AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RELIEVING THE STRAIN UPON SHIPS' CABLES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Muntz, of Millbrook, in the County
of Hants, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RELIEVING
THE STRAIN UPON SHIPS' CABLES."
Sealed the 19th February 1861, and dated the 3rd September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Muntz
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd September 1860.
I, WILLIAM HENRY MUNTZ, of Millbrook, in the County of Hants, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPA-
RATUS FOR RELIEVING THE STRAIN UPON SHIPS' CABLES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to relieve or lessen the effect of a dead strain.
or sudden jerks upon the cable and anchor when the ship is "riding" in a
heavy sea or a strong gale, and thus prevent the snapping of the one or the
dragging of the other, and the consequent frequent shipwrecks by drifting or
driving on to a lee shore.
I propose to effect this object by so mounting the windlass that instead of
being a rigid fixture to the deck of the vessel it shall be capable of sliding
slightly fore and aft thereon, and connecting it to a strong buffer spring, so
that the pull or strain upon the cable will always be an elastic one, instead of

page_text: being a rigid dead strain as heretofore. The vessel will consequently ride much
easier, and the beavy strain and sudden jerks being relieved by the buffer
spring instead of acting direct upon the windlass or "riding bits," the tendency
to snap the cable or drag the anchor in heavy weather will be thereby greatly
reduced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Muntz in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY MUNTZ, of Millbrook, in the County of Hants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Muntz, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry Muntz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Henry Muntz, 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 "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RELIEVING THE STRAIN UPON SHIPS' CABLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Muntz, my exe-
cutors 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 William Henry Muntz, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to relieve or lessen the effect of a dead strain
or sudden jerks upon the cable and anchor when the ship is ""riding" in a

page_text: heavy sea or a strong gale, and thus prevent the snapping of the one or the
dragging of the other, and the consequent frequent shipwrecks by drifting or
driving on to a lee shore.
I propose to effect this object by so mounting the windlass that instead of
being a rigid fixture to the deck of the vessel, it shall be capable of sliding
slightly fore and aft thereon, and connecting it to a strong buffer spring, so
that the pull or strain upon the cable will always be an elastic one instead of
being a rigid dead strain, as heretofore. The vessel will consequently ride
much easier, and the heavy strain and sudden jerks being relieved by the
buffer spring, instead of acting direct upon the windlass or "riding bits," the
tendency to snap the cable or drag the anchor in heavy weather will be thereby
greatly reduced.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "An Improved
Apparatus for Relieving the Strain upon Ships' Cables," I will proceed to
describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect. And in order that the same may be
readily understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative
thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference corre-
sponding with those in the following explanation thereof.
In the annexed Drawing Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a ship's
windlass, constructed and arranged according to this Invention, and Figure 2
is a plan or horizontal view of the same.
A, A, is the barrel of the windlass supported in the sliding bitts B, B; C, C,
is the ratchet wheel, and D, D, the palls, fixed on the pall bitt E. E. This part
of the apparatus, forming the windlass proper, is fixed on an iron bed plate
F, F, and is capable of sliding fore and aft upon two or more slightly inclined
rods or bars G, G, fixed to the deck H, H, and to the stationary riding bitts
I, I. These bitts I, I, are fixed firmly in the deck, and are further supported
by the diagonal braces or stays K, K; L, L, are strong buffer springs of steel,
india-rubber, or other suitable material placed between the sliding bitts B, B,
and the fixed bitts I, I; M, M, are check bitts or guide rods, to prevent the
windlass from canting over either to starboard or port.
It will be readily understood that when the vessel is riding at anchor, the
windlass will slide fore and aft upon the bars G, G, the buffer springs L, L,
imparting a degree of elasticity to the cable and greatly relieving the strain
thereon, preventing or lessening also the effect of sudden jerks and consequent
snapping of the cable, which so frequently occurs when the windlass is rigidly
fixed to the deck, as hitherto practised.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature.and object of

page_text: my said Invention for "An Improved Apparatus for Relieving the Strain upon
Ships Cables," together with the manner in which the same is to be or may
be performed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly under-
stood that I claim as my Invention mounting, the carriage of ships' windlasses
on slides or rails, and controlling the same by a buffer spring or springs acting
against.fixed "riding bitts," for the purpose of relieving the strain upon the
cable.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Muntz, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
W. H. MUNTZ. (L.S.)