IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF SUSPENDING SHIPS' BOATS, AND OF LOWERING THE SAME INTO THE WATER
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
STIRLING LACON, of Great Yarmouth, in the County of Norfolk, Gentleman,
send greeting.
year
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of February, in the fifteenth of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Stirling Lacon, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Stirling Lacon, my exors, admors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Stirling Lacon, 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 thereby granted, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Planta-
tions abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF SUSPENDING SHIPS'
BOATS, AND OF LOWERING THE SAME INTO THE WATER;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Stirling Lacon,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Stirling Lacon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is so to suspend ships' boats at the sides or the
stern of a vessel that, in the case of any sudden emergency, as the conflagra-
tion or the foundering of a vessel, her boats may be readily lowered and put to
sea without the risk of the tackles, or other contrivances which connect the
boats to the ship, retarding the operations of lowering and floating them clear
of the ship. The manner in which I overcome the difficulties hitherto atten-
dant on the lowering of ships' boats during tempests, on dark nights, and at
periods of excitement and danger, is by suspending the boats from chains or
ropes which pass over the davits of the ship, and thence down to a winch or
windlass, round which they are wound, but are attached thereto in such a
manner that, when the winch is free to revolve, the ropes or chains will unship
or disengage themselves from their attachment by their own weight. By this
means I prevent the possibility of the ship in its onward progress through a
rough sea, dragging forward a lowered boat, and capsizing or swamping it, the
weight of the chains or ropes, to say nothing of the resistance of the boat, being
sufficient to disconnect them from the winch, and thereby render the boat free
of the ship.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn the manner in which my
Invention may be carried out. Fig. 1 represents in side view a boat, sus-
pended according to my improvements from the davits at the side of a ship,
and also the apparatus employed for lowering the boat into the water, as fitted
to the deck of a ship; and Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same. In these
Figures, a, a, are two davits or iron brackets firmly secured to the bulwarks of
a ship, and provided with sheaves or friction pulleys c, over which the ropes
or chains b, b, for supporting the boat pass. The boat may be hoisted up at
sea if desirable by means of the ordinary tackle, and when thus hoisted up I
permanently retain the boat in the desired position by attaching the ropes or
chains to the boat by the ordinary method in use. The ropes or chains b, b,
pass down from the davits to conical barrels e, e, and are connected thereto by
the last link in each chain, or an eye at the extremity of the rope hooking on to
a curved pin d, d, projecting from the periphery of its barrel (see the sectional
view, Fig. 3). These barrels are mounted on a shaft f, f, which turns in
bearings in the bracket pieces g, g. The barrels e, c, are caused to rotate by

page_text: the means hereafter described for the purpose of tightening the suspending
chains or ropes, and causing them to sustain the weight of the boat. The
tackles before mentioned as employed for hoisting up the boat are then moved.
At about the middle of its length the shaft f carries a large friction pulley h, h,
to which a ratchet wheel i, i, is affixed. Around this pulley h a friction strap
k, k, is placed, and the ends of the strap are jointed to a lever l, which works
on a fulcrum pin m (see the detached views, Figs. 4). Into the teeth of the
ratchet wheel a catch projecting from a lever n, which works on a pin o, takes
for the purpose of preventing the running down of the chains or ropes b, b, by
the rotation of the barrels, and is kept forward in its place by means of a
spring q. The levers l, n, are set fast by means of the pins p & p* (see the
detached view, Fig. 5), which are readily withdrawn when the apparatus is to
be brought into operation.
On loosening the
own gravity, and
When the boat
Let it now be understood that the boat which has been raised to the position
shewn in the Drawing is required to be lowered into the water. The seaman
to whom this duty is assigned first pulls forward the lever l, in order to make
the friction strap k retain its hold of the friction pulley h, and thus prevent the
premature revolution of the shaft f. He then thrusts back the lever n, and
releases the catch from the teeth of the ratchet wheel i, the lower end being
kept back by means of the pin p, as shewn in Fig. 5.
gripe of the friction strap k the boat will descend by its
cause the chains or ropes to unwind from the barrels e, e.
has reached the water the weight of the chains or ropes will, if the shaft fis
still free to revolve, pull round the barrels until, by the slipping of the last link
of each chain (or the eye at the extremity of the rope) from the projecting
pin d of its respective barrel, the ropes or chains fall away from the ship, and
consequently free the boat of its connection with the ship. In order to pre-
vent the boat from running down into the water too rapidly, it is only necessary
for the seaman to keep the friction strap in contact with the pulley h, by
holding the lever l in its forward position, and thus any requisite amount of
retardation may be put on the rotation of the barrels e, e, and consequently on
the descent of the suspending chains or ropes. If desirable, the shaft f may
be furnished with a cog wheel for the purpose of gearing into a pinion mounted
on a short shaft, provided with a winch handle, by turning which the boat
may be hoisted up, or the winding of the suspending ropes or chains 6, b, on to
the barrels may be effected, either when the ropes or chains are connected to
or are free of the boat, or the ordinary hand spike may be used to raise the
boat to its elevated position instead of employing the tackles, as at present.
Having now set forth my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same

page_text: into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise arrangement of apparatus above described for carrying out my Inven-
tion; but I claim,―
First, the suspending of ships' boats by chains or ropes, which are capable
of disengaging themselves by their own weight from the ship when once the 5
lowering of the boat is accomplished.
Secondly, I claim the employment of a friction pulley and friction strap, or
other analogous contrivance, for regulating the descent of ships' boats into the
water. And,
Thirdly, I claim the means herein-before described for running out the 1
suspending chains or ropes uniformly, whereby the dangers consequent. on
lowering one end of a boat quicker than the other are avoided.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Stirling Lacon have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
W STIRLING (L.S.) LACON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of August, in the
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid William Stirling Lacon 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 2
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.