IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' CAPSTANS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Biggleston, of Canterbury, in the
County of Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' CAPSTANS."
Sealed the 31st May 1867, and dated the 8th December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Biggleston
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th December 1866.
I, WILLIAM HENRY BIGGLESTON, of Canterbury, in the County of Kent,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' CAPSTANS," to be as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are to remove the tendency to torsion possessed
by spindles of capstans and to facilitate the working of capstans. In carrying
out these objects the gearing employed to drive the capstan is mounted in
framework bolted to the deck of the vessel, and the capstan barrel is mounted
loosely as usual on a fixed vertical spindle also secured to the deck of the
vessel. The driving of the capstan barrel is effected from the bottom instead
of the head as heretofore by the following arrangement:-On the lower end
of the barrel, which is free to revolve on its dead spindle as usual, I affix a spur
wheel, into which gears a spur pinion on the lower end of a vertical shaft
carried by the framework above-mentioned; at its upper end this shaft
carries two bevil wheels of different diameters, into which two bevil wheels
mounted on a cross shaft, and also of different diameters respectively take..

page_text: The bevil wheels carried by the cross shaft are made to slide freely thereon,
to bring one or other of them into action according to the speed or power
required to be transmitted to the capstan barrel, and hinged to brackets on
the framework near these bevil wheels are blocks which serve to keep their
respective bevil wheels in position when thrown into gear. The wheel being
slidden forward into gear is kept in place by inserting the block between the
boss of the wheel and the bearing carrying the cross shaft. To maintain the
position of the barrel against the strain of the weight which it is required to
raise it is fitted as usual with pawls which take into a concentric ring of
ratchet teeth secured to the deck. These pawls I fit with rods by which
they may be lifted out of action, and the rods I pierce to receive a pin which
will retain them in a raised position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Biggleston in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BIGGLESTON, of Canterbury, in the County of Kent, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Henry Biggleston, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry Biggleston, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Henry Biggleston, my executors, administrators, and assigns
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' CAPSTANS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Henry Biggleston, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Biggleston, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The objects of this Invention are to remove the tendency to torsion pos-
sessed by spindles of capstans, and to facilitate the working of capstans.
In carrying out these objects the gearing employed to drive the capstan
is mounted in framework bolted to the deck of the vessel and the capstan
barrel is mounted loosely as usual on a fixed vertical spindle also secured to
the deck of the vessel. The driving of the capstan barrel is effected from
the bottom instead of the head as heretofore.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the improved
ship's capstan, shewing also in end elevation the framework carrying the
gearing for working the same; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the gearing;
Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the capstan taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1, and
Fig. 4 is a plan of the catch or retaining wheel secured to the deck.
(and also of
A is the windlass barrel, to the upper end of which is bolted a cap of cast
iron a, the collar of which fits on to the end of the fixed spindle B; this
spindle is formed with a flange b, and it is made fast to the deck of the
vessel; surrounding the spindle and bearing upon the flange b is a spur wheel C,
the upper side of which is cast with a recess to receive the barrel A; this
barrel it will be understood is free to revolve on its dead spindle as usual.
Into the spur wheel C gears a spur pinion D, which is keyed to the lower
end of a vertical shaft E having its bearings in the framework F; this shaft
at its upper end has keyed to it two bevil wheels G, G', of different diameters,
into which two bevil wheels H, H', mounted on a cross shaft
different diameters) respectively, take. The bevil wheels are keyed to the
cross shaft I, which is made to slide freely within its bearings to bring one or
other of them into action according to the speed or power required to be
transmitted to the capstan barrel, and hinged to brackets on the framework
near these bevil wheels are blocks K which serve to keep their respective
bevil wheels in position when thrown into gear. The wheel and shaft being
slidden forward into gear is kept in place by inserting the block between the
boss of the wheel and the bearing carrying the cross shaft, as shewn at Fig. 2.
To maintain the position of the barrel against the strain of the weight whichi
it is required to raise it is fitted as usual with pawls L, L, which take into
a catch wheel or concentric ring of ratchet teeth M secured to the deck;
these pawls I fit with short rods or links which are free to play up and down

page_text: in vertical recesses cut for them in the lower end of the barrel, openings being
cast in the side of the wheel C to receive them; these rods or links I pierce,
to receive pins which are passed laterally through the spurs of the barrel,
and thus serve to retain the pawls in a raised position.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
the Construction of Ships' Capstans," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the arrangement above described for driving
ships' capstans and holding their pawls out of contact with the catch or
retaining wheel.
In witness whereof, I, the said. William Henry Biggleston, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
W. H. BIGGLESTON. (L.S.)