IMPROVEMENTS IN ANCHORS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of Upper Terrace, Islington, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ANCHORS."
Sealed the 8th June 1855, and dated the 15th December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th December 1854.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of Upper Terrace, Islington, in the County of Middlesex,"
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ANCHORS," to be as follows:-
My improvements in anchors refer to that class of anchors which have the
flukes or arms jointed to the shank or stem, so that when the one fluke is
holding in the ground, the upper one comes down against the shank, and is
thereby less liable to foul than anchors having fixed flukes. These anchors
heretofore have had a horn or projection on the back of the fluke or arm,
which causes the under fluke to open out, and take hold of the ground.
This horn is objectionable, in so far as that the upper one presents an obstacle
liable to be fouled.
In my improvements I dispense with this projection by jointing the flukes
to the shank, with the joint in a position somewhat concentric with the arms

page_text: or flakes; that is to say, the arcs of the flukes may be described from the joint
pin as a centre, or nearly so, which has the effect of causing the flukes to roll,
as it were, on the ground, and thereby to open out the lower one. To effect
this, the flukes have a piece projecting from the inner arc, in the direction of
the shank, which carries the joint pin; the shank is shortened in proportion
to the length of this piece, before mentioned. The flukes require to be con-
siderably longer from tip to tip than the ordinary construction. Instead of
forging the joint piece solid with the flukes, a seperate triangular piece may
be used, the joint being at one angle, while the other angles are fixed to the
flukes by pins passing through them.
Another of my improvements in these anchors consists in constructing them
with two joints in the shank, that is, one at the end, in the usual manner,
where it is joined to the flukes or arms, and another joint some short distance
up the shank from that point, thus forming a short link between the main
shank and the flukes. This short link is so arranged that its upper end projects
beyond the joint some distance, so that it bears upon the palm before any strain
comes on the anchor, and keeps the palm off the shank in order to enter the
ground; but when subject to strain, it does not so act on the upper palm, which
comes down on the shank as usual, to prevent fouling. I also make the short
link without being prolonged, as described; but in order to assist the lower
fluke opening out, I limit the amount of motion on its joint with the flukes,
causing it to act somewhat in the manner of the anchor first described. If
thought desirable, a very small horn or projection may be added to these
anchors to render their holding more certain. These horns may, however, be
so formed as to avoid fouling.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of Upper Terrace, Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Clark, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ANCHORS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My improvements in anchors refer to that class of anchors which have the
flukes or arms jointed to the shank or stem, so that when the one fluke is
holding in the ground, the upper one comes down against the shank, and is
thereby less liable to foul than anchors having fixed flukes. These anchors
heretofore have had a large horn or projection on the back of the fluke or
arm, which causes the under fluke to open out, and take hold of the ground.
This horn is objectionable, in so far as that the upper one presents an obstacle
liable to be fouled.
In my improvements I dispense with this projection by jointing the flukes
to the shank, with the joint in a position somewhat concentric with the arms or
flukes; that is to say, the arcs of the flukes may be described from the joint
pin as a centre, or nearly so, which has the effect of causing the flukes to roll,
as it were, on the ground, and thereby to open out the lower one.
To effect
this, the flukes have a piece projecting from the inner arc, in the direction of
the shank, which carries the joint pin; the shank is shortened in proportion
to the length of this piece, before mentioned. The flukes require to be con-
siderably longer from tip to tip than the ordinary construction. Instead of
forging the joint piece solid with the flukes, a separate triangular piece may
be used, the joint being at one angle, while the other angles are fixed to the
flukes by pins passing through them.
Another of my improvements in these anchors consists in constructing them
with two joints in the shank, that is, one at the end, in the usual manner,

page_text: where it is joined to the flukes or arms, and another joint some short distance
up the shank from that point, thus forming a short link between the main
shank and the flukes; this short link is so arranged that its upper end projects
beyond the joint some distance, so that it bears upon the palm before any
strain comes on it, and keeps the palm off the shank in order to enter the
ground; but when subject to strain, it does not so act on the upper palm,
which comes down on the shank as usual, to prevent fouling. I also make
the short link without being prolonged, as described; but in order to assist the
lower fluke opening out, I limit the amount of motion on its joint with the
flukes, causing it to act somewhat in the manner of the anchor first described.
If thought desirable, a very small born or projection may be added to these
anchors to render its holding more certain. These horns may, however, be so
formed as to avoid fouling.
Fig. 1 of the Sheet of Drawings annexed represents a side view of an anchor
constructed according to my Invention; Fig. 2, a plan of the same; Fig. 3
represents the flukes transversely to Fig. 1; and Fig. 4, a view of the back
part of the arms or flukes. a, a, are the arms or flukes, which with the pieces
b, b, may be all forged in one piece, but for case of construction I make them
in separate pieces, placing one on either side of the arnis a, a, to which they
are securely riveted by pins or bolts c, c, passing through the whole; d is the
shank, which is jointed at e to the parts b, b, b, b, being received between
them, the joint pin e' passing through and securely connecting them together.
If the part b, b, is forged of a piece with the flukes, it should be in the plane
of the flukes, and consist of one thickness of metal, the shank having the
double or fork joint to receive it.
It will be observed that the holding part of the fluke is from the tip to the
junction with bat c, the part from c to c being always above the level of the
shank when holding. The joint e being somewhat near the centre of the arcs
of the flukes, the weight of the shank d resting thereon forms an equipoise,
or nearly so, for the fluke arms; therefore, when the cable strains, the anchor
will not be drawn along the ground in the position shown coloured at Fig. 1,
but will roll, and cause the lower fluke to open out, in the manner shown
dotted, when the anchor enters the ground. f, f, are two projections, placed
on the shank to receive the tip of the upper fluke, against which projections
it presses during the straining of the cable when holding in the ground; they
should be of sufficient breadth to ensure the tip of the fluke coming in contact
therewith. The projections f, f, by keeping the fluke some distance from the
shank, render less length necessary between the points c, c. Instead of using
two pieces b, b, b, b, bolted or riveted to a, a, one on either
side, the arms

page_text: a, a, may be divided in two parts to receive the limbs of b, b, between them,
which may be riveted or bolted thereto by through bolts, as before.
Fig. 5 represents another arrangement of my improvements in anchors;
Fig. 6, an end view of the same; while Fig. 7 is a plan of the short link g,
and part of the shank l, which, instead of the double link or limb piece b, b,
has only one link piece g; this may be forged in one piece with the flukes,
but in that case it has to be rendered of considerable strength at its junction
with the fluke arms h, h, which would also require to be somewhat longer
from tip to tip than here shown. I prefer, however, to form a joint at i, on
which the link g has a limited amount of motion by reason of the part k of
the link g, seen at Fig. 7, abutting against the inside of the arms; the extent
of its motion is shown by the position shown dotted in Fig. 5. The shank
is jointed to g at e, as before, upon which the flukes open out in either direc-
tion, as described. During the opening out of the lower fluke, the weight of
the shank is sustained on the joint pin e', which enables the flukes to roll to the
position shown dotted at a, and so to catch hold of and enter the ground.
The weight of the flukes h, h, when in the position shown coloured, produce
sufficient hold of the ground to cause the fluke to roll and open out when
strained by the cable. The second dotted position of this anchor shows it
holding, in which position it will be observed that the shank 7 and link g do
not assume a straight line. The link g is, however, not subject to excessive
s.rain by contact of point k, the pressure of the upper fluke on the shank / at
the point m tending to deflect the joint e towards the position here exhibited.
Fig. 8 represents a modification of the anchor shown at Fig. 5; and Fig. 9,
an end view of the same. The link g is jointed at i, as before; but in this
case has an extension o beyond joint e, which comes against the palms of the
anchor, thereby restricting the amount of its motion, there being no abuttment
at the double joint k, as described with reference to Fig. 5. The shank p has
a long double joint, as best seen at Fig. 10, between the limbs of which joint
the tail piece o is free to pass. The lined and coloured Figure represents the
position the anchor will most probably assume before holding; when strained
by the cable in this position, the tail o of link g will be brought down on the
lower palm, as seen dotted in this Figure, when the weight of the shank will
rest on the tip of the fluke or palm, and thereby facilitate the moving of the
flukes to the other positions of the anchor, shown dotted, and thus to enter and
hold the ground. Projecting pieces q, q, are formed on the palms as contact
points for o, to permit less motion than if permitted to move quite up to the
palms, in order to bring the weight of the shank to bear on the palm as soon
as possible. Figs. 11 and 12 represent side and back views of the arms or

page_text: flukes of Figs. 5 and 8. To avoid uncertainty in the opening of the flukes
of these anchors, a small horn may be formed on the back of the fluke, near
the broad part of the palm, taking care to make such horns of a form not
liable to foul a chain, or injure a ship's bottom on touching the anchor.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
it may be performed, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the con-
struction and use of anchors with a joint c, as herein-before described, and for
the purposes herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM CLARK. (L.S.)