IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIND- LASSES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIND-
LASSES. A communication from abroad by Joseph P. Manton, of
Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 11th December 1860, and dated the 14th July 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th July 1860.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
WINDLASSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of the driving gear of wind-
lasses, whereby the winding-on drums or heads may be operated so as to
obtain, when requisite, greatly increased power at the expense of speed. The
capstan head is keyed to a vertical shaft, which has a footstep support in a
bearing provided to receive the horizontal shaft which carries the winding-on
heads or drums. On to the extremities of this shaft, outside the framing,
heads are keyed, and within the framing are two heads mounted loosely on the

page_text: horizontal shaft, but secured respectively by keys to plates or flanges attached
to spur wheels, also mounted loosely on this shaft. The spur wheels of the
two heads have different diameters, and into the smaller wheel takes a spur
wheel, and into the larger one a spur pinion mounted on independent axles,
but set in a line with each other. Motion is imparted to this wheel and pinion
through a pair of bevil wheels mounted loosely on these independent axles, and
carrying on their bosses ratchet wheels. Within the spur wheel, and also
within an enlarged hollow boss of the pinion, clicks or ratchets are mounted,
which take into the teeth of their respective ratchet wheels. A bevil wheel on
the vertical shaft gears into and drives the bevil wheels, and as the ratchet
wheels and clicks coupling the spur and bevil gearing respectively have a
reversed action, one or other of the winding-on heads will be rotated at a time,
the other being set in action when a quicker speed or greater power is required,
by reversing the direction of rotation of the vertical shaft. For regulating the
action of the windlass, break straps and levers are provided as usual.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WINDLASSES," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-

page_text: vention, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :—
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to an improvement in that class of windlasses in which the drum may be
operated with two different speeds, increased power being obtained when
necessary by sacrificing speed, and vice versa. The Invention consists in a
peculiar arrangement of pawls and gearing, as herein-after described, whereby
the desired end is attained by a very simple means, rendering the windlass, as
a whole, extremely light, durable and efficacious in its operation.
The Invention is illustrated by the accompanying Drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved windlass, a portion of the parts
being vertically bisected; Figure 2 is a vertical section of ditto, taken in the
line X, X, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a detached view of the interior of the hollow
toothed wheel, which contains one set of pawls; and, Figure 4 is a detached
view of the interior of the hollow hub or box which contains the other set of
pawls. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several
Figures.
A represents a vertical arbor or shaft, on the upper part of which a capstan B
is placed loosely. To the upper end of the arbor or shaft A, a head C is per-
manently attached, the said head being provided with holes a to receive hand
levers D. The lower end of the arbor or shaft A is stepped in a block b, which
is properly supported in any suitable way, and through the block b a shaft E
passes, the shaft being allowed to turn freely in the block. The arbor or
shaft A is perpendicular to the shaft E, and on the latter two toothed wheels
F, G, are permanently secured, the wheel F being smaller than the wheel G.
The shaft E is fitted in suitable bearings in uprights H, H, and to each end
of the shaft E a head I is permanently attached. On the shaft E two heads J, K,
are also placed; these heads J, K, are, however, mounted loosely on the
shaft E, and they are connected to the shaft E, or made to turn with it by
means of keys c, which connect the heads of the wheels F, G, to the heads
adjoining the wheels respectively, as shown in Figure 1. The head J is not
in contact with the wheel F, but t adjoins a flanch or circular plate d con-
nected with the wheel F, and the keys c are inserted in holes or recesses which
'

page_text: are formed radially on the head J at its inner side, and in the outer side of the
flanch or plate d, one half of each hole or recess in each. The head K is in
contact with the wheel G, and the keys which connect the head K with that
wheel pass horizontally through the wheel into the head. The arbor or shaft
A passes loosely through a block L, which forms the inner bearings for two
horizontal shafts M, M', the outer ends of which shafts have their bearings at e, e.
On the shaft M a toothed wheel N is placed loosely, and on the shaft M' a
pinion O, with a hollow cylindrical hub P attached is placed loosely. On the
shafts M, M', bevil wheels Q, Q, are placed; these wheels are permanently
attached to their respective shafts, and gear into a bevil pinion R, on the
vertical arbor or shaft A. Formed on the hub of each wheel Q is a ratchet S.
The wheel Q adjoins the inner side of the hollow hub P, and the other Q¹
adjoins the inner side of the wheel N. The ratchet S of the bevil wheel Q'
projects within the wheel N, which is hollow, and has a series of pawls f fitted
within it. The fulcrum pins of the pawls are severally fitted in a semicircular
bearing g near the inner side of the periphery of the wheel, and each pawl has
a cylindrical shoulder passing through the outer side of the wheel and hub, and
forming the fulcrum for it to work on. The ratchet S of the wheel Q is fitted
within the hub P, which hub is provided with pawls h arranged precisely
similar to those in the wheel N, with the exception that they are placed in a
reverse position, the teeth of the ratchet into which they catch being also in a
reverse position to the other ratchet in the wheel N (see Figure 4).
From the above description it will be seen that if the arbor or shaft A be
turned in the direction indicated by arrow 1, the ratchet S of the wheel Q will
act against the pawl h on the hub P, and the pinion O, which is attached to the
hub, will rotate the shaft E through the medium of a larger toothed wheel G.
And it will also be seen, that if the arbor or shaft A be rotated in a reverse
direction, as indicated by arrow 2, the ratchet of wheel Q will slip over the
pawl h, and the ratchet of Q' will engage with the pawlf in the wheel N, and
the shaft E will be rotated through the medium of the wheels N, F, and owing
to the relative proportions of the wheels N, F, with a greater speed than when
rotated by the gearing O, G. Around one side of the head K a strap T passes;
one end of this strap is connected to a rod a*, the upper end of which is con-
nected to any part of the framing; the opposite end passes underneath a pulley 6*,
and is connected by a rod c* to a lever U, which has its fulcrum at d*; this device
forms a friction brake, and by its application the speed of the chain as the anchor
descends may be regulated as desired. A similar brake is also applied to the
head J. V represents a series of holding pawls which gear into the wheel G.
By having the pawls f and h fitted respectively in the wheel N and the hub P,

page_text: as described, they are firmly secured in position, protected from external injury,
kept free from dust, and effectually prevented from getting out of order.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Windlasses," as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it
to be understood that I do not claim the brakes, for they have been previously
used; and I am also aware that pawls, ratchets and gearing have been used
and arranged in various ways for the purpose of varying the speed and power
of windlass drums by simply reversing the movement, of the driving shaft or
arbor. I therefore do not claim broadly such device irrespective of the within-
described arrangement of parts; but what I claim under the above in part
recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement of the ratchets and pawls within
the hollow wheel N and hub P, together with the bevil and spur gearing, so
as to operate as and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.B.)