Improved Means for Securing or Stowing and Releasing Ships' Boats.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Aug., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Apr., 1897-Accepted, 5th June, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Securing or Stowing and Releasing Ships'
Boats.
I, WILLIAM ANDREW, of Rectory House, East Tilbury, in the County of Essex,
Master Mariner, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My present invention is an improvement upon the method of securing or stowing
and releasing ships' boats, as described in Letters Patent granted to me February 17th
1887, and numbered 2494; more especially relating to the taking of the weight of
the boats, and the consequent improvement in the ease of swinging same out.
For my purpose, on the rail of the ship, or on the gunwale, or skids, or platform
or house, on the inboard side, I have an angle iron, of sufficient height for the kee
of the boat to come against, and I also have a roller running fore and aft, or a
number of rollers connected by a shaft. On the outside of the roller or rollers I
have a projection, rising the same height as the angle iron on the inner side, and
on the roller, or on the shaft carrying the rollers, I have a lever, or levers, so that
when the davits have been let go, and are in a position to swing outwards, by
simply pulling the lever, it twists the roller or rollers round, and pushes the boat
off, the projection on the outside also coming round and releasing the keel of the
boat from its position, the angle of the blocks that are supporting the boat between
the davits pulling the davits out and finding their perpendicular, thus swinging the
boat clear of the ship's side.
The roller or rollers, may be smooth, or may be fluted or roughed, so as to give
gripping power.
Or, instead of these rollers, I can use a block or blocks, upon which the keel of
the boat rests; these blocks being so constructed, that by means of cams and levers,
they will lift the boat, thus taking its weight; so that with the pullies taut after it
is lifted by the blocks, by pulling the levers and causing the block or blocks to
drop, the boat will fall, and being then supported on the davits, would twist the
latter outwards, owing to the pull of the blocks being at an angle, and the boat
would thus clear the ship's side.
In either case the operation of swinging the boat clear could be easily performed
by one man, no matter what the weight of the boat might be.
Dated this 5th day of August 1896.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Securing or Stowing and Releasing Ships'
Boats.
I, WILLIAM ANDREW, of Rectory House, East Tilbury, in the County of Essex,
Master Mariner, 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 :-
My present invention is an improvement upon the method of securing or stowing
and releasing ships' boats, as described in Letters Patent granted to me February 17th
1887, and numbered 2494; more especially relating to the taking of the weight of

page_text: the boats, and the consequent improvement in the ease of swinging same out. For
my purpose, on the rail of the ship, or on the gunwale, or skids, or platform, or
house, on the inboard side, I have an angle iron, of sufficient height for the keel of
the boat to come against, and I also have a roller running fore and aft, or a number
of rollers connected by a shaft. On the outside of the roller or rollers I have a
projection, rising the same height as the angle iron on the inner side, and on the
roller, or on the shaft carrying the rollers, I have a lever or levers, so that when
the davits have been let go and are in a position to swing outwards, by simply
pulling the lever, it twists the roller or rollers round and pushes the boat off, the
projection on the outside also coming round and releasing the keel of the boat from
its position, the angle of the blocks that are supporting the boat between the davits
pulling the davits out and finding. their perpendicular, thus swinging the boat clear
of the ship's side.
The roller or rollers may be smooth, or may be fluted, or roughed, so as to give
gripping power.
By this means the operation of swinging the boat clear could be easily performed
by one man, no matter what the weight of the boat might be.
In the drawings annexed hereto, I show in Fig. 1. an elevation of my improved
gear, in Fig. 2. a section of the arrangement of roller, and in Fig. 3. an end view
with lever.
In Fig. 1. A. A. are two davits their upper ends pointing to each other, B. is the
boat, C. the ship's rail, or platform, or house, or skids, or gunwale, D. D. D. are the
bearings to carry the shaft E. to which the roller or rollers are attached as shown
at F. in Fig. 2, G. in Fig. 2. is the angle iron that the bearings D. D. D. Fig. 1. rest
upon, H. H. Fig. 1. and H. Fig. 2. is the projection or outside plate, this being bolted
at I. Fig. 2. against the roller F.
At each end of the shaft E. there are levers J. J. Fig. 1. and J. end view
Fig. 3.
Fig. 2. shows the keel K. of the boat resting on the roller F.
When the lever J. Fig. 3. is pulled up, it brings the plate or projection H. over, and
rolls the keel K. off from the surface of the roller F, and when the blocks M. Fig. 1.
are let go, it allows the davits A. A. to come outwards, and the blocks and falls L. L. to
find their perpendicular, when the boat would be clear of the ship's side.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is
1. The improved method of securing or stowing and releasing ships' boats,
substantially as described and shown in drawings.
2. For the purpose named, the method of resting the keel of the boat upon a roller
or rollers, with a plate or projection for holding the keel against an angle iron on
the inner side, substantially as described and shown in drawings.
3. For the purpose named, the use of a lever or levers, attached to a horizontal
shaft running on a line with the keel of the boat, and being held in bearings on the
ship's rail, or gunwale, or skids, or platform, or house, substantially as described.
4. The use of davits with their upper ends pointing to each other, and connected
by blocks and falls to each end of the boat at an angle, the boat being in between
the davits, in combination with a roller or rollers upon which the keel of the boat
rests, the keel being held in position by a plate or projection which keeps it against
an angle iron on the inner side, as and for the purpose described, and substantially as
shown in drawings.
Dated this 23rd day of April 1897
E. E. WIGZELL,
Agent for Applicant.