IMPROVEMENTS IN ANCHORS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wingate, junior, of Whiteinch, in, the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer and Ship Builder, for the
"
Sealed the 28th April 1868, and dated the 5th November 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wingate at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th November 1867.
I, THOMAS WINGATE, junior, of Whiteinch, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineer and Ship Builder, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ANCHORS," to be as follows, that is
to say:
This Invention consists in making an anchor without a stock, but with
three or more movable or jointed arms, whereby various advantages are
obtained. When an even number of arms is adopted, as four for example,
they are made in pairs, each pair being formed in one piece, which is jointed
upon the shank, and one pair of arms is jointed on-the shank in a position at
right angles to the other pair and nearer to the end of the shank. When three
or other odd number of single arms are used they are jointed to the shank or
to lugs or projections thereon, but with their motion suitably limited by stops.
Amongst the advantages of the improved anchor are, its very much
diminished liabillity to fouling, its having very much greater hold than an
ordinary anchor of equal weight, its certainty in taking hold, and the great
ease with which it can be got and stowed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wingate in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WINGATE, junior, of Whiteinch, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer and Ship Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Wingate, junior, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Wingate, junior, my executors, 'administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Wingate, junior, 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 ANCHORS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Wingate, junior, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Thomas Wingate, junior, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the acccompanying
Drawings, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the making of an anchor without a stock, and
I am enabled to dispense with that part by making the anchor with three or
more movable or jointed arms.
In carrying out my Invention in practice I prefer to use four arms which
are made in pairs, each pair being formed in one piece which is jointed upon
the shank.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet of

page_text: explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing an
anchor as constructed with my improvements.
Figures 1 and 2 are elevations at right angles to each other with the arms of
the anchor in their middle positions; and Figure 3 is a perspective view of the
anchor with the arms in positions in which they are when about to take hold.
Two, A, B, of the four arms of this anchor are made in one piece, forming a
bow which is jointed upon the extreme end of the shauk C. The other two
arms D, E, are also made in one piece, forming a bow which is jointed upon
the shank C in a plane at right angles to the other bow or pair of arms A, B,
and at such a distance inwards from the end of the shank so as to be just clear
of the other bow in all positions. With an anchor constructed in this way a
stock is unnecessary, as two of the flukes, namely, one of each pair of arms,
will be in a position to take hold in whatever way the anchor happens to lie
upon the ground. When the anchor is drawn along, the bows A, B, and
D, E, immediately assume the positions shown in Figure 3, the upper arms B
and D bearing against the shank, and the fukes of the lower arms then enter
and take a firm hold of the ground. When the anchor is made with three
or other odd number of single arms they are jointed upon the shank or to lugs
or projections thereon, but with their motion limited by shoulders or stops.
Amongst the advantages of my improved anchor are its very much
diminished liability to fouling from the absence of the stock, its having very
much greater hold than an ordinary anchor of equal weight, its certainty in
taking hold, and. the great ease with which it can be got and stowed.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict myself
to the precise details herein described or delineated; but that what I believe
to be novel and original and claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the making of an anchor
without a stock but with three or more movable or jointed arms, substantially
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wingate, junior, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
Que thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
THOS. WINGATE, JUN. (L.S.)