Improvements in Apparatus for Laying Off the Course of a Vessel at Sea and for other like purposes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Sept., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 2nd June, 1893-Accepted, 22nd July, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Laying Off the Course of a Vessel at
Sea and for other like purposes.
I, AUGUSTUS HÜTTEROTH of 68 Market Street, Hoylake, in the County of
Chester, Ship's Officer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
In ascertaining the course of a vessel at sea, the usual practice is to obtain the
angle made with the meridian by a straight line on the chart drawn to connect
the ship's position with the place bound to. This angle has, hitherto, generally,
been ascertained by using an ordinary parallel ruler in conjunction with a semi-
circular protractor.
Now this invention has for its object an apparatus for laying off the course of a
vessel at sea, which combines in one a parallel ruler and protractor, and is found in
every way to be superior to the old system.
The plan I prefer is to provide a protractor, preferably circular, which is pivoted
at its centre to a straight edge or ruler of suitable length: This straight edge is
mounted upon the face of a bar to which, by means of nuts, it (and the protractor
pivoted thereto), can be clamped in any desired position. The protractor is
provided with cross wires or hairs crossing each other at right angles. The ends of
the bar may have legs or blocks to enable it and the protractor to lie perfectly flat
on the chart.
The mode of using the invention is as follows :-
The chart being laid upon the table, the apparatus is so adjusted that the
straight edge lies over the course which it is wished to steer. The straight edge,
with the protractor which is pivoted thereto, is now slid along the bottom bar (with
which it is always in contact) till the centre formed by the cross wires comes over
any meridian line (or parallel) on the chart. The protractor can then be rotated
until one of the wires coincides or registers with the same meridian line (or parallel)
or true north and south or cast and west. The course can then be read off on the
circumference of the protractor and if desired on both sides thereof, so as to
eliminate any possibility of error in centering the instrument.
The foregoing is the plan I at present propose for making and using the
instrument, but it is evident various slight alterations can be made without
departing from the nature of the invention."
The instrument is also applicable for laying off cross bearings.
'הגיד
1
1
1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Laying Off the Course of a Vessel at
Sea and for other like purposes.
I, AUGUSTUS HÜTTEROTH of 68 Market Street, Hoylake, in the County of
Chester, Ship's Officer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
In ascertaining the course of a vessel at sea, the usual practice is to obtain the
angle made with the meridian by a straight line on the chart drawn to connect the
ship's position with the place bound to. This angle has hitherto generally been

page_text: ascertained by using an ordinary parallel ruler in conjunction with a semi-circular
protractor.
Now this invention has for its object an apparatus for laying off the course of a
vessel at sea, which combines in one a parallel ruler and protractor, and is found in
every way to be superior to the old system.
The invention is best described by the accompanying drawings, in which-
Figure 1 is a plan of the apparatus;
Figure 2 a chart and apparatus showing use of same;
Figures 3 and 4 cross-sectional details.
I form a protractor, A, preferably circular, which is pivoted at its centre to a
straight edge or ruler B of suitable length. This straight edge is mounted upon the
face of a bar C to which, by means of a set screw D, it (and the protractor pivoted
thereto) can be clamped in any desired position. The protractor is provided with
cross wires E E or hairs crossing each other at right angles. The ends of the bar
may have legs or blocks G preferably covered with leather or rubber to enable the
protractor to be raised clear of the chart. H is a nut upon the hollow screw I,
which latter is formed in one with the protractor and holds the latter in position on
straight edge B.
The mode of using the invention is as follows:-
:―
The chart being laid upon the table, the apparatus is so adjusted that the
straight edge lies over the course which it is wished to steer. In the drawings, this
course is to New York, the ship being at J., The straight edge, with the protractor
which is pivoted thereto, is now slid along the bottom bar (with which it is always
in contact) till the centre formed by the cross wires comes over any meridian line
(or parallel) on the chart. The protractor can then be rotated until one of the
wires coincides or registers with the same meridian line (or parallel) or true north
and south or east and west. The course can then be read off on the circumference
of the protractor and if desired on both sides thereof, so as to eliminate any
possibility of error in centering the instrument.
The instrument is also applicable for laying off cross bearings and for railway
curves and lines on ruled paper.
It will be obvious that this invention can be varied in many ways, thus the bar C
can be dispensed with if necessary, but the adjustment will be less convenient; the
protractor can have a clamping device, clamping it to the straight edge, but this is
of little use, and the method of attachment of the protractor to the straight edge can
be varied in several ways and yet the protractor be free to turn on its axis.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination, in an apparatus for laying off a course or for plotting a line,
of a straight edge, a protractor capable of rotation on a centre in or immediately in
front of that line and having cross wires or their equivalent, substantially as
described.
2. In combination with such an apparatus as described in Claim 1, a bar such
as C sliding on the straight edge parallel with the same, substantially as described.
3. The manufacture and use of apparatus taken as a whole substantially as
described and illustrated and for the purposes described.
Dated this 1st day of June 1893
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, and London, Patent Agents.