Improvements in Raising, Holding, and Disengaging Gear for Boats Carried by Vessels.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Aug., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 26th May, 1893-Accepted, 26th Aug., 1893
Improvements in Raising, Holding, and Disengaging Gear for Boats
Carried by Vessels.
I, WILLIAM HARPER of 28 Mandeville Street, Walton, Liverpool in the County
of Lancaster, Ship's Officer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
This invention has for its object a boat raising, holding and disengaging apparatus
which shall not be liable to the various defects of existing arrangements, which are
cither to let one end of the boat loose before the other, or else liability to be
disengaged by accident.
By my invention the boat is suspended from both falls and cannot be disengaged
therefrom except by the movement of a lever or its equivalent which operates
simultaneously suitably formed catches at both ends of the boat, whereby the said
catches come out of gear and the boat is absolutely bound to slip off.
In carrying out my invention I provide a spring or weighted clutch, catch or jaw
at each end of the boat. These clutches are simultaneously operated by a lever or
its equivalent and connecting rods so as to open and close whereby each clutch can
be simultaneously closed to engage the falls, or opened to be released from the
same. The falls may each be provided with a tapered gooseneck to facilitate their
being engaged by the clutches, and at the extremity thereof with an eye. These
eyes each engage a hook at the end of a rope or wire which passes over pulleys
at the bottom of the boat and is secured to one arm of a bell crank lever. The
hooks aforesaid are arranged to be readily disengaged from the eyes when
required.
+
The mode of action is as follows:-
To raise the boat from the chocks the tackle is pulled tight and fastened to the
davits in the usual way, in which condition the long arms of the bell crank levers
are raised ready for action. The said arms are now pulled down by means of lines
or arms raising the boat clear of the chocks. Tapered plugs are fitted to the lever
lines for stopping the plug holes from the outside instead of the inside of the boat.
By operating the lever the clutches engage the falls, holding the boat raised above
the chocks and any amount of pulling of the boat will not enable it to drop down
until the clutches are again disengaged. The hooks aforesaid can now be released
from the eyes at the end of the falls, preferably by pulling them out of engage-
ment. The davits are swung round and the boat is now ready to be released. This
is easily accomplished by moving the lever whereby the catches simultaneously
release the falls at each end of the boat and completely detach the boat from
engagement with the vessel.
Each davit may be provided with a lever above the main deck by which they
can be swung round into position for lowering or stowing the boat. The ordinary
davit guides which are so apt to get foul of the falls and occupy a considerable
time in manipulation are therefore entirely dispensed with. Brackets for engaging
the said davit levers may be provided in the framework of the vessel to hold the
davits in the desired position.
I believe that by means of my invention a boat can be raised from the chocks,
swung out and lowered into the water in less than one minute.

page_text: One great advantage of my invention is that there are no hooks or eyes liable
to foul whilst releasing the boats which is another cause of serious accidents.
Dated this 25th day of August 1892.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Per John Hayes,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Raising, Holding, and Disengaging Gear for Boats
Carried by Vessels.
I, WILLIAM HARPER of 28 Mandeville Street, Walton, Liverpool in the
County of Lancaster, Ship's Officer, 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:—
This invention has for its object a boat raising, holding and disengaging
apparatus not liable to the various defects of existing arrangements.
My invention is best described by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which—
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation;
Figure 2 a transverse elevation showing the chocks, davit, etcetera ;
"
Figure 3 is another view of chocks showing them diseng ged and pulled over:
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of part of the boat ;
Figure 5 plan of same:
Figure 6 eleration of windlass:
Figure 7 plan of same;
Figure 8 two views of the pulley and holding device on the falls :
Figure 9 two views of the clutch mechanism, and
Figure 10 two views of the lever for holding or disengaging the clutch.
By my invention, I suspend the boat from both falls in such manner that it cannot
be disengaged therefrom except by the movement of a lever or its equivalent
which operates simultaneously suitably formed catches or clutches at both ends of
the boat, whereby the said catches come out of gear, and the boat is absolutely
bound to slip oft.
In these drawings-
A A are the davits, B falls, C chocks, D boat resting thereon, E windlass barrel,
bell crank lever for raising the bolt and withdrawing the chock fastening.
GG clutches for holding the boat on the falls, H. lever for actuating the same,
I long rod attached to the levers H at both ends of the boat and actuated by
handle J. Kcatch for holding handle in position. eye bolt useful for attaching
the falls to, when the patent apparatus is not working, L (Figure 2) ratchet and
pawl on davit to prevent it swinging back. M handle for swinging the davit.
Going more into detail, the falls pass round preferably a single pulley m which is
fixed on a rod m³ on which is fixed a ball N and eye n. The eye can be attached
by means of a hook to the boat by means of eye bolt & but preferably the ball N
is passed between the two clutch pieces and is held in the conical hiatus O
between them. The clutches are mounted in upright stays P (Figure 4) so as to
hold these two parts G together and cause them to clasp the ends, but allow them
to separate when pressure is applied in order to allow the weight of the boat on the
ball to cause the ball to push the two parts G aside. The lever H set forth in
greater detail in Figure 10 is used to lock the parts G. By pulling the handle J
in the direction of the arrow, the loop or eye on lever H is caused to come
forward and embrace the parts G G close to the centre, they are then unable to
open. The handle J is kept in this locked position
comes over the hole when a pin is inserted.
this way is lowered till it rests on the chocks C.
by swivelling the part K till it
The boat hanging by the falls in
These chocks are hinged so that

page_text: they can fall in a direction longitudinal to the boat. They are kept from falling
in the following manner-In Figure 3 they are shown falling down on the hinge.
Attached however to each of them is a T piece Q, this has a slot or hole in the
end and through the slot eyes S S on the deck enter the rod U which has two
hooks thereon, which, when the rod is slid forward, enter these eyes above the
T piece and so hold the blocks in position. When, however, the handle F is
pulled down into the position shown, the rope pulls the bar U until the lock is
undone and the chocks can fall.
A.
Wis the bed plate for supporting the winch, W' bell crank handle and shaft
with bevel wheels on inner end for working the spare wheel and pinion W².
suitable brake is provided for locking the drum E or checking its motion when the
boat is being lowered into the water.
In launching a boat, the drum Cis locked by the brake. The long arm of the
bell crank lever F is now pressed down, the third arm F¹ to which a friction
pulley Vis attached rises and raises the end of the boat D, the other end of the
boat is raised in a similar manner. The chocks can now fall and the boat is swung
out by means of handle M, while the pawl L being in position prevents the boat
from swinging back. When the boat is in the right position for launching, the
pressure of the brake is eased off the drum E, so as to allow the latter to revolve
with the weight of the boat; the falls are thus lowered till the boat strikes the
water; when on an even keel a person in command pushes back the lever J into
the position shown in the drawings, while at the same time a slight pull is brought
to bear on the falls, the ball N, pressing against the top of the conical hiatus O,
pushes the parts G aside until it is clear of them. This takes place simultaneously
at both ends of the boat and the latter is freed.
By means of the brake, the boat can be stopped at any point in its descent and
lowered at any desired speed. If from any cause the man has to leave the brake
whilst lowering the boat, the brake is preferably so arranged as gradually to run
itself up tight and bring the boat to a standstill.
To place the boat again on the chocks the eye n is hooked onto a convenient
hook on the boat, say one at the end of the bar, at k, the boat is then raised by the
two davits, hooked one to each end, it is swung into position, the chocks Care
raised and secured, and it is then lowered on to them. The ball N is now placed
between the pieces G and the lever J pulled back and locked in position thus
causing the eye of lever F to lock the two clutches G G and hold the ball N
tight between them. Each davit is preferably provided with a lever M above the
main deck by which it can be swung round into position for lowering or stowing
the boat. The ordinary davit guys which are so apt to get foul of the falls and
occupy a considerable time in manipulation are therefore entirely dispensed with.
Brackets for engaging the said davit levers may be provided in the framework of
the vessel to hold the davits in any desired position, any wellknown clamping
device being adopted for this purpose. I believe that by my invention a boat can
be raised from the chocks, swung out and lowered into the water in less than a
minute, and one great advantage of my invention is that no hooks or eyes liable to
foul are used whilst releasing the boats, the fouling of hooks and eyes being a very
serious cause of accidents.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In a boat raising, holding and lowering device, the combination of a catch on
the falls, a clutch catching on this catch, and a mechanism worked by a lever or
other hand device which can itself be locked, locking the clutch so as to prevent it
opening until the lever or its equivalent is unlocked, substantially as described.
2. The apparatus for relaasing the boat at both ends simultaneously substantially
as herein described and illustrated.

page_text: 3 In a boat raising and lowering mechanism, the arrangement of bell crank
lever FF substantially as and for the purposes specified.
4. The combination with a davit of the handle M and a pawl & pawl wheel L
fixed to the davits, substantially as and for the purposes described.
Dated this 25th day of May 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, and London, Patent Agents.