IMPROVE- MENTS IN ROWLOCKS FOR BOATS
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wright Morris at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th December 1882.
"
CHARLES WRIGHT MORRIS of Lowestoft in the County of Suffolk IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROWLOCKS FOR BOATS
"
My Invention has for its object to provide convenient and simple arrangements
of rowlocks which while being held firmly in place during use are readily slidden
or turned out of position so as not to be in the way when not in use.
According to one modification of my Invention the tholes (that is to say the
horns of the rowlocks) may be arranged to be slidden out of the way by passing
them through holes in the gunwale of the boat the upper ends of the said tholes
being provided with beads upon which they rest. when out of their position for
use Their under ends are provided with catches or fastenings or other suitable
means for retaining them in their raised position which means may consist of cross
pins which can rest in recesses in a plate underneath the gunwale to retain the
tholes in their raised position-The said plates are furnished with holes through
which the tholes can pass and also with slots through which when the said tholes
are raised and turned through a portion of a rotation the said cross-pins can pass
and the tholes consequently will fall and rest upon their heads out of the way when
not required for use-The said tholes to be brought into position for use are raised
until the cross pins have passed through the slots when the said tholes are turned
through a portion of a revolution and the pins then rest in the recesses of the plate
and the tholes are retained in the portion for use.
The tholes may be connected together at their lower ends so that they can be
lowered or raised together and fastened both at the same time-This connection
may be a plate slotted to receive a retaining catch which when in one position
allows the plate of the tholes to pass thereover but when the said tholes are raised
and the said catch is turned into the other position the said catch retains the tholes
in their raised position-Or a bolt on the thole connecting plate may be employed
I Prins Gar

page_text: 4
to slip into a loop on the lower side of the gunwale or any other suitable retaining
device may be employed such as springs collars eccentrics screws bolts hooks or
otherwise as may be most convenient the main feature of this part of my
Invention being arranging the tholes to pass through the gunwale and be retained
therein as hereinbefore described
The rowlocks may be arranged to be turned out of the way or brought into
position for use by a movement of partial rotation upon a circular portion of the
gunwale-For this purpose the gunwale at the parts where the rowlocks are
situated is provided with a circular part upon or round which the rowlocks
proper work-In the centre of this part a piece is taken out or recessed leaving a
circular reduced part for the rowlock to work on. At each side of this recessed
part is a groove forming part of a circle in which grooves similarly formed flanges
on the rowlock proper engage-This engagement of the said flange secures the
rowlock in position fore and aft but it can be turned as on a knuckle joint to the
raised position or to a position under the gunwale when not in use. The said
rowlock is secured in its position for use by means of sliding plates or bolts, bars,
locks springs, books, catches stops or other suitable devices as may be found
desirable; the main feature of this modification being the arrangement whereby
the rowlocks proper can be caused to turn directly upon a circular piece forming
part or a continuation of the gunwale
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Wright Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th June 1883.
+
CHARLES WRIGHT MORRIS of Lowestoft in the County of Suffolk
MENTS IN ROWLOCKS FOR BOATS
"
"IMPROVE-
My Invention has for its object to provide convenient and simple arrangements
of rowlocks whereby the tholes thereof (that is to say the horns between which
the oar or scull is placed) are held firmly in position during use but can be
readily slidden or turned out of position so as not to be in the way when not required
for use.
And in Order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figures 1 and 2 represent elevations at right angles to each other of a rowlock
constructed according to my Invention the tholes being shewn raised. Figure 3
is a plan of underside of the retaining plate hereinafter described. The tholes A
are arranged so as to be capable of sliding in holes in the gunwale B of the boat
so as to be either brought into the position for use or be lowered out of the way

page_text: when not required for use. The upper ends of the said tholes A are provided with
heads a which when the tholes are out of their position for use rest upon the
gunwale as shewn in dotted lines in Figure 1 Their under ends are provided with
catches fastenings or means for retaining them in their raised position. These may
take various forms, as here shewn they consist of cross pins a² on the lower part
of the tholes and a plate C secured underneath the gunwale. The said plate is
furnished with holes corresponding to those in the gunwale through which the
tholes. pass
and also with slots c through which the pins a² can pass and with
recesses c² at or about right angles to the said slots c The tholes being in their
depressed position are brought into the position for use by raising them until the
pins a² have passed through the slots c when the said tholes are turned through a
partial rotation and the pins a² then drop into the recesses c2 and the tholes are
retained thereby in the position for use. To lower the said tholes it will only be
necessary to raise them until the pins a² are clear of the recesses c³ and then by
turning the said tholes through a portion of a rotation the said pins a² pass
through the slots c and the tholes will fall and rest upon their heads a out of the
way when not required for use.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are views of an arrangement generally resembling that shewn
in figures, 1, 2 and 3 but shewing a slightly modified form of the fastening In
this case in place of the slotted and recessed plate C a pair of hooks c³ is employed
for each thole the hooks of each pair being reversely placed as shewn in Figure 7
it will be readily seen that when the thole is raised the pin a² will pass up between
the books and then by giving a quarter rotation to the thole the said pin will be
engaged with the hooks The other parts of this modification are like those shewn
in Figures 1, 2 and 3 A protecting or strengthening piece B2 is shewn encasing
the gunwale at the part where the rowlock is placed
.
The tholes may be connected together at their lower ends so that they can be
lowered or raised together and both fastened at the same time. Figures 8, 9
and 10 are views corresponding to those shewn in Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrating
this modification.
A plate E connects the tholes at their lower ends the said plate being slotted
and recessed to receive a retaining catch F which is arranged to turn in the piece B².
The plate E is shewn in plan in Figure 11. It is provided with a slot e the
catch F to pass through when the tholes are raised and with a recess e³ in
which the said catch engages when turned into the retaining position. When the
tholes are to be raised the catch F is in the position Figure 10 so as to allow the
plate E to pass thereover. After the said tholes have been raised the said catch F
is turned into the position shewn in Figures 8 and 9 and the said catch engages
with the slot e and retains the tholes in their raised position .In order to ensure
the catch F entering the slot E even should it be at an angle thereto I enlarge or
countersink the slot at the centre part and make the catch F heart shape by
which means when the plate E is raised and brought into contact with the catch
it will cause it to turn into the proper position to enter the slot. Or instead of the
arrangements hereinbefore described for retaining the tholes in their elevated
position a bolt on the thole connecting plate E may be employed to slip into a loop
on the lower side of the gunwale or any other suitable retaining device may be
employed such as springs collars excentrics screws bolts books or otherwise as may
be most convenient the main feature of this part of my Invention being the manner
of arranging the tholes to pass through the gunwale and be retained therein as
hereinbefore described.
The Rowlocks may be arranged to be turned out of the way or brought into
position for use by a movement of partial rotation upon a circular portion of the
gunwale. This modification is illustrated in side elevations in Figures 12 and 13
respectively shewing the rowlock in reverse positions. Figure 14 is a transverse
section on the line 1-2 Figure 12 and Figure 15 is an end elevation. Figure 16
is a longitudinal section.
The gunwale at the parts where the Rowlocks are situate are provided with a

page_text: circular part holder or bracket G upon which the rowlock A works The centre of
this bracket piece G is cut away or recessed as shewn at G2 leaving a circular
reduced part for the base of the rowlock to work on.. At each side of this recessed
part G2 is an undercut groove g forming part of a circle in which grooves engage
correspondingly formed flanges a³ on the base of the rowlock A. This engagement
of the said flange with the grooves secures the rowlock in position fore and aft but
allows it to be turned as on a knuckle joint to the raised position shewn in
Figures 12. 14 and 15 or to a position under the gunwale when not in use as
shewn in Figure 13 The rowlock is secured in its elevated position for use by
means of a plate g² which is secured to the base of the rowlock by screws or pins g³
passing through slotted holes so that the plate g² can be raised or lowered to
disengage it from or engage it with notches i When the rowlock is not required
for use the plate 92 is raised out of the retaining notches when the rowlock will
readily rotate on the part G2 and assume the position shewn in figure 13 or bolts
bars locks springs hooks catches stops or other suitable retaining devices may be
employed the main feature of this modification being the arrangement whereby
the rowlocks proper can be caused to turn directly upon a circular piece forming
part of or a continuation of the gunwale. The horns or crutch of the rowlock are
secured to the base by a pin h to allow the said horns or crutch to swivel on the
said base
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect 'I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein before in part recited
Letters Patent is :-
First Arranging rowlocks for boats and providing them with means for
fastening and releasing them so that they can be raised and fastened in position
for use or lowered out of the position for use substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in figures 1 to 11 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second. In rowlocks for boats a support or bracket and rowlocks proper so
combined and attached together and affixed to the boat that the said rowlocks can
be turned into and fastened in position for use or be turned out of the position
for use by a motion of partial rotation of the rowlock upon the support or bracket
substantially as, herein before described and illustrated in figures 12 to 16 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof I the said Charles Wright Morris have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal this Seventh day of June One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
CW MORRIS (L.S.)