ineans of coiled or other springs placed either above or below the pulley,
which is made to bear against the cable, and as the tension thereof varies, so
the pulley with its block is caused to rise or fall in its guides, as is well
understood in reference to ordinary dynamometers.
Having now described my Invention of Improved Apparatus for Laying

page_text: Submarine Telegraphic Cables," and having explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid is, the application to
apparatus for paying-out submarine telegraphic cables of the break or retarding
apparatus, herein shewn and described. I claim particularly the combination
of the straps or bands g,g", with the levers 1, *, for the purpose herein set
forth; I also claim the use of springs in place of weights in the paying-out
and dynamometer apparatus, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John George Appold, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Third day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
J. GEORGE APPOLD. (L.S.)