IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHIPS' LoGs
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Anthony Munck and Helge August
Myhre at the Office of, the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 10th February 1862.
We, ANTHONY MUNCK, Master Mariner, & HELGE AUGUST MYHRE,
Watchmaker, both of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHIPS' LoGs," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to that class of ships' logs which have the registering
apparatus placed inboard or attached to the vessel, and receive the motion of
the rotator placed in the water by means of a line, and consists, first, of a
particular arrangement of the registering gear, whereby we bring the line of
axis receiving motion from the rotator line in line with the axis of the indi-
cating hands, which are two, three, or more, and all concentric the one with
the other like the hands of a clock. On the outer circle we indicate furlongs
and miles, by preference up to five miles, on the next from 5 up to 60 miles,
and on the inner circle from 60 to 720 miles. To effect this, on the receiving
axis we form an endless screw which gears into a wheel whose axis is at right
angles to the first screw; on the axis of this first wheel is another screw
gearing into the third wheel, the axis of which is again brought in line with
the receiving axis. The axis of this third wheel passes through the dial and
carries the first hand indicating miles and furlongs. On this axis is disposed
a pinion returning the motion to a wheel on the hollow arbor of the second
hand. The wheel on this hollow arbor further gears into a second stud
wheel carrying a pinion gearing into a much larger wheel fixed on the hollow
arbor of the third hand. The arrangement of this part of the gearing may of
course be varied to suit other distances, to be indicated on the dial as may be
required. The receiving axis first maintained has a square formed on it which

page_text: is inserted loosely into a short socket piece to which the rotator line is
attached. The neck of the socket piece runs in a bearing in the case con-
taining the registering gear, and has a collar which receives the pull of the
cord, which is not therefore subject to strain or operate prejudicially on the
registering gear by the irregular pulling or jerking of the rotator. When the
rotator cord is connected directly with the socket piece we mount the register
apparatus on the taffrail or in other convenient position and dispose the case
in gimbals, the first and horizontal axis or gudgeons being concentric with the
weight of the registering case so as to balance itself. The supports of these
gudgeons is mounted on another axis at right angles to the first, as well
understood in gimballing, by this means in whichever direction the rotator
pulls according to the steering of the vessel, or the dip of the line, the receiving
axis always maintains its position in line with the pull of the rotator cord.
Instead of attaching the rotator line directly to the socket piece of the
registering gear case we prefer to place the register in the cabin or in other
suitable position inboard. In this case we employ a supplementary receiving
spindle which is mounted in gimbals, and in position exactly as before described
with reference to the registering gear. From this supplementary receiving
spindle a wire or line is conducted to socket piece of the receiving spindle
before mentioned. For this purpose we prefer to use a wire partly formed
into a coiled spring, which permits of any necessary elongation or contraction,
and at same time conveys the torsile action to the registering gear.
`Another part of our improvements relates to the rotator. Rotators usually
consist of a hollow cylinder as an axis, having inclined vanes fixed thereto;
whereas, according to our Invention, we make the rotator without any central
or hollow shaft, and of two, three, four, or more blades or vanes united together
at the axis. We prefer four as the number, and make it of two pieces of
metal bent at right angles, the angles of the one piece being brazed and
otherwise secured together and radiate therefrom in a suitable direction; we
curve them by preference. At the fore part the four blades come to a point,
from thence backwards they increase in radius in a curved line to the largest
diameter, and from which point they terminate at the rear in semicircles.
Suitable jointed pieces are connected to the rotator and the supplementary
spindle or the socket piece first mentioned to which the rotator line can be
affixed.