Improvements in Apparatus for Lifting and Lowering Ships' Boats and other Weights.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 2nd Apr., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Lifting and Lowering Ships' Boats
and other Weights.
I, JOHANN HEINRICH KLENCKE, of 29, Mathildenstrasse, Bremen, in the German
Empire, Captain, 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 :-
This invention consists in improved arrangements or combinations of apparatus for
lifting and lowering ships' boats over the side of the ship by means of which a boat
can be lowered more conveniently and at a greater distance from the side of the ship
than with the davits ordinarily used and can be transported from one side of the
ship and lowered over the other side, which apparatus may also be used for loading
barges from the ships' side and similar purposes.
On the drawing appended hereunto Figure 1 shows a side view and Figure 2 an
end view of one way of arranging the apparatus.
My improvements consist in the arrangement of an outrigger or of outriggers
capable of being moved or traversed on and guided by girders supported by suitable
staging from the deck of a ship and extending preferably across the same, and of
lifting tackle or apparatus of any suitable ordinary kind arranged so that boats or
other weights can be lifted at the end of the outrigger by the lifting apparatus and
by running the same out over the end of the girders be brought over the side of the
ship to a considerable distance and lowered or lifted.
The drawing appended hereunto shows a movable winch A of common construction.
The side frames of the winch are extended downwards and an outrigger C formed of
two channel irons attached to them. The winch is mounted on travelling wheels a
running on the girders F which are supported by end girders F¹ and standards G
placed at the sides of the deck H. The outrigger is provided with wheels c running
on the underside of the girders F to prevent the outriggers and winch from being.
tilted. From the winch drum B a chain or rope is led over the guide pulleys Di
and D and attached to the boat E. Preferably two outriggers and winches or
equivalent lifting apparatus are employed one for each end of the boats to be
launched.
When a boat standing on the deck is lifted by the winch rope passed over one of
the guide pulleys D¹¹ at the end of the outrigger by means of the winch, or by a
pair of winches working either together or separately or by equivalent lifting
apparatus, and the winch or winches is or are then moved by means of any suitable
arrangement for instance by rotating one pair of the wheels a by gearing from a
crank shaft as usual in travelling crabs, to the end of the girders F, the boat can be
lowered into the water free from the side of the ship; after which the winch with the
outrigger can be moved inwards again and the next boat within reach of the outrigger
on the deck underneath the girders may be launched.
By means of this apparatus a boat can be launched over the lee side of the ship
from its position on the weather side, by running the winches over it and lifting it
direct by the winch ropes and carrying it leewards so far that it can be reached by
the winch rope slung over the end pulleys of the outriggers after the winches have
been run back, and then running the outriggers out. In this way several boats

page_text: standing side by side or one upon another on the deck, can be brought from one side
of the deck and launched over the other side.
Instead of a winch or crab there may be simply a carriage or slide connected with
the outrigger or the latter arranged to run between the flanges of the overhead
girders, and ordinary boat tackle of ships blocks used, which may be hung to the
outrigger at the middle and the running ropes carried over suitable pulleys at the
end of the outrigger to launch the boat, or the tackle shifted from the middle to
the end and the pull rope taken over guide pulleys inwards, for shifting and
launching boats in the aforesaid manner, which will do the work better than the
ordinary boat davits.
Preferably however travelling winches or crabs of any suitable sort used in con-
nection with overhead travelling cranes, are used in combination with the outriggers
for lifting the load and running the outriggers out or in, which winches may be
arranged to work separately or together and be worked by hand or power, electricity
for instance, and are preferably fitted both with centrifugal brakes, and with hand
friction brakes to the rope or chain drum, aud the usual arrangements for dis-
connecting the gear of the drum shaft so as to lower with the hand brake only. Such
an arrangement possesses the advantages, firstly that the boat suspended from the
outrigger outside the ship can be lowered with a constant velocity self regulated by
the centrifugal brake without throwing the crank axle out of gear, and secondly
brought into the water at the opportune moment with accelerated speed by throwing
the drum shaft out of gear and lowering by the hand brake while the gearing is
standing, and finally the boat can get free from the ship in any case by running the
winch rope off the drum and slipping it off by the pull from the boat.
The drum may be arranged for the reception of several winch ropes in order that
the launching of the next host can he begun immediately in case of such a throwing
off of a winch rope. With this arrangement of winches also a used winch rope can
be coiled on the drum again by a handle put upon the drumshaft, without turning
the gearing.
Obviously the shape and construction of the outriggers themselves, as well as their
length, can be varied to suit different vessels and requirements. In some cases it
may be opportune to turn the ends of the outrigger downwards to diminish the
oscillations of the boat about the point of suspension and facilitate the entry of
passengers into the boat.
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. The arrangement of an outrigger or more than one movable along overhead
girders above the deck of a ship in combination with lifting appliances, for launching
ships boats or unloading goods, substantially as herein before described.
2. The arrangement of an outrigger or of outriggers each connected to a winch or
crab travelling on overhead girders placed across a ship substantially as and for the
purpose herein before described and illustrated by the drawings.
3. The arrangement of an outrigger or of outriggers each connected to a winch or
crab which is capable of travelling on overhead girders above the deck of a ship 4
and is fitted with a self-acting centrifugal brake and with a hand brake applied
to the drum shaft and with arrangements for disconnecting the drumshaft from
the gearing.