US1247439A - Torpedo-guard for ships. - Google Patents

Description

L. MILLER.- TORPEDO GUARD FOR SHIPS. APPLICATION men JULY :2. 1911.

Patented Nov, 20, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- L. MILLER. TORPEDO GUARD FOR SHIPS. APPLICATION FILED J U LY I2. 1917.

1.,24WA39; Paented Nov. 20, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHE ET 2.

LOUIS MILLER, 01? BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

'ronrnno-enani) ron sures.

eashes.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2d, 191%.

Application filed July 12, 1917. Serial No. 180,178.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Louis MI LER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, have invented. certainnew anduseful Improvements in TorpedorGuards for Ships, of ,which the following is a specification, reference being had therem to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to a torpedo guard or protector forships, and the like, and has for its principal object the production of a simple and efficient guard, which may be conveniently held over the side of. a ship,

in. such a position as to permit the same to be immediately dropped in case of danger,

,toprevent the contact of a torpedo with the side ,of a. ship.

Another object of this invention is the prOdtlctiOn of. a simple and efficient guard, which .will constitute a yieldable buffer against which the torpedomay be a-butted, when adjusted against aship.

With, these and other 'obJects in new this invention. consists of certain novel combinations, cOnstructionsaand arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figurel is aside elevation of the ship, showing the guard applied thereto, the guard being shown diagrammatically for the purpose of vsimplifying thefillustration.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through a portion of the side of the ship, showing one of the sections of the guard in an extended position. y

Fig. 3 is a section taken onth-e lineB-S of Fig. 2.

Fig.4 is a front elevation of one of; the sections of the guard.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through a series of the guard sections.

Fig.,-6 is. a, longitudinal section through a portion of-the hull of the vessel, showing the manner of attaching the guardsection to the vessel.

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective of one-of the joint connections, constitutina the frame for the guard section.

Fig. 8 is a; front elevationof a portion of the yieldable guard net showing the ,manner in Which the net is Woven.

Fig. 9 is a top, plan View, showing in dia gram the arrangementof the guard sections extendingaround the end of a ship, such for instance as the bow onthe stern of a vessel. Fig. .10. is a longitudinal section through a portion of the hull ofthe ressel, showing a modified form of attaching the connecting hooks on thetorpedo sections to a hull of .a wooden vessel, wherein reinforcing metallic plates are used.

Fig. llis a plan view of a portion of the reinforcing frame for the net.

QFigplQ is a top plan view of two of the protector sections shown mounted upon the side of a ship.

By referring to the accompanying draw ings by numerals, it will be seen that l desgnates the vessel, which maybe of course of any suitable or desired construction, and the vessel l is adapted to support a plurality of protector or guard sections which guard sections are adapted to be arranged in ,close relation to each other, and produce aeontinuous protector net, around the entire hull of the vessel. These protector sections comprise afranie 2, which frame is provided. with a reinforced rear frame 3, and have the longitudinally,extending rods 4 of the protector frame, engagingthe rear frame 3.

:The forward ends of the rods at are threaded into unions 5,which unions in. turn receive the vertically extending brace pipe sections 6, for firmly holding the longitudinally extending. rods in proper spaced relation. Suitable transverse brace rods or pipe sec tions are interposed between the lower unions of the protector sections, orframe 2, as isillustrated clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawings. These unions 5 support upon their outer. ends a plurality of outwardly extending brace rods 8, which brace rods 8 support a metallic frame 9 at. their outer ends, which metallic frame 9 .is provided with suitable eyes 10 twisted therein, for fitting over the outer ends of the rods 8: Suitable ends 11 are threaded upon the rods 8 for firmly holding the frame 9 upon the rods 8. This frame 9 is preferably formed rectangular, and a suitable net 12 is woven upon the outer frame 9', as is illustrated in Fig. 4t, and in detail in Fig.8. The net 12 is preferably formed of reinforced cable, which is wrapped by a fabric wrapping,'and which. is thoroughly waxed to reduce friction to a minimum extent, and also to prevent the deterioration of the net, due to the chemical action of the water, thereon. The

' torpedo.

net 12 is formed of a plurality of looped portions 13, which fit around the outer frame a, which looped portions are looped inwardly to produce inwardly extending loops 1e, and the net is then wound upon a strand for producing substantially diamond shaped pockets, as shown in Fig. 1, upon the face of the net. The strand is looped around the inner end of the loop 14-, and is then passed over the outer end of the loop 1 1, and is then wound around the strand 15, whereupon the outer end 16 of the strand passes over the loop 17 which is formed by winding the cable or strand around the inwardly extending loops 14:. By means of the wire net which is carried upon the outer end ofthe frame 2, 1t. should be understood that a very yleldable construction is produced, by which a torpedo engaging'thc net, will merely impinge against the surfaces of the net, and should the same enter in between the strands of the net, the flexible nature of the net will gradually force the torpedo from engagement with thenet,'due to the tightening action of the not around the upper ends of the torpedo; The knotted connections at the unction' of the substantially diamond shaped pockets formed by the net strands, will produce a'very efficient connecting means and allow a slight yieldable action of the pockets, but at the same time will assume a tightening action around an object which may try, to penetrate between the strands. The formationof the outer end of the nose of a torpedo will naturally cause a torpedo to work itself'from engagement with the net due to the construction of the net. An auxiliary or second net 6 is supported upon the top sections or rods 6 "and 7, to

constitute a second line of protector net structures, and thereby prevent the passing of a torpedo through the protector members, should the first net be found defective, or should the first net be penetrated by the This second net 6 is formed similar to the first net 12, which has been describedabov'e in detail.

Each of these nets 6 and 12 are reinforced by'means of a reinforcing net 12 whereby the reinforcing net is formed of a plurality of strands carried by the frame 9, and the looped portions 17 of the net12 are wound around the junctions 13 of the reinforcing net12, such as is illustrated in'Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The net 12 as stated above is firmly secured to the outer frame 9, and the net is provided upon each side thereof with flaps or lips 18. These flaps are adapted to overhang the spacebetween the next adjoining sections of'the protector mechanism, and these sections will be termed the auxiliary sections 19, as shown in Fig. 5. The auxiliary section is formed similar to the first Section described, with respect tothe frame 2, with the exception thatthe' auxiliary section 19 is not provided with the extending flap 18. This structure is clearly shown 111 Fig. 5. I

Thelip or flap 18 which is formed upon each side of the net 12 is reinforced around its edge by means of a reinforcing frame 18, which reinforcing frame 18 1s adapted to hold the flap or lip 18 in a proper position, 7

so as to extend laterally of the main net 12. his reinforced frame 18 is adapted to pre Each of the protector sect-ions issimilarly' connected to the hull 1 of the ship and each section carries a plurality of eye bolts 20 upon the rear frame 3 thereof, which eye bolts 20 engage the hooks-21, which are-supported in any suitable manner upon the -hull ',1 of the vessel. Where a metal vessel is used,

the hooks 21 may be secured thereto by passing the hooks through -the-hull 1. of the vessel and riveting-the same, as shown in Fig. 6. here a wooden vessel is used, such as indicated by the numeral lithe hooks 21 may be passed through tl1e reinforcingplates 22, as shown clearly in Fig. 10 of the drawings.- These protector sections are adapted to have the eye portions 20 inserted overthe hooks 2-1 by moving the sections laterally as will be obvious by considering Fig. 6, a'ndin order to holdptliesesectionsin permanent positions for operation, bracing cables 23 are employed which are secured to oneof the rods 8 in front of one 'of the unionsh, as shown in Fig. 2, and these cables 23 are in turn secured to the connecting--meansj24. The innerend of each section is also braced near one corner thereof, by means ofbracing chains 25, which of course maybe of any desired construction, and which will constitute an efficient brace for resisting any rearward movement of the sections supported upon the sideof thevessel or-the hi llthereof. Suitable buffer blocks 26- are secured to the lower end of the frame 3 and are adapted to abut against the hull'l of the'vessel and resist any inward pressure upon the sections of the protector. [T118891 buffer blocks 26 will constitute a very simple and efficient resilient support for the lower end of the sections or frame 2. a P 3 r The bufi'er blocks 26 are adapted to be held normally out of contact with the hull 1, and areonly brought into engagement when pressure is brought to bear upon the outer ends of the protector sections of the torpedo guard. I

A upon the deckof the hull 1, and these drums maybe operated in any suitable position for winding the lifting cable 28 thereover, and

plurality of drums 27 arej mounted lifting the protector sections to avertical mally kept avertical position, while the zone, these protector sections are lifted down to an operative position. Thelifting cable 28 lS-SQOHIECl to eachsection 111 front a of one of the unions, passing over theguidingpulleycarried by the standard- 30, upon the deck-of theship. A suitable pawl is mounted upon a shaft 33 which may extend "throughoutthe entirerlength of thehull of the vessel, and may operate inunison with sultable pawls engaging all of the drums 27.

This is so constructed as to permit all of the pawls 31 to be immediately operated in unison for the purpose of permitting the drums 27 to unwind and thereby allow the protector section or guard to drop to an operative position.

It of course should be understood that the protector sections are formed of knockdown structure in order to permit the structure to be readily assembled and partsthereof to be readily replaced, and in view of this structure it should be understood that when the device is not desired for immediate use several parts of the guard may be readily disassembled and the same stowed away in a minimum amount of space. For instance, the outer end may be readily removed from the frame, and the several parts of the frame may be readily separated.

By carefully considering Fig. 2, it will be seen that the shaft 33 carries an operating handle 34, which operating handle is adapted to permit all of the pawls 31 to be simultaneously released from the ratchet 32, and permit the drums or windlass37 to unwind, and the sections of the protector or guard to automatically drop to an operative position. It should be understood that all of the outer parts of the guard sections, such as the ends 11, etc, are rounded in order to prevent any sharp corners or obstructive parts to interfere with the effective operativeness of the device.

A plurality of abutment knobs 30 are arranged along the side of the hull of the vessel 1, an are adapted to hold the protector sections away from the side of the hull, when the same are arranged to a vertical position. The abutment knobs 30 will act as buffers against which the upper side rods 2 of the protector sections will abut, when the device is swung to its vertical position.

It should be understood that the protector sections 2 taper toward their rear or inner ends 35 or in other words have their rear ends slightly reduced in order to permit one section to be removed from the ship without interfering with the other sections, should one of the sections need repairing. When the sections are removed, from the ship, it is necessary that the section be raised to a vertical position. It should further be understood that all of these sections may be raised independently of theother sections, should 'it be so desired, as it isnot necessary that all of the sections be raised simultaneously, or together. The structure of the sections showing the same tapered at their inner ends 18 clearly illustrated 1n Fig. 12 of the drawings.

It shouldbe understood that certain detail changes may be made in the detail mechanical construction and the proportion of the device, without departing from'the spirit of the invention.

As shownin Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, a turn buckle may be carried thereby forthe purpose of permitting the chain 25 to be adjusted or tightened.

What is claimed is 1. A torpedo guard of the class described, comprising a plurality of similarly constructed sections, each section comprising an inner frame, a plurality of outwardly eX- tending rods, vertically extending bracing means interposed between said rods, an outer net frame carried by the outer ends of said rods, a yieldable cable net woven upon said net frame, and adapted to constitute a yieldable buffer for preventing the contact of a torpedo with the side of a ship carrying said guard, means for raising and lowering said sections and means for bracing said sections against lateral swing.

2. A torpedo guard of the class described, comprising a plurality of similarly constructed sections, each section comprising an inner frame, a plurality of outwardly extending rods, vertically extending bracing means interposed between said rods, a yieldable cable net woven upon said end frame, and adapted to constitute a yieldable buffer for preventing the contact of a torpedo with the side of a ship carrying said guard,means for raising and lowering said sections, means for bracing said sections against {lateral swing, hooks adapted to be carried by the sides of a vessel, and eye bolts carried by said drums of said sections and fitting over said hooks for constituting a hooking connection for said sections.

3. A torpedo guard of the class described, comprising a plurality of similarly constructed sections, each section comprising an inner frame, a plurality of outwardly extending rods, vertically extending bracing means interposed between said rods, an outer net frame carried by the outer ends of said rods, a yieldable cable net woven upon said net frame, and adapted to constitute a yieldable buffer for preventing the contact of a torpedo with the side of a ship carrying said guard, means for raising and lowering said sections, means for bracing said sec tions against lateral swing, hooks adapted to be carried by the sides of a vessel, and eye bolts carried by said drums of said sectionsandfitting over said hooks for constitutmg a hooking connection for sand sections, a yieldable buffercarried by the lower end of each section.

4. A torpedo guard of the class descrlbed,

comprising a plurality of sections, each seoo.

I tending across the outer end of said frame [and being provided With laterally extending flaps adapted to overhang a portion of the next adjoining section, for producing a Copies of this patent may be obtained for continuous yieldable net aroundthe entire hull-of a vessel, and said net being Woven to constitute a plurality of substantially diamond shaped pockets having knotted joints at their corners. a

5. A torpedo guard comprising a plurality of sections, each section comprising .anginner frame, and an outer protector ,frame, and each alternate-outer protector frame, provided with laterally extending portions overhanging the adjoining frames. In testimony whereof I hereunto .affix my signature. 7 V LOUIS- MILLER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washingto p 0 j j v

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