AN IMPROVED CAPSTAN
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Noble Carr Richardson, of South Shields, in
the County of Durham, Founder, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED CAPSTAN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Noble Carr
Richardson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 24th June 1858.
I, NOBLE CARR RICHARDSON, of South Shields, in the County of
Durham, Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED CAPSTAN" to be as follows:-
This improvement consists in manufacturing capstans with two
separate barrels, so constructed and arranged that either barrel can be
worked independently of the other barrel, or both barrels together.
And the manner in which I prefer to effect this improvement is by
connecting one barrel to a spindle or axis which is capable either of re-
volving or of being fixed, and making the other barrel capable either of
working free or of being connected with the spindle or the other barrel,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Noble Carr Richardson in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 24th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
NOBLE CARR RICHARDSON, of South Shields, in the County of Durham,
Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Noble Carr Richardson, Her
special licence that I, the said Noble Carr Richardson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Noble Carr
Richardson, 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED CAPSTAN," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Noble Carr Richardson, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly 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 Noble Carr Richardson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
.
My said Invention consists in manufacturing capstans with two
separate barrels to work on the same deck, so constructed and arranged

page_text: that either barrel can be worked independently of the other barrel; or
both barrels together.
.
And now having set forth the nature of my said Invention, I
will proceed to describe the manner in which the same is to be and,
I believe, inay be best performed, namely, by connecting one barrel to a
spindle or axis which is capable either of revolving or being fixed, and
making the other barrel capable either of working free or of being
connected with the spindle or the other barrel by means of suitable
capstan heads and pauls or clutches, or other means for working the
same.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible I
have prepared the accompanying illustrative Drawing, in which Figure
1, is an exterior elevation of a capstan constructed in accordance there-
with; Figure 2, is a transverse vertical section of the same; Figure 3,
a plan view looking down upon the lower or firstly mentioned of two
barrels of the capstan, omitting the pauls; and Figure 4, a similar
view of the paul ring underneath the said barrel. a, is the pintle or
spindle of the capstan, working at its lower end in a suitable bush b,
which is cast or formed in the centre of the plate c, of the paul ring d.
e, is the deck, to which this plate and ring are firmly secured in any
convenient manner, though not represented in the Drawing, f, is a
cap or cover for shielding this part of the apparatus from water. y, is
the firstly mentioned or lower barrel of the capstan; and h, the head of
the same, cast separately from its barrel, but both being keyed or fixed
upon the pintle a. This barrel is furnished with a series of pauls i, i,
at or near its bottom edge (similarly to an ordinary capstan) which
travel or work in or upon the paul ring d, which has ordinary tecth or
paul seats thereon for the pauls to act against. m, is the secondly
mentioned or upper barrel of the capstan, and n, the head of the saine,
the two being formed together in one casting, and being capable of
working freely or revolving upon the pintle. Besides, however, having
this qualification, they are capable of being connected with the pintle
(or rather with the lower barrel g, which is keyed upon it) in the fol-
lowing manner: The barrel g, is furnished with a groove or paul
ring o, cast in or upon its upper surface, having suitable teeth or paul

page_text: seats thereon, and the barrel m, is furnished at or near its bottom edge
and on the interior of the said barrel with four pauls, two only of which,
marked p, p, are represented in the Drawing, which travel or work in
the said groove or ring. 4, 7, are holes in the barrel m, to admit the
finger so as to disengage the pauls p, p, when it is desired that the two
barrels should work independently of each other.
The mode of working my improved capstan is by means of hand
spikes or capstan bars in the ordinary manner, but applied to one
or both of the heads h, and n, as may be desired. All that I consider
necessary to explain as regards its action or use is, that when the upper
barrel m, is at rest, by being held by a warp upon it being "belayed,"
the lower barrel g, may still be used. Consequently either barrel may
be worked separately or both together.
I wish it to be understood that although I have herein described and
have represented in the Drawing the pauls p, p, and the paul ring 0,
as the best means I am aware of for connecting the two barrels, any
other suitable clutch or contrivance may be substituted for the purpose.
Any other suitable clutch or contrivance may also be substituted for
the ordinary pauls i, i, and the paul ring d.
Lastly, I wish it to be understood that I am perfectly aware that in
frigates and some other vessels double capstans, that is to say, two cap-
stans, one upon each of two separate decks, but upon the same pintle
or axis, are made to work cither connectedly or independently of each
other; my Invention, though totally distinct, affords similar advantages
by means of a compound or double barrelled capstan upon one deck.
In witness whereof, I, the said Noble Carr Richardson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three.
NOBLE CARR RICHARDSON. (L.S.)
NOBLE CARR RICHARDSON. (L.S.)