IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING SHIPS' BOATS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wright, of Upnor, near Rochester, in the
County of Kent, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING SHIPS' BOATS."
Sealed the 17th October 1856, and dated the 6th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wright at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th May
1856.
I, JOHN WRIGHT, of Upnor, near Rochester, in the County of Kent, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING SHIPS' BOATS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for lowering
ships' boats. For which purpose, a boat when out of the water is held in a
suitable frame below, and such frame is connected with a ship or vessel by
arms, which are hinged or pin-jointed at their lower ends to the ship or vessel.
The arms are upheld and the boat retained in the frame by suitable tackle
and apparatus. When the boat is to be lowered, the arms are released and
lowered by the tackle till the frame has descended sufficiently below the
surface of the water, so as to leave the boat floating on the water, free from
the frame, and from the ship or vessel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th November 1856..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WRIGHT, of Upnor, near Rochester, in the County of Kent, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Wright, Her special licence that I, the said John Wright, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Wright, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR LOWERING SHIPS' BOATS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Wright, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Wright, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object an improved arrangement of apparatus for
lowering ships boats, of which the following is a description:-The boat is
secured by having a chain passed round it on each side just below the gunwale,
and this chain is made fast at each end of the boat to the davits. Other
chains are attached to the first chain in two or more places, these pass under
the boat, coming up on each side, and the whole forms a kind of frame or
cradle, in which the boat hangs securely. The davits (which should be wider
apart than the length of the boat that it may swing clear between them) are
attached to the side of the vessel by joints, at the lower end of each, at short
distances above the average load water line, to allow the davits to be lowered

page_text: outwards from the side, so that the ends to which the chain, slings, or frame,
above named, are attached may descend below the surface of the water, their
descent being regulated by a chain or rope fastened to them, and rove through
sheaves or blocks on the bulwarks of the vessel, and then wound in contrary
directions round a revolving barrel or drum, in such manner that the davits
may be lowered or raised simultaneously. On to the axis of this barrel or
drum is fixed a wheel of much larger diameter than the drum, and so formed
that round it a rope may be wound, so that when the davits are being lowered
the rope winds on to this larger wheel, and, according to the speed at which
it is suffered to run out, it regulates or stops the descent of the davits, or if
hauled upon it hoists them up. As the davits descend they carry with them
the boat resting in the frame or slings, as before described, and project it
beyond the side of the vessel, and as the davits continue to descend below the
surface of the water the boat floats clear of them and of the frame or slings.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view of part of a ship with apparatus for lowering a boat
attached; Figure 2 is a section of the side of the ship with the same apparatus
attached. a, a, is the side of the ship; b, b, are the davits, which are jointed
thereto at the points b', 6'; c is the boat, which is held by the chain d passing
round it under the gunwale, and this chain is made fast to the davits at the
two ends of the boat, as is shown by the Drawing; e, e, e, are other chains,
connected to the chain d, so as to form a frame in which the boat lays;
ff, are chains, connected at one end to the davits b, b, and passing through
blocks g, g, attached to the bulwarks of the ship to the barrels h, h, on which
they wind in contrary directions; and I would remark, that the barrel on which
the chain from the stern davit is wound should be of somewhat larger diameter
than the other barrel, so that the stern of the boat may first enter the water.
On the same axis as the barrels h, h, is a wheel i on which the cord k winds;
this cord is made fast at the point 7 until it is desired to lower the boat, and
then by gradually letting it run out the boat falls by its own weight until it
enters the water, and then the davits and frame sink clear of it. For raising
the boat out of the water, the davits are first hoisted by the wheel to a con-
venient height, and the ordinary tackle is used to raise the boat to them,
afterwards the frame or sling of chains is put on and the raising tackle is
removed.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact details described; but what I claim is, the arrangement of the
frame or cradle and the davits, so that they will sink away from and leave
the boat floating on the surface of the water, in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wright, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness;
S. CARPMAEL.
JOHN WRIGHT. (L.S.)