CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' TACKLE
Year: 1824

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SHELTON BURNETT, of New London Street, in the City of London, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the fifth year of His
reign, did for Himself, His heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Shelton Burnett, His especial licence that I, the said William
Shelton Burnett, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Shelton Burnett, my exors, admňors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' TACKLE;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William
Shelton Burnett, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, parti-
cularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in
His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
annear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Shelton Burnett, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
to consist in a compensating apparatus to be used in various parts of the
tackle of ships and other vessels, for the purpose of relieving the strain that
is occasionally given to it, and of increasing its tension when the strain is
removed. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said William
Shelton Burnett, do hereby describe the manner in which I perform my said
Invention by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing annexed, and the figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a representation of my said Invention when taken out of the
outer case in which I enclose it for use. A, B, are two circular plates, united
by the rods C, D, E, which are secured in their places by the screw nuts r.
the plate B has the ring R fixed to it for the purpose of attaching the tackle,
to which my said Invention is to be applied. S is a rod passing freely through
the plate A, with a screw nut T at one end. This rod S passes through the
centre of P, which is a spiral spring acting between the two plates A and B,
and at the end V of the rod S is an eye or ring for the same purpose as the
ring R, before described. W is a moveable plate acting against the spiral
spring, and moves up and down with the said spring. The Figure now under
description represents the spring when drawn together, or compressed by the
drawing out of the rod S, which rod, on being released, will, of course, be
drawn back again by the reaction of the spring, and will then appear as in
Figure 2, which represents my said Invention with the spring in a passive state.
It should here be observed, that the same letters are used to denote the
same parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 3 is a Plan of the end A of the Invention, and Fig. 4 is a repre-
sentation of my said Invention inclosed in a copper case, in which form I
propose to use my said Invention. And in order to apply my said Invention
for the purposes of improvements in ships' tackle, I fasten the cable, shrouds,
stays, or whatever part of the tackle I mean should benefit by the said
improvements, to one end of my said apparatus by one of the rings or
eyes R, V, and fix the other end by the other eye or ring to some fixed point,
such as the chain plates, bitts, stern post, knight heads, and any other part
adapted for the purpose. Now it will be obvious, that if one or more of these
apparatus be fixed to the bitts or ring bolts on the deck of a vessel by' the
ring R, and the cable to be led from the windlass aft and passed into a block
or roller attached to the ring V, every time the vessel surges with sufficient

page_text: force to overcome the resistance of the spring the rod S will be drawn out,
and thus the strain on the cable will be relieved, while when the vessel comes
up again, as it is called, the rod will return to its place ready to be acted upon
again in a similar way.
Now it is obvious, that various metals and sizes may be used in
the manufacture of my said Invention, according to the strength required
for the different applications of my said Invention, which may be used
with effect in various parts of ships' tackle; but an apparatus such as herein-
before described for the purpose of relieving the strain that is occasionally
given to the tackle of ships, and of increasing its tension when the strain is
removed, being, to the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never
before used in that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, His said Majesty's Dominion of Wales,
or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor in any of His said Majesty's Colonies
or Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of
the same, and I do verily believe this my said Specification doth comply in
all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in my said
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby
claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Shelton Burnett, hath hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
WILLIAM SHELTON (Ls.) BURNETT.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of May, in
5 the year of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid William Shelton Burnett came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five..