IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' ANCHORS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to John Thomas, of Southampton, in the County of
Hants, and Benjamin Nicholson, of Gosport, in said County, for the
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas and
Benjamin Nicholson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 24th December 1874.
WC, JOHN THOMAS, of Southampton, in the County of Hants, and
BENJAMIN NICHOLSON, of Gosport, in said County, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' ANCHORS," to bo
as follows:-
These improvements consist in the following changes in the con-
struction of anchors :-The anchor will be made either solid or portable
in the crown, and when made portable the crown will be connected to
the shank by two strong taper cotter bolts fitted in holes bored conically
through the two parts, the said bolts and cotters being attached to either

page_text: side of the shank by short pieces of chain, as in like manner is a cotter
for the stock. The curvature from the palm or fluke is carried well up
to the crown to prevent the cable from fouling, and the inside surface of
the palm is made convex to obtain better holding power by increasing
the spread or angle of resistance when embedded. The anchor will be
made thin on its edge and broad on its flat to give additional strength
in the way of strain, and when made portable will consist of three loose
parts only, namely, the crown, shank, and stock, the joint bolts, as before
stated, being all fastened to the shank.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thomas and Benjamin Nicholson in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 24th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, John
THOMAS, of Southampton, in the County of Hants, and BENJAMIN
NICHOLSON, of Gosport, in said County, send greeting. '
1
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said John Thomas and Benjamin
Nicholson, Her special licence that we, the said John Thomas and
Benjamin Nicholson, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as wo, the said John Thomas and Benjamin Nicholson, our
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 SHIPS' ANCHORS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, tho said John Thomas and Benjamin Nicholson, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or
one of their bands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the samo was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Thomas and Benjamin
Nicholson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawings by the words, figures, and letters
placed thereon and herein referred to, such Drawings illustrating our
various practical improvements for producing an anchor differing from
any form of anchor now in use, Figure 1 in said Drawings being front
elevation of our improved anchor; Figure 2, side elevation of same;
Figure 3, cross section on line A, B, Fig. 1:-
An anchor constructed according to our said Invention is made either
solid or portable in the crown (as shown in said Figs.), and when made
portable the head A of the shank B is connected to the crown C by two
strong taper cotter bolts or pins D fitted into holes bored conically
through the parts. The advantage of thus connecting is found in the
increased facilitics for disconnecting after service, preventing as it does
the vexatious driving and drifting almost inevitable where the usual
single parallel bolt is used. The palms E are convex faced (sce cross-
section, Fig. 3), and clongated, so that while they prevent the cable from
fouling are also founed to be the best form to ensure the "pca" Fentering
hard ground on impact, and they also yield great holding power. To
completo the anchor the stock G is simply passed through the shacklo
end II of the shank B, and keyed, as shown, against the washer or collar
welded on the reverse side of the shank eye. The anchor is made thin
on its edge and broad on its flat to give additional strength in the way of
strain, and when disconnected is in three main parts, crown C, shank B,
and stock G, and is very light for weight.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed or
carried out in practice, we hereby declare that we claim the Invention of
"Improvements in Ships' Anchors," consisting in the combination or
arrangements herein-before described and illustrated by the accompanying
Drawings, the connection of the crown to the shank by more than one
bolt, stud, or pin being particularly important, it always being understood
that we do not claim, nor do we limit ourselves to the use of the precise

page_text: form of constituent parts shown by the Drawings and described with
reference thereto, as the same may be varied without departing substan-
tially from the true character of our said herein-described Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and soventy-five.
Witness,
JAMES HAMILTON WARDROP,
9, Anglesea Terrace,
Chapel Road,
Southampton.
JOHN THOMAS. (L.B.)