Improvements in or connected with Ships-boats' Launching and Raising Apparatus and Gear, and in or connected with such Boats.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 16th Jan.. 1891-Accepted. 21st Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Ships-boats' Launching and
Raising Apparatus and Gear, and in or connected with such
Boats.
We, WILLIAM CHADBURN, of 11, Waterloo Road, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, and JOHN FINDLAY, of 64, Low Hill, Liverpool, aforesaid,
Master Mariner, do hereby declare the nature of our said invention to be as
follows
The chief object of our invention is to facilitate the launching, and carrying of
ships boats, namely, swinging outboard, lowering, and disengaging, and the raising
and swinging inboard, of ships boats, the invention being particularly applicable to
cases wherein one or a plurality of boats are stowed one inside another.
To enable two or more ships boats to be housed and occupy a small amount of
deck space, and adapted to be worked with the same davits and their gear, it has
been a common practice to carry and house one inside the other, the thwarts of the
lower one or ones being made removable so as to enable them to be so carried. In
launching boats so stowed, the upper and inside boat is first raised by the boat
hoisting tackle out of the containing boat, and so as to clear the boat in swinging
outboard, and then swung outboard, lowered, and released, and then the lower one
is launched-if two only are employed-and this mode of stowing and operating
is (as must be in such arrangements) employed in the carrying out of the present
invention.
In effecting the objects of this invention (say as applied to a series of two boats)
there is employed, a pair of davits, with raising and lowering tackle; mechanisms
for slewing or turning the davits outboard (or outboard and inboard); a block and
tackle gear, or gears for use in combination with such mechanism, as hereinafter
described; and a disconnecting gear or mechanism by which said slewing mechanism
is thrown in or out of gear with the davits at the stage of operations and for the
purposes hereinafter explained. In addition to the above features we employ a suit-
able boats disengaging gear, and an arrangement and construction of boats and their
fittings, both hereinafter described.
In operation (employing as above assumed a series of two boats) the upper boat is
first raised out of the lower one so as to be capable of being swung overboard, the
davits are then operated and turned by their operating mechanisms in such a manner
as to swing the boat outboard of themselves; when in this position such
mechanism is disconnected from the davits, and the block and tackle gear comes
into operation and holds them outboard, and is used to move or control such davits
during the time they and the boat are outboard.
By these means and mode of operations, we provide in connection with the system
of housing and stowing boats on board ships herein described, a means by which the
difficulties attending the launching of such boats when so arranged, are overcome,
and a means by which the objections such as liability to strain and break, which
would attend the use of davits rigidly and mechanically held outboard, with the
weight and burden would be obviated.
To enable the boats to be stowed one inside the other, we connect the transverse
seats or thwarts to the shell of the boat at one end only, by a ball and socket joint,
double knuckle, or like joint, by which the seat may be stowed against and parallel
with the shell of the boat, the other end of the seat being provided with a suitable
joint or means of connection, to connect with the shell of the boat at the other side.
The seats are, by preference, made with a camber so that when pressure is put on
the seat it will tend to press the shell outward and against the pressure of the
water. The side seats, if used, are hinged to the sides of the boat to fold down

page_text: when not in use, and the transverse seats, when not in use, will lay alongside, fore
and aft the shell of the boat. By so constructing the scats, they are always in the
boat, and ready for use, and at the same time allow for another boat being placed
inside the boat.
The mechanism by which the davits are swung outboard may consist of a loose
worm wheel, or a toothed wheel, on the davit shanks, worked by a worm or a pinion
carried by a shaft mounted on a suitable frame; and the disconnecting gear may
consist of a clutch mechanism on the shank of the davit and running on a suitable
key or feather thereon, and so adapted as to engage with said worm or toothed
wheel, and, when connected, the worm and wheel or toothed gear will, when worked,
turn or swing the davits. The above mechanisms may be arranged to be worked at
the standard or other support in which the davit is held, or from a point,. and
by shafting arranged inboard, on the deck on which the boats are disposed, or
from a lower deck, accordingly as the conditions of its applications may render one
or other arrangement convenient and desirable. Another end than the one above
specified served by the disconnecting operating mechanism, and the use in combina
tion with such mechanism of block and tackle gear or guys, is, that if desired, or
in case of accident, the davits can or will, at any time, be operated and used as
ordinary davits.
To disengage the boat from the boat tackle, we provide in the centre of the
boat, on the keel, a mechanism consisting of a metal box or guide in which there
are two metal rods free to slide, one forward and the other aft, in the guide, the
meeting ends of the rods are turned up and the box or guide is provided with a
hinged cover, having a hole into which the turned up ends of the sliding rods take,
the cover acting as a lock to keep them together, the other ends of the rods are
connected by ropes or chains to kecking hooks at the ends of the boat, these hooks
are held by suitable kecking means at the back, and take into hooks or their equiva
lent on the blocks of the boat tackle. By releasing the sliding rods, by raising
the cover from the rods, they slide fore and aft, and the weight of the boat coming
on the kecking hooks causes them to be released from the davit blocks, such hooks
being so constructed and arranged as to prevent their becoming released at the
wrong time.
Dated this 15th day of April 1800.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Ships-boats', Launching and
Raising Apparatus and Gear, and in or connected with such
Boats.
We, WILLIAM CHADBURN, of 11, Waterloo Road, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, and JOHN FINDLAY, of 64, Low Hill, Liverpool, aforesaid,
Master Mariner, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
The chief object of our invention is to facilitate the launching, and carrying of
ships' boats, namely, swinging outboard, lowering, and disengaging, and the raising
and swinging inboard, of same, the invention being particularly applicable to cases
wherein one or a plurality of boats are stowed one inside another.
To enable two or more ships' boats to be housed and occupy a small amount of
deck space, and adapted to be worked with the same davits and their gear, it has
been a common practice to carry and house one inside the other, the thwarts of the
lower one or ones being made removable so as to enable them to be so carried. In
launching boats so stowed, the upper and inside boat is first raised by the boat
hoisting tackle out of the containing boat, so as to clear the boat in swinging out-
board, and then swung outboard, lowered, and released, and then the lower one is

page_text: launched, that is if two only are employed-and this mode of stowing and operating
is, as must be in such arrangements, employed in the carrying out of the present
invention.
In effecting the objects of this invention (say as applied to a series of two boats).
there is employed: a pair of davits, with raising and lowering tackle; mechanism
for slewing or turning the davits outboard (or outboard and inboard); a block and
tackle gear, or gears for use in combination with such mechanism, as hereinafter
described; and a disconnecting gear or mechanism by which said slewing mechanism
is thrown in or out of gear with the davits at the stage of operations and for the
purposes hereinafter explained. In addition to the above feature we employ a
suitable boats' disengaging gear, and an arrangement and construction of boats and
their fittings, both hereinafter described.
In operation (employing as above assumed a series of two boats), the upper boat
is first raised out of the lower one so as to be capable of being swung outboard, the
davits are then operated and turned by their operating mechanisms in such a
manner as to swing the boat outboard of themselves. When in this position such
mechanism is disconnected from the davits, and the block and tackle gear or guys
come into operation and holds them outboard, and is used to move or control such
davits during the time they and the boat are outboard.
By these means and mode of operation we provide in connection with the system
of housing and stowing boats on board ships, herein described, a means by which
the difficulties attending the launching of such boats when so arranged, are overcome,
and by means of which the objection, such as liability to strain and break which
would attend the use of davits rigidly and mechanically held outboard with their
weight and burden, would be obviated.
To enable the boats to be stowed one inside the other, we connect the transverse
seats or thwarts to the shell of the boat at one end only by a ball and socket joint,
double knuckle, or like joint, by which the seat may be stowed against and parallel
with the shell of the boat, the other end of the seat being provided with a suitable
joint or means of connection, such as a dovetail joint, to connect with the shell of
the boat at the other side. The seats are, by preference, made with a camber so
that when pressure is put on them they will tend to press the shell outward and
against the pressure of the water. The side seats, if used, are hinged to the sides
of the boat to fold down when not in use, and the transverse seats, when not in use,
will lie alongside, fore and aft the shell of the boat. By so constructing the seats,
they are always in the boat, and ready for use, and at the same time allow of
another boat being placed inside the boat.
The mechanism by which the davits are swung outboard may consist of a loose
worm wheel, or a toothed wheel on the davit shanks, worked by a worm or pinion
carried by a shaft mounted on a suitable frame; and the disconnecting gear may
consist of a clutch mechanism on the shank of the davit and running on a suitable
key or feather thereon and so adapted as to engage with said worm or toothed
wheel; and, when connected, the worm and wheel or toothed gear will, when
worked, turn or swing the davits. The above mechanisms may be arranged to be
worked at the standard or other support in which the davit is held, or from a point
and by shafting, arranged inboard on the deck on which the boats are disposed, or
from a lower deck, accordingly as the conditions of its applications may render one
or other arrangement convenient and desirable. Another end than the one above
specified served by the disconnecting operating mechanism, and the use in combina-
tion with such mechanism of block and tackle gear or guys, is, that, if desired, or in
case of accident, the davits can or will, at any time, be operated and used as
ordinary davits.
To disengage the boat from the boat tackle, we provide in the centre of the boat,
on the keel, a mechanism consisting of a metal box or guide in which there are two
metal rods free to slide, one forward and the other aft, therein. The meeting ends
of the rods are turned up and the box or guide is provided with a hinged door or
cover, having a hole into which the turned up ends of the sliding rods take, the

page_text: cover acting as a lock to keep them together. The other ends of the rods are con-
nected by ropes or chains to kecking hooks at the ends of the boat, these hooks
being held by suitable kecking means at the back, and take into hooks or their
equivalent on the blocks of the boat tackle. By releasing the sliding rods by raising
the cover from the rods, they slide fore and aft, and the weight of the boat coming
on the kecking hooks causes them to be released from the davit blocks, such hooks
being so constructed and arranged as to prevent their becoming released at the
wrong time.
In the drawings which serve to illustrate this invention,
Figure 1 is an elevation shewing the base of a davit with its operating gear;
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a boat provided with hooks and disengaging
gear under the invention:
Figure 3 is a cross section of same;
Figure 4 is a plan of the disengaging mechanism;
Figure 5 is a detail shewing the hook which passes through the ring of the block
of the raising and lowering tackle;
Figure 6 is a view shewing a seat in the position it is stowed in the case of the
application of the invention where one boat is stowed in another;
Figure 7 is
fixed in the boats.
plan illustrating the joint by which such seats are mounted and
Referring now to the drawings, a is one of the davits mounted in the base
loosely, in the usual way; c is a worm wheel mounted loosely on the davit a, and
having at its upper part e the lower half d of a clutch; e is the upper half of the
clutch, adapted to slide up and down on the davit a, but prevented from moving
round same by the key f which is fixed in the davit; is a bell crank lever device
mounted upon the standard supported from the base and adapted to raise such
clutch portion e in and out of gear with the lower part d of the clutch as desired,
i is a worm, gearing with the worm wheel c, and mounted in bearings ¿¹, formed on
or connected to the base b, said worm being rotated by the crank 2.
The hooks are fixed at one end to the bottom of the boat by a chain l, and are
connected with the releasing mechanism, hereinafter described, by bars k¹, which
slide in guides, such bars being connected with the said releasing mechanism
by chains m which pass under rollers' m' fixed in the bottom of the boat. The
turned down and engaging ends of the hooks & pass through the rings k³ of the
lower tackle blocks of the raising and lowering tackle, as shewn in Figure 5.
The rings are prevented from becoming disengaged from the hooks k, when not
so required, by the weighted pawl k³, which is fulcrumed at ; these pawls, how-
ever, allow the rings to be put onto the hooks when they are in the position
shewn in Figure 5.
The disengaging gear consists of bars n, having upwardly projecting ends n', and
supported by and working in the frame o, the chains m, before referred to, being
fixed to the outer end of said bars. The ends n¹ of the bars are held together by
the door p, which is hinged at one side at p' to the base o; whilst at the other side
it is provided with a bar q which passes through a slot w in one of the thwarts z, or
works in connection with an equivalent provision thereon, it being provided above
the thwart with a loose jointed handle y', and with an eye q2 below the thwart, and
through which a pin g³ passes when the bars n are locked by the door p.
A recess
is provided to receive the handle y' when it is in the position of rest, as shewn in
the Figures 2 and 3; so that the handle does not project above the thwart or form
any obstruction whatever, and thus it is not liable to be interfered with or
accidentally moved at any time. In lieu of this particular arrangement, other
analogous suitable means may be employed in connection with this handle to effect
the same end. The pin q³ normally lies in the eye q², and only when it is desired
to release the boat from the tackles, when it is suspended and ready to be launched
or released into the water is it withdrawn. It will be seen, that the pin q³ being in
the position shewn, is safe, and not liable to come out of place; but at the same
time when it is desired to remove it, it can be quickly done. To render this

page_text: operation of removal the more easily effected, the eye q² is so arranged that the
pin g³ lies across the thwart.
In cases in which the invention is adapted to work a plurality of boats by one
pair of davits (which are of the ordinary kind or of any suitable form), and one
boat is stowed within another, the thwarts are arranged and constructed as shewn
in Figures 6 and 7; that is to say, the thwarts are supported at one end to a
hinger, the pin r of which passes through the support studs, the inner end of which
is formed as shewn, and works freely about its axis in its supporting device t. By
this construction of joint the thwarts can be placed flat against the shell of the boat,
as shewn in Figure 6, and therefore occupy very little space therein, so that
the boat which lies in such boat can fit snugly in position. The opposite ends
of the thwarts are provided with a notch at each corner, the part between such
notches forming a dovetail, which fits into a corresponding shoe y, that is, a
dovetail shoe of metal, fixed to the side of the boat, such shoe having pawls y'
thereon which keeps the seat end down in place when the end is in position
therein. A cleat of metal is provided on the end of the thwarts, when of
wood, to strengthen that part.
In the operation of launching a boat, the rings of the blocks are shipped
over the hooks of the uppermost boat, and by the usual falls or ropes this
boat is raised out of the boat below it, the clutch e being, during this operation,
in gear with the lower half d thereof: the davit therefore cannot of itself move.
When clear of the lower boat, that one elevated is slewed outboard by rotating
the cranks of the two davits (which of course actuates the worm gear described,
and moves thereby the clutch e and the davits a, through the feathers or
keys f). It will be plain that, it would not be possible to move this upper
boat outboard in the ordinary way, that is, by pushing it outboard, since, when
elevated, it would be out of the reach and power of the men to do so. But
having got it outboard mechanically, in the manner described, the lowering may
be done by the men in the usual way, from the heads of the davits. It should
be here stated that when the boat has been put outboard mechanically, the
upper part of the clutch e is raised by the bell crank lever h out of gear with
the lower part d, and thus the davits are no longer locked, but are free to
rotate in their bases, the object of the disconnection being, mainly, to get rid
of rigidity, caused by the mechanical connection of the davits with the actuating
mechanism, for the purpose of preventing breakages due to stresses brought upon
the gear by the movement or swaying of the boat, due to the pitching or rolling of
the ship or other causes. The control of the davits when the clutches are discon-
nected, is effected by tackle, falls, or guys in any known suitable way.
boat is lowered to the point desired it is released from the hooks k, and this
releasing action is done by pulling out the pin q3 and lifting the rod q, by which
action the door p is raised off the ends n of the bars n, and such bars are free to
slide, one in cach direction, outwards in their frame o. Of course when these bars n
are so released, the weight of the boat being upon the rings k³ of the tackle
blocks, the hooks k will be kecked or pulled up into the position shewn in dotted
lines in Figure 2, and such hooks will obviously release themselves from such
rings.
When a
The second boat may be launched precisely in the same way as the one just
described, but in this case it is not necessary to use the mechanical means of putting
it outboard, as this may be done in the ordinary way, if desired.
As regards the formation of the upper part of the davits these may be of any
known suitable kind, such as the ordinary davits, but their height will be such as
to enable them to raise the boats clear of one another in the manner described.
It will be seen with reference to Figures 2 and 3, that when the bar q is in the
position shewn, and the pin q³ in position, that bar cannot be tampered with or the
boat released, as the pin being close to the under surface of the thwart prevents
the bar being moved, and the door p cannot therefore be raised.
It is to be understood that the arrangements and constructions of parts or gear

page_text: within the boats may be used in connection with any suitable kind of davits and
lowering gear and that the different parts of these gears may be used either
conjointly, as shewn, or separately in connection with other gears.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :--
1. The herein described improvement connected with ships-boats' launching,
consisting in the use in combination with boats stowed in multiple as described,
and with davits of the kind herein referred to, of mechanism such as worm gear, or
its equivalent, by which the davits are mechanically operated, and mechanism by
which the said operating mechanism may be disconnected or freed so that the
davits are free to rotate in their supports, and providing such davits with tackle,
guys, or falls by which their position is controlled when the said operating
mechanism is disconnected or put out of gear with the davits; for the purposes set
forth.
2. The combination with ships' davits, of the kind herein referred to, of mechanism
for operating same, such as worm gearing, such gearing being freely mounted on or
connected with the davits; and a clutch mechanism on or connected with the
davit by which the operating mechanism is coupled or connected to the davit,
or disconnected therefrom, as desired; substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
3. In a ships' boat locking and releasing mechanism, a bar, such as 9 arranged
and adapted to operate in connection with the thwart or its equivalent, of the boat,
substantially in the manner set forth.
4. The combination in a ships' boat, of locking and releasing mechanism, and
hooks, constructed and adapted to operate substantially as set forth.
5. The mounting and operation of ships-boats' movable thwarts; and also the
means of fixing the free ends of such thwarts; substantially as and for the purposes
described.
6. The arrangement and construction of ships-boats' hook mechanism shewn in
and set forth with reference to Figure 5.
7. The particular arrangement and construction of ships-boats' locking and
releasing mechanism, consisting of the bars n, door p, and bar q; as set forth with
reference to the drawings.
8. The particular ships' davit actuating gear arranged and constructed as set
forth more particularly with reference to: Figure 1.
Dated this 15th day of January 1891.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, Applicants' Patent Agents.