IMPROVEMENTS IN REEFING SAILS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham, of Gosport, in
the County of Hants, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REEFING SAILS."
Sealed the 20th November 1855, and dated the 20th July 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Duncan Preston
Cunningham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th July 1855.
I, HENRY DUNCAN PRESTON CUNNINGHAM, of Gosport, in the County of
Hants, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REEFING SAILS" to be as follows:-
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me for improvements in
reefing sails, and dated November 30th, 1850, I described a plan for reefing
the square sails of ships, by rolling them upon yards so fitted as to turn round
at their points of suspension. For that purpose I also described a method of
imparting rotary motion to the yards, by means of a chain tye or haulyard
passing under the yard and resting on a "whelped" or indented grooved boss
fixed on the yard, the hauling or slacking on one part of which chain (the
other being a fixture) was to impart rotation to the yard, the weight of the
yard and attachments assisting in producing such rotation; or by means of a
band or bands rolled or wound round the yard, one end thereof being fixed

page_text: thereto (and by the unrolling or unwinding of which band or bands rotation
was conveyed to the yards). I also described the provision which I made for
allowing the sail to clear the centre fittings on the yard, by dividing the sai
down the centre to a suitable distance, and applying an arrangement of "tra-
vellers" of suitable form and construction to work up and down a rope secured
to the edges or sides of the said division, these said travellers being so con-
structed as to allow the sail and rope to work freely in them, but not to escape
from them; and the application and construction in connection with the said
travellers of a valvular cloth, which I called a "bonnet," the upper part of
which "bonnet," being fixed to a certain part of the centre fittings on the
yard, was drawn up or descended on the sail as the yard was hoisted up or
lowered down, thus keeping the division closed up. In this arrangement I
only took into consideration the employment of the yard itself, or one yard
and the employment of looms to keep off the chafe from the sail.
Now, my present Invention consists in the following improvements:-I use
a double yard, or two yards connected with each other, one being made to
revolve, and upon or from such revolving yard or roller I roll the sail up and
off I impart rotation to the said revolving yard by the several methods
described in my aforesaid Specification, that is, by the action of hoisting upon
or slacking the chain tye or haulyard passed under the yard and working in
an indented grooved boss fixed on the yard, such indented groove being intended
to prevent the chain slipping or rendering round the said yard; or in other
words, to prevent the yard from turning round in the bight of the chain (except
when acted upon by hoisting or lowering upon one part thereof); or by the
application of a band or bands or rope or ropes wound round the revolving
yard, one end of which is to be confined to the yard, and the unrolling or
unwinding of which when acted upon is to produce rotation in the revolving
yard; or I impart rotation to the revolving yard by applying thereon a cogged
boss or ring, and by leading the chain tye or haulyard through a block or
pulley secured to that yard which does not revolve, the sheave in this block 3
being indented in the same manner as described in my former Specification
(with reference to the boss). The pin or axis of the sheave is to be a fixture
to the sheave, that is to say, the sheave shall carry the pin round with it when
revolving instead of revolving on the pin, as in an ordinary block, the sides of
the block or pulley being suitably constructed for the purpose. I propose to 3
elongate the said axis or pin, so that it may protrude to a suitable distance
from the side of the block or pulley, the part so protruding being screw-
threaded, so as to form an endless screw. The block or pulley is so fixed with
reference to the cogged boss or ring that the endless screw takes into the cogs

page_text: thereon, so that when the sheave in the block or pulley is turned round, by
hauling or lowering on the chain, rotation will be imparted to the revolving
yard, and thereby the sail will be rolled upon or unrolled from off the yard.
Although I have herein described certain means of imparting rotation to the
revolving yard, there are many other mechanical arrangements by which rotation
may be produced.
In the aforesaid description I have hitherto referred to those yards which
hoist up or lower down when the sails are reefed or unreefed, and in which
the weight of the yard and attachments acts as an important auxiliary in
producing rotation; but in respect to lower or standing yards, I produce the
rotation of the yard by drawing the chain over or along the indented grooved
boss or sheave by suitable purchases, or by drawing off or unrolling the bands
or ropes fixed to the yard. For enabling the sail to clear the centre fittings
on the rotating yard, I employ the same arrangements as those described in the
Specification aforesaid, but with the following improvements, namely:-Instead
of sewing the rope on to the edges or sides of the division in the sail, in the
manner known by sailmakers by the term "roping," I put the rope inside
the tabling of the canvas (the rope having been previously warmed), and stitch
the canvas firmly and closely to the rope, thus leaving a raised edge to the
canvas, upon which the travellers will slide more freely than on the ordinary
roping. I also form this raised edge by preparing the canvas with a coating
of india-rubber gum, and the canvas being made to overlap the rope, I unite
the two parts by the application of pressure, the india-rubber being subjected
to a certain process to enable it to resist the effect of difference of temperature.
I also propose instead of carrying the sides of the division straight down to
make the bottom of the division narrower than the top, in order to relieve the
raised edging from strain. Instead of leading the top gallant sheets or sheets
above the yard through blocks fixed to the upper part of the yard arm iron,
as described in my former Specification, I lead the sheet of the sail above
through sheave holes in the unrevolving yard, or through blocks or checks
fixed thereto or in connection therewith, such blocks being fitted with swivels
to turn round, so as to adjust themselves to the direction of the sheet. I apply
the plan of rolling up sails to reef them, and vice versa, to all the square sails
of ships. And I further propose to carry down the division in the sails to such
a depth, if required, as to roll the sails up almost altogether. I roll up or
unroll the boom or gaff sails of ships or vessels by causing the boom to revolve
for that
purpose, and rolling the sail up upon it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 19th January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DUNCAN PRESTON CUNNINGHAM, of Gosport, in the County of Hants, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham,
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 night make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REEFING SAILS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Duncan Preston
Cunningham, 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 J, the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham,
do hereby declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
Whereas in the Specification of a former Patent granted to me for "in-
provements in reefing sails," and dated November 30th, 1850, I described a
plan for recting the square sails of ships (by rolling them upon the yards so
fitted as to turn round at their points of suspension); and I also described a
method of imparting rotary motion to the yards, by means of a chain tye or
haulyards, passing under the yard and resting in a "whelped" or indented
grooved boss fixed on the yard; the hauling or slacking on one part of
which chain (the other being held fast) was to impart rotation to the yard,
the weight of the yard and attachments assisting in producing such rotation

page_text: in lowering; or by means of a band or bands rolled or wound round the yard,
one end thereof being fixed thereto, and by the unrolling or unwinding of
which band or bands rotation was imparted to the yard. I also described a
provision which I made for allowing the sail to clear the centre fittings on
the yard, by dividing the sail down the centre to a suitable distance, and
applying travellers of suitable form and construction to work up and down a
rope secured to the edge or sides of the said division, these said travellers
being so constructed as to allow the sail and rope to work freely in them, but
not to escape from them; and the application and construction in connection
with the said travellers of a valvular cloth, called a "bonnet," the upper part
of which bonnet, being fixed to a certain part of the centre fittings on the
yard, was drawn up or descended on the sail as the yard was hoisted up or
lowered down, thus keeping the division closed up. In this arrangement I
only took into consideration the employment of the yard itself, or one yard
and the employment of the studding sail booms, to keep off the chafe from
the sail when rolled round the yard.
Now, my present Invention consists in the following improvements:-I use
a double yard, or two yards connected with each other, one being made to
revolve round and the other fixed upon its axis, and upon or from the revolving
yard or roller I roll the sail up and off. I impart rotation to the revolving
yard by the several methods described in my aforesaid Specification, that is,
by the action of hoisting upon or slacking the chain tye or haulyards passed
under the yard and working in an indented grooved boss fixed on the yard,
such indented groove being intended to prevent the chain slipping, or rendering
round the said yard; in other words, to prevent the yard from turning round
in the bight of the chain, except when acted upon by hoisting or lowering upon
one part thereof; or by the application of a band or bands or rope or ropes
wound round the revolving yard, one end of which is to be confined to the
yard, and the unrolling or unwinding of which when acted upon is to produce
rotation in the revolving yard; or I impart rotation to the revolving yard by
applying thereon a cogged boss or ring, and by leading the chain tye or
haulyards through a block or pulley secured to that yard which does not
revolve, or to the iron work on the revolving yard which does not revolve, the
sheave in this block being indented in the same manner as described in my
former Specification, with reference to the boss. The pin or axis of the
sheave is to be a fixture to the sheave, that is to say, the sheave shall carry
the pin round with it when revolving instead of revolving on the pin, as in an
ordinary block, the sides of the block or pulley being suitably constructed for
the purpose.
I propose to clongate the said axis or pin, so that it may

page_text: protrude to a suitable distanco from the side of the block or pulley, the part
só protruding being screw-threaded, so as to form an endless screw. The block
or pulley is so fixed with reference to the cogged boss or ring, that the endless
screw takes into the cogs thereon, so that when the sheavo in the block is
turned round by hauling or lowering on the chain, rotation will be imparted
to the revolving yard, and thereby the sail will be rolled upon or unrolled from
the yard. Although I have herein described certain means of imparting
rotation to the revolving yard, there are many other mechanical arrangements
by which rotation may be produced. I have herein-before referred to those
yards which hoist up or lower down when the sails are reefed or unreefed,
and in which the weight of the yard and attachment acts as an important
auxiliary in producing rotation; but in respect to lower or standing yards, I
produce the rotation of the yard by drawing the chain over or along the
indented grooved boss or sheave by suitable purchases, or by withdrawing off
or unrolling the bands or ropes fixed to the yard. I also propose to turn lower
yards round by means of a winch worked aloft, and upon the spindle of which
a cogged wheel communicates with a cogged wheel fixed on the yard; a
superior purchase is thus obtained for heavy lower yards. For enabling tho
sail to clear the centre fittings on the rotating yard, I employ the same
arrangements as those described in the Specification aforesaid, but with the
following improvements, namely:-Instead of sewing the rope on to the edges
or sides of the division in the sail, in the manner known by sailmakers by the
term "roping," I put the rope inside the tabling of the canvas, and stitch
the two parts of the canvas firmly together and tightly against the rope, thus
leaving a raised edge to the canvas, upon which the travellers will slide more
freely than on the ordinary roping. I also form this raised edge by preparing
the canvas with a coating of solution of india-rubber, and the canvas being
made to overlap the rope, I unite the two parts by pressure, the india-rubber
being subjected to a certain process to enable it to resist the effect of difference
of temperature. Instead of carrying the sides of the division straight down,
I make the bottom of the division narrower than the top, in order to relieve
the raised edging from strain. Instead of leading the top gallant sheets above
the yard through blocks_fixed to the upper part of the yard arm iron, as
described in my former Specification, I lead the sheet of the sail above through
sheave holes in the unrevolving yard, or through blocks or cheeks fixed thereto
or in connection therewith, such blocks being fitted with swivels to turn round,
so as to adjust themselves to the direction of the sheet. I also apply the plan
of rolling up sails to reef them, and vice versa, to all the square sails of ships.
And I further propose to carry down the division in the sails to such a depth,

page_text: if required, as to roll the sails up almost entirely. I roll up or unrol the
boom or gaff sails of ships or vessels by causing the boom to revolve for that
purpose.
In the annexed Drawings I have illustrated the manner in which
my Invention is carried into effect.
Figure 1 represents, in section, the two yards before alluded to, with the
chain tye or haulyard leading under the revolving yard and through sheave
holes in the mast, and fitted to a topmast; B is a section of the revolving
yard, upon which is fixed a whelped boss, embrased on each side by the hoops G,
and attached to the iron work on the fixed yard A; of which, H represents the
hoop; C is the parrall, sliding up and down the mast, to which the yard A
is shewn attached. It is not, however, necessary that the fixed or unrevolving
yard only or always shall be attached to the parrall; it may be convenient to
attach the yard B to the parrall, and to have an attachment by rope from the
yard A to the mast. In the Figure also the unrevolving yard is represented
much larger than the revolving yard; this is not absolutely necessary. The
revolving yard may be the same size or larger than the unrevolving yard.
E and D are the ends of the haulyard. The end D by being hauled upon or
slackened (the end E being kept fast) conveys rotation to the revolving yard,
as described in the Specification of my former Patent.
into the teeth of a cogged wheel
This yard is properly fitted in the
D is an end view of the block with
Figure 2 represents the mode of conveying rotation to the revolving yard
by means of the axis of a block or pulley (the sheave of which is whelped or
indented to receive the links of the chain haulyards or tye). This axis is
elongated, and protrudes beyond the side of the block, and is wormed, or
formed into a screw, which is made to work
or hoop attached to the revolving yard B.
centre, and attached to the fixed yard A.
the whelped pulley; E, its elongated axis; J, J, are the teeth on the cogged
wheel attached to the yard B; F, G, is the chain tye or haulyard, passing
through blocks on each side the mast, as at II, and through the block D. If
the end of this chain, say at G, be kept fast, and the other end F be pulled
upon, rotation will be conveyed to the revolving yard B, by the wormed axis E
operating on the cogged wheel J, as before explained.
Figure 3 is a front view of the two yards. B, B, is the revolving yard,
secured to the fixed yard A, A, at the points P, P, and J, J, and so fitted as to
5 turn round freely at and in the several points of attachment; N, N, are the
jackstays for securing the sail to the yard; M, M, are bolts for securing the
inner parts of the sail to; 0, 0, are holes through which the rope (head
earring) is rove for securing the outer part of the sail; G and F represent the
chain, before described.

page_text: .
.
In the Drawings I represent the revolving, or indeed both the yards, to be
as formed of an entire spar. But the middle part of the yards, and especially
that of the revolving yard, might be made with great advantage of tubular
iron, that is, formed in an iron tube, upon which the whelped boss and other
attachments could be fixed, and into which the wooden sides or outer ends of
the yards might be inserted and securely confined.
It is connected to
In Figure 4, A, A, represent a boom fitted to revolve.
the mast at B through the collar a and pin b, while its outer end B¹ is free
to revolve in a collar c held by the main sheet. C is the sail, the fore part or
luff of which is fitted with one of my patent bonnets or aprons, as before
described. The fore part of the sail is formed with a raised edge; travellers,
(see Figure 5,) which are connected with other travellers working on a slip of
canvas with a raised edge attached to the mast (see G, Figure 7,) work up and
down the raised edge on the sail. The bonnet is attached to these travellers.
The sail is attached to the boom by earrings at the ends, and also to a jackstay.
The end of the boom at B is fitted with handles H whereby to turn it round.
When required to recf the sail, the peak and throat haulyards M, N, are
Jowered upon, which lowers the gaff Y, and the handles H and boom being
turned round, the sail is rolled up round the boom, as shewn at Figure 7. The
arrangement of the bonnet on the fore part of tho sail provides for its attach-
ment to the mast, and at the same time enables it to be rolled round the
boom e.
Figure 6 shows the seam or hollow cut in the jaws of the gaff, to clear
the strip of canvas with the raised edge. The reverse operations to those
described will shake or let out the reef. A purchase may be applied to cause
the rotation of the boom, as well as or in place of the handles. It is not
absolutely necessary to have the bonnet. The fore part of the sail may be
brought up to the mast and laced to it; the lacing of course must be unlaced
as it rolls up.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment of a double or combined yard, one yard or part
capable of revolving round, and the other fixed upon its axis, for reefing
and unreefing the square sails of ships, in the manner herein-before
described.
Second, the imparting of rotation to the revolving yard through the elon-
gated axis of a block or pulley, acted upon by a chain tye or haulyard, as
herein-before described.
Third, the construction of sails made to reef and unreef by revolving round

page_text: or from a yard, with raised edging to the middle part of the sail, upon which
the travellers work up and down, as before described.
Fourth, the improvement in the top-gallant sheet blocks, particularly in
the double swivel action, employed in the reefing of sails, as herein-before
described.
Fifth, the reefing of the fore and aft sails of ships and vessels by rolling
them up on the booms, such booms being fitted to revolve for such purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of January,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
H. D. P. CUNNINGHAM. (L.S.)