IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DETACHING SHIPS' BOATS WHEN LOWERED."
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Arthur Wilkinson and Nicholas McGonnell, both of
Folkestone, in the County of Kent, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR DETACHING SHIPS' BOATS WHEN LOWERED."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Arthur Wilkinson
& Nicholas McConnell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
21st February 1882.
JOHN ARTHUR WILKINSON and NICHOLAS MOGONNELL Gentleman both of
Folkestone in the County of Kent. " IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
DETACHING SHIPS' BOATS WHEN LOWERED."
The object of this invention is to instantaneously detach a ship's boat when
lowered from the davits so as to avoid the possibility of those accidents which so
often arise at the critical moment and whereby the lives of the occupants of the
boat are jeopardised.
In carrying out our invention we use the ordinary davits and tackle but instead
of hooking the blocks to ring bolts rigidly secured to the boat we provide removable
ring bolts, or their equivalent, which can at a given moment be released by the
coxswain of the boat or other person deputed for the purpose, thus leaving the boat
quite clear of the tackle.
The removable ring bolts consist of forked pieces which are let into square
sockets placed one at either end of the boat at some convenient point along the
centre line thereof.
To avoid straining the boat we prefer that these sockets should be secured in
any convenient manner to the keelson. The outer ends of each of these forked
pieces are connected together by a bolt over which when in the socket takes the
hooked end of a lever having its fulcrum in the socket. The other ends of these
levers are connected together by a rod placed below the floor of the boat.-These
hooked levers are rocked on their fulcrums by means of a bell crank lever which is
pivotted to the connecting rod.

page_text: This lever which forms part of a locking device is mounted between two semi-
circular plates which are secured in a vertical position to the bottom of the boat.
The upper arm of this lever is forked and carries a sliding piece on either side with
a lateral projection which will take into a notch formed in the upper edge of a
semicircular slot cut in each of the plates. Below the sliding piece is a spring
which causes the projections to enter their respective notches.
Pivotted to the bell crank lever is a handle which when raised to a vertical
position will push down the sliding piece a short distance. By giving half a turn
to this handle the sliding piece will be further pushed down, until the projections
are clear of the notches and the bell crank lever will then be free to be rocked on
its centre by the handle.-The effect of thus rocking the lever will be to pull on
the connecting rod and move the hooked levers on their fulcrums, which will let
go the removable ring bolts and the boat will be free.
To reattach the boat the removable ring bolt will first be placed in position and
secured by the hooked levers and the tackle will then be hooked to them in the
ordinary way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Arthur Wilkinson & Nicholas McGonnell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 21st August 1882.
JOHN ARTHUR WILKINSON and NICHOLAS MOGONNELL both of Folkestone in
the County of Kent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DETACHING SHIPS'
BOATS WHEN LOWERED."
The object of this Invention is to provide means for instantaneously detaching a
ship's boat when lowered from the davits so as to avoid the possibility of accidents
which so often happen while detaching, whereby the lives of the occupants of the
boat are jeopardized.
In the accompanying drawing we have shewn at Fig: 1 a longitudinal section
of a boat fitted with our improved detaching apparatus; Figures 2 and 3 are
respectively a front view and a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of the
holding device; and Figures 4 and 5 are respectively a side view and cross section
on an enlarged scale of the locking device which we employ.
In carrying out our Invention we make use of the ordinary davit and tackle, but
instead of hooking the lower blocks to ring bolts rigidly secured to the boat, we
provide removable ring bolts or their equivalents, which will at a given moment
be released by the coxswain of the boat or other person deputed for the purpose,
thus leaving the boat quite clear of the tackle.
The form of removable ring bolt which we prefer to employ consists of a forked
piece a (see Fig: 2) to which is secured a ring b in such a manner as to be capable
of swivelling. The forked ends of the piece a carry a roller pin c which is suitably
held in position in the piece a.-d is a square socket which is fitted into a thwart e
or other suitable part of the boat, and is secured in any other convenient manner to
the keelson in order to avoid strain on the framing of the boat.
The socket d carries near its lower end a pin or bolt f. which forms the fulcrum
on which a rock lever g. works. The upper end of this lever g. which is hooked
is intended to work over the roller pin c. of the ring bolt a. when the latter is in
position in the socket as seen clearly at Figures 2 and 3.-The lower end of the
lever g. is connected by an adjustable rod h. to one end of a rock lever i. which is
mounted on an axle i. carried by side plates j, j. These side plates are bolted or
otherwise firmnly secured to the keelson of the boat.-The lever i. is rocked on its
fulcrum by means of a handle, and will actuate the lever g. and withdraw tho
hook so as to free the ring bolt a. It will of course be understood that a holding
device is provided for either end of the boat and that both holding devices will bo
worked from the rock lever i. which is by preference placed near the stern of the
boat. The connecting rods h. will be arranged under the floor of the boat and
may be enclosed in a tube and the holding devices will be boxed in so that all the
working parts that are liable to get out of order will be under cover and fully
protected from accidents.
In order to maintain the holding devices in action until the desired moment
to "let go," we have devised a locking arrangement which is shewn at Figures 4
and 6.
This locking device is carried by the rock lever i which is made forked at its
upper end for the purpose, and consists of a sliding piece k. provided with lateral
projections. These projections pass through slots l. formed in the fork arms
and enter notches m. in the side plates j. Under the slide k. is a spring n. which
serves to raise the slide into its proper position to lock the apparatus.

page_text: In the upper part of this slide is formed a chamber or recess r. (see Fig: 6,
which is a plan view of the slide) and in the front wall of this chamber an
opening s. is made.-In the bottom of the chamber two lumps or raised portions t. t.
are formed for the purpose to be hereafter more particularly described.
Above the slide k. and pivotted to the fork arms, is a collar o. into which is
secured so as to be capable of turning therein a handle p. The portion of the
handle P below the collar is flattened out and its lower edge is slightly
rounded.
When the handle p. is in the position shewn in Figures 1 and 4 the lever i. is
locked but when it is desired to unlock the lever the handle is brought into a
vertical position in which position it enters the chamber r of the slide k by the
opening & and slightly depresses the slide. By giving the handle a half-turn the
slightly rounded end will slide up the inclines formed by the lumps or raised
portions tt in the bottom of the chamber r. and will gradually depress the slide
until the flattened portion of the handle is at right angles to its former position by
which time the slide will be at its lowest position the projections k'. will be
withdrawn from their notches m. and the lever i. unlocked at the same time the
handle becomes locked in the slide so that when it is desired to detach the boat it
is only necessary to depress the handle p. to rock on its pivot the lever i which
actuates through the connecting rods h. the holding levers g. and causes them to
free the ring bolts a.
To re-attach the boat, so soon as the ring bolts are in position in the sockets the
handle p. is raised into the vertical position, which causes the holding levers g. to
hook onto the ring bolts. Then, by giving a half turn to the handle, the lever i
becomes partly locked, and by bringing the handle into the position shewn in
Figures 1 and 4 the lever i becomes fully locked.
Having now described our Invention of "Improvements in apparatus for
detaching ships boats when lowered " and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, we may here remark that we do not wish to confine ourselves to
the precise details above described, as these are capable of various modifications,
but what we claim is :-
In an apparatus for detaching ship's boats the combination of holding devices
such as the hooked levers g. and removable ring bolts such as a. or their
equivalents, with a locking device substantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof I the said Nicholas McConnell have hereunto set iny
hand and seal this Eighteenth day of August in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
NICHOLAS MºGOUNELL
(LS)