IMPROVE- MENTS IN CAPSTANS, CABLE HOLDERS, AND CABble Stoppers
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Horatio Harfleld, of the Mansion House
Buildings, in the City of London, for the Invention of " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CAPSTANS, CABLE HOLDERS, AND CABble Stoppers.
Sealed the 4th May 1875, and dated the 11th March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Horatio Har-
field at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 11th March 1875.
I, WILLIAM Horatio HarfiELD, of the Mansion House Buildings, in
the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSTANS, CABLE HOLDERS, AND CABLE STOPPERS,"
to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention consists of an improved method of
constructing the pawl rim in capstans, now commonly made of cast
iron and provided with teeth for the pawls to catch against. This rim I
propose making of a solid ring of wrought iron, turning out a groove for
the pawls to travel in, and rivetting in teeth at intervals for the pawls to
catch against, or it may be formed by removing the superfluous metal

page_text: from a solid ring so as to leave recesses for the pawls to drop in the parts
of ring not removed forming the teeth.
The second part of my Invention consists in constructing the stops or
teeth of the chain wheels of capstans and cable holders of wrought iron
in place of cast iron as hitherto. These stops may be fixed in their
places in the usual manner, or I fix them by means of large shallow
bosses on their bases, which fit into recesses turned in the side plates of
cable holders. The stops are kept in their position by screws which pass
through the plates of chain wheels into the body of the stop.
method of fixing stops may be used when other material than wrought
iron is used.
This
The third part of my Invention consists of an improved chain cable
stopper.
Cable stoppers are commonly constructed in the following manner :—
The cable is caused to travel over a casting on which are two inclines
with a groove between them. From the top of the inclines there is a
sudden descent, into which every horizontal link of the chain drops as
it is hauled over. When it is required to release the chain a grooved
movable block sliding between guides is brought up by a lever, lifting
the horizontal link from the holding position presenting an inclined
surface in place of the sudden descent, over which the chain can
run.
In a stopper constructed according to this description I propose to
substitute for the sliding block a block hinged at one end, the other end
being raised or lowered by a cam worked by a lever.
It will be seen, however, that in using any stoppers of this description
the chain is deflected each time it is drawn over the inclines, and only
occupies its natural position or "direct lead." When the fixed projecting
shoulder of stopper is in a holding position this deflection causes a con-
siderable waste of power. To obviate this I make the stopper with a
movable shoulder, which can be raised into holding position between any
two horizontal links, the body of the stopper being clear of the chain, so
that it can pass over without being deflected. The movable shoulder
may be made either as a block sliding between guides or hinged at one
end and raised or lowered by a cam worked by a lever.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Horatio Harfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HORATIO HARFIELD, of the Mansion House Buildings, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Horatio Harfield, Her special
license that I, the said William Horatio Harfield, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Horatio
Harfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any timo
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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSTANS, CABLE HOLDERS, AND CABLE STOPPERS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Horatio Harfield, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describo 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
".
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Horatio Harfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to bo particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The first part of this Invention consists of an improved method of
constructing the pawl rim in capstans, now commonly made of cast iron.
and provided with teeth for the pawls to catch against. This rim I
propose making of a solid ring of wrought iron, turning out a groove for
the pawls to travel in, and rivetting in teeth at intervals for the pawls