AN IMPROVEMENT IN FIDS FOR THE UPPER MASTS, RUNNING BOWSPRITS, AND JIBBOOMS OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
FRANCIS STILES BLAKE, of the Royal Dock Yard, Portsmouth, Shipwright, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of August, in the fourth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Francis Stiles Blake, His especial licence that I, the said Richard
Francis Stiles Blake, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Richard Francis Stiles Blake, my exors, admors, or 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, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FIDS FOR THE UPPER MASTS,
RUNNING BOWSPRITS, AND JIBBOOMS OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Richard Francis
Stiles Blake, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particu-
larly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manuer the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled
in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said 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
Richard Francis Stiles Blake, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention to consist in allowing one end of the fid to rest on a moveable bear-
ing plate, and suspending the fid in the fid hole or fid mortice by means of a
pin or pivot, on which it turns, or rather balances, in such manner that when
the fid is not in action one end drops and the other rises, until both ends come
within the fid hole; and in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Francis Stiles Blake, do hereby describe the manner in which my
said Invention is to be performed by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents my said Invention in section, as applied to a topmast.
A, A, is the heel of the topmast; the part shaded black is the fid hole or fid
mortice. M, E, is the fid. H is a pin or pivot, which supports it in the fid
hole, and on which it turns. K is the fid plate. N is a fixed bearing plate
on the trestle tree, to receive the end M of the fid, and F is a moveable bearing
plate on the opposite trestle tree, to receive the end E of the fid. It will be
observed that the moveable plate F is an inclined plane, and the end E of the
fid is cut to a corresponding inclination, the object of which is to facilitate the
removal of the moveable plate F when it is required to strike the topmast.
The compasses P are placed to shew the mode of obtaining the arc R. The
distance from the centre of the pin H to the under side of the fid plate K, in
a perpendicular direction, must be ascertained, and will be the radius for the
arc R. Now it is evident that the pin or pivot H being to one side of the line
of centre J, if the topmast be raised so as to lift the ends of the fid sufficiently
above the bearing plates N and F, the end E of the fid being the farthest from
the centre will drop, and the other end M will rise, till the whole fid is brought
within the fid hole and assumes the position shown by the dotted lines in this
Figure, and the topmast may be raised or lowered at pleasure without impedi̟-
But whereas it is very important that sailors should possess the power
of lowering the topmast on certain occasions without first slacking the rigging
for the purpose of raising the fid from its bearings, and a contrivance for this
purpose is shewn at G, in Figure 2, which Figure represents a front elevation
of a mast head and keel or lower part of a topmast; and it may be as well
here to state that similar letters of reference are used to denote similar parts in
all the Figures, wherefore I shall only deem it necessary particularly to describe
the part marked G in this Figure, which is in fact simply a groove cut in the
ment.

page_text: inner side of the trestle tree, sufficient to allow of the end E of the fid to fall
into the position shewn by the dotted lines as soon as the bearing plate F is
removed, without the necessity of raising the topmast in the slightest degree.
I will now proceed to describe the way in which I propose to remove the
moveable bearing plate F when it is required to strike the topmast without
slacking the rigging. This may be done in small vessels as shewn at
Figure 3; but in large vessels it may perhaps require a stronger power,
as shewn at Figure 4.
Figure 3 is a plan of part of the trestle trees and a fore cross tree.
A is the heel of the topmast, shewn in section, and B the head of the lower
mast, shown in the same way. D, D, are the trestle trees; and F is the
moveable bearing plate, lying over the groove G, and turning on a pivot at its
after end, while at its forward end is an eye bolt to which a small rope may be
attached, and in small craft a strong pull on that rope will always be sufficient
to remove the bearing plate to the position shewn by the dotted lines at L,
which will allow the fid to disengage itself from the opposite bearing plate,
as before explained. S is a safety stop, to prevent the moveable bearing plate
from accidently slipping out of its place, and must of course be removed before
the
rope is pulled upon.
Figure 4 is a mode of removing the bearing plate in large vessels, where it
may be expected there will be a great weight on the plate, and consequently
great friction to overcome. T is a small lever turning on a pivot at V, with a
crutch or fork at W to hold the end of the bearing plate, and kept in its posi-
tion by a pin at X; when this pin is removed, and a purchase applied to the end
Y of the lever, it will force the bearing plate from under the fid, let the weight
upon it be what it may.
Figure 5 shows another form of fid upon the same principle, with the
support pin in the centre, and it is only necessary to state that if this form
be adopted the end E of the fid should be made heavier than at the other end,
to make the fid self-acting in the fid mortice.
Figures 6 and 7 show the application of my Invention to a running bowsprit,
which may either be fitted with a separate fid in each reef mortice, or have a
moveable fid applicable to all.
Now whereas I claim as my Invention the following improvement (that is
to say), having the fid attached to the spar with which it is to be used or held
within the fid hole, and turning or balancing on a center or pivot, and resting
at one end on a moveable bearing plate lying over a groove cut in the trestle
tree in such manner that by taking away the support from, and lowering one
end of the fid, both ends are brought completely within the fid hole, and no

page_text: impediment offered to the raising, lowering, or sliding in or out, as the case
may be, of the spar, as is herein-before described.
And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His said
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare
this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my
said Specification doth comply in all respects fully, and without reserve or
disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained, wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Francis Stiles Blake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.
RICHARD FRANCIS (L.S.) STILES BLAKE.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within named Richard Francis
-
Stiles Blake, in the presence of me,
H SNOOKE Solicitor
Town of Portsea, Hants, and a
Master Extraordinary in Chancery.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1833, the aforesaid Richard Francis Stiles Blake
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 Seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.