IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' AND MOORING ANCHORS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Walter Morgan, of Number 20, Edmund
Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Walter Morgan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 24th September 1869, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT KNOWN
that I, JOHN WALTER MORGAN, of Number 20, Edmund Street,
Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, having invented
certain new and useful "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' AND MOORING ANCHORS,"
do hereby declare the following to be a full and complete description of
this my said Invention, and the best means I am acquainted with for
carrying the same into practical effect, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say) :-

page_text: This my said Invention has for its objects certain improvements in
the form and construction of anchors for navigable vessels and for
mooring anchors generally, and in some cases constructing the same
or parts thereof in malleable cast iron, which malleable cast iron I
have proved by extensive experiments may be used for the construction
of anchors, or parts of anchors, of whatever form they may be with great
advantage.
My improved anchor relates to the class which have a pair of palms,
both of which take into the ground at one time, and may be
constructed with or without a stock. The shank and arms of the
anchor are attached together by a knuckle or butt hinge joint, and may
be entirely constructed without a weld, and cannot be readily fouled.
To construct an anchor according to this my said Invention with, say,
a wrought-iron shank, arms, and palms, and crown block :-To form
the shank I take a suitable block or pile of iron and forge or draw the
same to the required size and shape, forming on the butt end a pair of
jaws to receive a butt end on the inside of the crown of the anchor for
forming the joint connecting the arms and shank. The reverse or small
end I fit with a shackle, and make provision to receive a stock if it is
desirable to use one; when I do so it may be of any approved form. To
form the arms and palms from a suitable pile or block, forge or draw
the same to the required shape but in a straight direction, afterwards
bending them to the required curve, which I prefer should partake of
the horseshoe contour; then take a suitable block or pile and forge the
crown block with a transverse slot in the centre of one side, which
forms the top or head of the crown, which is plain or nearly so, which
slot receives the crown or centre of the arms. The plain edge of the
block is rounded at both sides to (about) a line with the inside of
the arms; it is then curved inward and again slightly outwards and
inward, forming an OC, with a small bottom. The inner edge I then
round off to form the centre butt of the knuckle or butt hinge joint,
connecting the same with the. shank by a transverse pin or axle,
projections on the inside of the crown piece preventing the shank and
arms opening out beyond the desired angle. The crown block I connect
rigidly to the arms by a stout pin, which passes through the centre or
crown, and which pin I use to connect the ends of a short chain
carrying a thimble for making the buoy rope fast to. In some cases
I prefer to construct the crown block in one piece with the arms and

page_text: palms by forging them from the same faggot as the arm and "flukes,"
and in other cases by welding it to the arms; and in others I prefer to
form the crown block from malleable cast iron, and attaching it to the
centre of the arms by a transverse crown pin. In some cases I cast
the arms, palms, and crown block in one piece, and then annealing the
same, taking care to rib, feather, or corrugate, or otherwise form the
metal that there shall be a proper distribution of metal to the require--
ments of the several proportions of the anchor, and at the same time
there shall be an uniformity of thickness throughout the whole as far
as practicable, for the purpose of admitting of an equal expansion and
contraction, and to insure in annealing uniformity of "temper." In
place of forming two jaws on the anchor shank I reverse the joint and
pivot, the shank between two jaws springing from the inside of the
crown.
The several parts forming the arms, flukes, and crown block are so
adjusted in the arrangement of the weight of the several parts that
when the anchor is atrip and suspended by the cable or from the
cathead "it is always a cockbill" and will lay flat against the vessel's
sides or bows.
Figure 1st of the annexed Drawings is perspective view of one of my
improved anchors, in which the crown block is attached to the crown
by a pin; Figure 2 is an elevation of the same (on an enlarged scale)
as it would appear if suspended by the chain cable or from the cathead;
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same with the stock removed and the
lower portion shown in section to exhibit the position of the crown bolt,
and so forth; and Figure 4 is a partial sectional elevation of the same
with the palm arms thrown out to the angle they would assume after it
has fully grounded.
Figure 6 is a plan of the arms and palms previous to being bent; and
Figure 7 is an elevation or edge view of the same.
Figure 8 is a side elevation of the crown block; and Figure 9 is a top
plan; and Figure 10 is a plan of the under side.
Figure 11 is a sectional elevation of one of my improved crown
blocks, which is formed solid with the arms and has its centre slotted
to receive the butt end of the shank, which is seen broken off; and
Figure 12 is a transverse section of the same.
A, the shank, which is jointed to B, the arms which carry C, the
palms or flukes; D, the stock, which is of the ordinary description;

page_text: E, the crown bolt pin; F, joint pin uniting the shank with the arms;.
G,' a bridle chain, carrying H, a thimble for attaching the buoy rope to.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my
said Invention, and the best manner I am acquainted with, I wish it to
be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details,
relative proportions or dimensions, as it will be readily seen that the
same may be considerably varied without departing from the Invention;
but what I claim is,-
First. The crown block in combination with the anchor arms
constructed substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-
before described and set forth.
Secondly. Connecting the arms and shanks of the. anchors within the
crown by a knuckle or butt joint, substantially in the manner and for
the purposes herein-before described and set forth.
Thirdly. Constructing anchors or parts thereof of malleable cast iron,
substantially in the manner and for the purposes, herein-before described
and set forth.
Lastly. The general arrangement and combination of the several parts
constituting the improved anchor, substantially in the manner and for
the objects herein set forth, illustrated, and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Walter Morgan, have
hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this Twenty-fourth
day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
WILLIAM WALKER,
of 44, Castle Street,
Liverpool.
JOHN WALTER (L.s.) MORGAN.