IMPROVEMENTS IN SHACKLES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Flint Ramsay, of Devon House, Manor Road, Forest Hill,
in the County of Kent, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SHACKLES."
Sealed the 15th November 1878, and dated the 12th September 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Flint Ramsay at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th September 1878.
FLINT RAMSAY, of Devon House, Manor Road, Forest Hill, in the County of
Kent, Gentleman. " IMPROVEMENTS IN SHACKLES."
In the Specifications of former Patents, No. 53072 and 44278, shackles are described
with a non-detachable locking bolt. In these shackles the bolt was provided with
a locking stud projecting from it, which, when the bolt was locked, entered a recess
in the outer side face of the end of one of the arms of the shackle, and was held in
this recess by a spiral spring applied to the neck of the head of the bolt, or by a
flat spring applied to the end of the bolt; and to release the bolt it was necessary
to first press inwards the head of the bolt in order to free the stud from the recess
in which it was previously locked, and then to give a half-turn to the bolt to allow
of its being withdrawn. In place of thus using springs to hold the bolt in its
locked position I form on the outer side face of the end of one of the arms and
around the hole through which the bolt passes two inclined planes. When the bolt
is turned to lock it the stud on the bolt slides along the face of one of the inclines,
drawing the shackle arms somewhat closer together until it reaches and passes
beyond the higher end of the plane. The shackle arms then spring back to their
original position and lock the bolt. To unlock it the bolt is continued to be turned
in the same direction, and passes along the other incline until it again passes beyond
its higher end; the arms then regain their original position, and the bolt is in its
unlocked position and may be withdrawn,

page_text: In place of using a stud pin for locking bolt an enlargement at the end of the
bolt
may I have a screw thread cut upon it to screw into a corresponding thread in
the hole in the shackle arm. When the bolt is unscrewed and drawn back the
enlarged screw end may be received into an enlarged recess around the hole in
the end of the other arm, so that the space between the arms is then left perfectly
free.
In some cases in order to prevent the shackle being removed from the stay after
it has been rove through it, the two ends of the ring forming the body of the
shackle may be brought nearly together, leaving only sufficient space between them
to allow the arms to be drawn inwards to the extent required, as before mentioned,
to allow them to serve as springs to lock the bolt.
For boom ring shackles or shackles with an eye in them, or other such forms
of shackles, it will be necessary to cut an opening through the ring in between the
arms of the shackles to allow the arms to spring inwards for the purpose before
explained.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Flint Ramsay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th March
1879.
FLINT RAMSAY, of Devon House, Manor Road, Forest Hill, in the County of
Kent, Gentleman. IMPROVEMENTS IN SHACKLES."
"
In the Specifications of former Patents, No. 53072 and 44278, shackles are described
with a non-detachable locking bolt. In these shackles the bolt was provided with
a locking stud projecting from it, which, when the bolt was locked, entered a recess
in the outer side face of the end of one of the arms of the shackle, and was held in
this recess by a spiral spring applied to the neck of the head of the bolt, or by a
flat spring applied to the end of the bolt; and to release the bolt it was necessary
to first press inwards the head of the bolt in order to free the stud from the recess
in which it was previously locked, and then to give a half-turn to the bolt to allow
of its being withdrawn. In place of thus using springs to hold the bolt in its
locked position I form on the outer side face of the end of one of the arms and
around the hole through which the bolt passes two inclined planes. When the bolt
is turned to lock it the stud on the bolt slides along the face of one of the inclines
drawing the shackle arms somewhat closer together until it reaches and passes
beyond the higher end of the plane. The shackle arms then spring back to their
original position and lock the bolt. To unlock it the bolt is continued to be turned
in the same direction, and passes along the other incline until it again passes beyond
its higher end; the arms then regain their original position, and the bolt is in its
unlocked position and may be withdrawn.
Figure 1 shows a side view, and Figure 2 an edge view of a shackle constructed
as above described.
A is the body of the shackle with two arms B, B; C is the non-detachable bolt
with a locking stud c projecting from it at its end. The bolt passes through holes
near the end of the arms, and on the outer face of one of the arms two inclined
planes b, b, are formed around the hole for the locking stud to act against, as above
described.
The Drawings show the bolt in its locked position.
D is a slot or stud-way formed through the arm for the stud of the bolt to pass
through when the bolt has been turned into its unlocked position. In the other
arm of the shackle there is a similar slot D' cut entirely through the arm. When
in making the shackle the bolt has been passed through this arm the outer end of
the slot D¹ is closed by a key or wedge E driven in fast, as shown, or rivetted in
order to prevent the bolt from being detached from the other parts of the shackle.
In place of the through slots D, D', being away from the outer extremities of
the arins, as shown at Figures 1 and 2, they might be made as shown at Figures 3
and 4, with these slots between the bolt and the ends of the shackle arms. In all
cases, however, where the shackles are liable to be subject to heavy strains I prefer
to form them in the manner shown at Figures 1 and 2.
By forming the slot D' entirely through the arm and closing the end of the slot
after the bolt has been passed through the hole in the arm, I am enabled to use a
solid bolt with a locking stud projecting from and formed in one piece with it, and
am so enabled to use a locking stud of considerable strength, and yet still have the
bolt non-detachable from the shackle. This way of forming the shackle so that
bolts having projecting locking studs formed in one piece with them may be used,
is applicable not only to shackles in which the bolts are locked in the manner
shown at Figures 1 and 2, but also to other shackles formed with non-detachable
bolts, as described in the Specifications before mentioned.
The shackle shown at Figure 1 is shown as applied to securing a sail to a wire
stay. F is the sail sewn to a bolt rope G; I is a brass grummet or eyelet secured
to the sail for the bolt of the shackle to pass through; K is the wire rope stay.
In shackles of small size where the strength of the locking stud is not required

page_text: to be great the shackle may be formed in the manner shown at Figures 5 and 6.
In this case the locking stud is composed of a pin c screwed or fixed into the bolt C
after this bolt has been inserted through one arm of the shackle, and the slot D¹ is
not made to pass entirely through the arm, but is made only on the inner face of
the arm, and of sufficient depth for the locking stud to lie in when the bolt is
drawn back, as described in the Specifications before mentioned.
In some cases in order to prevent a shackle formed to open and close, as herein-
before described, being removed from the stay after it has been rove through it, and
to prevent the stay and bolt rope from ever chafing against one another, the two
ends of the ring forming the body of the shackle may be brought nearly together,
leaving only sufficient space between them to allow the arms to spring and be
drawn inwards to the extent required, as before mentioned, to allow them to serve
as springs to lock the bolt. A shackle formed in this manner is shown at Figure 7.
The body A of the shackle may either be made in one piece, or it may be jointed
together with a knuckled joint at A¹ to facilitate its being placed on to the stay.
The space a between the two ends of the ring allows the arms to be drawn or
sprung inwards; the construction of the joint A¹, if there be a joint, prevents the
ends of the ring from coming closer together than shown by the Drawing, except
by the springing or drawing together of the metal forming the two parts or halves
of the ring.
For boom ring shackles or D shackles with an eye in them, or other such forms
of shackles, it will similarly be necessary to cut an opening through the ring in
between the arms of the shackles to allow the arms to be sprung or drawn inwards
for the purpose before explained. An illustration of this is shown at Figure 8.
In place of using a stud pin for locking the bolt an enlargement at the end of
the bolt may have a screw thread cut upon it to screw into a corresponding thread
in the hole in the shackle arm. When the bolt is unscrewed and drawn back the
enlarged screw end may be received into an enlarged recess around the hole in
the end of the other arm, so that the space between the arms is then left perfectly
free. The bolt and outer ends of the arms of a shackle formed in this manner are
shown at Figure 9. When a shackle is formed in this manner the ring or head of
the locking bolt may be secured to the end of the bolt after the bolt has been
inserted into its place through the holes in the shackle arms. Or in place of this
construction the bolt, together with its ring or head, may be formed in one piece,
and the outer ends of both arms of the shackle be formed as shown at Figure 10,
so that the screw thread on the bolt may pass through one of them and screw into
the other. In this case after the bolt has been inserted into its place its withdrawal
from the shackle may be prevented by wedges or stop pieces E driven in fast or
rivetted in place, as in the shackle shown at Figures 1 and 2.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I would have it understood that I claim,-
First. The construction of shackles with non-detachable bolt arranged to lock
and unlock substantially in the manner herein-before described, and illustrated by
Figures 1 to 8.
Second. The construction of shackles with non-detachable bolt arranged to lock
and unlock substantially in the manner herein-before described, and illustrated by
Figures 9 and 10.
In witness whereof, I, the said Flint Ramsay, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-nine.
FLINT RAMSAY. (L.S.)