US1920301A - Life saving device for submarines - Google Patents

Description

Aug. l, 1933. H. F. GOOD 1,920,301

LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR SUBMARINES Filed Nov. 5, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Zeigl- Y sa i 66 1'( g o; 55

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H. F. soon 1,920,301

LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR SUBMARINES Aug. 1, 1933.

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LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR SUBMARINES Filed Nov. 5. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 1, 1933 7,. l

marien srAras vr'..ll1=.r1'1* OFFICE LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR SUBMARINES Herbert F. Goed, Philadelphia, Pe., assigner ef hree-twentieths to Frank Maddenford, Frankord, Pa. I

Application November 5, 1929. SeriallNo. 404,938

' s claims. A(01.'114-7-1615) This invention relates to submarine rescue deillustrated in the accompanying drawings, and vices, and more especially to novel means for more particularly pointed out in the appended releasing passengers and crew from a submarine claims.

in case the latter is disabled while submerged. In the drawings,

@ne of the objects of the invention is to fur- Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view nish areleasably `buoy which maybe discharged of a submarine equipped with my improvements, 60 from a submerged submarine while carrying one .and showing the means employed for Winding or more occupants, for the purpose of elevating the buoy cable.

the occupant or occupants to the water surface. Fig. 2 isan elevation of a detail shown in Fig.

. v A further object is to provide such a buoy Awith l, but illustrating the handle cable winding l means to facilitate thesending and receiving of crank, while held out of `engagement with the 65 wireless messages, whereby, upon the arrival of main geel 0f the. Cable Winding drum U0 Del'mit the buoy at the water surface, an occupant may the cable'to rapidly unwind as the buoy rises.

call for aid. Fig.v 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but taken Another object is to furnish means of this from the opposite side ofV thebuoy housing or 15 .character in which thebuoy is .tethered to the tubular member. 70

submarine in such manner that after the occu- Fig. 4 is a similar view but taken diametrically pantV or occupants depart'r while the buoy is at through the bi1-Oy illlbe 01 tllbllal member.

the water surface, a person remaining withinl Fig. 5 iS a Sectional VieW O the bllOy after it o0 the submarine .may wind the tethering cable to has risen to the water surface, and showing the return the buoy to the submerged boat, so thatJ tethering cablewhich keeps the same in touch 75 passengers and crewmay be rescued one after with the disabled submarine. another. Fig. 6 is a top plan View of the buoy.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of Fig. 7 is an enlarged elevation of the interior this character, in which me submarine is furof the buoy cover, and Showing the means emmene-.fi Win19. tubuiarmembertoreeeive the buoy, ployed for locking the Same in its closed posithetubular member and buoy being provided tion. with cooperating meansvto permit one within the Referring t0 the drawings, it Will be noted, that submarine to rotate the buoy, in the tubular the present invention may be applied to any type member to bring a door oi the buoy into regisof submarine 8. For example, between the deCk .tration with an entrance door of the tubular 9 and oor 10 of the submarine, I may arrange member. a tubular member 11, the upper end of which is A still further object is to furnish theV tubular open and the lower end of which is permanently member with ejecting means which may be actu- Closed, 01` eXemDle by. the fiOOl 10. ated from within the boat so as to eject the buoy As shown in Fig. 4, this tube is normally oci'orcibly from the tubular memberV whenever neccupied by a buoy 12 which has an annular flange 0 essary, for example, when some obstruction or 13 at its upper end to t on the upper end of the the like has fallen across the buoy and tends to tube 11 for normally closing the latter. The buoy force the same into the tubular member, or to has a doorway that is normally closed by a door prevent the buoy from leaving the tubular mem- 14 which is adapted to be brought into lregistraber. l tion with the door 15 of the tube. When these Another object is to provide an apparatus of doorways are in registration, and the doors are this kind in which the unoccupied space remainopen, a person may pass from they interior of the ing in the tubular member, while the buoy is submarine into the buoy, and the doors may then within the latter, communicates at both ends and be closed to render the'buoy air-tight, and to preat both sides with air admission and discharge vent any water which flows into the tube 11 from means, and water admission and discharge passing into the interior of the submarine. means, so that water may be introduced into the At this point, let it be assumed that the parts tubular member, and air may be discharged from are in the position shown in Fig. 1, and that the the same while the submarine is either in upbuoy is occupied and ready to ascend, while the m5 right position or lying upon either one of its submarine is lyingdisabled on the bottom ofthe sides.v sea or the like. At such time, those within the With the foregoing objects outlined vand with submarine may opena valve 16, which is in a 4other objects in view which will appear as the pipe 17 that extends from the shell of the boat description proceeds, the invention consists .in to the interiorV of the tube 11. Consequently, 110

a the novelv features hereinafter described in detail, when the valve is opened, the interior of the tube tube l1.

will be flooded, so that the buoy will tend to rise. However, if it becomes stuck or is obstructed, it may be ejected by an e'ector 18, the construction and operation of which will be hereinafter described.

Thebuoy has its lower end secured to a cable 19, and the other end of the cable is Wound on a shaft or drum 20 which is journaled in the tubular member, and has its ends extending at diametrically opposite points throughthe Wall of the tubular member; one of the extending ends being provided with a relatively large gear 21 which is fast on the shaft 20. While 1thebuoy is rising and the cable unwinding, there will be no means obstructing the rotation of the gear 21. When, however, it is necessary to return the buoy to the tubular member, the gear 21 is placed in mesh with a smaller gear 22 that is fast on a shaft 2B, supported by an arm or leverV 24, which is mounted at one end upon ahovrizontal pivot 'arid prende@ at its other @nu with an Operating handle 2G. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. l, .but with the buoy 12 out of the tubular member, a crank 27, fast on the shaft 23, maybe rotated for the purpose of rotating the gear- 2l, so that the shaft 2G will be turned and wind the cable 19 upon said shaft. When the operating parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1,

a hand operated bell-crank lever 28 bears upon the arm 24 to holdthe gears in mesh, and as the gear 22 is provided with a ratchet and pawl (not shown), which prevents the same from rotating other than ina single direction, it will be understood that such means act to hold the buoy in the When, however, the buoy is to be released, the operator rst swings the bell-crank lever 'out of obstructing position, and then lifts the handle 26 so :as to bring a lingerv 29 of the g, arm 24 into engagement with a notch 30 on the lever 28, as shown in Fig. 2, for the purpose of holding the operating gear 22 in inoperative position while the cable is unwinding.

It will be recognized that each time the buoy is drawn into the tubeV il., its door may not be in alignment with the door of the tube 11, and for the purpose of obtaining such alignment, I providethe lower end of the buoy with a circular bevel gear 31, designed to engage a smaller bevel vgear`32 arranged on one end of a 'shaft 33, whose other end has iixed thereto an operating handle orcranlr 34, as shown in Fig. l. To insure the proper alignment of the doors, the tube 11 is provided with a rwindow 35 through which an operator within the submarine may watch `for a suitable indicator or mark placed on the exterior of the buoy. l

As heretofore mentioned, the tube is provided interiorly with Van ejector 18,and this ejector may have legs 36 to slide vertically in parallel guideways 37 arranged within thetube. The lower ends of the legs are provided with ears 38 which are connected to ends oi cables 39 which pass over xed pulleys 4Q within the tube and have their oppositeY ends secured to a winding shaft 41, one end of which projects beyond the tube 1i and is provided with a large gear 42, actuated by a smaller gear 43 that is driven by a hand crank. 44. bviously, when the hand crank is turned in the proper direction, the cables 39 will the purpose of a tethering rope for the' buoy, but

4control valve 5l.

also as line wires for signalling purposes. For instance, as shown in Fig. 3, the line wires 45 of the submarine may be connected to contacts 46 which bear upon a commutator wheel 47 that is mounted on the winding drum 20. In this way, the contacts may feed current to conducting wires forming part of the cable 19, and when the buoy is at the water surface, an occupant thereof may communicate with occupants of the submarine, or may erect an aerial, and send messages from the buoy or receive messages while occupying 'the buoy.

It will b'e Aobvious that after an occupant enters the buoyfro'rr'i the submarine, and while water is admitted yto the tube 11 through the pipe 1,7, that thek air inthe tube must be displaced.

`For this purpose, I provide on the exterior of the tube 11, an air chamber 48 having a suitable gauge 49 and provided with a pipe 50 having a This pipe is vconnected by a vertical conduit 52`to horizontal'conduits 53 and 54 which communicate by valved biaiiclie`s`f55, 56, 57 and 58 with diametrically 'opposite `sides less elaborate arrangement offpiping liasb'en provided to eliminate any failure of the structure to operate in case the submarine should be upon one of `its sides orthe other,` with'either 'filled with water when the buoy is to rise, but

that when the buoy is returned to the tube, the tube will also be filled with Water, due tothe fact that its upper end was open whileg'thebuoy was ,i

out of the tube. Therefore, suitable means are provided to `pump water from ythe tube 11 toalloW a second occupant to get in the buoy'after the first occupant has been rescuedatthawater and opposite ends of the tube 23. This more or the deck orkeel uppermost.` fIn other words, no 4 surface. For this purpose,` the apparatus includes a hand pump 59, the inlet branch 60 oirwhichis connected by a pipe 61`to Valved branches 62 'and 63 that open into the lower portion ofthe tube at diametrically opposite lpoints. The pipe i161 also communicates with the upper endof the tube by means of apipe 64 which is joinedto'a horizontal conduit 65, whose opposite endshas valved branches '66 and 67 that communicate with the upper portion of the interior ofthe tube fat diametrically opposite points. VThe Voutlet ofthe` pump 59 has a valved branch 68 which leads through the shell of the boat to theexterior of the latter. This arrangement also allowspumping of waterfrom the tubell, regardless ofthe position of the latter. In "other words, A even though the boat is lying over on one side or'the other, by manipulation of the propervalves, the pump may be actuated to rforce water from 4the ,tube and to discharge the same eiiter'iorly of' the boat.

To allow the buoy to descend relativelyneasyu after an occupant has been rescued froml the same at the surface of the water, I provide means to permit the buoy to be Weighted downwhen desired. For this purpose, the buoy may be jack-` ioodv the Waterspace,` 70. JfConsequently, :as the buoy becomes weighted,fit willtend to sink, and

:facilitate the redraWing of .the same into the tube 1l. Of course,'when'thepump 591s actuated, Vit will force water from the space-70,1as well as from the interior of thetube.

I prefer toprovide the'buoy with a hinged cover 73- which may be locked and unlockedl both from the exterior Aand Athe'l interior of the buoy. For this purpose, the hinged cover has a centrally dis-y posed vertical rock shaft 74, the outer projecting end of which is fixed to aliandle 75 that may be actuated from the exterior of the buoy. A disk 76 is xed to the lower end of the shaft, Aand may be turned from within the buoy by meansof ay in Fig. 5, and consequently, when the bolts are thrown, they will take under an annular surface 83 within the buoy, and not only lock the cover, but will draw the cover toward the buoy, so as to provide an effective seal. So that the cover may remain opened if desired when the buoy is on the surface, it is preferred that the cover be provided With a pivoted hook 84 to engage the surface'83 and hold theA cover in open position.

The buoy may also be provided with a window Assuming a submarine equipped with my apparatus, and the submarine becomes disabled, from the foregoing it will be understood that a rescue may be had, even though the submarine is lying substantially upside down on either one of its sides. When an accident happens, one of the crew i or instance, will enter the buoy through the doors 15 and 14, and then these doors Will be closed. Now, those within the submarine will raise the arm 24 from the position shown in Fig. 1, to the position shown inFig. 2, so that the cable 19 may unwind while the'buoy is rising. Then the valve 16 will be opened to flood the portion of the tube 1l that is not occupied by the buoy, and of course, the valve 7l should be closed by the occupant of the buoy to' prevent the water from en'- terlng the jacket70. Now, the buoy will tendto rise, due to buoyancy,.but to insure this, those within the boat may turn the crank 44 to operate the ejector 18 for the `purpose of starting the buoy to elevate.

As soon as the occupant of the buoy reaches the water surface. he can signal for help, and when h e is ready for rescue, he will first open the valve 71 to nood the ,water space of the buoy, and then operate the handle 75 to close the buoy cover 73.

VAt such time, those within the boat will actuate v the lever 28 to release the finger 29 and allow the gear 22 to mesh with the gear 2l. Then thehandie 27 will be rotated to wind the cable 19 and drawthe buoy down into the tube 11. When the buoy has been brought into the tube to the proper degree, the gear 3l will be in mesh with the gear 32. Consequently, those within the boat may turn ythe handle 34 to bring the doors of the tube and buoy into alignment. Now the proper one or ones of the valves in the water lines will be opened, and the pump 59, when actuated, will force the water from the tube 11 and Water jacket 70, and while this is going on, the air from the tank 48 is permitted to ilow back into the tube 11 through the proper valves in the. air line.

. The parts are now ready4 for a second oneof `the lcrew to be rescued, and after he-has enteredfthe buoy; the. operation will be repeated.

Toenable the water depth inthe tube 11 to be seen, regardless of the position of the boat, I prefer co-provide the tube 11 at opposite` ' sidesfwith gauge glasses 90 and 91'. f I

From the Yforegoing description it is believed thatfthe construction, operation fand advantages of the invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art, and I am aware that changes may be made in the details disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a submarine having a tube, a buoy adapted to enter the tube, means to permit an occupant of the submarine to enter the buoy, means for tethering the buoy to the subma rine, and means for ejecting the buoy from the tube, said ejecting means being arranged' in entirety at a lower elevation than the buoy and com prising legs projecting downwardly from the buoy, guide tracks Vfor the legs, fixed pulleys, a winding shaft, and ropes passing over said pulleys and having certain of their ends connected to the lower ends of the legs, and their other ends connected to the winding shaft.

2. In combination, a submarine provided with a tube, a buoy normally occupying the tube and closing one end thereof, means to permit an occupant of the submarine to enter said buoy, means for pumpingwater out of the tube, and means including an air storage tank for introducing air into the tube as the water is pumped out.

V3. In combination, a submarine provided with a tube, a buoy normally occupying said tube, meansto permit an occupant of the submarine to' enter the buoy, means for admitting water from the exterior of the submarine into said tube, a closed tank to receive air displaced by the Water as the latter iills the tube, and means for forcing water out of the tube for emptying the latter. I Y

4. In combination, a submarine provided with a tube, a buoy extending into said tube, means to permit an occupant of the submarine to enter saidbuoy, anair tank, and piping having valve controlled branches for placing diametrically opposite sides of the opposite ends of the tube in communication with said tank.

5. In combination, a submarine provided with a tube, a buoy normally extending into said tube andk 'adapted to be used for transferring occupants of the submarine to the Water surface, means to admit water into said tube, a pump, and piping connected to said pump and having .valve controlled branches connected to diametrically opposite sides of the opposite ends of the tube to permit the pump to discharge water from y various points of the tube.

r6. The combination with a submarine and a buoy for transferring passengers from the submarine to the Water surface, of `a cover for the buoy, locking means for the cover, and actuating means for the locking means to permit the locking means to be operated from either the exterior or interior of the buoy, said locking means including a rotatable disk carried by the cover, and bolts pivotally connected to the disk and having inclined outer ends for engagement with' surfaces of the buoy.

7. In combination, a submarine provided with a tube, a buoy normally occupying the tube and 'closing one end thereosaid buoy having a closedtstorage chamber for Waterk ballast, means including a Val-Ve operable from the interior ofV 'the buoy for admitting lWater into said chamber `from thevexterior offthe buoy or disoharging-wa Lter'frornfthechamber exteriorly of the buoy into said tube, and means arranged exteriorly of the ftube "for pumping waterout of thetube.

8. An escape device. for submarines having for holding the arm in isluchpositionsas to cause `the gears to mesh or remain out oji engagement with onesanother.

. v v HERBERT F. GOOD.`

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