Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 29th June, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 29th July, 1887.
1 CARL AUGUST PETTERSSON of Stockholm in the Kingdom of Sweden, Ship's-
captain, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to apparatus for disengaging a ship's boat from the davit
tackle.
Hitherto it has frequently happened that, after the boat has been lowered, somebody
in the boat, either by want of judgment or by fright, has disconnected only one of the
tackles, whereby the boat, suspended only by one tackle, has either dropped the crew
and passengers overboard, or it has been crushed against the side of the ship, and thus
many lives have been lost.
In my improved apparatus the said accidents are avoided by disconnecting both the
tackles from the boat at once, and by making the apparatus inaccessible to all except
the person in command of the boat.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a section of a boat showing the application of my improved apparatus.
Figure 2 is a detail of the said apparatus.
Figures 3 and 4 show details of construction.
The said invention comprises two vertical iron pins a adapted to fit in their
respective sockets b firmly secured one in the stern and the other in the bow of the
boat.
In the upper end of these pins the tackle hooks c engage; the lower ends of said
pins fit into the socket d' and are held therein by the bolt & passing through a slot in
the said socket and through a slot in the bottom of the pin a. The sockets d'are rivetted
to the keel of the boat. The bolt d is formed on the end of a rod e and is connected
by means of said rod to a plate / which is formed on or attached to the operating
handle bar h.
The bolts d as well as the bars e and the plate fare placed under the foot board of
the boat and are therefore inaccessible to the persons in the boat.

page_text: The plate is pivotted in a bearing 7 fixed on the keel, may be turned by means of
the handle bar h which is placed horizontally above the foot-board abaft and is entirely
under the control of the person in command.
The operation of the said apparatus is as follows that is to say :-
When the person in command of the boat wants to leave the vessel he raises with a
catch the lever h whereby both the bolts d are simultaneously pulled out of their
respective holes in the pins a the said pins are pulled out of their sockets and the boat
is entirely free from the ship.
The top of each pin a may if desired be provided with a hook i Figure 3 pivotted at k
and so disposed that its fore end, when the hook is down, reposes within the thwart l.
When pulling the bolts d out of the pins a, the hooks open, when the said pins
have been raised to a sufficient height to allow the fore ends of the hooks to clear the
thwart as seen in dotted lines in Figure 3. In doing so the tackle hooks c glide out
of the hooks, so that the boat is disconnected without pulling the pins a out
altogether. In this case the sockets b may be entirely dispensed with.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare, that what I claim is :-
First. The improved apparatus for rapidly disconnecting a boat from the davit
tackle of a vessel, comprising the two bolts d situated under the foot board, one at the
bow and one at the stern of the boat, by means of which bolts the tackles carrying
the boat are secured, and which bolts may be pulled out by means of a lever h when
the tackles are simultaneously disconnected.
Second. The improved apparatus as described in the first claiming clause comprising
the pins a connecting the aforesaid bolts d with the tackles, the said pins having at
the top a pivotted hook i the fore part of which previously to the disconnecting of the
boat being placed within the thwart 7 so that the hook remains closed until the pin is
raised so much as to make the fore end of the hook free.
Dated this 29th day of June 1887