AN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR LAYING ROPES
Year: 1802

page_text: GRIMSHAW'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, JOHN
GRIMSHAW, of Sunderland, near the Sea, in the County of Durham, Rope-
maker, one of the people called Quakers, send greeting.
WHEREAS the present King George the Third, by His Letters Patent,
under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the forty-second year of His reign,
did give and grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His
special licence that I, the said John Grimshaw, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, during the term of fourteen years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the Dominion of
Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all the King's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR
LAYING ROPES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said John Grimshaw, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in the
High Court of Chancery within one calendar month next and immediately
after the date of the said recited Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Grimshaw, do by these Presents describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as follows
(that is to say) :-

page_text: My Invention of an Improvement in Machinery for Laying Ropes consists
in the application of cylindrical friction, for the purpose of retarding the strands
generally and equally during the process of laying the rope, by means of a
friction cylinder and springs so applied or added to the machinery for laying
ropes that the retarding power of the cylindrical friction may act on all the strands
equally at once, and thereby unite and lay them with an equal degree of tension.
This my Invention I call a Regulator. Its action is illustrated in the following
example, as applied to the machinery described by Richard Fothergill as his
Invention, in Fig. 4 of the Drawing annexed to his Specification, dated the
Eighth day of May, One thousand seven hundred ninety-three, and enrolled
therewith, a section of part of which is annexed to these Presents, as appears
in the margin, and is shaded, with black, and the regulator, as connected
with the said Richard Fothergill's machine, is coloured with red and
yellow.
It is found in practice that sometimes some of the strands will have a
greater tension,. and then will be disposed to pass forwards faster than the rest,
and by that means produce irregularity or inequality in the rope. This the
application of my new-invented regulator will prevent by imposing an
additional friction on the machinery for laying the rope, and which friction is
by the regulator (as applied to Richard Fothergill's aforesaid machinery)
imposed on the large spur-wheel r, and to such a degree as to require the
united force of all the strands to draw that wheel forwards. The parts of the
Drawing in the margin of these Presents shaded with black, and lettered a, b,
c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, o, q, r, s, t, u, v, v, and figured 1, 2, 8, 7, 8, 9, 11, is a
section of part of Richard Fothergill's machine for laying rope, as described
by him in his Specification and the perspective Drawing marked No. 4 in the
plan or Drawing annexed thereto. The remainder of the Drawing 14, 15, 15,
16, 17, 17, 17, 17, 18, 18, 18, 18, 19, 19, coloured red and yellow, represents the
regulator (as connected with the said Richard Fothergill's machine) of which
16 is an axle. 19, 19, a cylinder fixed firmly on or making part of the axle.
15, 15, a spur-wheel on a round part of the same axle, not fixed firmly
thereon, but turning round upon the same. 17, 17, 17, 17, are springs
embracing the cylinder, and having a projecting part at each end, which,
catching hold of the arms of the spur-wheel 15, are carried round along with
that wheel, and make the same number of revolutions in the same time; and
these springs are kept in their required position by a flange or flanges projecting
a little above the surface of the cylinder. 18, 18, 18, 18, are screw bolts for
tightening the springs, and bringing them into contact with the cylinder. 14,
another spur-wheel fixed firmly in the axle 16. The regulator connects with

page_text: Richard Fothergill's machine near to one of the pillars at X; by means of the
spur-wheel 14, the teeth of which insert between and are acted upon by the
teeth of the large spur-wheel r of the same machine, and at Y, by the spur-wheel
15, the teeth of which insert between and are acted upon by the teeth of
connecting wheel 11 of the same machine. The spur-wheel 14 receives its
immediate motion from the spur-wheel r, and, being of equal diameter with the
spur-wheel J, performs (together with the cylinder attached to it by the axle)
an equal number of revolutions with the spur-wheel J; and the spur-wheel 15,
which receives its immediate motion froin the spur-wlicel 11, being of equal
diameter with the spur-wheel 8, performs (together with the springs which catch
hold of it, as before mentioned) an equal number of revolutions with the spur-
wheel 8. And the revolution of the spur-wheel J being accelerated by the strands
drawing forward the regulating pullies i beyond the revolution of the spur-wheel
8, the cylinder (corresponding in and having an equal number of revolutions with
the spur-wheel J) moves round in an equal degree quicker than the springs which
(by being attached to the spur-wheel 15) have an equal number of revolutions
with the spur-wheel 8, and consequently, by tightening the springs and
bringing them into contact with the cylinder, the springs, by reason of their
moving with a less degree of velocity than the cylinder, impose a friction
thercon which, being communicated or continued by the spur-wheel 14 to the
spur-wheel, and from that wheel down to the regulating pullies i, causes a
general and equal retardation of the strands. The springs may be made to
have more or less pressure upon the cylinder at the discretion of the operator,
and according to the degree of friction or pressure necessary for retarding
the strands, which degree is varied according to the size of the rope, but should
never be so tightly screwed as to cause the springs to slide upon or round the
cylinder with jerks. And I have generally found that when the machine is
making a twelve-inch cable, the cylinder makes about four revolutions, whilst
the springs and their wheel 15 are making three. When laying a six-inch
the cylinder makes about seven revolutions, whilst the springs and wheel
make six. In making large ropes the friction may be increased by adding one
or more sett or setts of friction cylinders, springs, and connecting wheels,
applied or placed as before described.
rope
In witness whereof, I, the said John Grimshaw, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and two.
JOHN (L.s.) GRIMSHAW.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of November, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Grimshaw came before our Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute in
that case made and provided.