IMPROVEMENTS IN ANCHORS
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Morgan Richards at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th October 1876. A communication
from abroad by R. Miles Robinson, and Edwin L. Bomeister, of Philadelphia,
U.S.
JOHN MORGAN RICHARDS, of Great Russell Street Buildings, Great Russell Street,
London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ANCHORS."
Reference being made to the accompanying Drawings making part of this Speci-
fication, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the anchor embodying my
Invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section in line x, x, Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a plan
view; Fig. 4 is a detailed view of the fluke arms; Fig. 5 is a view similar to
Fig. 2 of the fluke arms detached from the shank.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
My Invention consists in connecting the fluke arms and shank by a ball-and-
socket joint.
It also consists in a sliding and self-adjusting shank through the socket joint,
slot or opening.
It also consists in forming the fluke arms with a groove for the head of the shank,
and an opening for the passage and play of the shank.
It also consists of the combination with the pivoted fluke arms of a mushroom
head.
It also consists of mechanism for retaining the head in the socket.
It also consists of a sliding connection between the anchor and the chain thereof.
It also consists in a stop for the sliding connection.
It also consists of a scoop located in advance of the fluke arms.
Referring to the Drawings, A represents the shank, and B the fluke arms; on
the shank I form a ball head C which enters a cavity or socket D on the rear or
outer face of the crown or the fluke arms, thus connecting the shank and fluke
arms by a ball-and-socket joint. If desirable to prevent displacement of the head
from the socket D, I secure to the shank adjacent to the inner face of the crown of
the fluke arms a collar or clevis E, or a screw may be fitted to the crown of the
fluke arms, and have either its head or point bear against the ball head, and thus
provision is made for holding the head in the socket when necessary. To the rear
or bottom end of the shank there is connected a rod, or an extension of the shank
is made, on which extension at its extremity is secured a mushroom head J, which

page_text: when the anchor is being dragged is adapted to take hold at the bottom of the
water, and thus elevate the shank A and place the palms of the flukes in engaging
position. On the shank A. there is fitted a sliding sleeve F, to which is connected
an eye or loop for attachment of the chain of the anchor, and whose inner motion
is limited by a stop a; H represents a scoop which is fitted on the shank A, and
located in advance of the fluke arms.
The fluke arms and crown are constructed in one piece of a bar of iron or other
suitable material; the bar being first upset in the middle, the two ends are bent in
the shape of a horse-shoe. The bent ends or arms are then flattened laterally, and
the crown portion thereof flattened longitudinally, and its circumferential edges
bent or inclined forward toward the ends of the flukes so as to form lips d, leaving
a transverse socket, cavity, or groove D for the reception of the connecting head of
the shank. An opening is made in the crown at right angles to the socket
groove D so as to admit of the passage and play of the shank of the anchor.
The fluke arms and palms with flat continuous faces are so constructed in order
to prevent any fouling of the chain around the said arms and flukes, and at the
same time increase the holding surface.
The loose, free, or detachable and self-adjusting shank is so constructed that
when the anchor is to be used without the appliances of the scoop, or the sliding
connection for the chain, or the stop for the sliding connection, or with or without
the lateral extension of the shank and the mushroom anchor, the chain may be
fastened to a flattened ball rigidly fixed on one end of the shank, so as to permit the
slipping back of the entire shank to the crown of the anchor, and facilitate the
disengagement of the flukes from the ground when weighing anchor, or when upon
turn of the tide, or from other cause the vessel is carried over its anchor, and
thereby the anchor is made loose from its hold, the socket ball of the shank, when
forced the length of the shank to the rear of the crown will act as a veering rudder
and slew the anchor round, in which event the socket ball will be drawn again to
its socket, and the flukes renew their hold upon the ground.
The crown projections or lips d are so constructed that in addition to adding
strength to the crown and giving it elevation, so that the points of the flukes may
be placed at an angle with the ground and speedily penetrate it; they also serve as
a lever or tripper and force the flukes to quickly do their work.
The ball-and-socket joint possesses simplicity, durability, and strength; it is
simple of construction, not liable to get out of order, and by always accommodating
itself to circumstances of position with certainty brings the flukes to their proper
position ; it is strong by presenting a large bearing surface in a small space,
and utilizes friction when the anchor is doing its heaviest work. The mushroom
head will relieve the strain upon the flukes, and also upon the shank by distri-
buting the pressure over a greater length of the shank, as well as take an additional
hold upon the ground, thus enabling a lighter anchor to hold a vessel of lighter
tonnage.
It
The mechanism for retaining the ball in the socket facilitates taking apart or
unlimbering the anchor for stowage and handling, and is adjustable and can be
placed upon the shank without weakening it or inserted through the crown.
also enables the maker to make the mushroom part and the ball for the socket in
one solid piece with the shank, should it prove desirable to construct the anchor so
as to prevent the sliding up of the flukes and crown on the shank, or vice versa.
The tube or slide to which the chain is fastened is to prevent the binding of the
chain when pulled at an angle with the shank in the act of disengaging the anchor
from the bottom, when the mechanism for retaining the head in the socket is
used.
The stop for sliding connection is to be used when the ball is retained in the
socket by ring or screw, and is to be so placed as to overbalance the anchor when
the chain slide is drawn back, in order that the anchor may with certainty swing
round or roll over and renew its hold upon change of tide. The scoop will serve the
double purpose of scraping a foul bottom in order that the flukes may have a firmer

page_text: hold as well relieve the strain upon the fluke arms and shank at the point of
contact of the latter with the crown lip, and also increase the holding power of the
anchor.
The scoop may be made adjustable, loose, or fast, at any point along the shank,
as experience may determine best for its purposes.
The fluke arms being in one continuous piece with the metal at the crown, and
the crown being divided in the rear center, and its edges rolled outward and turned
under, give an increased tendency to the flukes to penetrate the earth when the
anchor is dragged, besides giving the required elevation to the crown and angle to
the flukes, and assistance in holding power.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim as new and desire to securo
by Letters Patent is,――
1. An anchor having its shank and fluke arms constructed with a ball-and-socket
joint, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The loose, free, or detachable, and self-adjusting shank A, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
3. The fluke arms in combination with the crown, having groove D and opening b,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. The mushroom head J in combination with a fluke anchor, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
5. Mechanism E for retaining the head in the socket, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
6. A sliding connection between the shank and chain, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
7. The sliding connection of the shank and chain in combination with a stop
therefor, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
8. The scoop H in combination with a fluke anchor, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.