CERTAIN IMPROVED MEANS FOR DISCONNECTING BOATS FROM THE DAVIT BLOCKS, AND EFFECTING OTHER LIKE OBJECTS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Perley, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED
MEANS FOR DISCONNECTING BOATS FROM THE DAVIT BLOCKS, AND EFFECTING
OTHER LIKE OBJECTS."
Sealed the 16th April 1859, and dated the 1st November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Perley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st.
November 1858.
I, CHARLES PERLEY, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVED MEANS FOR DISCONNECTING BOATS FROM THE DAVIT BLOCKS, AND EFFECTING
OTHER LIKE OBJECTS," to be as follows:-
I provide a a vertical slot or mortice between two cheek pieces, to which.
the rope or chain that sustains the boat or other article is attached, and said
cheek pieces may also carry one or more sheaves, through which the rope or
chain passes to increase the purchase. Within the aforesaid mortice one or
more lugs or off-sets are provided, and to the boat or other article to be raised
or sustained a link or its equivalent is attached, that is to be entered up into.
said mortice passing over said lug or off-set, when a drop latch that has
been raised in entering said link falls in such a manner as to prevent the said.
link or its equivalent sliding off the said lug or off-set. When the boat or
other article is to be disconnected or detached, the aforesaid drop is lifted

page_text: by a cord to it, or otherwise the said link or its equivalent slides off the lug or
off-set, and the liberation of the boat or other article is instantaneous, and that
regardless of the weight sustained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Perley in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the
29th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
PERLEY, of the City and State of New York, United States of America, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her-
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me.
the said Charles Perley, Her special license, that I, the said Charles
Perley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles Perley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVED
MEANS FOR DISCONNECTING BOATS FROM THE DAVIT BLOCKS, AND EFFECTING OTHER
LIKE OBJECTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Perley, by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Perley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 is a vertical of my said block; Fig. 2 is a side view of the same;
and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a variation in my disconnecting device.
Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.
In lowering boats from vessels, it is exceedingly difficult to detach both ends

page_text: simultaneously from the davit blocks, and if one end becomes detached and
not the other, the boat is often swamped, because the weight hanging on the
one end renders the unhooking of the ordinary chain impossible, thus very
many valuable lives have been lost. Besides this, it is often important to
disengage a particular sail instantaneously, or perform similar operations
where considerable weight is suspended, and has to be disconnected from the
rope or chain by which it has been moved or sustained.
The nature of my said Invention consists in a block, or its equivalent
attached to the article itself, or to the rope or chain which sustains or
regulates the movement of the boat or other article, the same being provided
with a lug that receives a link to sustain the article, and said block or its
equivalent is provided with a drop, so fitted that the link is retained in the
said block, so that when said drop is raised by a very slight pull, the parts
will be effectually and instantantly disconnected, thus providing a means by.
which the officer in charge can disconnect a boat at the right instant to
prevent swamping, or a sail can be dropped, or any other weight that is raised
or controlled by a chain or rope can be disconnected at the right time and
with great facility.
In the Drawing, a, a, are cheek pieces, formed with or connected to the
eye b, and to this eye the rope or chain c is attached; and when the apparatus
is to be used with a double or treble fall, as with a boat davit, the sleaves d, d,
are provided in the shell of the block, as seen in Fig. 2, to pass the rope and
increase the purchase; e is a link, ring, or its equivalent, connected or attached
to the article to bo sustained or disconnected. This link is entered between
the cheeks a, a, into a mortice provided for that purpose, and placed over the
lugf that projects from ono of the cheek pieces, and then the blocking piece g
drops, or is moved into place, which coming against the side of the link e
prevents it sliding off the lug f. This blocking piece 9 in Figs. 1 and 2 is
attached by a centre pin 1, and moves between the said cheek pieces a, a, and
is provided with a line or small rope h passing through eyes 2, 2, and also
with a tongue 3, through which a pin 4 may be inserted, to prevent any
accidental disconnection.
g
It will now be apparent, that the officer in charge of a boat, in lowering
the same, takes the lines (h, h,) from each davit block, and by simultaneously
pulling thereon disconnects both ends of the boat at the right time to prevent
the same swamping. Where this device is used for other purposes, the line
may be applied in the most convenient manner according to circumstances.
In Fig. 3 substantially the same parts are shewn, but they are inverted, the
disconnecting device being attached to the boat, which, under some cir-

page_text: cumstances, is preferable. In this instance, however, the blocking piece 9 has
to be raised up, which may be done by means of a pinion o, that is turned by
a crank, pulley, and chain, or other device, or by extending the shaft p of the
pinion o longitudinally of the boat from its ends to near the centre, and pro-
viding levers or handles, the two ends can be instantaneously and reliably
disconnected by the simultaneous semi-rotation' of said shafts and their pinions.
It will be apparent that the blocking piece g might be provided with a
handle or other device to move the same, and allow the link e to slide off the
lugf. It will also be apparent that the link e might be made double instead
of single, and the blocking piece 9 inserted between the parts thereof, or
otherwise varied, and act in connection with said blocking piece, substantially
as before enumerated.
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,
the tripping or disconnecting apparatus, constructed substantially as specified,
and applied to disconnect boats from the davit blocks, or for effecting other
like objects as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Perley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witnesses,
THOMAS G. HAROLD,
289, Broadway, New York.
CHA'. H. SMITH,
289, Broadway, New York.
CHARLES PERLEY. (L.S.)