Ar IPROVED APPARATUS FOR STOPPING, RELEASING, AND REGULATING CHAIN AND OTHER CABLES OF VESSELS, WHICH HE DENOMINATES ELASTIC STOPPERS
Year: 1824

page_text: BOWMAN'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BOWMAN, of Aberdeen, Scotland, Chain Cable Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of December, in the fifth year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Bowman, His special licence that I, the said Robert Bowman, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Bowman,
my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in His said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "Ar IPROVED APPARATUS
FOR STOPPING, RELEASING, AND REGULATING CHAIN AND OTHER CABLES OF
VESSELS, WHICH HE DENOMINATES ELASTIC STOPPERS;" in which said Letters
Patent ther is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Robert Bowman,
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 inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent (as

page_text: in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Bowman, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particuarly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say):-
screws.
Fig. 1 in the said Drawing is a plan of the apparatus; Fig. 2, a side
elevation thereof; and Fig. 3 an end elevation of it. In all of which Figures,
as well as in the others hereafter to be named, the same letters of reference
indicate the similar parts of the apparatus. A, A, &c. is the basis or
foundation of the apparatus; B, B, &c., a sliding trunk or carriage, which
moves backwards and forwards in the guide bars C, C, &c., which are firmly
affixed to the basis, slits D, D, &c. being made in the sides of the trunk
B, B, to receive the guide bars within them. E, E, are ears projecting from
the trunk on each side, and having holes F, F, in them, into which are
secured by screws and nuts the two piston rods G, G. These said piston rods
pass through tho guides H, H, in the ends of two cylinders I, I, which are
closed at their opposite ends, and are firmly secured to the basis by means of
J is one of the two pistons (shewn in section in Fig. 4) which work
or act in the cylinders I, I, so as to compress the air which is included within
them, and which affords the needful elasticity to the apparatus in its action.
The trunk B, B, is shewn as being for the greater convenience in constructing
it formed of separate parts, all united firmly together by the cylindrical rods,
with screwed nuts to them, K, K, which pass through the holes L, L, made
in the sides of the trunk to receive them. Each of these parts has an elevated
block M, M, &c. at one end of it, and an aperture N through it lengthways.
Upon these blocks the alternate horizontal links 0, 0, &c., of a chain cable
lodge, as shewn in the section, Fig. 5, and they can be held down upon them
or released by means of the two vertical dovetailed sliders P, P, Figs. 4 and 5,
which are fitted into grooves made in two of the parts of the trunk to receive
them, and by means of two doors or flaps Q, Q, which are hinged to one of
the ends of the other two parts of the trunk B, and as also shewn in Fig. 5.
These doors Q, Q, also fall into recesses or niches made in one end of each of
the two parts to receive them, and as shewn in Fig. 3. The upright alternate
links R, R, &c. of the chain cables are lodged in the spaces between the
blocks M, M, &c., and as likewise shewn in Fig. 5. The two vertical sliders
P, P, are raised and depressed by the following means:-T is an axis moving
upon necks at each end of it, and which work or turn in holes made through

page_text: the upper end of the sliders, the necks being prevented from coming out
of those holes by rings or washers, which are riveted upon the ends of
the necks. In the centre of the axis T is a hole, in which turns or acts a
short neck made upon a knob or stud V, which has a screwed nut upon the
end of it to prevent it from coming out of the said hole. This neck also
receives upon it one end of a lever W, which has a long slit or groove made
in it, shewn in Fig. 1, to fit upon the neck of the stud V. This lever W has
a round hole made in it, which receives into it another stud ✗, with a
cylindrical neck, and which is also secured from coming out of the hole by a
ring or washer being riveted upon it. The other end of this stud X is hinged
or jointed to the top of the standard or support Y, which is affixed to the
basis of the apparatus. The other end of the lever W is made of a cylindrical
shape, and is received within a slit or groove made in one arm of another lever
Z, which turns upon a joint made at the upper end of another standard affixed
to the basis B, and the other arm of the lever Z is elongated, and forms a
handle to actuate it and the parts connected with it. In this arrangement it
is contrived that the vertical sliders P, P, can be raised or depressed in any
situation of the sliding trunk B, B. The doors or flaps Q, Q, are raised or
lowered by the following means:-6 is a sliding piece having two holes in it,
through which the cylindrical necks of the two handles c, c, pass through two
of the parts forming the trunks B; slits are made at top, through which the
necks of the handles c, c, also pass, as shewn in Fig. 4. Upon each of these
necks a plate of iron d, bent at a right angle, is also fitted, and secured from
coming off by a screwed nut (this is better. seen in the perspective Drawing,
Fig. 7). In the vertical faces of these bent plates, two holes are made, into
which cylindrical pins e, e, are firmly affixed, (These are seen in Figs. 8 and 9.)
These pins e, e, pass: through horizontal guide-holes made in the two parts of
the trunk B, B, and are pushed against the insides of the doors or flaps Q, Q,
by moving the handles c, c, of the sliding piece b, as required to raise them up,
and as shewn in Fig. 4, and, on moving it the contrary way they fall down of
their own accord. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the apparatus taken in front.
Fig. 10 is another end elevation taken at the dotted line i, i, in Fig. 1. In
order to renew the air within the cylinders I, I, from time to time, stopcocks f,f.
and conical valves g, g, opening internally, are fitted to the cylinders, the stop-
cocks having screws h, h, to their necks, to which an injecting. pump may be
affixed at any time as may be.requisite. It may also occasionally be desirable
to employ water within the cylinders, and to annex air vessels to the cylinders,
into which air may be injected in the manner above described to act upon the
water in the cylinders, so as to produce the elasticity required in them. In
-

page_text: place of using the additional lever Z, as above described, to elevate and depress
the vertical sliding plates P, P, I can affix the joint Y to an arm or bracket
attached to the side of the trunk B, B, and elongate the cylindrical part of the
lever W, so as to form a handle, and thus to work the plates P, P, thereby.
Having thus described the different parts of the apparatus, I shall next
proceed to explain their action. The basis A, A, being firmly secured to the
deck of the vessel, between the windlas or capstan and the head or fore part of
the ship, the chain cable, after being passed around the windlas as usual, passes
through the trunk or carriage B, B, where it is secured during the vessel's
riding at anchor by the pressure of the plates P, P and the flaps Q, Q, upon
it, as shewn in Fig. 5, the cable lying slack between the carriage and the
windlas to allow of sufficient play. In order to take in the cable and to raise
the anchor, the vertical sliding plates P, P, must be raised or lifted by means
of the lever W, as already described; the flaps Q, Q, falling upon the alternate
or horizontal links, and rising to suffer the vertical links to pass beneath them,
are capable, should it be thought necessary, to surge the cable; as the lift
becomes nearly vertical upon the anchor, and the flaps immediately taking
hold upon the horizontal links, the chain is preserved from any sudden jerks
or strains upon it by the elastic action of the trunk or carriage. In order to
let go the anchor, the falling flaps Q, Q, must be raised by means of the slider
b, and be kept up during the time that the anchor is falling and the cable
running out. The vertical sliding plates P, P, must also be lifted by the lever
W, a man constantly standing ready to depress it and the plates P, P, connected
with it, so as to confine the cable beneath them in the trunk; when it is
thought that sufficient cable is let out, and immediately on the ship's riding at
anchor, the flaps Q, Q are also let down upon the cable, and form an additional
security upon it. The slider 6 of these flaps may also be so contrived as
to press upon the vertical plates P, P, and keep them still more effectually
down. It is also evident that in the case of using hempen cables, they may
be seized and held within the trunk or carriage by the power of the plates
P, P, and flaps Q, Q, upon them.
Believing as I do that this method of forming an elastic stopper to cables is
quite new, I hereby claim as my Invention any other method of constructing
it in which the same effect is produced, as it is capable of being made in many
various ways, but which it is quite impossible to describe in this Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Bowman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
ROBERT (L.B.) BOWMAN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of April, in the year
of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid Robert Bowman came before our said Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of April, in the year
of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid Robert Bowman came before our said Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-five.