IMPROVEMENTS IN FOG SIGNALS AND ALARM BELLS TO BE USED ON A VESSEL OR AT LIGHTHOUSES, SHOALS, OR OTHER PLACES
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Gurney Crow Pattison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
19th January 1874.
I, GURNEY CROW PATTISON, of Baltimore City, State of Maryland, in
the United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of tho said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FOG SIGNALS AND ALARM BELLS TO BE USED ON
A VESSEL OR AT LIGHTHOUSES, SHOALS, OR OTHER PLACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fog signals and
alarm bells to be used on a vessel or at lighthouses, shoals, or other
places, and operated by the waves or swell of the waters.
I employ a rudder-shaped plate of any suitable dimensions, provided
at one end with an upward projecting rod or post. The upper end of
this rod is bent outward and has a bell suspended from its extreme end.
At the other end of the plate are formed or attached suitable loops or
their equivalents, by means of which the plate may be hinged to the
back edge of a ship's rudder. Or the alarm may be used stationary by
driving a post or pile in the ground near lighthouses, at shoals, or any
other desired place, and letting the loops pass over said post or pile. In
this case a buoy is attached to or formed on the upper edge of the plate

page_text: to prevent the same from sinking, and to allow it to fall and rise with
the tide.
When attached to the rudder of a ship the buoy is not required as the
rudder itself holds the alarm up. The waves or swell of the tide will in
either case move the plate or swing it back and forth constantly on its 5
hinges, and thus keep up a continual alarm.
In some cases for a fixed alarm or signal, I employ a buoy or float
which is capable of moving vertically upwards and downwards between
two fixed rods or posts. A chain attached to the top of the float passes
upwards and is led around a drum, and has at its other end a counter- 1
poised weight. The axis of the drum is horizontal and carries at its ends
the alarm bells. Thus when the buoy or float rises and falls with the
waves the drum is caused to revolve backwards and forwards, thereby
ringing the bells.
The bells may have a pair of spring tongues, one on each side of the 1
clapper, so as to prevent the clapper from remaining in contact with the
bell after a blow has been struck.
In some cases also I employ a float or boat, with a wheel in its centre,
which connects with a bell in such manner that the tides will cause the
wheel to revolve, and when said wheel revolves it causes the bell to 2
ring.
The boat or float has an opening at its centre running longitudinally
of it, in which is placed the wheel. The buckets of this wheel extend
below the bottom and above the top of the boat. There are two posts
crected upon the boat between which is hung a bell. This bell has a 2
curved rod running beneath it, against which the buckets of the wheel
strike when said buckets are in motion, thus causing the bell to vibrate
and ring as it strikes its clapper.
The boat, or float, or buoy, is to be anchored by any suitable means
at any point where the signal is desired. .
When the tide is making either in or out its motion is sufficient to
cause the wheel to revolve, and as this revolves it causes the bell to ring
constantly.
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