IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPRESSERS OR HOLDERS FOR HAWSERS FOR SHIPS USE
Year: 1885

page_text: We, ARCHIBALD GILCHRIST and RICHARD SMITH of Bridgewater Street Liverpool
in the County of Lancaster Shipwrights do hereby declare the nature of our said
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPRESSERS OR HOLDERS FOR HAWSERS FOR
SHIPS USE and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to provide a compresser or holder for wire and
other hawsers which are used in anchoring, mooring or towing ships that whilst
holding the hawser firmly and securely will be sufficiently elastic, to allow of some
play in case of sudden jerk or strain and thus relieve the bolts or screws by which
the apparatus is secured in its place.
"
The hawser is secured between a. pair of clips drawn together by a screw
(preferably a right and left hand screw) which are hinged or pivotted to a frame
sliding longitudinally on a bed-plate and held in normal position at one end of the
bed plate by a spring or springs of strength sufficient to bear the strain to be
placed upon the apparatus.
It is best described by aid of the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is an end elevation.
Figure a plan, and
Figure 3 a transverse section of apparatus constructed in accordance with our
invention.
A is a bed-plate securely fastened to the deck by bolts or screws a, passing
through the lugs or projections a¹. The top of this bed plate is planed or smoothed
to form a slide for the sliding piece or frame B which is dovetailed into it as at b
to prevent its rising, though a V or other form of slide-may be employed and the
frame held in position by suitable pieces bolted to the bed plate. A pair of
clips C C are pivoted or hinged to the sliding frame B on pins or studs c. The
frame is preferably curved or hollowed out to receive the ends of the clips as
shown, so that when forced together a strain acting on the clips to raise them from
their position will not all come on the studs c but will be borne in part by the
framing B. The heads of the clips C C are each fitted with a pin or shaft D cut
transversely with a female,screw, to receive the screw E, one end of which is cut
with right hand screw and the other with left hand screw. The screw is turned

page_text: by the handle F, by turning it in one direction the clips are brought together and
closed, and by turning it in the reverse direction they are receded or opened. The
pins or studs c are provided with a shoulder at one end and secured to the sliding
frame B by nuts c¹. The studs project at the front of the apparatus forming &
guide for the springs G and pass through guide holes in a raised part H of the bed.
plate against which the springs abut. The springs G are maintained in their
position by the studs, and are compressed between the sliding frame B and the
raised part of the bed plate H their tendency being to cause the frame to assume
the position shown in the drawing. I is a bar to prevent the sliding frame leaving
its position in the slides of the bed plate. The frame is slid into position from the
end and the bar I then bolted on. J is a spring to assist the clips C C¹ to open as
the screw is released.
•
When in use the hawser is placed between the jaws cl¹ and the clips C C drawn
together by means of the screw E until it is made fast and securely held. The
strain or tension of the hawser acts through the sliding frame on the springs G to
compress them, but these should be of sufficient strength to resist with but little
compression a steady strain equal to what the apparatus is intended to bear.
A sudden jerk or strain on the hawser compresses the springs and thus relieves the
bolts or fastenings and also the hawser itself of the intensity of the strain.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to be
understood that we do not claim broadly the use of a clip for securing hawsers nor
yet the use of springs for buffers for relieving the pressure of sudden strains on
ropes or chains, but we declare that what we claim is
The manufacture and use of a compresser or holder for ship's hawsers having a
sliding frame to which the clips or compressers are hinged or. pivoted sliding
longitudinally on a fixed bed plate and held in normal position thereon by springs
which abut against it, and take up the strain caused by a sudden jerk or tension of
the hawser, substantially as described and shown.