Improvements in Boat-detaching Apparatus.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 24th June, 1890-Accepted, 26th July, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Boat-detaching Apparatus.
I, EDWARD JACOB HILL of 11, Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the beat detaching gear for which former
Letters Patent were granted to me dated the 7th day of September 1888 (No. 12965)
the said gear consisting of hooks fixed in a fore and aft position at the bow and stern
of the boat for engagement with rings or shackles attached to the lower or running
blocks of the boat lowering tackles. In each of these hooks a plate is fitted to slide
in a fore and aft direction, the said plate being adapted to act as a mousing to close
the mouth of the hook when the tackle ring is engaged therewith and also as a
carrier to disengage the tackle ring from the hook in the operation of detaching the
boat.
The principal object of the present invention is to enable the hooks to be fitted
directly to, or close up against, the stem and stern posts or in sling chains in any
other position which could not be done with the hook described in my former patent,
in consequence of the locking device for the sliding carrier or mousing being at the
rear end of the hook.
The Invention has also for its object to make the locking device for the carrier self-
acting by gravity and to avoid liability of the carrier or mousing becoming fixed by
rust or dirt or otherwise.
According to my present invention, the sliding carrier or mousing does not extend
through the back of the hook as in the former case and the locking device consists of
a latch plate or its equivalent pivoted to the front end of the carrier or mousing and
adapted to engage with a stop at the front end of the lower forward extension of the
hook, the free end of this locking plate being attached to the fore and aft releasing
line which connects together the locking plates of the sliding carriers or mousings of
the hooks at the stem and stern of the boat. The sliding carrier or mousing is moved
inwards so as to close the hook by a line attached to a stud at the underside of the
sliding carrier and passing around a guide pin in the forward extension of the hook,
said line being secured to a cleat so as to prevent the movement of the sliding carrier
until released at the proper time. This lower part of the hook is bifurcated or slotted
to give passage to the cord and to the stud to which the cord is attached, which stud
acts as a stop to limit the motion of the sliding carrier or mousing the lower edge of
the latter being fitted to slide in guides in the slotted or bifurcated part.
Dated this 1st day of March 1890.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Boat-detaching Apparatus.
I, EDWARD JACOB HILL of 11, Victoria Street in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My Invention relates to improved boat detaching gear. The said gear comprises
hooks fixed in a fore and aft position at the bow and stern of the boat for engagement
with rings or shackles attached to the lower or running blocks of the boat lowering

page_text: tackles. In each hook a notched plate is fitted to slide in a horizontal direction in
the plane of the book, the said plate being adapted to act as a "mousing" to close
the mouth of the hook when the tackle ring is engaged therewith and also as a carrier
to disengage the tackle ring.from.the hook in the operation of detaching the boat.
The said hooks may be fixed directly to, or close up against, the stem and stern posts
of the boat or in sling chains or by keel bolts and the said mousing plate is provided
with a self-engaging locking device whereby premature disengagement of the tackle
from the hook is prevented and means are provided of releasing the said locking device
at the proper moment, all as hereinafter described.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this spécifi-
cation, wherein
Figure 1 is a part sectional side elevation of one of the hooks fixed to the stern
post of the boat, shewing the tackle ring engaged therein and secured by the mousing
plate and its locking device.
Figure 2 is a similar view, shewing the operation of the mousing plate as a carrier
to disengage the said ring from the hook.
Figure is a perspective view of a boat suspended from the davits ready for
lowering.
The same letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.
A A are the hooks respectively fixed by a tail bolt to the stem and stern posts of
the boat, the said hooks facing each other, as shewn in figure 3. B B are the rings
or shackles attached to the running blocks C of the davit tackles, and D is a notched
plate fitted to slide through a horizontal mortise a in the central plane of the body of
the hook A. This plate is adapted to act as a mousing" to imprison the ring B in
the hook, in which position the notch d of the said plate comes beneath the bend
of the hook, as shewn in figure 1. The plate D is guided in its sliding motion by
its edges sliding in grooves in the nose a¹ and in the lower forward extension A¹ of
the hook and the motion of said plate is limited by a lug dat the underside of the
plate working in a slot in this extension A' and coming against a stop formed by a
roller e mounted on a cross pin at the end of this slot.
The locking device consists of a pawl for its equivalent, pivoted to the front end of
the mousing plate D and adapted to drop into engagement with the stop e at the
front end of the arm A¹ of the hook, when the plate D is in the normal position
shewn in figure 1. To the free end of this locking pawl is attached either separate
hand lines one for the pawl of each hook, or a line running fore and aft of the
boat connected to the locking pawl of the one hook and passes through a sheave
attached to the pawl of the other hook. When so connected together by a fore and
aft line, the pawls f engage with their stops e in such manner that any tension on
the fore and aft line caused by a downward strain, such as the weight of a man
upon the line for example, will not be able to disengage the pawls from their stops;
consequently the pawls are not liable to be accidentally disengaged. To effect such
disengagement it is necessary when applying tension to the line, to raise it at or about
its middle so as to lift the pawls out of engagement and enable the carrier plates D to
be drawn outwards so as to carry the tackle rings B clear of the hooks A, which it is
obvious cannot take place until the boat is waterborne. The sliding plate D is moved
inwards so as to act as a mousing for the hook A, by a line h attached to the pawl for
to the lug d' at the underside of the sliding plate D and passing through a guide i,
the line if attached to d¹ passing in the slot of A' and around a guide therein. The
said line may be held or be made fast to a cleat until the order is given to lower the
boat, and the line h from the one end of the boat may be passed through a sheave on.
the end of the line ' from the other end of the boat so that one pull will operate the
plates D of both books simultaneously.
I have represented the two hooks as being arranged to point in opposite directions,
but I do not limit myself to this arrangement which is only obligatory when the hooks
are fixed to the stem and stern posts as described. When they are attached to the
boat by keel bolts or sling chains in the usual manner, the said hooks would be in the:
usual position at about the first and last "thwarts" (seats) and in that case both

page_text: hooks may point in the same direction, that is to say towards the bow. When thus
arranged the fore and aft line would connect the locking latch of the stern hook to
the end of the mousing plate of the bow hook and a line would be attached to the
locking pawl of the bow hook and pass round a sheave attached to the stem of the
boat and be pulled by the coxswain at the stern of the boat, when the boat is water-
borne, at which moment there is no strain on either of the davit tackles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is ;
1. In a boat-detaching gear, the combination, with the hook A, of the notched
plate D fitted to slide therein and to act as a mousing and carrier, as specified,
and of the pawl pivoted to the said plate and adapted to fall into engagement with
the hook, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. In a boat detaching gear, the combination, with the hook, of the notched
plate fitted to slide therein and to act as a mousing and carrier, the latch pivoted
thereto and adapted to engage with a stop in the slotted lower extension of the hook
and of a line for drawing the notched plate into position to act as a mousing for the
hook, substantially as specified.
3. In a boat-detaching gear, the combination, with the hooks at or near the stem
and stern each fitted with a sliding notched plate adapted to act as a mousing and
carrier and each notched plate having a pawl pivoted thereto for engagement with the
hook, as specified, of a fore and aft line connecting the two pawls for releasing
them and operating the carrier plates of the two hooks simultaneously, as specified.
Datou t
21st day of Jun 1990.
JACOT QUne to for the now
E. J. HILL.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.