IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TACKLE FOR AND IN THE MANNER OF LETTING DOWN PROVISIONAL AND WEIGHING ANCHORS ON SHIPBOARD
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Robert Augustus Glover, of Brading, in
the Isle of Wight, Master of Arts, Cambridge, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TACKLE FOR AND IN THE MANNER OF LETTING DOWN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Robert Augustus
Glover at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th March. 1867.
I, FREDERICK ROBERT AUGUSTUS GLOVER, of Brading, in the Isle of Wight,
Master of Arts, Cambridge, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TACKLE FOR AND IN THE MANNER OF LETTING
DOWN AND WEIGHING ANCHORS ON SHIPBOARD," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the tackle for and in the manner of
letting down and weighing anchors on shipboard is intended to effect a
two-fold object, viz., first, to facilitate the letting down of a ship's anchor, and
to do so in such a manner that the point of the palm may fall downwards on
the bottom, so that it may be in a proper position to enter the ground and
hold securely. The Invention has also for its object to adapt the tackle or
chain cable to the anchor in such a manner that the anchor may, if required,

page_text: be drawn backwards in order to withdraw the palm or fluke from a position
in which it cannot be weighed in the ordinary manner.
In order to effect the first object the anchor is suspended by one of the
palms by means of a chain provided with a shoe or cradle in which the palm
lies until the other palm with its point downwards touches the ground, and
thus, by slackening the chain, allows the cradle or shoe to fall away from the
upper palm and release the anchor from the suspending chain; this suspending
chain may either be distinct from the anchor cable or it may be connected
therewith, or a ring which forms part of the cable may be employed to receive
the point of the palm so as to suspend the anchor in the proper position. It
is not proposed to alter the construction of the anchor, but to adapt this
improvement to anchors of the ordinary construction. The suspending chain
need only be strong enough to hold up the anchor, and is not required to
secure the ship, this latter duty exclusively devolving on the anchor cable as
heretofore. Supposing the anchor to be lying at its place on board the sus-
pending chain will be used to handle, let fall, or lower the anchor, or bring it
into a proper position under the bows to let it fall. Now supposing the anchor
to have been brought into this position by means of the suspending chain with
the point of one of the palms downwards, the holding or anchor cable must be
run out until there is enough cable out to reach to the bottom, the anchor
being all the while kept suspended by the suspending chain, the outer end of
which is connected to the anchor cable by a loose shackle. When it is
required to let fall the anchor a pin that closes the shackle is to be withdrawn
by means of a cord, and the suspending chain will be detached from the
holding-on chain and the anchor will fall to the bottom with the point of one
of the palms downwards, and therefore in a proper position to strike into and
enter the ground.
If in addition to this mode of handling and letting fall the anchor it be
desired to possess the facility of drawing back the palin in case it should get
fixed in a hole or crevice in a rocky bottom, then instead of connecting the
holding-on cable in the ordinary manner to a ring at the upper end of the
shank above the stock I connect it to a ring which is capable of sliding or
inoving up and down the shank, so that when required it may be drawn back
to the arms or flukes and thus admit of power being applied to the lower
instead of the upper end of the anchor. In order to transfer the ring from
one end to the other of the shank I make use of an additional chain or cable
which is passed through the ring so that the latter may be moved thereby
along the shank. It will now be understood that if the ring of the anchor
cable be drawn down to the crown of the anchor and the ship swung round

page_text: the anchor may be drawn backwards, and thus the palms can be drawn out
of any cleft or rocky hole into which they may have become accidentally
inserted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Robert Augustus Glover in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
ROBERT AUGUSTUS GLOVER, of Brading, in the Isle of Wight, Master of Arts,
Cambridge, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Frederick Robert Augustus Glover, Her special licence that I, the said
Frederick Robert Augustus Glover, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as 1, the said Frederick Robert Augustus Glover, 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 THE TACKLE FOR AND IN THE
MANNER OF LETTING DOWN AND WEIGHING ANCHORS ON SHIPBOARD,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Robert Augustus Glover,
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 Frederick Robert Augustus Glover, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what inanner 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):
My Invention of "Improvements in the Tackle for and in the Manner of
Letting Down and Weighing Anchors on Shipboard" is intended to effect a two-

page_text: fold object, viz., first, to facilitate the letting down of a ship's anchor, and to
do so in such a manner that the point of the palm may fall downwards at the
bottom of the sea, so that it may be in a proper position to enter the ground
and hold securely.
The Invention has also for its object to adapt the tackle or chain cable to
the anchor in such a manner that the anchor may if required be drawn
upwards in order to withdraw the palm or fluke from a position in which it
cannot be weighed in the ordinary manner.
In order to effect the first object the anchor is suspended by one of the
palms so that the arms will hang in a vertical plane. The anchor is suspended
in this manner by means of a short chain or chains attached to the main
cable and provided with hooks, shoes, or a cradle in which the palm lies or is
confined until the other palm with its point downwards touches the ground,
and then by the slackening of the chain or cable the cradle, hooks, or shoes
is or are allowed to fall away from the upper palm, and release the anchor from
the suspending chain or chains. The short suspending chain or chains may
either be distinct from the anchor cable, or it may be connected therewith, or
a ring which forms part of the cable may be employed to receive the point of
the palm so as to suspend the auchor in the proper position. It is not proposed
to alter the construction of the anchor, but to adapt this improvement to
anchors of the ordinary construction.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents an ordinary Admiralty
anchor suspended according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of
one of the arms, shewing the books whereby the arm is held in a vertical
plane.
a is the anchor cable; b, the short suspending chain which is connected by
one end to the cable, as shewn, and is provided at the other end with the hooks
c, c; another suspending chain 6' extends from the anchor cable a to the cat
head or some place on board the ship. The suspending chain 6 which
supports the anchor in the position ready to be let fall need only be strong
enough to hold up, that is to sustain, the weight of the anchor until it is let
fall and is not required to secure the ship, this latter duty exclusively devolving
on the strong anchor cable a as heretofore; supposing the anchor to be lying
at its place on board, the suspensing chain or chains 6' will be used to handle,
let fall, or lower the anchor, or bring it into a proper position under the bows
ready to let it fall. Now supposing the anchor to have been brought into this
position by means of the suspending chain 6 with the point of one of the
palms downwards, as shewn in Fig. 1, the holding or anchor cable a must be
run out until there is enough cable out to reach to the bottom, the anchor

page_text: being all the while kept suspended by the suspending chain 6' in the proper
position, the outer end of which is connected to the anchor cable by a loose
shackle swung as shewn in the Drawing. When it is required to let fall the
anchor a pin d that closes the ends of the hooks or shoes c, c, in which the
palm lies is to be withdrawn by means of a cord or chain d' the suspending
chain will be detached from the holding-on chain. When the anchor is let.go
it will fall to the bottom with the point of one of the palms downwards, and
therefore in a proper position to strike into and enter the ground, as shewn at
Fig. 1. Upon slackening the cable a the shoes or hooks c, c, will drop off the
palm of the anchor, leaving the cable a free to haul on so as to cause the down-
ward palin of the anchor to enter the ground, as will be well understood.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation and Fig. 4 a plan view of a molification of the
suspending chains and hooks or shoes for holding up the palm; in this instance
instead of hooks I have a pair of links which may be temporarily held in place
by the pins d, d, as in the former case. Upon removing these pins and
slackening the cable when the anchor has reached the bottom the links will
fall off sideways and release the palm as in the former case.
If in addition to this mode of handling and letting fall the anchor it be
desired to possess the facility of drawing back the palm in case it should get
fixed in a hole or crevice in a rocky bottom, as is sometimes the case, then
instead of connecting the holling on cable a in the ordinary manner to a ring
or shackle at the upper end of the shank above the stock, as in Fig. 1, I
connect it to a ring e, Fig. 5, which is capable of sliding or moving up and
down the shark, so that when required it may be drawn back to the arms or
crown of the anchor, and thus admit of power being applied to the lower
instead of the upper end, or, in other words, to either end of the anchor. In
order to transfer the ring from one end to the other of the shank 1 make use
of an additional chain or cable f.f, which is connected to the ring e, so that
the latter may be moved thereby along the shank in either direction. It will
now be understood that if the ring e of the anchor cable be drawn down to
the crown of the anchor and the ship swung round the anchor may be drawn
backwards, and thus the palms can be drawn ont of any cleft or rocky hole
into which they may have become accidentally inserted, and the auchor may be
drawn up to the surface arms upwards, as shewn at Fig. 6.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Tackle for
and in the Manner of Letting Down and Weighing Anchors on Shipboard," and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,--
First, suspending anchors by one of the palms by detachable devices in such

page_text: a manner that the arms are suspended in a vertical plane, so that when the
anchor is let fall the point of the lowermost palm may strike the ground and
enter the same, as herein set forth; these are styled by me the anchor falls
simple.
Second, I claim therewith connecting the hauling cable of anchors to the
shank by means of a sliding ring so that the power of the hauling chain
may be transferred to either end of the shank, as herein set forth, as the
anchor falls compound.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Robert Augustus Glover, bave
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
FRED, K. A. GLOVER. (L.S.)