IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SHIPS' SAILS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SHIPS' SAILS."
-A communication from abroad by John Edward Worthman, of
Mobile, County of Mobile, State of Alabama, United States of
America.
Sealed the 23rd April 1872, and dated the 21st December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st December 1871.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REEFING AND
FURLING SHIPS' SAILS," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object to provide for the use of navigators
an improvement in apparatus for effecting the reefing of the sails of a
vessel from its deck without the necessity of any of the crew being scnt

page_text: aloft, and without necessitating the heaving-to of the vessel or the
changing of her course.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a rear elevation of a square
sail having the apparatus applied; Figure 2 is an enlarged front view of
the metal and rope grummet; Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation
of the main block showing two different kinds of pawl, one being
adapted for use in connection with a rope, and the other with a chain.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
Referring to the Drawing, a is an ordinary square sail; b, the upper
yard; c, the lower yard; and d³, the mast. The sail has in this instance
two sets of reef points. A is the main block attached to the under side
of the yard. This block is provided with two pawls, 1, 2, which when
lowered into the position shown in Figure 3 serve to prevent a backward
movement of the rope or chain, but do not interfere with its free
forward movement. Levers 3, 4, and connecting link 5, serve to enable
the pawls to be thrown out of contact with the rope or chain when it is
desired to leave the rope or chain free to move in either direction. B is
the block for the upper set of reef tackle and points, and C the block
for the lower set, through which blocks pass halyards B¹, C', respectively.
From the block B two ropes d, e, pass upward through the main block A,
of which the rope d passes to the starboard end of the yard and the
rope e to the port end, both ropes running around, sheaves in the yard
and each extending thence to the opposite extremity of the yard. The
reef points constituting the port half of the upper set are attached at
their upper ends to the roped, and the reef points f¹ constituting the star-
board half of the upper set are attached at their upper ends to the rope e.
At points near the contiguous upper corners of the sail the ropes d, e,
each divide into two branches d³, d³, e¹, e³. The branch d¹ passes
through a sheave h on the yard, thence downward through the earing 9,
thence back to the yard, where its extremity is fastened. The branch d²
passes through an eye bolt i on the yard, thence downward through a
pendant block j, and thence back to the yard, where it is likewise
fastened. The branches e¹, e², are similarly disposed at the other edge of
the sail; therefore when the upper yard is lowered as it always is in
reefing, and the halyard B¹ pulled upon from the deck, the ropes d, e,
move along the yard in opposite directions, drawing the reef points ƒ, ƒ³,
outboard through a row of grummets in a strip of canvas fastened to the
yard in the same way that the sail is fastened, thus causing the reef

page_text: points to bind the slack portion of the sail in folds on the upper side of
the yard. At the same time the branches d³, e', haul out the earings of
the upper reef to their proper places on the yard, and the branches d², e²,
haul the pendant blocks j up and out to points on the yard where they
will be in the proper position for taking in or shaking out the second
reef. Thus the first reef is taken in without the stirring of a man from
the deck, and it can be done without the ship swerving a point from her
course, and in any state of the wind. From the block C ropes k, l, pass
upward pursuing the same course as the ropes d, e, except that when
the first reef is shaken out the ropes k, l, stretch at angles across the
front of the sail and pass through the pendant blocks j, thence through
the earings m of the second reef, and thence back to the blocks j, where
their extremities are fastened. When, during the taking in of the first
reef, the blocks j are drawn tightly against the yard, they then perform
the same office towards the ropes k, l, as the blocks h do towards the
ropes d, e, and their branches, that is, they cause the ropes k, l, to haul
the earings m out to their proper positions on the yard while the
halyards C¹ are pulling the lower set of reef points n, n¹, outboard. The
reefs are quickly shaken out by the wind whenever the halyards are
lowered.
On the same principle the reefs of a fore-and-aft sail are taken in by
reef tackle leading through sheaves at the jaws of the boom and at its
after end with a block and tackle beneath the beam to haul in by, the
ropes being made fast to a cleat on the boom. The reef points pass
through metal grummets o. These are surrounded by rope grummets p
and the metal grummets clinched over both the sail and the rope
grummets. The rope grummets have projecting loops q to which the
ends of the reef points are attached. This construction is for the
purpose of preventing the strain of the reef points from tearing the sail.
The reef points extend from the loops q downward and pass through the
next lower row of grummets, thence upward on the other side of the
sail to and through the next upper row of grummets, the extremities
of the reef points being attached to the draw ropes on the front side of
the sail. This arrangement prevents the reef points from hanging
loose and flapping, and wearing the sail as they do under the present
system.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark,
Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REEFING AND
FURLING SHIPS' SAILS," a communication to me from abroad by John
Edward Worthman, of Mobile, County of Mobile, State of Alabama,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet
of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-

page_text: an improvement in apparatus for effecting the reefing of the sails of a
vessel from its deck without the necessity of any of the crew being sent
aloft, and without necessitating the heaving-to of the vessel or the
changing of her course
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a square sail having the apparatus
applied; Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same; Figure 3 is an
enlarged front view of the metal and rope grummet; Figure 4 is an
enlarged sectional elevation of the main block showing two different
kinds of pawl, one being adapted for use in connection with a rope, and
the other with a chain. Similar letters of reference indicate cor-
responding parts.
d
a is an ordinary square sail; 6 the upper yard; c the lower yard; and
ds the mast. The sail has in this instance two sets of reef points. A is
the main block attached to the underside of the yard. This block is
provided with two pawls, 1, 2, which when lowered into the position
in Figure 4 serve to prevent a backward movement of the rope or
chain, but do not interfere with its free forward movement. Levers 3,
4, and connecting link 5 serve to enable the pawls to be thrown out of
contact with the rope or chain when it is desired to leave the rope or
chain free to move in either direction. B is the block for the upper set
of reef tackle and points, and C the block for the lower set, through
which blocks pass halyards B¹, C', respectively. From the block B two
ropes d, e, pass upward through the main block A, of which the rope
passes to the starboard end of the yard and the rope e to the port end,
both ropes running around sheaves in the yard and each extending
thence to the opposite extremity of the yard. The reef points f
constituting the port half of the upper set are attached at their upper
ends to the rope d, and the reef points f¹ constituting the starboard
half of the upper set are attached at their upper ends to the rope e.
At points near the contiguous upper corners of the sail the ropes d, e,
cach divide into two branches d', d², e', e³. The branch a passes
through a sheave h on the yard, thence downward through the earing 9,
thence back to the yard, where its extremity is fastened. The branch d
passes through an eye bolt i on the yard, thence downward through a
pendant block j, and thence back to the yard, where it is likewise
fastened. The branches e¹, e³, are similarly disposed at the other edge of

page_text: front side of the sail. This arrangement prevents the reef points from
hanging loose and flapping, and wearing the sail as they do under the
present system.
Sails can be furled on the same principle here described for reefing.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. The combination with a sail and yard of draw ropes d, e, pulling
in opposite directions reef points f,f', one half attached to one draw
rope and the other half to the other draw rope, main block A, lower
block B, and halyards B¹, as specified.
2ndly. The combination with the foregoing of the branches d¹, d², e¹, e²,
earings g, m, pendant blocks j, draw ropes k, l, and reef points n, n', as
described.
3rdly. The combination with a sail, and the draw ropes herein
described, of reef points passing through the grummets and attached to
the loops g, as explained.
4thly. In combination with the sheaves of the main block A, I claim
pawls for preventing a backward movement of a rope or chain, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two.
A
5 AT ADTZ
Witness,
JAS. O. DEWEY,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)