GB104328A - Improvements in Submarine Sub-floating Bodies. - Google Patents

Abstract

104,328. Dalen, G. Feb. 24, 1916, [Convention date]. Mines, marine; torpedoes, locomotive.-Relates to hydrostaticallycontrolled devices for regulating the buoyancy of mines and torpedoes, and consists mainly in the use of a hunting switch or like gear which causes the mine to assume a given specific gravity for a given depth of submersion, in order ultimately to come practically to rest at a depth for which the specific gravity of the mine is equal to that of the water. In the form shown in Fig. 1, the diaphragm 8, by means of which the buovancy of a mine 1 is adjusted, is worked through a bell-crank lever 6 by a piston 5 moving in a cylinder 4. A liquid is supplied to the cylinder and allowed to escape therefrom under the control of a valve 11 connected to the hydrostat 2. The liquid is obtained from a tank 10 under a head of compressed air. The seat 14 of the spring 3 of the hydrostat is connected to the piston 4, so that it is displaced simultaneously with the diaphragm 8 to restore the valve to the central position when the buoyancy has been changed to an extent corresponding to a change in the hydrostatic pressure. The slide valve shown may be replaced by a three-way cock. In a modification, the seat of the spring of the hydrostat is fixed, and the hydrostat and the diaphragm 8 are connected to the opposite ends of a lever fulcrumed on the rod of the valve 11. In another modification, the liquid in the tank 10, instead of being forced out by compressed air, is subjected to a piston which is screwed forward by a wound-up spiral spring through the medium of a spur gear. In still another modification, the diaphragm 8 is worked through a screw-and-nut gear and a worm gear by an electric motor controlled by a switch, of which one member is moved by the hydrostat by means of a rack and pinion, and the other member is moved by the diaphragm 8 by means of link-work.