THE IMPROVEMENT OF CAPSTANS FOR FISHING AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Smith, William Stephen-
son, John Vere, and Benjamin Capes at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 8th December 1873.
RICHARD SMITH, 61, Cleethorpes Road, WILLIAM STEPHENSON, 59,
Cleethorpes Road, JOHN VERE, 67, Cleethorpes Road, BENJAMIN CAPES,
63, Cleethorpes Road, Grimsby, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "THE IMPROVEMENT OF CAPSTANS FOR FISHING AND OTHER
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
It is constructed in the following manner:-A very strong wrought-
iron spindle is fixed to the deck of the vessel with a cast metal pan or
race, which is attached to deck and spindle. The bottom of the said
capstan is a strong metal casting with large dovetail slots to receive the
three wood whelps (or the barrel can be made altogether of iron), and
containes an inner & outer ring to receive the pauls. These are fixed
in the middle of the said rings, so that the capstan can be reversed or
caused to revolve either way. Attached to the whelps or barrel of
capstan is a large cast-iron bevel wheel containing an inner bevel wheel,
above which is attached a croso shaft, on which revolves two scue bevel
pinions, which are connected at will by a coupling and lever, thereby

page_text: connecting with large bevel wheel, thus constuting the double purchase.
Running parrell with the aforesaid shaft is another with pinion attached
("the first mentioned shaft containing in addition to the scue pinions a
small bevel wheel "), which can by a simple movement be connected or
slided into gear with the small bevel wheel on the first shaft, thus
constituting the treple purchase.
The top or frame is connected and secured to the wrought-iron spindle
with a horizontal key passing through the top of said spindle. By
removing this key the frame can be turned round, thus enabling the
crew of the vessel to continue turning the handles the same way &
yet the capstan will be reversed, so taking the turn in or out of the warp
at the will of the crew, which is a great advantage, causing the v warp to
wear much longer & keep more pliable. This capstan is especially
adapted for fishing vessels, as it possesses three different purchases, that
is to say, single, double, & trible. The single is intended to heave in
the slack part of the warp very rapidly; the double purchase can be
supplied instantaniously by a single movement of a coupling & lever,
which can be done without the men or crew ceasing to heave, which
thus enables them to recover their nets or gear under all ordinary
circumstances; but in fishing in very deep water the net & fishing
gear is very liable to become so full of sand & other impediments that
it is almost impossible for the crew, which is limited to five in number,
to recover their net or gear, but by applying the trible purchase, which
can be done instantaniously, thus increasing the power of the capstan
three fold, thus they can recover their net & gear under all circum-
stances; and for the triple purchase in particular we claim protection, as
we can apply it to most existing capstans; but we wish to patent the
whole capstan as an "Improved Triple Purchase Capstan for Fishing
& other Vessels," the whole capstan being entirely manufactured by us.