IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING SHIPS' COMPASSES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Francis Reynolds, of Dock Street, in
the County of Middlesex, Nautical Instrument Manufacturer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING
SHIPS' COMPASSES."
Sealed the 18th March 1873, and dated the 24th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Francis
Reynolds at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 24th September 1872.
I, WILLIAM FRANCIS REYNOLDS, of Dock Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Nautical Instrument Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS for
ADJUSTING SHIPS' COMPASSES," to be as follows:—
This Invention relates to means of and apparatus for adjusting ships'
compasses as hereafter described.
The means or apparatus for adjusting consist principally of toothed or
frictional gearing in combination with a false compass card, over which
an index or pointer can be caused to travel by hand, the gearing giving
motion to a vertical central rod or spindle in connection with a roller or

page_text: slider and one or more correcting magnets. The central rod or spindle
is preferably in two pieces, one piece being within or embraced by the
other to permit of the bowl swinging upon its gimbals freely.
I arrange a flexible band or ring upon or adjacent to the compass bowl
or the binacle, as the case may be, such band being acted upon by
screw or other appliances for producing undulations or curves, over or
against which the roller or slider can bear for moving the correcting
magnet or magnets, which act upon the card needle within the bowl, and
thereby cause it to move over and be corrected magnetically.
In arranging my Invention to, say, a binacle compass, I fit an addi-
tional compass card within a frame at the side of the casing, and also an
index hand upon a spindle set at an angle for a toothed wheel at its
lower end to gear into another wheel on a central spindle (telescopic),
the lower end of which is provided with an universal joint to enable it to
move over to any angle corresponding to that of the compass bowl
caused by the pitching or the lurching of the vessel. The upper end of
the central spindle is in some cases in connection with a cross bar or
hollow box, from which spring two uprights. One of these uprights
carries a quadrant shaped wheel, which gears into a pinion on a shaft
within the hollow box, and on motion being given to it through the
gearing by the index hand, the correcting magnet or magnets are caused
to travel to one end or the other and produce a partial rotation of the
card needle, and to bring it round to true or mean magnetic bearings, by
which the vessel can be steered.
In order to maintain this true or mean magnetic condition of the card
ncedle I arrange upon the bowl a flexible ring by means of screws, the
heads of which stand up above or lie flush with the bezil or top rim to
enable them to be turned up or down, and thus produce a curvature of
the ring to the extent desired for producing a deflection to the right or
to the left of the quadrant, whose roller or slider bears upon or against
the ring for the purpose. The screw heads can be protected by a shield.
The arrangement of the apparatus is capable of many variations, but
the main feature intended to be covered by claims are, 1stly, the gearing
actuated by a hand lever or index capable of being moved over a false
compass card; and, 2udly, the flexible ring and the appliances connected
with it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Francis Reynolds in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FRANCIS REYNOLDS, of Dock Strect, in the County of Middlesex,
Nautical Instrument Manufacturer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Francis Reynolds, Her special
licence that I, the said William Francis Reynolds, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Francis
Reynolds, 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,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING SHIPS' COMPASSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Francis
Reynolds, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Francis Reynolds, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to means of and apparatus for adjusting ships'
compasses, as hereafter described.
The means or apparatus for adjusting consist principally of toothed
or frictional gearing in combination with a movable or a fixed false
compass card, over which an index or pointer can be caused to travel by
hand, the gearing giving motion to a vertical central rod or spindle in

page_text: connection with a roller or slider and one or more correcting magnets.
The central rod or spindle is preferably in two pieces, one piece being
within or embraced by the other to permit of the bowl swinging upon its
gimbals freely.
I arrange a Bexible band or ring upon or adjacent to the compass
bowl or the binacle, as the case may be, such band being acted upon
by screw or other appliances for producing undulations or curves, over
or against which the roller or slider can bear for moving the correcting
magnet or magnets, which act upon the card needle within the bowl,
and thereby cause it to move over and be corrected magnetically.
In arranging my Invention to, say, a binacle compass, I fit an addi-
tional compass card within a frame at the side of the casing, and also an
index hand upon a spindle set at an angle for a toothed wheel at its lower
end to gear into another wheel on a central spindle (telescopic), the lower
cnd of which is provided with an universal joint to enable it to move
over to any angle corresponding to that of the compass bowl caused by
the pitching or the lurching of the vessel. The upper end of the central
spindle is in some cases in connection with a cross bar or hollow box,
from which spring one or two uprights. One of these uprights carries a
quadrant shaped wheel, which gears into a pinion on a shaft within the
hollow box, and on motion being given to it through the gearing by the
index hand the correcting magnet or magnets are caused to travel to one
end or the other and produce a partial rotation of the card needle, and to
bring it round to truc or mean magnetic bearings, by which the vessel
can be steered.
In order to maintain this true or mean magnetic condition of the card
needle I arrange upon the bowl a flexible ring by means of screws, the
heads of which stand up above or lie flush with the bezil or top rim to
enable them to be turned up or down, and thus produce a curvature of
the ring to the extent desired for producing a deflexion to the right
or to the left of the quadrant, whose roller or slider bears upon or
against the ring for the purpose. The screw heads can be protected by
a shield.
The Invention will be clearly understood by reference to the annexed
Drawings and following detailed description thereof :-
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a binacle or compass box a firmly bolted
or screwed down to the deck or floor of a vessel. The upper part of the

page_text: box a carries two gimbals or bearings, upon which the compass bowl is
hung in the usual manner, the ring c having also gimbals or bearings at
right angles to the first pair to permit of the free oscillation of the
compass bowl e. The lower part fƒ of the compass bowl has screwed into
it a socket g, over which a pivot or centre h is fitted for carrying the
compass card i, the card having two magnets on its under face as usual.
The socket is hollow, and has an axlej passed through it in a vertical
direction from below, the axle being surmounted by a collar, through
which and the axle end a pin or stud is tapped to hold the two in loose
contact. The frame k, of which the axle j forms a part, is hollow at
the central portion, or is formed with two legs 1, 2, in which the axle
ends m, m, of a double jointed rod are held, the lower part of the rod
forming a tube (preferably square) for engaging over another rod or
tube p, over which it can slide freely to preserve the horizontal position
of the compass bowl and its card during the motious of the vessel while
under steam or sail. The bottom end of the rod p has also a double
joint q, the lower part having bevil teeth upon its periphery or flange in
gear with a pinion 7 on a rod stepped at an angle, so that the index
hands on its upper end when it is turned will communicate a rotatory
motion to the central rod p and to the compass bowl. The index hand s
works over a fixed false card in or on the top of an additional piece
projecting from one side of the box, and the hands can be moved
around its centre by an attendant to produce the mean or true magnetic
bearings of the card within the bowl, as hereafter described. In the
hollow or between the legs 1, 1, of the frame ka rod or strip of metal u
supporting two magnets having their like poles together is fitted to slide
horizontally, the lower face of the strip having teeth upon it, as in
Figure 2, for gearing into a pinion on a horizontal spindle we, the outer
end of which has another pinion upon it in gear with teeth upon a
quadrant, as shown in the enlarged view, Figure 3, the quadrant being
pivotted on a pin projecting from the upright y, forming part of the
frame k. There is a lug on the pivot end of the quadrant, and this
carries a small roller a', which bears against the under face of a flexible
ring or band 6', so that as the bowl card moves over to follow the action
of the magnet n the roller follows the undulations of the flexible band,
and produces and maintains the mean or true magnetic bearings to
which the bowl card has been set. The flexible ring or band is held to
the bowl by screw pins c', the upper ends of which are square, so that
they can be raised and lowered by a key from the top outside face of the

page_text: bezil of the compass bowl, there being eight screw pins on the ring
to correspond to the cight cardinal points of the compass, as shown
in Figure 1.
The action and method of setting or adjusting the compass are as
follows: The box being fixed upon the deck of the vessel, with the
"lubber's point" looking to the bows, and in a central line with the
vessel's keel, in the usual manner, place the ship on any point of the
compassfor which there is a corresponding screw, and set the indi-
cator or false card to that point, then if the compass does not point
correctly turn the exposed screw by means of the key to elevate or
depress the cam ring, which acts (through the roller bearing upon it)
and the quadrant upon the magnets until the compass shows the course
the ship is on. Repeat the process on cach point for which there is a
screw, and the compass will be found to be correct for all points.
The false index card can be covered by a glass or other shield, and
kept closed against any alterations by the helmsman or others on board.
By my Invention the influence of local attraction upon the compass
card is obviated, the magnetic adjustment being effected by swinging
the vessel in the usual way, or at sea when celestial bearings can be
obtained, the adjustment taking place from time to time according to
the latitude and longitude in which the vessel may be, thus saving the
great loss of time preparatory to a voyage now occupied by the present
system of adjustment.
Figures 5 and 6 represent a vertical correcting magnet u attached to a
sliding plate e' moving upon a guide, the sliding plate being forked for
a couple of links ƒ', f', to move upon pins for giving freedom of action.
The upper ends of the links are connected to a vertical plate g', in the
centre of which another plate is guided, when it is raised or depressed
by its roller 'riding against the flexible ring to follow the undu-
latious or curves put upon it by the screw pins e before referred to. ¦
The upper end of one of the links has an arm i upon it, and this arm,
which is attached loosely to the guide plate, causes that link to turn
upon its upper pin like a bell-crank lever, and so pull or push the
vertical correcting magnet a to one side or the other across the bottom f
of the compass bowl e for bringing the compass card round to the
desired point, as explained with reference to the first-described method.
Figure 7 is a sectional view of a modified arrangement of mechanism
for facilitating the mechanical adjustment of compass cards. In this

page_text: the compass bowl e is supported by a gimbal ring c within a kind of
box, which is free to be moved round in a horizontal circular direction
to the right or to the left by a button upon the outside of the
binacle a, the button stem having a pinion upon it in gearwi than idle
"
wheel for communicating motion to the box through the pinion "'
gearing into the teeth p' on its periphery, as shown more clearly in
the views, Figures 8 and 9. The bottom of the box j' has a plate q¹
depending from it, and this has a pin or stud upon it for carrying a rock
lever, from the outer ends of which correcting magnets u, u, with
their ends reversed are fixed, which rise and fall according to the undu-
lations of the flexible ring b', the two correcting magnets u, u, being
moved up and down to bring respectively one or other of them into
magnetic contact with the compass card magnet. The correcting
magnets are kept in a horizontal position by links 8', 8', the lower ends
of which have pins passed into curved slots f, e, in the depending
plate q'. The axle of the rock lever passes through the plate, and its
outer end is supported by a bracket or lug a', where its extreme end
carries a lever v', with a counterpoise w' attached for counterbalancing
the weight and steadying the motion of the correcting magnets u, ".
There is a stud upon the lever o' connecting its free end to a vertical
strap within the box, from which to the outside of the box through a
slot are two projecting pins, which embrace the top and bottom edges
of the flexible band b' for governing the movement of the correcting
magnets u, u. The upper face of the box flange y' has the eight cardinal
points of the compass upon it, with the subdivisions of the same also. A
portion of this flange is sometimes covered by a fixed ring, upon the
raised edge of which the lubber's point is marked. This ring has upon
its flat side six holes in three-fourths of its diameter or surface for the
admission of the key to the one hole of the flange y' leading to the screw
heads of the flexible band 6', the other portion (½) being open for
enabling the points and marks upon the box flange to be seen.
under face or edge of the flat portion of this ring has two depending lugs
with pins, upon which the gimbal ring of the compass bowl is hung.
The
The flexible ring 6', in the view Figure 10, is on edge; while in the
former case it is on the flat, but it is equally flexible from its thinness
to that of the flat one to follow any curve put upon it by the screws
from above.

page_text: Figure 11 shows a top view of the compass or binacle last described,
and in or to which the false compass card is arranged ring shaped upon
the flange y surrounding the compass bowl, the whole of the mechanism
or appliances first herein-before mentioned being employed, only in a
modified and more compact manner..
5
Having thus far explained the nature of my Invention, and the
manner of carrying it into practical effect for the purposes set forth, I
wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the special
arrangements shown in the Drawings, as the mechanism for operating
the correcting magnets are capable of many variations and changes 1
without departing from the main features of my Invention, which
are,-
Firstly. The employment of a flexible band or ring in connection with
screws or their equivalents for producing undulations or curves therein
or thereon for actuating correcting magnets for a ship's compass.
Secondly. The general arrangement of appliances with the gearing to
enable correcting magnets to be operated from the outside of a ship's
compass box or binnacle, substantially as described and shown.
1
Thirdly. The special method of adjusting ships' compasses mecha-
nically, as described and shown in Figures 1 to 4 of the Drawings 2
annexed.
Fourthly. The modified arrangement of mechanism shown in Figures 5
and 6 of the Drawings, for the purpose set forth.
Fifthly. The special method or arrangement of appliances shown and
described with reference to Figures 7 to 11 of the Drawings annexed.
2
WILLIAM FRANCIS REYNOLDS. (L.s.)