IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SECURING OR FIXING STANDING RIGGING AND CHAINS AND OTHER TACKLE
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
JOHN GREER, of Woolwich, in the County of Kent, Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the First day of July, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
John Greer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said James John Greer, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said James John Greer, my exors, adñiors, 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, my
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SECURING OR FIXING STANDING
RIGGING AND CHAINS AND OTHER TACKLE;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said James John Greer, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
66
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James John Greer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to

page_text: the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for Securing or Fixing
Standing Rigging, Chains, and other Tackle, consists,-
--
First, in working a double screw, that is, a right and left handed screw, from
a central axis into two separate boxes or cases, either by a lever commonly
called a tommy, or by a spanner, which double screw so connected I shall
term the screw lanyard.
Secondly, of a hook with a joint or hinge near the centre of the straining
point or curve (two modes of making which I represent in the accompanying
Drawing), for connecting the said double screw or screw lanyard to the
standing rigging, &c., and which hook I also propose to use separately from
and independent of the double screw or screw lanyard for securing other tackle.
But in order that my Invention may be more clearly understood, I will
proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 represents the double screw or screw lanyard with the screw
enclosed, shewing the hook for attaching it to the standing rigging, and the
shackle for connecting it with the gate board or other convenient part of the
vessel, as also the running or tightening nut to be used at pleasure.
Figure 2 represents the same with the screw partly out, and connected to
the shroud by the hook, with the mode of securing it by a mousing a, the
central axis of the screw drilled to receive the lever or tommy; b, b, the screw
cut with a right and left handed worm; c, c, the upper and lower boxes or
cases bored and tapped to receive the screw; d, d, the running or tightening
nut; e, the shackle which connects the screw box with the gate board or other
convenient part of the vessel; f, the bolt connecting the shackle to the screw
box; g, the pin securing the bolt of the shackle; h, the hook connecting the
upper screw box to the shoe or thimble at the end of the shroud; i, the rivet
connecting the parts of the hook forming the joint; k, the bolt connecting the
hook to the screw box and secured in similar manner to the shackle; l, the
mousing which secures the hook when in use; the dotted lines denote the
appearance of the hook after the mousing has been cut; m, the shoe secured by
rivets to the shroud, &c., which may be made as shown in the Figure or with
a swivel; n, the shroud or other rigging to which the screw lanyard is
applied.
Figure 3 is the same as Figure 1, with an external casing of leather. In
this Figure the boxes are to be made plain, without the mouldings marked a, a,
in Figure 1; and in this case the running or tightening nuts are dispensed
with. It is necessary that the inside of the leather casing should be well

page_text: lubricated with a composition of tallow and oil, to admit of the casing working
freely over the boxes. The object of the leather casing or covering is to
prevent the weather, or salt or other water, affecting the screw. The leather
casing is to be secured to the centre of the screw marked a in Figure 2, by
rivets, or binding of string or thread, as shewn in Figure 3, the casing having
been sewn together so as to form a seam marked a, a, Figure 3. When the
screw is worked by the lever or spanner, the leather casing works with the
screw and over the boxes.
Figure 4 is a section of another form of the screw lanyard. Instead of
attaching a short shackle to the end of the box, I connect the shackle to the
lower portion of the box, or that portion nearest the centre of the screw,
by passing two gudgeons through it to be secured by pins. a is the central
axis of the screw with the opening the receive the lever or tommy; b, b, is the
right and left screw; c, c, is the upper and lower boxes bored and tapped to
receive the screw; d, d, the gudgeons connecting the shackle to the boxes;
e, e, the shackles attached to each box, allowing of free motion to the boxes
in rough weather, which are to be connected to the vessel and to the shrouds,
similar to the representation in Figure 2. The parts of the boxes marked f, f,
are bored only. The spaces between ƒ and g exhibit the extent to which it
is necessary to tap the boxes for receiving the screw, which in length should be
about twice the diameter of the screw.
Figure 5 shews the double screw, or right and left handed screw, removed
from the box. It will be seen that the central axis, as I term it, marked a, is
of a cylindrical form and drilled to receive the lever or tommy; but when the
spanner is preferred, it must be made of an hexagonal form, or such other
forms as may suit the spanner.
Figures 6 and 7 are representations of another form of hook, or of some-
what varied construction, applicable to the same purposes. Figure 6 shews
the hook when closed, and Figure 7 the same hook when open, similar to the
dotted figure in Figure 2, both of which forms I claim the privilege of
employing.
Figure 8 shews the lever or tommy; and Figure 9 shews the spanner
herein referred to.
I will now more particularly describe the use of my Invention. The screw
lanyard, as exhibited, Figure 2, I consider far preferable to the present modes
of securing the standing rigging, inasmuch as the rigging can be tightened or
slackened at any time or in any weather without impeding the vessel's course.
I consider it will be much more durable, and for ships of war save consi-
derable space, and thus give greater range to those guns which may be in the

page_text: proximity of the rigging or shrouds; and, from its cylindrical form, a shot strik-
ing it would be likely to glide off, thus preserving the shrouds; whereas with
the dead-eye and hempen or rope lanyard, the lanyard would be cut by the
shot, and the shroud be set at liberty, to the great inconvenience of those
working the guns, as well as danger to the ship; and in its application to
chains and other tackle, the purchase obtained is secured, and without danger
of slipping. The hook, as exhibited in Figures 2, 6, and 7, being connected to
the shrouds and the screw lanyard, and secured by a moulding, as seen in
Figure 2, in case of a sudden storm, where it is necessary to cut away the
masts or disengage the rigging as quickly as possible, by simply placing a man
supplied with a knife to each shroud, and taking the precaution of cutting the
lee rigging first, the mousing may be cut, and the masts with their appendages
carried over the side and released from the vessel in a moment of time. This
hook is equally applicable for securing other tackle and chains, as the sling of
yards, the chain bobstay of the bowsprit, for securing the mainsail sheet in
smacks and other vessels, &c., &c., for all of which purposes I claim the
privilege of using it.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the mode of carrying
it out, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise
details so long as the principle of my Invention be retained, I am aware that
double or right and left handed screws have been heretofore used in various
ways, but not worked in separate boxes bored and tapped to receive them,
and therefore I claim my improvements only, which are as follows:-
First, I claim the mode of working the double screw or screw lanyard from
a central axis into two separate boxes or cases, the boxes being bored out and
tapped to receive the screw, as herein-before described. And I claim the
privilege of making the same in any known metal; and I claim the exclusive
right and privilege of applying the same to standing rigging, chains, and other
tackle.
Secondly, I claim the exclusive manufacture of the hook or hooks with a
joint or hinge, such being my Invention, as herein-before described, with the
exclusive right and privilege of attaching such hook or hooks to standing
rigging and chains and other tackle (whether by land or by sea), either
separately from or in conjunction with the screw lanyard, as herein-before
described, &c., &c.
In witness whereof, I, the said James John Greer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
(L.S.) JAMES JOHN GREER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid James John Greer came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her 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.
Enrolled the Thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three