IMPROVED TOWING, HAULING, AND HOISTING MACHINERY
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Carl Pieper, of Dresden, Saxony, now of No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVED TOWING, HAULING, AND HOISTING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 5th July 1872, and dated the 9th January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Carl Pieper at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th January 1872.
I, CARL PIEPER, of Dresden, Saxony, now of No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED TOWING, HAULING, AND HOISTING
MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
a wire rope
-
The said Invention relates to machinery to be used in connection with
for towing boats, and for hauling and hoisting purposes, and
is chiefly designed to form an efficient substitute for the apparatus
commonly known as the "clip drum.”

page_text: The said Invention consists in apparatus with griping surfaces so con-
structed, arranged, and operating, that they will take hold of a wire
rope, either round or flat, with great tenacity, and thereby draw the said
rope between them or move themselves along upon the said rope with
any required load without cutting or otherwise injuring the rope.
When used for towing boats the said apparatus consists of drums
or pulleys, constructed and arranged as follows:-The said drums or
pulleys are polygonal on the periphery, and are arranged in pairs
to work upon the wire rope and gripe the same between them. One
drum of each pair should have adjustable bearings, and a spring or
springs to permit its yielding to any incqualities in the rope and to
allow the pressure to be regulated. The pulleys or drums may be made
of solid metal and geared together in such a manner that their polygonal
perimeters will gripe and release the rope gradually. Or I may provide
the said drums or pulleys on the periphery with blocks of hard india-
rubber or wood. In this case I arrange inside the drums a cam or
excentric which as cach block comes into the proper position to grasp
the rope forces the said block outward. These blocks are thus caused
to exert a strong but elastic pressure upon the portion of the rope
between them.
I arrange a number or series of these pairs of drums or pulleys upon
the deck or side, or other convenient portion of the boat, and bring the
wire rope which must extend along the bottom of the river or other
watercourse up at the side or through the bottom of the boat, passing it
between all of the pairs of drums. The said drums are all connected to
and operated by a steam engine on the boat, and may be so geared
together that all act simultaneously, or may be arranged to act inter-
mittently, one, two, or more pairs grasping the rope alternately.
When these drums are set in motion their action upon the rope causes
the propulsion of the boat.
I may if desired, arrange the said drums or pulleys in a straight line
upon or in the boat, but I prefer to place them in such relative positions
that the rope in passing between them assumes a slight curvature either
upward or downward.
I modify my improved apparatus as follows:-Instead of arranging
the drums to gripe the rope between them, I use a pair of endless chains
running over suitable pulleys and in close proximity to cach other, the

page_text: said pulleys being driven by the engine on the boat. On these chains I
place wedge-shaped blocks or picces which when the chains are in
motion gripe the rope tightly between them and thereby propel the
boat. At the back or under side of the chains I place guides which may
be either straight or curved, as desired.
For hauling or hoisting purposes the apparatus may require some
slight modifications to adapt it to the particular circumstances under
which it is to be used. The rope will sometimes be stationary and
sometimes moving, but in all cases it must pass between and be gripped
by the pair or pairs of drums or the endless chains with the wedge-
shaped or other suitable griping blocks or pieces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Carl Pieper in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 8th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CARL
PIEPER, of Dresden, in Saxony, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings,
London, Civil Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Carl Pieper, Her special licence that I,
the said Carl Pieper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Carl Pieper, 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 "IMPROVED TOWING, HAULING, AND HOISTING
MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Carl
Pieper, my executors 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

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Carl Pieper, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming part of this Spécification.
The said Invention relates to machinery to be used in connection with
a wire rope for lowering and propelling boats, and for hauling and hoisting
purposes, and is chiefly designed to form an efficient substitute for the
apparatus commonly known as the "clip drum."
The said Invention consists in apparatus having griping surfaces so
constructed, arranged, and operating, that they will take hold of a wire
rope, either round or flat, with great tenacity, and thereby draw the said
rope between them, or move themselves along upon the said rope
with any required load without cutting or otherwise injuring the rope.
The apparatus consists of drums or pulleys constructed and arranged
as follows:-The said drums or pulleys are either arranged in pairs to
work upon the wire rope and gripe the same between them, or around
one large drum or pulley are arranged a number of smaller ones for the
same purpose. The said drums or pulleys are polygonal on the periphery,
either all of them or one of each pair, or where only one large drum or
pulley is applied with a number of smaller surrounding ones, either the
large drum or the smaller ones, or if desired all of them, may be
made polygonal. In all cases the edges of the polygon are to be
rounded. One drum of each pair in one case, or the smaller drums
surrounding the larger one in the second case, are to have their bearings
connected in such a manner to a spring or springs as to permit them
to yield to any splice or other inequality in the rope, and to allow the
pressure to be regulated. The pulleys or drums are made with rims or
tires of iron, stecl, or any other suitable material, such as hard india-
rubber or wood, and they may be geared together by spur wheels
or other means, or they may work together simply by the friction
caused by the pressure on the rope. In any case the arrangement may
be so made that the drums causing the pressure or grip on the rope, by
means of the springs, act either simultaneously or alternately on the

page_text: rounded corners of the corresponding or the main polygonal drum or
drums. For the purpose of propelling boats I arrange the pulleys above
described upon the deck or side, or in any other convenient part of the
vessel, and bring the wire rope which must extend along the bottom of
the river or other watercourse on which the boat is to ply up at the side
or at the ends or through the bottom of the boat, passing it in any
suitable way between the drums. The said drum or drums must be
connected to and operated by a steam engine or other prime mover.
When these drums are set in motion their action upon the rope causes
the same to move, or as in the case of a boat where the rope is
stationary the drums move along on or under the rope, and so cause the
propulsion of the boat.
I modify my improved apparatus as follows:-Instead of arranging
the drums to gripe the rope between them, I use a pair of endless chains
running over four suitable pulleys, said pulleys being geared together,
and moved by a steam engine or other prime mover. On these chains I
place wedge-shaped blocks or pieces which when meeting together gripe
the rope between them. At the back of the chains I place a number of
rollers acted upon by springs so as to ensure an adjustable pressure, as
well as to permit the rollers to yield to irregularities in the rope. The
amount of this pressure may be varied, not only by screwing down or
releasing each spring separately, but also to a certain degree simul-
taneously for all rollers by altering the relative position of the griping
wedges to each other, as will be hereafter described. This machinery if
stationary will move the rope for hauling or hoisting purposes, or if placed
in a boat and the rope is fixed it will propel the boat along the rope.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for improved
towing, hauling, and hoisting machinery, I will now describe the manner
in which the same is to be carried into practical effect.
With reference to the Drawings, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is partly a side
clevation, partly in section, and Figure 2 a plan also partly in section of
the machinery, constructed on the previously described principle, whero
one large central polygonal pulley A is surrounded by a number of
pressure pulleys B. The main pulley (shown in the Drawing as being
placed on the crank shaft of a pair of steam engines) has a cylindrical
rim on which is bolted a tire consisting of one or more pieces having on
the outside a groove adapted to the size and shape of the rope. This
groove runs along the periphery of the pulley in such a manner as to

page_text: form the polygon with rounded corners, as previously described. The
pressure rollers or pulleys B are shewn as being circular in their
perephery, but they may also be constructed as polygons if desired.
They also have a groove on their periphery adapted to the wire rope, and
corresponding to the groove on the main pulley. The axles of the
pressure slicaves B turn in bearings C, fixed in a moveable frame D,
guided at the two pivots E and E' and in the cross bar F. This frame D
is acted upon by the springs G and G³, which can be adjusted to any
pressure required. The wire rope H passes over two guiding pulleys
I and I'¹ for the purpose of conducting it to and from the main
pulley A.
Instead of one large main pulley two or more smaller driving pulleys
may be used. If to each pressure pulley a driving pulley is connected
the arrangement will be in pairs as previously described. The method
of acting upon the rope will not be different to that shown in the
Drawing, whilst however I arrange the pairs of pulleys in a curvature
or straight line, as may be best adapted for the purpose.
On Slicet 2 is represented the second part of this Invention, i.e., the
machinery moving the wire rope by two endless chains in connection
with certain wedge-shaped pieces. Figure 1 represents a side clovation;
Figure 2, a vertical section (with the wheels partly in section on the line
a, b, Figure 1); and Figure 3, a plan partly in horizontal section.
A is the main driving pulley placed on the crank shaft of a pair of
steam engines. A', A", A", are three other chain pulleys of the same size
as A. The three latter are fixed on axles turning in bearings B¹, B", B
To stretch the chains in the beginning, and tó compensate for any
subsequent elongation of the same, the bearings B" and B are made
adjustable in a horizontal direction. The pulleys A and A' are geared
together by means of a pair of spur wheels C and C³, of equal diameter,
or by any other means, such as cranks and connecting rods, so as to ensure
equal speed of the two chains. The chains D and D¹ passing around the
pulleys A, A', A", A", are furthermore guided by the rollers E and E³, of
which there is such a number as to properly distribute the pressure on
the rope, and to ensure the attainment of an even motion of cach link of
the chain. The upper rollers are pressed down by adjustable springs F
which will allow the brasses of the axles of the same to risc in case a
splice or other inequality of the rope occurs. To the pairs of links of
the chains are fastened the wedge-shaped dies G, which are grooved_on

page_text: their working surface to correspond to the size and shape of the rope,'
and to ensure the proper entry into the bottom of the groove. In the
drawing the dies of the two chains are shown as being placed exactly
opposite cach other, but their relative position may be shifted by altering
that of the chain pulley A' to the spur wheel C³. This is done by a
screw H turning in bearings on the pulley A', and working in a
nut I in connection with the spur wheel C₁. Accordingly as this
screw is turned the chain pulley A' and with it the chain D¹ as well
as the dics G fastened thereon will move either to the left or the right,
and taking into consideration that the dies are made wedge-shaped, i.e.,
that the grooves on the face of the same are placed at an angle to the
working direction of the chains and the rope, the consequence of this
will be to decrease or to increase the pressure of the springs on the rope
simultaneously for all the points in question.
The machinery is shown as being placed on board of a boat for the
propulsion of the same, but it may be arranged in a stationary position
for any purpose where power is to be transmitted through a rope.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention with the
manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim,-
First. The application of polygonal pulleys or drums for the purpose
of transmitting power by means of a rope as herein described.
Second. The application of two endless chains combined with the
wedges or dies G, for the same purpose as herein described.
Third. The arrangement as herein described for simultaneously
changing the relative position of the wedges or dics G on the two
chains, for the purpose of adjusting the pressure on the rope.
In witness whereof, I, the said Carl Pieper, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of July in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.