AN IMPROVED FID FOR THE UPPER MASTS OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
ROTCH, of Furnival's Inn, in the City of London, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of August, in the fourth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Rotch, His especial licence that I, the said Benjamin Rotch, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or some others as I, the said Benjamin Rotch,
my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED FID FOR THE
UPPER MASTS OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS; in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Benjamin Rotch, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said

page_text: Benjamin Rotch, do hereby declare the nature of my said improved fid to
consist in two levers retained in a position to support the mast which is
above them, by means of two pauls, one butting against the carriage of each
lever, or by means of two bolts, one passing through cach lever and its
carriage, the carriages in both cases being made of metal, and such levers
being in both cases so placed as to admit of the mast above them being
lowered without previously slacking the rigging attached to it. And in further
compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Benjamin Rotch, do hereby
describe the manner in which I perform my said Juvention by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, and Figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Drawing marked A: Fig. 1 is a side clevation of one of the levers of my
said improved fid, with its carriage, one side of which carriage is supposed to
be removed for the purpose of shewing the relative position of the lever and
its carriage when the mast is fidded. In this Drawing the parts coloured
blue are to represent wrought iron, and those coloured otherwise cast iron. or
brass. L is a lever turning on axes or gudgeons X. On the under side of
this lever is a paul P turning easily on the pin e, and abutting against the
back part of the carriage at f. The rod and ring at R are for the purpose of
lifting up this paul when it is required to lower the mast that is above it."
G, G, G, is the carriage, the lower part of which embraces the trussel tree,
the front leg being let into the trussel tree flush with the square for the heel
of the topmast, while the hind legs pass down outside the trussel tree. B is
a bolt passing through the trussel tree and fastening the legs of the carriage
and trussel tree firmly together. T is the bottom of the carriage. Fig. 2 is
a plan of the upper side of the lever and carriage. Fig. 8 is a plan of part of
the under side of the lever, shewing its appearance when the paul is removed.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the paul, and Fig. 5 is a section of the paul. Fig. 6 is a
side elevation of the carriage, I being a hole for the purpose of getting at the
paul to clear it in case of difficulty, and Fig. 7 is a back clevation of the
carriage.
Drawing marked B: Fig. 1 shews a front elevation of a top cross-trees and
trussel trees, with the head of a ship's mast and the heel of a topmast, and a
pair of the lever fids supporting the latter. F represents the line of the fid
plade, which for the purposes of the said Invention should be three times the
ordinary thickness, because it will be seen that the point of the lover which
goes into the heel of the mast is cut at an angle downwards from the plate,

page_text: so that the weight of the topmast may rest as near the gudgeons as possible,
which arrangement (in case the outer fibre of the wood should turn up) will
throw a great strain on the fid plate. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a lever to
be kept in a position for supporting a topmast by means of a bolt passed
through the lever and its carriage instead of a paul. This mode of securing
the lever I call the bolt lever fid, & the mode herein-before described I call
the paul lover fid. With reference to the Figure now describing, t is an
arched slot cut in the lever, and the curve of wh arch is struck from the
centre of the gudgeon X, while two circular holes are bored in the carriage
opposite to this slot and opposite to each other, and a bolt put through them.
When the weight of the topmast is on the short end of the lever the bolt is
kept tight in its place, but when the long end of the lever is pressed down as
far as the support i will let it go, the bolt is at once freed and may be drawn
out, when the weight on the short arm of the lever will force it down and
(the bolt being drawn away) the long arm will continue to rise till the short
arm turns completely out of the fid hole in the heel of the mast, and the mast
will slide down beside it. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the opposite side of Fig. 2,
and Fig. 4 is the bolt.
Having now described the various parts of my said Invention, I will proceed
to explan the manner of putting the same in motion for the purpose of low-
ering or fidding a topmast. It will be observed by attending to the arrange-
ment herein-before described, that the mast will be supported on the short
arms of levers applied on the principle of steel yards, which turn on their
axes at X. In the case of the paul lever, the use of which I am now about to
describe, the long arm of the lever is kept from rising by means of the paul,
which by the weight of the topmast is pressed so hard against the back part
of the carriage at f that it will not rise till freed from that pressure. In
order to free the paul the long end of the lever L must be pressed downwards
either by means of a Burton or otherwise, till the part of the lever comes
down upon the parts of the carriage, by which motion the paul will be
advanced forwards from f, and may be pulled upwards by means of the rod
and ring at R. While the paul is kept up in this position, if the long arm of
the lever be suffered to rise the weight of the mast will cause the short arnı
to descend till it comes completely out of the fid hole, when the mast may be
lowered away by the top tackle pennants. The mast being lowered the
operation of fidding it is performed as follows:-The mast is hoisted up by
the top tackle pennants till the fid hole is fairly in sight, when the short arms
of the levers will enter into it, and a Burton or other purchase being applied to
draw down the long arms of the levers, the mast will be forced up into its place,

page_text: while the paul P, the moment it has passed down the inclined plane from f,
will fall into the position shown in Fig. 1, Drawing A, and keep the topmast
in its place. The manner of applying the bolted lever fid is nearly similar to
the last mentioned, except that when it is required to lower the mast the long
arm of the lever is pulled down till the stud i, which is tapped into the under
part of the lever, comes down upon the bottom part of the carriage, when the
bolt, Fig. 4, Drawing B, may be drawn out, and the long arm being suffered
to rise, the mast will descend as before, and when it is required to fid the
mast, the long lever being again pulled down till the stud i touches the
bottom of the carriage, the bolt may be easily replaced, when the force
applied to the long arm of the lever being removed the pressure of the top-
mast on the short arm will bind the bolt so tightly against the front part of
the slot that it will be kept steadily in its place. It will be observed that
in the carriage for this bolted lever fid no inclined plane or back stop will be
required. The said improved fid, as shown in the Drawing marked A,
represents the main top gallant fid of a vessel of about three hundred tons,
half size, and those shewn in the Drawing marked B represent the fore top-
mast fids of a frigate of about one thousand tons, drawn to a scale of one inch
to a foot.
Now whereas a lever or levers may have been used heretofore for the pur-
pose of assisting to raise a topmast to its place. But two such levers as
aforesaid, fitted with metal carriages as aforesaid, and applied for the purpose
of fidding and unfidding the upper mast of a ship or other vessel, and retained
in a position to support such upper mast by means of two pauls, one attached to
each lever, and butting against the carriage of the said lever, as herein-before
described, or otherwise by means of two bolts, one passing through each lever
and its carriage, as herein-before also described, and by means of which said
levers a mast having being first fidded with them may be unfidded without
previously slacking the rigging attached to it, being to the best of my know-
ledge and belief entirely new, and never before used in these kingdoms, I do
hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily
believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without
reserve or disguise with the proviso in my said herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive
right and privilege to my said Invention.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Rotch, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.
BENJN (L.s.) ROTCH.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of February,
in the year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid Benjamin Rotch came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.