Improvements in Working Ships' Braces, and in Machinery therefor.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 30th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 27th Apr., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Working Ships' Braces, and in Machinery
therefor.
I, HENRY EASTCOTT, of 12, Portland Square, Plymouth, in the County of
Devon, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the working of a ship's braces by means of a winch
adapted to be operated either by hand or power.
A winch for carrying out my invention has upon its shaft a number of loose
sheaves or pulleys corresponding with the number of braces to be worked and each
sheave or pulley is adapted to be worked separately so that either brace can be
"hove in "slacked away."
"
ог
"
In practice I find it advantageous to communicate the motion of the winch shaft
to the sheaves or pulleys by means of friction discs for "heaving in" and to
provide breaks for "slacking away."
.
The friction discs may be connected to the shaft by screw threads to permit of
pressing them against the sheaves or pulleys.
The sheaves or pulleys can be of different diameters to suit requirements and
holding or gripping devices are arranged in conjunction with them to permit of
confining the braces to their sheaves or of holding them in any desired position.
Dated the 30th day of April 1894.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
therefor.
1, HENRY EASTCOTT, of 12, Portland Square, Plymouth, in the County of
Devon, 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 :-
My invention relates to the working of a ship's braces by means of a winch
adapted to be operated either by hand or power.
A winch for carrying out my invention has upon its shaft a number of loose.
sheaves or pulleys corresponding with the number of braces to be worked, and each
sheave or pulley is adapted to be worked separately so that either brace can be
"hove in
slacked away."
or
"
In practice I find it advantageous to communicate the motion of the winch
shaft to the sheaves or pulleys by means of friction discs for "heaving in" and to.
provide brakes for "slacking away."
The friction discs
may be connected to the shaft by screw threads to permit of
pressing them against the sheaves or pulleys.
The sheaves or pulleys can be of different diameters to suit requirements and.
holding or gripping devices are arranged in conjunction with them to permit of
confining the braces to their sheaves or of holding them in any desired position..
D
87

page_text: To enable iny invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can be
carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is an end elevation; and,
Figure 2 is a plan of a machine or winch for working ships' braces according
to my invention :
·
Figure 3 is a section of one of the sheaves or pulleys and friction discs mounted
on the screw-threaded winch shaft :
Figure 4 is an edge view of part of one of the pulleys with a gripping device
applied thereto for holding the brace in close contact with the groove of the pulley:
Figures 5 and 6 are sections of pulleys illustrating modifications of such device:
Figure 7 is an elevation of a rope-gripping device for holding the brace when
required:
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are drawn to a larger scale than Figures 1 and 2.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar parts.
a, a are the end frames or standards of the winch which are connected by
longitudinal bars b, b and c, c; d is the winch-shaft carried in bearings in the
standards a, a and screw-threaded as shewn in Figure 3; e, e are the sheaves
or pulleys corresponding in number with the number of braces a¹ to be worked
and arranged to be operated independently of one another. For this purpose each
pulley e is loosely mounted on a boss screwed on and keyed to the winch-shaft d
so that the shaft can revolve without rotating the pulley; 9, 9 are the friction
discs placed loosely but keyed on the shaft d so that each disc can be pressed into
close contact with its pulley by means of a nut working on the screw thread
of the shaft and provided with arms i, i to allow of its being rotated so as to lock
the pulley on the shaft d through the medium of the bush f and friction disc
The winch-shaft d is driven by toothed gearing j, k operated by wheels actuated
by hand or by power. In the latter case I provide a brake m, Figure 1, pivotted
at n and adapted to be applied to the periphery of one wheel from either side
of the winch.
9.
By this construction only one brace or single rope is required for each yard
and any one of the braces a which are connected to the various yards can be
worked from the same machine, it only being necessary for this purpose to couple
the required pulley e (round which the middle part or bight of the brace passes)
to the shaft d which being revolved will "heave in or "Black away
"the brace
according to the direction in which the shaft is revolved.
By making the pulleys of different diameters suitable to the different lengths of
the yards I can brace all the yards at once as will be obvious.
"
To keep the rope in close contact with the grooves of the pulleys, I can employ
the arrangement illustrated in Figures 2 and 4, consisting of an india-rubber
roller o adapted to press upon the rope and pulley. For this purpose it is carried
in brackets p on a plate which, together with a similar plater and bolts and
nuts s, s, serves to adjustably clamp the brackets to flat transverse bars t, t having
their ends supported by the longitudinal bars 6 and kept at proper distances apart
by short lengths of tube u, 1 on the said bars 6.
I sometimes use the rope-gripping arrangement illustrated in Figure 5 in which
the pulley e is provided with a fixed flange and a movable flange w formed by
a loose ring supported on pins x screwing into the pulley e and provided with
heads so as to allow of adjustably limiting the outward movement of the ring.
The edge of the ring at the lower part of the pulley is caused to grip the rope
by a roller y mounted upon any suitable part of the winch-frame and kept pressed
against the ring by a spring 2, the groove at the upper part of the pulley being
widened to receive or deliver the rope.
Or, I can make both flanges of the pulley movable, as shewn in Figure 6, by
employing two loose rings and spring rollers like those hereinbefore described with
reference to Figure 5.
In order to hold the braces in position when adjusted by the pulleys and for
holding the loose part of the rope taut, I provide the clamp or gripping device

page_text: illustrated in Figures 2 and 7, consisting of pairs of spring-jaws 6', 6' carried by
a bracket c' adapted to slide on the bars c of the winch-frame, the said jaws being
pressed together to grip the rope by clamping screws d' having holes to receive
a lever for turning the same..
If required I can arrange in a recess in the bottom of the pulley-groove tarred
cordage or use composition to afford a better grip for the rope, as shewn in
Figure 3.
In order to keep the slack portion of the rope clear of the winch I advantageously
attach a weight to the brace aloft or in any other suitable position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A machine or winch for working ships' braces comprising a shaft having
a number of different sized sheaves or pulleys corresponding with the number of
braces to be worked and adapted to be worked separately or together so that any
one or all of the braces can be "hove in " or slacked away substantially as
hereinbefore described.
"
2. A machine or winch for working ships' braces consisting essentially of a screw-
threaded shaft carrying loose sheaves or pulleys and friction discs adapted to lock
the said pulleys to the shaft, means for operating the said shaft, the pulleys being
of different sizes and corresponding in number with the number of braces to be
worked substantially as, and for the purposes, hereinbefore described and illustrated
in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.
3. The use in combination with the machine or winch for working ships' braces
claimed in the preceding claiming clauses of the rope gripping devices hereinbefore
described and illustrated in Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively of the accompanying
drawings.
4. The improved machine or winch for working ships' braces hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 30th day of January 1895.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.