IMPROVEMENTS IN ROWLOCKS FOR BOATS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edmund Edwards at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th December 1883. A communi-
cation to him from abroad by Louis Marie Gautier the younger, of St. Malo,
in the Republic of France.
EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co:-Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROWLOCKS FOR BOATS [a communication to
him from abroad by Louis Marie Gautier the younger, of St. Malo, in the Republic
of France.]
This invention relates to rowlocks or supports for the oars or skulls used in
boats of any kind, and it has for its object a novel method of constructing such
rowlocks so that they can be instantly fixed upon or removed from the gunwale
of the boat without any holes or other preparation. The novel apparatus consists
of an upper part which receives and carries the oar or scull, and of a lower part in
which the upper one is pivotted and which is fixed on the gunwale of the boat by
the lateral pressure of a screw the inner end of which actuates a small moveable
plate smooth or roughened, by which the rowlock is fixed firmly in its desired
position. The upper part which is made of iron or other suitable material and of
any required size is provided with a fork in which the oar or scull is supported
and has at its lower part a vertical pivot turning in a corresponding hole or
bearing in the lower part of the apparatus.
This lower part consists of two parallel cheeks connected above by a plate which
carries the bearing described and of such a width apart that the gunwale of the
boat will fit freely between them.
One of the cheeks is provided with a boss which forms a nut for a horizontal
square or angular threaded screw the outer end of which has a head pierced with
one or more transverse holes by which it can be screwed or unscrewed. The inner
end of the screw is fitted and turnes in a small plate arranged between the cheeks,
its upper edge fitting against and being guided by the plate which connects the
latter so that it cannot turn round when it is forced in or out by the screw.
The moveable plate may be attached to the screw by rivetting the end of the
latter into a countersunk recess a slightly projecting boss being formed at the back
of the plate in order to strengthen it. Or the plate itself may be made sufficiently
thick for the purpose.

page_text: The lower end of the pivot upon the fork first described fits and turns in the
bearing, in which it is retained by rivetting its end either with or without the
intervention of a washer fitting into a recess in the bearing.
The apparatus as described can be instantly fixed in any desired position on the
gunwale of the boat. For this purpose the moveable plate being brought back
against the cheek by unscrewing the screw, the apparatus is placed over the
gunwale of the boat and the screw is then screwed up by means of a bar either
loose, or preferably permanently left in the hole in the head of the screw.
moveable plate is thus forced against the side of the boat and the entire apparatus
is held firmly and with any desired pressure.
The
The surface of the moveable plate and of the opposite cheek between which the
edge of the boat is held may be smooth or preferably grooved or roughened in
order to give a firmer hold.
The vertical pivot may be arranged either in the centre of the apparatus or more
or less near one of the ends or sides.