IMPROVEMENTS IN MA- RINERS' COMPASSES.
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lilley, junior, of Jamaica Terrace, Lime-
house, in the County of Middlesex, Nautical and Mathematical
Instrument Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
RINERS' COMPASSES.".
Sealed the 11th March 1854, and dated the 12th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lilley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th September 1853.
I, JOHN LILLEY, junior, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MARINERS' COMPASSES" to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in a new mode of suspending and connect-
ing mariners' compasses to the decks and other parts of ships &.
steam vessels where such instruments are used. The mode hitherto :
practised of effecting this has been by fixed axes attached to the bin-
nacle, the objection to, which is that the card of the compass is subject
to considerable oscillation from the pitching and rolling of the vessel,
and the instrument does not therefore indicate correctly the course in
which the vessel is steering. The object and intention of this Inven-..
tion is to remedy this objection by the use & application to mariners'

page_text: compasses of india-rubber in lieu of such said fixed axes, by which
the oscillations of the cards are prevented; and the indications of the
instrument are consequently rendered more perfect than by the use of
fixed axos, as above stated. I
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Lilley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN LILLEY, junior, of Jamaica Terrace, in the County of Middlesex,
Nautical and Mathematical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, IIer heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said John Lilley, Her special licence
that I, the said John Lilley, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Lilley, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times 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 MARINERS' Cox-
PASSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Lilley, 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 John Lilley, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say\

page_text: My Invention relates to a now method of supporting or suspending
mariners' compasses in the binnacles on the decks and other parts of
ships and steam vessels. The method hitherto practised of effecting
this object has been to, aflix axes to the outer ring of the gimbal of the
said compasses, and to support the same in sockets attached to the
binnacle. The objection to this method of supporting or suspending
the said compasses is that the pitching and rolling motion and tremor
of the ship or vessel is.imparted direct to the outer ring of the gimbal,
and thus the correct working of the instrument is not only impeded,
but also the card appears indistinct and difficult to read, in consequence
of the oscillation or tremulous motion communicated thereto by the
motion and vibration of the vessel. My Invention is intended to
remedy this defect in the method of suspension, and consists in. with-
drawing the fixed axes, and attaching or suspending the outer ring of
the said gimbal by means of bands of india-rubber, one end of which
is attached to the outer ring; and the other to the sides of the binnacle,
the said bands making an angle of about 70 degrees with the horizon.
These clastic bands serve as non-conductors of motion, and by these
means, although the binnacle itself partakes of the motion and tremor
of the ship or vessel, the card remains perfectly steady and horizontal,
and free to move in any direction, according to the course in which the.
vessel is steered. I would here remark that instead of suspending the
gimbal in this manner by means of india-rubber bands, the same end
may be attained by supporting it by means of metallic springs, although.
the action of this arrangement would not be so smooth and certain.
But in order more fully to explain and ascertain the naturo of my
said Invention of improvements in mariners' compasses, and the method
of carrying the same into practical effect, I have annexed hereunto a
Sheet of Drawings illustrative of the same, and have marked thercon
figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the fol-
lowing description thereof, that is to say:-Figure 1, in the Drawing
annexed is a vertical transverse section of a mariner's compass and
part of a binnacle, with my Invention shown as applied thereto, drawn
about half size; and Figuro 2, is a plan view of the same, with the top
of the binnacle removed. Similar letters of reference are marked upon
corresponding parts of the apparatus in both of these Figures, in so far

page_text: as such parts appear or can be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
The sides of the binnacle are marked a, a; and b, b, is the lantern;
c, c, is the outer ring of the gimbal which is usually supported by fixed
axes working in sockets attached to the binnacle a, a. Instead of
these axes, I suspend the rings c, c, of the gimbal by means of bands d, d,
of vulcanized india-rubber, one end of each band being affixed to the
said ring, and the other to one of the sides of the binnacle a, a. And I
may here observe that I prefer making such bands about two inches
and a half in length, and so arranging them that they shall make an
angle of about seventy degrees with the horizon, and by thus having an
elastic connection between the binnacle and the compass, and placing
the point of suspension above the same, the oscillating motion of the
vessel and binnacle is not imparted thereto, and the card e, e, remains
perfectly steady, although, as before stated, the same object may be im-
perfectly attained by supporting the ring c, c, by metallic springs from
below.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention of
Improvements in Mariners' Compasses," together with the manner of
carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion,
that I hereby declare my Invention to consist in, and I claim, suspend-
ing or supporting the outer ring of the gimbal of such said compasses.
by means of elastic bands or metallic springs, in order that the move-
ment or vibration of the vessel may not be communicated or imparted
to the card.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lilley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN LILLEY, JUN. (L.S.)
Witness,
HENRY ALLWRIGHT,
Clerk to Alex Prince,
4, Trafalgar Square.
a