IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES TO BE USED ON BALR LEARN USED ON BOARD FISHING VESSELS FOR FACILITATING THE OPERATION OF SEA FISHING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Leach, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES TO BE USED ON
BALR LEARN A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Leach at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
29th January 1873.
I, GEORGE LEACH, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES TO BE USED
ON BOARD FISHING VESSELS FOR FACILITATING THE OPERATION OF SEA FISHING," to
be as follows:-
In sea fishing with very long nots, such as are used for catching
herrings, mackerel, and many other kinds of sca-fish, or with long

page_text: lengths of line provided with numerous hooks, as are sometimes employed
for catching other kinds of fish, the labour of hauling in and storing
away the hundreds or thousands of yards of line is very great. One of
the principal objects of my Invention is to dispense with a great part of
the manual labour, and substitute therefor mechanical appliances which
may be driven by steam power.
The fishing-boats are to be provided with auxiliary removable screw
propellors, which will be driven by the steam engine, and the latter may
also be made to pump air or water into the fish well in which the fish,
when taken and removed from the lines, are deposited. The water in
the fish well of ordinary fishing-boats communicates with the water
outside the vessel, and when the latter is in motion the water in the
well will be constantly flowing in and out and therefore changing, but
if the vessel is becalmed the water in the well will soon be deprived of
its oxygen and be unable to support life and the fish will consequently
dic. It is important, therefore, to keep the water well acrated or renewed
in order to preserve the fish alive and fresh while being conveyed from
the fishing ground to the market, and this is done by causing the engine
to pump air or water into the well. The most laborious part of the
operation of fishing is shooting the nets or casting the lines or dropping
the trawl beam where the fish are supposed to abound, hauling in the
nets, rope, the long lines and trawl beam, and stowing them away after
the fish have been removed therefrom. These operations have heretofore
been done by hand with the assistance of a capstan or windlass, the
stowing away of the lines and warps or ropes being done by manual
labour.
Instead of all this laborious work I coil the ropes or lines round a
barrel arranged either vertically or horizontally, and which is rotated by
steam power. The capstan is mounted on the same shaft as the barrel,
and both are connected therewith at will by a double acting clutch,
which is capable of being raised or lowered as may be required by
turning it round on its shaft or spindle, which is screwed for the purpose.
On the lower end of the vertical spindle which carrics and actuates the
barrel and capstan is mounted a large bevil wheel, which is driven by a
bevil pinion mounted on a horizontal shaft, which is connected with or
may form a prolongation of the engine crank shaft. The bevil pinion is
capable of endway motion on the shaft, so that it may be thrown in

page_text: and out of gear with the large bevil wheel which drives the capstan and
barrel. The other end of the crank shaft is provided with a clutch
coupling or other suitable device to enable the propellor shaft to bc
connected therewith and driven when required. It will of course bc
necessary to coil the rope or cable on the barrel with regularity and
precision, to which end a travelling guide for laying on the rope is
employed. This guide which is provided with grooved pullies, is mounted
on a vertical double screw shaft which turns in bearings and is driven at
a varying speed regulated by the coiling barrel by means of a chain and
pulley on the lower end of the hauling barrel.
Instead of winding the lines or ropes on a barrel or drum they may be
laid in coils in a circular tank or receiver. This guide may be driven by
any other mechanical device, such as a manglo motion. It will now
be understood that by throwing the hauling barrel into gear with the
driving power the barrel will be caused to revolve at any desired speed,
and will haul in the rope or line, which will be laid in regular coils on the
barrel by the guide, which will travel up and down the double screwed
shaft as the latter is made to rotate. Although it is preferred to drive
the capstan by steam power as already described it may be provided with
a head to receive the ordinary capstan bars or with a large bevil wheel
and winch handles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Leach in the Great Seal Patont Office on
the 29th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, George
LEACH, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said George Leach, Her special licence
that I, the said George Leach, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Leach, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES TO BE USED ON
BOARD FISHING VESSELS FOR FACILItating the Operation of Sea FishING," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Leach, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 George Leach, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to
say):
In sen fishing with very long nets, such as are used for catching
herrings, mackerel, and many other kinds of sca-fish, or with long
lengths of line provided with numerous hooks as are sometimes employed
for catching other kinds of fish, the manual labour of hauling in and
stowing away the hundreds or thousands of yards of line is very great.
One of the principal objects of my Invention is to dispense with a great
part of this manual labor, and to substitute therefor mechanical
appliances, which may be driven by steam power.
The fishing-boats are by preference to be provided with auxiliary
removable screw propellors, which will be driven by the steam engine,
and the latter may also be made, if required, to pump air or water into
the fish well in which the fish, when taken and removed from the lines,
are to be deposited. The water in the fish well (of ordinary fishing-

page_text: boats) communicates with the water outside the vessel, and when the
latter is in motion the water in the well will be constantly flowing in and
out and therefore changing, but if the vessel be becalmed the water will
not flow in and out of the well, and consequently the water in the well
will soon be deprived of its oxygen and be unable to support life, and
the fish will consequently die. It is important, therefore, to keep the
water in the well acrated or renewed in order to preservo the fish alive
and fresh while being conveyed from the fishing ground to the market,
and this is done by causing the engine to pump air or water into the well
all the while the vessel remains stationary. The most laborious part of
the operation of fishing is "shooting" the nets, casting the lines, or
dropping the trawl beam where the fish are supposed to abound, then
hauling in the net rope or the long lines and trawl beam, and stowing
them away after the fish have been removed therefrom. These operations
have heretofore been done by hand with the assistance of a capstan or
windlass, the stowing away of the lines and warps or ropes being also
donc by manual labour. Instead of all this laborious work I effect these
operations by steam power.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1, Sheet I., represents a longitudinal
vertical section of part of a fishing vessel fitted up with the appliances
which form the subject of my Invention. Fig. 2, Sheet II., is a trans-
verso vertical section of the same. The inner end of the fishing rope or
line (represented at a, a, Fig. 1) is attached to a barrel b arranged cither
vertically, as shewn in the Drawing, or horizontally. This barrel is
rotated by steam power in the manner hereafter explained, and the rope
or line a is thereby coiled round it as shown in Fig. 1. The capstan c is
mounted on the same shaft d as the barrel b, and both are connected
therewith at will by a double acting clutch e, which is capable of being
raised or lowered as may be required by turning it (by means of the hand
wheel e¹) round on the shaft or spindle d, which is screwed for the
purpose or has a screwed boss d¹ keyed thereon, as shewn in the Figure.
On the lower end of the vertical spindle d (which carries and actuates
the barrel b and capstan c) is mounted a large bevil wheel f, which is
driven by a bevil pinion g mounted on a horizontal shaft h, which is
connected with or may form a prolongation of the engine crank shaft, as
shown in the Figure. The bevil pinion g is capable of endway motion on
the shaft h, so that it may be slidden on this shaft by means of the hand

page_text: lever g, and thereby thrown in and out of gear with the large bevil
wheel which drives the capstan c and barrel b. The other end of the
crank shaft is provided with a clutch coupling or other suitable device
as at l³ to enable the propeller shaft (not shown in the Drawing) to be
connected therewith and driven when required by the power of the
engine.
It will of course be necessary to coil the rope or cable on the barrel b
with regularity and precision, to which end a travelling guide i for laying
on the rope is employed. This guide (which is provided with grooved
pullies, ) is mounted on a vertical double screwed shaft j, which 1
turns in bearings and is driven at an uniform speed regulated by the
coiling barrel by means of a chain and pulley on the lower end of the
hauling barrel. This speed may be varied according to the nature of the
work and the thickness of the rope a by changing the chain wheels.
Instead of winding the line or rope a on a barrel or drum it may, if 1
preferred, be laid in coils in a circular tank or receiver. This guide may
be driven by any other mechanical device, such as by a mangle motion,
but the arrangement shewn will be found to work satisfactorily. It will
now be understood that by throwing the hauling barrel & into gcar with
the driving power the barrel will be caused to revolve at any desired 2
speed, which may be varied as desired by varying the cut off of thic
steam in the working cylinders 1, 1. The barrel b, on being set in
motion, will haul in the rope or line a over the guide pulley a', which is
supplied with a friction break, and the rope or line will be laid in regular
coils on the barrel by the guide i, which will travel up and down the 2
double screwed shaft j as the latter is made to rotate.
Although it is preferred to drive the capstan c by steam power as
already described, it may be provided with a head c' to receive the
ordinary capstan bars or with a large bevil wheel c and winch handles,
which may be made to actuate the bevil pinion c³. From the forc- 3
going description it will be seen that all the parts are so arranged that
any of them may be driven independently of the others.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction and Arrangement of Apparatus or Appliances to be used on
board Fishing Vessels for Facilitating the Operations of Sea Fishing," 3
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim

page_text: as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the
arrangement or combination of parts herein set forth, or any merc
modification thereof, for hauling in and coiling or stowing away the ropes,
lines, or nets used in sca-fishing, so that hand labour may in a great
measure he dispensed with
In witness whereof I, the said George Leach, have hereunto set
my hand and seal the Twenty-second day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.