Lobster abstract
A marker buoy attached to an object such as a lobster or crab trap
by a latch and released by a trigger struck by a falling weight.
A sealed buoy compartment contains a first permanent magnet holding
the weight in upper position by a supportive pole relationship to
the poles of a second permanent magnet on the weight and releasing
the weight when the first magnet is pivoted to a relative position
of poles not sufficiently supportive of the weight. The first magnet
is pivoted by an electric motor controlled by an electric clock.
Setting of the clock and other operations are accomplished without
disturbing compartment seals by an external hand-held magnet operating
on internal magnetic reed switches. A line tethers the buoy to the
object when the latch is released.
Lobster claims
I claim:
1. The method of setting an electrically powered release timer
on a buoy attached to an object to which it is also tethered by
a line, comprising:
(a) confining said timer against water penetration but not against
magnetic field penetration,
(b) providing in the confined space a magnetically sensitive timer
switch, and
(c) operating said switch magnetically from outside the confined
space so as to set the timer without exposing said timer to water
penetration.
2. The improvement in means for attachment and release of a buoy
relative to an object to which the buoy is also tethered by a line,
comprising:
(a) means operative to attach said buoy to said object including
a latch releasable by a trigger,
(b) a weighted body and guide means therefor whereby said body
is movable by gravity from a first position above and spaced from
said trigger to a second position striking said trigger and releasing
said latch whereby said buoy is released from said object and assumes
a tethered position,
(c) means operative to hold said weighted body in said first position
until release of said weighted body to trigger buoy release to tethered
disposition, and
(d) said means operative to hold said weighted body including a
first permanent magnet forming a part of said weighted body and
a second permanent magnet disposed adjacent to said first magnet
and means pivotally supporting said second magnet to pivot between
a first position in which the poles of said second magnet are supportively
disposed relative to the poles of said first magnet to hold said
weighted body in said first position thereof and a second position
in which the poles of the two magnets are relatively oriented so
as to permit said weighted body to drop from said first position
thereof to said second position to release said buoy, and means
operative to pivot said second magnet between said first and second
positions thereof to initiate release of said buoy.
3. The subject matter of claim 2 in which said second magnet is
superposed to said first magnet and is pivotal about an axis generally
parallel to the path of travel of said weighted body from said first
position to said second position thereof.
4. The subject matter of claim 2 in which said means operative
to pivot said second magnet includes timing and driving means pivoting
said second magnet upon reaching of a time set into said timing
and driving means.
5. The subject matter of claim 4 in which said timing and driving
means includes an electric motor operative to pivot said second
magnet and an electric clock controlling when said motor is energized.
6. The subject matter of claim 5 in which there is a housing and
said electric motor, electric clock and second magnet are enclosed
in said housing which is sealed to prevent water entry, there being
magnetic reed switch means controlling setting of said clock and
there being wall means adjacent to said magnetic switch means magnetically
pervious whereby said clock can be set externally of said housing
without disturbing sealing thereof by use of a hand-held magnet.
7. The subject matter of claim 6 in which there are means to operate
said electric motor to pivot said second magnet to release said
weighted body in the event of leakage of water into said housing,
in the event of mechanical clock failure and in the event of reduction
of voltage to said motor below a selected value.
8. The subject matter of claim 5 in which there is first battery
means powering said electric motor and said second battery means
separate from said first battery means powering said electric clock,
said motor and clock being off-the-shelf products thereby minimizing
costs.
9. The subject matter of claim 8 in which there is means connecting
said motor to said clock including a saw tooth gear whereby said
motor will set said clock when said motor is run in a reverse direction
and disengaging said motor from said clock when said motor is run
in a forward direction whereby said clock will not be disturbed
when said motor is run in a forward direction in initially setting
relative positions of said magnets and in pivoting said magnet to
release said weighted body.
10. The subject matter of claim 9 in which said electric motor,
electric clock, second magnet and battery means are enclosed in
a housing sealed to prevent water entry and there are relay means
in said housing controlling reversal of said motor and a magnetic
reed switch in said housing controlling said relay means and operable
by magnetic means external of said housing such as a hand-held magnet.
11. The subject matter of claim 5 in which there is a power-on-off
switch cutting off power to said motor upon release of said buoy.
12. The subject matter of claim 5 in which there is a flashing
light on said buoy and means operative to turn on said light upon
said clock initiating release of said buoy, said motor being powered
by first battery means and said clock being powered by second battery
means separate from said first battery means and there being third
battery means powering said light separate from said first and second
battery means.
13. The improvement in means for attachment and release of a buoy
relative to an object to which the buoy is also tethered by a line,
comprising:
(a) releasable attaching means operative to secure said buoy to
said object,
(b) an electric timer operative to control release of said attaching
means,
(c) a housing and said timer being disposed in said housing which
is sealed to prevent water entry, said housing having a magnetically
pervious wall, and
(d) means including a magnetic reed switch disposed in said housing
near said wall and controlling setting of said timer, whereby said
timer may be set by a hand-held magnet external of said housing
adjacent to said wall without disturbing the housing seal.
14. The subject matter of claim 13 in which there is means operative
to release said attaching means responsive to leakage of water into
said housing.
15. The method of latching and releasing a buoy relative to an
object to which the buoy is also tethered by a line, in which there
is a latch released by a trigger, comprising:
(a) providing a weight and attaching a first permanent magnet to
the weight,
(b) locating said weight above said trigger,
(c) holding said weight above said trigger by magnetically operating
on said first permanent magnet to hold it up, and
(d) releasing said weight to descent by gravity to strike said
trigger to release said buoy by changing magnetic operation on said
first permanent magnet to no longer hold it up.
16. The subject matter of claim 15 in which said first permanent
magnet is magnetically operated upon to hold it up and to release
the same by superposing a second permanent magnet to said first
permanent magnet and orienting the poles of said second magnet to
attract the poles of said first magnet when it is desired to hold
said weight up and changing pole orientations between second and
first magnets to a non-supportive relationship when it is desired
to release said weight.
17. The improvement in means for attachment and relesae of a buoy
relative to an object to which said buoy is attached and to which
said buoy is also tethered by a line, comprising:
(a) said means for attachment and release including a first and
a second permanent magnet and means supporting said magnets for
relative rotation to pivot from a first relative position in which
the poles of the magnets are oppositely positioned to attract each
other to hold the magnets together against release to a second relative
position in which the poles of the magnets are no longer oppositely
positioned so as to no longer hold the magnets together, said means
for attachment and release being operative to release said buoy
from attachment to said object responsive to change in attraction
of said magnets to each other as said magnets move from said first
position towards said second position, and
(b) timing and driving means operative to relatively rotate said
magnets from said first position to said second position upon reaching
a preset time.
18. The subject matter of claim 17 in which said timing and driving
means is electrically powered and includes an electric motor and
an electric timer which can be preset; there being a magnetic switch
controlling setting of said electric timer; there being a housing
sealed to prevent water entry enclosing said motor, said electric
timer, and said magnetic switch; and said housing including a magnetically
pervious wall located so that said magnetic switch can be operated
by a source of a magnetic field external of said housing without
disturbing the sealing of said housing.
19. The subject matter of claim 18 in which said electric timer
includes a display of time to indicate when said electric timer
will operate said electric motor to relatively rotate said magnets,
and said housing including a transparent wall so that said display
can be read from external of said housing without disturbing the
sealing of said housing.
20. The subject matter of claim 17 in which said magnets are superposed
and are rotatable about an upright axis.
Lobster description
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTIVES
My invention relates to a marker buoy attached to a lobster or
crab trap or the like and surfacing when desired, particularly at
a preset time.
A preliminary examination search conducted relative to the present
invention disclosed the following patents with which I was not familiar:
U.S. Pat. No. 3889307 concerns a buoy used in offshore drilling
operations which is connected to an object placed on the ocean floor
by means of a wire rope or the like wound on a drum and triggered
to raise by an acoustical signal. U.S. Pat. No. 3162870 has an
anchored light buoy automatically released from a sinking vessel
and unwinding a nylon line tethering the buoy. U.S. Pat. No. 2722019
concerns a cable-anchored channel marking buoy surfacing automatically
after a predetermined period of submersion. U.S. Pat. No. 4034693
concerns a device for raising fish traps, crayfish pots, etc., timed
or triggered acoustically, rendered buoyant by explusion of water
by gas from a cylinder. U.S. Pat. No. 3871044 concerns improvements
in a timing and release device for such marking buoys. U.S. Pat.
No. 3729755 concerns means automatically to divide and moor an
oceanographic buoy system.
One objective of my invention is to provide an improved automatically
surfacing marker buoy for lobster or crab traps or the like. One
reason for this type of buoy, as distinguished from a buoy tethered
to such a trap but always surfaced, is concealment of the trap from
poachers. Other needs or objectives for buoys in that usage include:
economy of manufacture to a suitable price range which is low relative
to price ranges applicable to some other applications for such buoys,
such as military usages; reliability of operation and low maintenance
and particularly in a salt water environment; economy by using an
off-the-shelf type battery-powered clock and by using an off-the-shelf
type battery-powered motor; sealing of the compartment having delicate
parts such as timers and motors; to set a timer without penetration
of the sealed compartment and to perform other functions by use
of magnetically operated reed switches internally of the compartment
and hand-held magnets externally of the compartment; to provide
means to read voltage externally of the compartment; to provide
means to automatically surface the buoy in case of leakage or clock
failure; to devise means to conserve the electricity of batteries
powering the various systems; to devise a flashing light suitably
powered; and to provide reliable and economical means for latching
of the buoy to the trap and for release of the same, including providing
for operation without breaking the seal of the compartment.
My invention will be best understood, together with additional
objectives and advantages thereof, from the following description
read with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a specific embodiment of my new
automatically surfacing buoy. The buoy is seen attached to a lobster
trap that is resting on the rocky bottom of a body of water. A source
of an acoustical signal is shown in the upper left hand corner.
FIG. 2 is a view like that of FIG. 1 but showing release of the
buoy from attachment to the trap, while the buoy remains tethered
to the trap with a line.
FIG. 3 is an elevational view, on reduced scale, showing the angular
limits of operability of the buoy depending on tilting of the trap
as it rests on the bottom of a body of water. The angular limit
of operability depends partly on the structure of the specific embodiment
used to mount the buoy on the trap and used to latch the buoy in
place, and a different configuration could have a somewhat different
angular limit.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the buoy and of the mounting
therefor, certain parts being cut away to reveal interior details.
A magnet is shown in the upper right hand corner, which is used
to operate interior magnetic reed switches.
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of certain details taken generally
on line 5--5 of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a view relating electrical circuitry to some of the structural
and mechanically operating parts of the buoy assembly.
ATTACHMENT OF BUOY TO TRAP
Whereas my buoy 10 could have other uses, I devised it for use
with a lobster or crab trap 12. Buoy 10 is received in a cupped
housing or case 14 which has a central, upstanding, rod-shaped trigger
pin 16 with a ball upper latching end 18 to facilitate latching
of buoy 10 in housing 14. Trigger pin 16 is used to attach or latch
buoy 10 in housing 14 to attach buoy 10 to trap 12 as shown in FIG.
1. When buoy 10 is unlatched from housing 14 and trap 12 as shown
in FIG. 2 buoy 10 is still tethered to housing 14 and trap 12 by
a nylon or other line 20 which is attached to buoy 10 by eyelet
22 and is attached to the housing structure by eyelet 24 which is
secured to one of a pair of nuts 26 that secure trigger pin 16 to
housing 14. Housing 14 should be at least enough larger than the
mating portion of buoy 10 so as to provide room for coiling of line
20 in housing 14 in the FIG. 1 latched disposition of the assembly.
Of course line 20 should be long enough to reach the surface of
the water to be visible to mark the location of trap 12 when it
is desired to reveal that location.
Incidentally, certain parts to be described are made of metal but
it is preferred that housing 14 and the upper and lower sections
30 32 of the shell of buoy 10 can be made of plastic. This is because
certain internal switches are operated from external of buoy 10
with a permanent magnet (or possibly an electromagnet) 34 so use
of plastic avoids iron containing metals of magnet 34. In fact,
at least part of upper buoy case 30 should be transparent so that
an operator can see upper and lower internal timer or clock dials
36 38 and the alignment of pointer 40 with a clocking index mark
42 on transparent case section 30.
Suitably secured to the lower end of trigger rod 16 is a hard plastic
ball 44 which pivots within an envelope defined by a rest 46 in
a lower plate 48 and the edges of an opening 50 in an upper plate
52 secured to the top 60 of trap 12 (which is usually formed of
wire) by sandwiching the trap top 60 between a flange 54 on plate
52 and a lower annulus 56 which are secured together by bolts 58.
Ball 44 permits buoy 10 and housing 14 to pivot rather freely relative
to plate 52 and trap 12 to relative positions such as are illustrated
in FIGS. 1-3 due to irregularities in the sea bottom that trap 12
must rest upon as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or due to tumbling as trap
12 descends to the bottom so that it might rest on a side as shown
in FIG. 3.
For buoy 10 to release (to slide off trigger pin 16) under the
force of the buoy's buoyancy, upon unlatching, factors to be considered
include: (a) the functional forces along pin 16 and (b) the vector
along the axis 62 of trigger pin 16 of the force of buoyancy (the
vector relating to the angle between axis 62 and the vertical 64).
See FIG. 3. Line 66 represents a limit of 45.degree. of swivel of
ball 44 according to one design of the buoy (45.degree. being the
angle between the pin axis and the plane of the trap top 60). If
the plane of the trap top 60 were rotated 100.degree. from horizontal,
trigger pin axis 62 would be 55.degree. to the vertical 64. Tests
show in one configuration of my buoy that a suitably positive buoy
release is achieved at the 55.degree. angle to the vertical shown
in FIG. 3.
The structure relating to receiving and securing trigger pin 16
in buoy 10 include a housing forming trigger chamber 68 a boss
70 depending from chamber 68 having a passageway receiving pin 16
a nut 72 on boss 70 securing it to the bottom of lower buoy shell
32 and a medial web 74 supporting a pivot pin 75 on which trigger
76 is pivotally mounted (there being a light spring, not shown,
normally biasing trigger 76 towards latched position under trigger
ball 18). It will be readily recognized that as trigger pin 16 passes
upwards through the passage in boss 70 and enters chamber 68 that
the latching arm 78 will catch under ball 18 and will hold pin 16
until trigger 76 is released by downward pressure on trigger arm
80.
Trigger chamber 68 is water tight as to prevention of water in
chamber 68 entering other areas of the interior of buoy 10. On occasion,
water will enter chamber 68 through the passage in boss 70 but air
will be compressed in chamber 68 in the process and water should
be confined mostly to the area underneath medial web 74.
Other details of the case of buoy 10 and the installation of chamber
68 therein will mostly be obvious from the drawings and those details
won't be belabored herein in most instances. A spring-loaded bellows
82 is attached to pin 16 and bears on the bottom of nut 72 to pretty
well seal against water entry into chamber 68 until trigger release.
Upper and lower buoy shell sections 30 32 have flanges 84 86
respectively, with an annular seal 99 sandwiched therebetween, and
secured by bolts 90.
TRIGGER RELEASE MECHANISM
It will be understood from FIGS. 4 and 6 that buoy 10 will be released
if trigger arm 80 is downwardly pressed, thereby releasing ball
18 on trigger pin 16 from engagement by latch arm 78 of trigger
76.
A pair of diametrically opposite grooves or tracks 92 are provided
on the inside walls of chamber 68 and a body 94 has opposed guide
members 96 disposed in grooves 92 whereby body 94 is guided in
vertical movement above trigger 76.
The portion 98 striking trigger arm as body 94 falls on trigger
76 may be a weight (as body 94 is weighted). In one configuration,
considering the amount of weight of body 94 and striker 98 the
distance it falls, and a fulcrum ratio of seven to one (length of
arm 80 to length of arm 78), a total force of about seventy pounds
is available to release latch 78 from ball 18 (ten pounds at impact
point times seven to one ratio). The natural buoyancy of buoy 10
will then lift the buoy out of case 14 and unwinding the Nylon line
20 stored in case 14 until buoy 10 surfaces to mark the location
of trap 12.
Weighted body 94 is permanently magnetic or includes a permanent
magnet as indicated in the drawings by north-south pole indications
"N" and "S" on body 94. Superposed to the top
of chamber 68 and above body 94 is a permanent magnet 100 or a member
containing a permanent magnet. Magnet 100 and the magnetic properties
of body 94 have sufficient strength to hold body 94 up at the top
of chamber 68 when magnet 100 has a N-S relationship to S-N of body
94 as is indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5. As magnet 100 rotates relative
to body 94 (see generally a ninety degree rotation from the relative
dispositions in FIG. 4 to the relative positions in FIG. 6), at
some point there will be insufficient attraction and body 94 will
fall, whereby striker 98 strikes trigger arm 80 releasing the buoy.
Note that body 94 will be starting to fall by the time the ninety
degree FIG. 6 relative position of the poles of body 94 and magnet
100 is reached. In a prototype, release of body 94 occurred at about
eighty degrees, but in any design the angular point of release will
depend on various factors such as weights, strength of magnets and
frictional forces.
From the foregoing, it will be understood that release of buoy
10 depends on the angular clocked position of magnet 100 i.e.,
as magnet 100 rotates from a supportive position to body 94 it
will reach a point releasing body 94. When pointer 40 on magnet
100 is aligned with an index marker 42 visible through the transparent
case section 30 the assembly is in latched position. In resetting
the mechanism, therefore, usually magnet 100 will be rotated to
the latched position wherein pointer 40 is aligned with index 42.
At the end of a cycle, when buoy 10 is unlatched, the assembly
can be brought back to position latching buoy 10 if magnet 100 is
rotated to align pointer 40 with index 42 if trigger pin 16 is
inserted through the passage of boss 70 until ball 18 is in position
to be engaged by latch 78 and if the assembly is inverted so that
body 94 moves by gravity from a position engaging trigger arm 80
to a position at the other end of chamber 68 where it will be held
by magnet 100 once the assembly is restored to normal position.
Note that the use of magnets 94 100 achieves control of buoy attachment
without breaking the water tight integrity of the interior of buoy
10 (outside of chamber 68). That is an objective of my invention.
I have not recited or detailed all aspects of sealing the interior
of buoy 10 but such details will be obvious.
MOTOR AND CLOCK ASSEMBLY
An electric motor 102 has an output shaft 104 secured to magnet
100 whereby magnet 100 is pivoted in its unlatching, resetting,
etc., functions as motor 102 is energized. As economy is especially
important in a buoy for a lobster trap, I prefer to use an off-the-shelf
low-priced motor 102 operable on 6 volts from a battery pack 106
which can include eight "D" cell batteries packed in buoy
case section 32 around chamber 68. Also in the interest of economy,
clock or timer 110 can be a low-priced off-the-shelf battery-operated
clock, powered from a 1.5 volt source, not shown.
It will be understood that as motor 102 is powered in a forward
direction, magnet 100 pivots. A saw tooth gear 112 is interposed
between motor 102 and a gear 114 engaging a gear on the set-time
staff 116 of clock 110. When motor 102 runs in a normal forward
direction, saw tooth gear 112 disengages connection to set-time
staff 116 but when motor 102 runs in a reverse direction, saw tooth
gear 112 transmits power from motor 102 to the set-time staff 116
and the clock or timer 102 resets rotating dial 38 and pointer 113
on stationary dial 36. This means that motor 102 in a forward direction
rotates only magnet 100 but motor 102 in a reverse direction resets
timer dial 38 and resets pointer 113 above dial 36. As motor 102
in a reverse direction also rotates magnet 100 in settng up the
apparatus for operation, first motor 102 is used in a reverse direction
to set dial 38 and pointer 113 and then, second, motor 102 is used
in a forward direction to rotate magnet 100 to a zero position with
pointer 40 aligned with index 42. If a second saw-tooth gear connection,
reversed from that of gear 112 were used between motor 102 and
magnet 100 then in one direction motor 102 would only set the timer
and in the other direction would only pivot magnet 100.
ELECTRICAL CIRCUITRY
One objective of my invention is to preserve the water tight integrity
of the inside of the buoy (outside of chamber 68) by not having
to penetrate the buoy case for most operations, such as resetting
timers. My electrical circuitry provides, therefore, for operating
internal electrical circuitry from outside of the buoy case by the
use of a hand-held permanent magnet (or electromagnet) 34 (see FIG.
4) and by the use of certain magnetic reed switches internally of
the buoy, i.e., when magnet 34 is held in proximity to the location
of a magnetic reed switch inside the case of buoy 10 that switch
will close.
A relay 120 is provided. Its only function is to reverse motor
102 by shifting the voltage polarity to the motor, when it is desired
to run motor 102 in the reverse direction in setting timer 110.
The closing of the motor-reversing magnetic reed swtich 122 operates
relay 120.
Lower timer dial 38 will rotate twice in a day. Reduction gearing
124 reduces the two revolutions daily of the clock to eight days
for pointer 113 reading on the face of upper timer dial 36. Clock
110 can provide three functions: (a) turn on a receiver twice a
day, (b) trigger the buoy 10 at a preset time and (c) turn on a
flashing light at a selected time.
If desired, the buoy 10 can be released acoustically as well as
by preset time. In that case a source of an acoustical signal can
be used to transmit a signal (received by receiving hydrophone 126
which inputs to receiver 128) to initiate release of buoy 10. Hydrophone
126 should be of fairly flat response to cover a wide range of frequencies
so that the receiver oscillator may be tuned to a selected frequency
in order that a submerged buoy 10 will only be triggered to surface
in the event the right signal is broadcast.
A low voltage circuit cartridge 130 connects across power pack
106 should the voltage drop sufficiently, i.e., for example, from
six volts to four volts. In that case, the circuit past cartridge
130 energizes motor 102 to ground through relay 120 and motor 102
rotates magnet 100 to release buoy 110. A voltage meter 32 can be
read through transparent case section 30 when activated by a magnetic
reed switch 134 operated by external magnet 34.
Set trigger switch 135 motor-on switch 136 (operated by a magnet
138 on pointer 113 above upper dial 36), leak detector switch 140
(having a float 142), and a clock failure switch 144 are all wired
in parallel with each other to ground. The closure of any of these
switches will energize motor 102 by completing the circuit to ground,
in most cases resulting in rotation of magnet 100 to surface the
buoy. Set trigger switch 135 is a magnetic reed switch operated
by hand-held magnet 34. Leak detector switch 140 surfaces the buoy
110 in case of leakage, before parts become inoperative and trap
and buoy are lost at the bottom of the sea. The clock failure switch
144 likewise surfaces the buoy in case of malfunction.
Power on-off switch 146 is in series with switches, 136 140 and
144 and is normally held closed by a magnet 148 on housing 14. After
buoy 10 is released, magnet 148 no longer operates on switches 146
and motor 102 ceases to function as there no longer is a path of
current to ground.
A receiver-on magnetic reed switch 150 is mounted next to the twelve-hour
dial 38 in position to be operated upon by a magnet 152 on dial
38. Receiver-on switch 150 is shown to be in series with a power
on-off switch 154 and with receiver 128 for simplicity of understanding.
(Power on-off switch 154 like power on-off switch 146 is closed
by magnet 148 on housing 14 when buoy 10 is in place in housing
14). As the twelve-hour dial 38 rotates, magnet 152 closes switch
150 for a period like an hour each time magnet 152 closes switch
150. The purpose is for the receiver to be on for one hour once
every twelve hours thus conserving energy of power pack 106. By
observing dial 38 before placing buoy 10 in the water, the user
will be aware what hours the receiver will be on to receive signals.
A flashing light reed switch 156 is mounted adjacent to motor-on
switch 136 and is acted upon by the same magnet 138 on the eight
day dial 36. Switch 156 is in series with a magnetic on-off switch
158 a flashing light 160 and a separate 18-volt power pack 162.
A separate power pack is required as the energy used by the flashing
light will exhaust its power pack in about nine hours, requiring
that batteries be changed frequently, whereas the power pack for
motor, clock and receiver should last about a year. The purpose
of flashing light 160 if used, of course is to make a floating
buoy more visible especially at night.
Should the user desire to use NICAD batteries, magnetic reed switches
164 166 are connected across the six-volt power pack 106 for recharging.
Mounted through the case of buoy 10 are two brass terminals 168
170 to connect with the charging source. Of course switches 164
166 are operated by hand held magnet 34 at the time of recharging.
As will be understood by those working in the art, some of the
above-described circuits and features obviously are optional systems,
used to conserve power, to avoid loss of buoy and trap in case of
loss of power or malfunctioning of certain other systems, to avoid
need to open up the buoy case for certain operations or functions,
to provide for optional acoustical operation, to facilitate use
of an exonomical clock and motor, etc.
The lower part of buoy case 38 is filled with a cement ballast
180 except for room for leak detector switch 140 so that buoy
10 will float upright.
The construction and operation of my invention will be comprehended
from the foregoing description.
Having thus described my invention, I do not wish to be understood
as limiting myself for the exact construction shown and described.
Instead, I wish to cover those modifications of my invention that
will occur to those skilled in the art upon learning of my invention
and which are within the proper scope thereof. |