IMPROVEMENTS IN GRAPNELS FOR RAISING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Lambert, of St. Marylebone, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GRAPNELS FOR RAISING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES."
Scaled the 13th April 1875, and dated the 18th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Lambert at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th December 1874.
I, FRANCIS LAMBERT, of St. Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN GRAPNELS FOR RAISING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in grapnels for grappling and
raising submarine cables, and more particularly to the grapnel for which
I obtained Letters Patent bearing date December 12th, 1873, No. 4100,
in which I described eccentric or cam shaped jaws pivoted upon
descending platforms for holding the cable.
My present Invention consists in employing in a grapnel for raising
submarine cables, in lieu of the said pivoted eccentric jaws, pairs of

page_text: sliding wedge-shaped blocks or wedges to hold the cable when cut, the
said pairs of wedges being fitted to move between inclined guides, in
which guides the sliding wedges are retained by suitable means.
The inner or adjacent faces of the two wedges are parallel, or nearly
so, and may be grooved to embrace the cable, and serrated to obtain a
firmer grip. By using sliding wedges a longer hold is obtained, and the
pressure of the jaws being distributed over a greater length of the cable
it is rendered less liable to slip. As in the case of the eccentric jaws the
grip of the wedges upon the cable becomes stronger as the strain thereon
increases.
The wedges may either be held apart in the necessary position to
receive the cable between them by a detent, which is removed by the
pressure of the cable coming upon it, or they may be pressed closely
together by springs and made to open by the pressure of the cable upon
them. In the latter case the upper surfaces of the wedges would be
bevelled or inclined, so that they may be readily forced apart when the
cable comes between them.
The wedges may either be made to slide independently of each other,
or they may be coupled by any suitable arrangement so as to slide
together.
The inclined guides in which the sliding wedges move may be fixed
upon platforms made to descend bodily, or pivoted upon a horizontal axis
at one end, so as to bring the bight of the cable against cutters fixed in
a suitable position to the frame of the grapnel in the same or a similar
manner to that described in my former Patent.
In lieu of employing descending platforms to bring the bight of the
cable between the cutters the inclined guides may be fixed to the frame
of the grapnel, and the sliding wedges be made of such a depth as to
allow the cable to pass down between them sufficiently to press on and
be severed by cutters fixed in a suitable position to the frame of the
grapnel, the cable being thus in a position to be held by the wedges as
soon as the strain causes the cutters to sever the bight.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis Lambert in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
LAMBERT, of St. Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her-most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Francis Lambert, Her special licence
that I, the said Francis Lambert, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis Lambert, executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thercafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GRAPNELS FOR RAISING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Francis Lambert, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
naturo 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 Francis Lambert, 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 Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-
My Invention relates to improvements in grapnels for raising sub-
marine cables, which improvements are particularly applicable to the
form of grapnel for which I obtained Letters Patent bearing date
December 12th, 1873, No. 4100. In the Specification of the said Letters

page_text: Patent I described the use of eccentric jaws pivoted upon a descending
platform for holding the cable.
My present Invention consists in the employment in a grapnel for
raising submarine cables of pairs of sliding wedge-like blocks or jaws in
lieu of the said pivoted eccentric jaws to hold the cable when cut, tho
said pairs of jaws being fitted to slide between guides inclined towards
one another and forming a groove of gradually diminishing width.
The faces of the jaws between which the cable is held are parallel, and
are serrated to obtain a firm grip. By using sliding wedges or jaws a
longer hold is obtained than with the eccentric jaws above mentioned,
and the pressure of the jaws is distributed over a greater length of the
cable, which is therefore less liable to slip. The action of the jaws is
such that their grip upon the cable becomes stronger as the strain
increases, as in the case of the eccentric jaws above referred to.
0
The jaws may either be held apart in the necessary position to receive
the cable between them by a stop or detent, from which they are
released by the pressure of the cable upon said detent, or they may be
pressed closely together by springs and made to separate by the pressure
of the cable upon their upper surfaces, which would in the latter case be
bevelled to form a groove between them, in which the cable would first
come, and by its weight would force the jaws apart. The two jaws of
the pair will slide together, and they may either be independent or they
may be coupled by any suitable device preferred.
The guides between which each pair of sliding jaws move may be fixed
to or form part of a platform capable of descending bodily, but preferably
pivoted at or near one end upon a horizontal axis, so as to descend at the
other end and bring the bight of the cable upon and between cutters
fixed to the frame of the grapnel, whereby the cable is severed (in the
same or a similar manner to that described in my former Patent); one
of the severed ends being retained between the sliding jaws.
In lieu of employing a descending platform to bring the bight of the
cable between the cutters the inclined guides might be fixed to the frame
of the grapnel itself and the sliding jaws be made of such a depth as to
allow the cable to pass down between them sufficiently to press on and
be severed by cutters fixed in a suitable position to the frame of the
grapnel, as above mentioned, the cable being thus in a position to be
held by the jaws as soon as the strain causes the cutters to sover the

page_text: bight. In this case the jaws would be connected, so as to move together,
and the guides would be permanently fixed to the frame of the grapnel,
either in the same inclined position as that occupied by the platform or
in any other convenient position. I however prefer to employ a platform
capable of moving on a pivot in the manner illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, as the cable is less liable to chafe against the grapnel
frame, which might cause it to break and be lost before it could be
raised to the surface from a great depth.

page_text: narrow end, as in Figure 4, their faces will be touching, or nearly so.
The sliding jaws D are wedge shaped, their surfaces which are in contact
with the guides E being inclined to correspond to the inclination of said
guides E, and their faces a, a, parallel to one another in the direction of
their length, so as to grip the cable equally at all parts. These faces a, a,
are however slightly inclined towards one another in the downward
direction, as shown in Figure 5, so as to form a V shaped space between
them, into which the cable drops until it is wedged tightly therein; this
space being adapted to the size of the cable by using jaws of greater or
less thickness. These faces a, a, are serrated or roughened to obtain a
firmer hold. The said jaws are made of iron or steel, and their surfaces
which are in contact with guides E are preferably faced with gun metal
to diminish the friction.
The guides E, which I prefer to make of steel planed perfectly smooth
on their working faces, are bolted or otherwise secured to a descending
platform F; or they may be cast in one with said platform. Or they
may be bolted to the frame of the grapnel, as before mentioned (the
descending platform being dispensed with), by making the sliding jaws
of suitable depth. In either case the guides must be made of sufficient
strength to resist the great bursting strain to which they are subjected
by the sliding jaws becoming wedged therein under the weight of the
cable. I mount this platform F to oscillate on a horizontal axis G
beneath it towards one end, as shown. This axis is a bolt, of sufficient
strength to sustain the weight of the cable, passed through the part A
of the frame, and through one of the curved arms B, and firmly
secured.
The guides E are provided with overhanging flanges e to keep the
jaws D in the groove, and the said jaws are retained at the widest end
of the said groove by a suitable stop, which is released by the pressuro
of the cable upon it; this stop may be variously arranged. In Figures
1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, it consists of a vertically sliding block f (shown separ-
ately in Figure 6) received in a mortise in the platform F, which may be
extended downwards, as shown, to form a guide for the said stop f. In
setting the wedge jaws this stop is raised between them, in which position
it is held by springs 9, g. The stop is of such form as to prevent any
movement of the wedge jaws until the cable coming upon it forces it
down out of the way. Instead of employing a sliding block I may use
the spring detent or trigger arrangement described in my former Patent,

page_text: and again shown in Figure 7 of the annexed Drawings. In this case h
is a lever jointed to the under side of the platform and sustained by a
spring; i is a stop jointed to lever h and projecting upwards through a
slot in the platform in front of and between the wedge jaws to retain
5 them in place; k is a pin also jointed to lever h, and projecting up
through the platform, but to a greater height, so that the cable will first
come on pink and depress lever h, thereby withdrawing stop i; H is an
arm pivoted at one end to the frame A¹ and hooked at the other end to
take into an angular notch in the end of the platform F in order to hold
the latter in the tilted position shown in Figure 2 whilst dragging for the
cable. This arm is maintained by a spring I, so as to yield when the
weight of the cable comes on the platform and allow the the platform
to fall in order to permit the bight of the cable to press between
cutters K, K, fixed to the arm B of the grapnel frame, whereby the
cable is severed. The action of the grapnel will be seen in Figure 4.
When the cable is severed, as above mentioned, the part which is
between the jaws drags the latter along to the narrower end of the
groove E, whereby the jaws are made to grip the cable with increasing
force until the jaws, with the cable between them, become wedged so
tightly in the groove as to be incapable of further movement, whereupon
the cable may be raised to the surface. The platform F being pivoted
as described assumes the position shown in Figures 4 and 4ª, whereby a
direct drag is obtained, and any liability of chafing the cable on the
arms B of the frame is avoided.
To prevent the wedges and groove becoming choked with stones and
mud I provide a box or cover 7 fixed upon and enclosing the top of the
platform F and guides E. This box or cover is provided with a longi-
tudinal slit to admit the cable, said slit being closed by a spring
shutter m (similar to those described in my former Patent) capable of
being oscillated on pivots n in the ends of the box or cover and provided
with wings m¹ at the ends to close the end slits in the box or cover.
A spring keeps the shutter closed until the cable comes on that part of
it which covers the slit, on to which it is directed by the curved prongs
and the guide blocks p. In Figure 1 these shutters are removed to show
the wedge jaws more clearly. The other side of the grapnel is similarly
provided, but the position of the platform jaws and cutters is reversed,
so that if the grapnel be turned round their action will be the same, and
the grapnel may drag on either side indifferently.

page_text: Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
1st. The employment in a grapnel for raising submarine cables of a pair
or pairs of sliding wedge-like blocks or jaws fitted to move in V guides, 5
the said jaws and guides being so constructed, arranged, and operating, as
to grip and hold the cable in the manner herein shown and described.
2nd. The employment of the said wedge-like jaws and guides in com-
bination with and carried upon a platform pivoted as herein described,
so as to be capable of movement under the weight of the cable, as and. 1
for the purposes set forth.
3rd. The employment of the said wedge-like jaws and V guides when
the lattere are fixed to the gnapnel frame and the wedges are adapted to
allow the cable to come upon the cutters without the use of a descending
platform, substantially as herein described.
4th. Constructing the sliding jaws with their inner faces so inclined
as to form a V space between them to receive and hold the cable
sufficiently to ensure the proper action of the sliding jaws when the
cable is severed by the cutters, substantially as herein described.
5th. In a grapnel for raising submarine cables the combination with
a pair of fixed V cutters attached to the grapnel frame of a platform
pivoted at the end farthest from said cutters, as described, and carrying
the wedge-like jaws and guides, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Lambert, have hereunto set.
my hand and seal, this First day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
FRANCIS LAMBERT. (L.S.)