IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANCHORS, AND APPENDAGES TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Ruston, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Coachmaker, for, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
Sealed the 6th June 1856, and dated the 19th December 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Ruston at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
December 1855.
I, RICHARD RUSTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Coach-
maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANCHORS, AND APPENDAGES TO BE USED THEREWITH,"
to be as follows:
My Invention consists, firstly, in giving elasticity to the shanks of anchors
in the following manner:-The said shank consists of a rod of metal, having
a tube fitting on its outside, there being sufficient space between the outside of
the cylindrical rod and the interior of the tube to permit of a helical or coiled
spring placed on the said rod to work freely in the said tube.
The said spring bears at its lower end upon a flange or shoulder on the
bottom of the rod, and at its upper end is bears against an internal shoulder
in the tube. The said tube is open both at bottom and top, and the flukes
of the anchor are situated at the bottom of the said tube. When the rod has
been introduced into the tube, the hole at the bottom may be temporarily

page_text: closed by a screw plug. The stock is made independent of the shank, and is
attached thereto by sliding on the upper part, and being fixed by a cotter, the
said stock can at any time be removed from the shank; a swivel link is con-
nected with the top of the rod by a screw nut. On removing the said screw
nut the said link may be removed, the stock taken off the shank, and the
central rod withdrawn from the tube carrying the flukes. As the cable is
attached to the rod, and the flukes to the tube sliding upon it, the anchor is
capable of lengthening by the application of any force greater than that of the
spring, and the said lengthening power in the anchor peculiarly fits it for
resisting sudden strains.
My Invention consists, secondly, in the use of a tube carrying a helical or
coiled spring, for the purpose of giving a yielding power to the cable in the
following manner:-Instead of proceeding from the windlass direct to the
anchor, I make the cable proceed in the opposite direction, pass over a pulley,
and return to the anchor. The pulley over which the cable passes is connected
with the coiled spring, and the spring with the vessel; when any sudden strain
is put upon the cable, the pulley over which it passes yields, and prevents any
inconvenience therefrom:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Ruston in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2
16th June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
RUSTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Coachmaker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
of our
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Richard Ruston, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Ruston, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Richard Ruston, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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

page_text: THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANCHORS; AND APPENDAGES TO BE USED THEREWITH," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Ruston,. 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 per-
formed, 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.
i
_ :
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Ruston, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof,, that is to say :-
"
to
my
i
My Invention consists, firstly, in giving elasticity to the shanks. of anchors,
in the manner illustrated in Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing; the
said Figure 1 representing, in vertical section, an anchor constructed according.
Invention. a is the shank of the anchor, consisting of a.rod of metal,
on the lower end of which the head or shoulder b.is formed'; c is a metal tube,
in which the shank a is enclosed; the said tube.c is contracted at top, so as to
form the shoulder d...e is a helical or coiled spring, situated upon the shank a,
and occupying the space between the said shank and the tube c; the said
spring e bears at its lower end against the head or shoulder 6 on the shank a,
The flukes of
and its upper end bears against the shoulder d of the tube c.
the anchor-are formed on the bottom the tube c. The shank a is intro-
duced into the tube c at the bottom, and the lower end of the tube c is after-
wards closed by a plug f. 9 is a washer, of india-rubber or other elastic
substance, situated on the upper part of the shank a; the said washer g fits
the tube c tightly, and prevents water gaining access to the spring e. The
stock of the anchor is made separately from the tube c, and is attached thereto
by sliding on the upper square or angular part marked i, to which it can be
affixed by a cotter or otherwise; the said stock can at any time be removed
from the anchor. A swivel link k is connected to the top of the rod a by a
screw nut . By removing the screw nut the link k may be taken from the
rod a, and the said rod withdrawn from the tube c at the bottom thereof.
the cable is attached to the rod a, and the flukes of the anchor to the tube c,
the anchor is capable of lengthening by the application of any force greater
than that of the spring e, and the lengthening power in the said anchor
peculiarly fits it for resisting sudden strains.
As:
My Invention consists, secondly, in the use of a helical or other spring, for
the purpose
of giving a yielding power to the cables of anchors Figure 2

page_text: represents this part of my Invention in plan, and Figure 3 represents the
same in elevation. m is a tube fixed to the deck of the vessel; n is a helical
spring, bearing at one end against a shoulder on the open end of the tube m,
and at the other against the head or flange p on the rod o. A chain 9 passing
over the pulley r is hooked to the rod o; the loose end of the chain q may be
hooked to the cable.s, as. represented, when the said cable s will yield when
any sudden strain is put upon it. The cables itself may pass over the pulley r
and the rod o be hooked directly to the said cable; but I prefer the arrange-
ment represented in the Drawing. Instead of using a helical or coiled spring
for the purpose of permitting the cable to yield, I sometimes use a spring
resembling a carriage spring, as represented at t, in Figure 2. A chain u
proceeding from the spring t may be passed over the pulley r and hooked to
the cable's, when a yielding power will be communicated to the cables by the
said spring t. The pulley r may be attached to the deck of the vessel by a
chain or otherwise.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim
as my Invention,-
Firstly, giving elasticity to the shanks of anchors by a helical or coiled
spring, as herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, giving elasticity or a yielding power to cables by temporarily
connecting springs thereto, as herein described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Ruston, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
RICHARD RUSTON. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.