IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WINDLASSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Horatio Harfield, of Royal Exchange
Buildings, in the City of Londou, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WINDLASSES,"
Sealed the 13th August 1867, and dated the 18th February 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Horatio Harfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1867.
1, WILLIAM HORATIO HARFIELD, of Royal Exchange Buildings, in the City
of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WINDLASSES," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates, first, to the employment of a foundation or bed-
plate; secondly, to improvements in the heaving in purchase; thirdly, to
improvements in the break and connector; fourthly, to improvements in the
riding apparatus.
First, it has been customary to bolt the standards which carry the spindle
of a windlass to the deck of a ship separately, an operation requiring great
care in order that the windlass may revolve freely.

page_text: In the present arrangement I provide a bed or foundation plate to which
I cast or otherwise fit the standards and bolt the bed or foundation plate
alone to the deck of the vessel.
Secondly, hitherto it has been customary in constructing windlasses which
are by purchase wheels acted upon by nipping pawls or levers of cast iron
which in order to obtain the requisite strength have necessarily to be made
of considerable weight; this I have found to be objectionable, for as the
point of the nipping pawl in its descent presses against the purchase wheel,
the wear of the pawl is nearly proportional to the weight of the carrier, hence
with this arrangement of purchase gear the wear of the point of the pawl has
hitherto been rapid. To obviate which I construct the carriers of wrought
iron instead of cast iron which will enable them to be made very much lighter,
thereby reducing the amount of wear. The cross head to which the pawl
connecting rods are attached are according to my plan arranged with two
slots running through the whole length, which allows the levers to slide
past each other, thereby regulating the power as the length of the levers
can be varied.
Thirdly, the purchase wheels have each a projecting drum or cylinder cast
or formed on their sides, and the cable holders (which can revolve freely upon
the spindle) on either side of the purchase wheels have each a corresponding
drum or cylinder, but of larger diameter, overlapping the smaller drums of the
purchase wheels, between these two drums I place a series of metal or metal
and wood rings or discs. It is preferred, however, to use iron and brass
rings alternately, the rings can move freely in a lateral direction, but some
of the rings, say the brass ones, are prevented by suitable stops or projections
from revolving independently of the drum on the cable holder whilst the
others are by similar stops or projections prevented from revolving indepen-
dently of the drum on the purchase wheels, provision is made for compressing
these discs against the purchase wheel as the outside disc from the purchase
wheel is furnished with a series of bolts which pass through the purchase
wheel and are secured to a nut which is acted upon by a screw mounted
loosely on the spindle and revolved by a hand wheel or lever. This screw
bears against the purchase wheel, and when it is revolved in one direction it
draws the nut from the purchase wheel and compresses the whole of the
discs together, and when the screw is turned in the opposite direction the
pressure is released.
The effect of this arrangement is as follows:-When the pressure is taken off
thediscsthe cableholderwith itsdiscscanrevolve independently of thepurchase

page_text: wheel and its discs, whilst when they are compressed together the cable holder
is prevented from revolvingby means of the frictiononthevariousdiscs produced
by the pressure. This arrangement for connecting and disconnecting the
cable holder is applicable also to windlasses driven by means of capstans.
Fourthly, the drums which have already been spoken of as being cast to the
cable holders are constructed on their outer parts or edges with flat surfaces.
It is preferred that these flat surfaces should form an octagon on the fore
side, and underneath the cable holder I place a carriage, on which I mount a
metal chock in such a manner that it can be moved by a lever or otherwise
so as to bear against the said flat surfaces of the drum, and thereby prevent
the revolving of the cable holder, thus acting in a similar way to the well-
known riding chock used with ordinary wooden windlasses. The cable
holders of windlasses driven by means of capstans may also be locked in this
manner,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Horatio Harfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HORATIO HARFIELD, of Royal Exchange Buildings, iu the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Horatio Harfield, Her special licence that I, the said
William Horatio Harfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Horatio Harfield, 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
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WINDLASSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Horatio Harfield, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 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 William Horatio Harfield, 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 :-
The Invention relates, first, to the employment of a foundation or bed
plate; secondly, to improvements in the heaving-in purchase; thirdly, to
improvements in the break and connector; fourthly, to improvements in the
riding apparatus.
First, it has been customary to bolt the standards which carry the spindle
of a windlass to the deck of a ship separately, an operation requiring great
care in order that the windlass may revolve freely. In the present arrange-
ment I provide a bed or foundation plate, to which I cast or otherwise fit
the standards, and bolt the bed or foundation plate alone to the deck of the
vessel.
Figure 1 in the annexed Drawings is a plan of a windlass to which this
improvement is applied; Figure 2 is a back view partly in section of the
same; Figure 3 is an end view, and Figure 4 a transverse section taken at
the line 1, 1, Figure 2.
a, a, is the bed plate of cast iron firmly secured to the deck of the ship by
holding down bolts passed through the bolt holes a¹, a¹; b, b, are the end
standards, as shown in the Drawing, they are cast separately and fitted into
recesses in the bed plate, and a packing of wood is inserted, as is shown, between
the bed plate and the standard. 61, 61, are bolts by which the standards are
securely fixed to the bed plate; c is the centre standard; it is cast in one
piece with the bed plate a, but it may be fitted separately in the same way
as the standards 6, or on the other hand the standards b may be cast in one
piece with the bed plate, but the arrangements shown I believe to be the
more convenient. The other parts of the windlass as it is represented in the
Drawings I shall have occasion herein-after to describe, but windlasses of any
ordinary construction may be fitted with bed plates according to my Invention.
Secondly, hitherto it has been customary in constructing windlasses which
are by purchase wheels acted upon by nipping pawls or levers to make the
carriers of the nipping pawls of cast iron, which in order to obtain the requisite
strength have necessarily to be made of considerable weight; this I have
found to be objectionable, for as the point of the nipping pawl in its descent
presses against the purchase wheel, the wear of the pawlis nearly proportional

page_text: to the weight of the carrier, hence with this arrangement of purchase gear the
wear of the point of the pawl has hitherto been rapid, to obviate which I
according to my Invention construct the carriers of wrought iron instead of
cast iron, which will enable them to be made very much lighter, thereby
reducing the amount of wear.
In the Drawings d, d, represent the purchase wheels keyed upon the
windlass axis e; f. f, are the carriers of the nipping pawls or levers gi
they each consist of two side plates of wrought iron forged with flanges
projecting inwards to overlap the flange of the purchase wheel; these
plates are held loosely together by the bolts f¹, f¹, and a third bolt f2
forming the axis of the nipping pawl or lever g. It will be observed that
the wrought-iron carriers are of much smaller dimensions than the cast-iron
carriers which have heretofore been used with nipping pawls. h, h, are
connecting rods linked to the ends of the pawls or levers g and connecting
them with a cross head i capable of rocking upon a standard firmly bolted
to the deck of the ship.
The cross head i to which the pawl connecting rods are attached is
according to another part of my Invention arranged with two slots running
through the whole length, which allows the levers to slide past cach other,
thereby regulating the power, as the length of the levers can be varied.
,, are the parallel slots in the cross head, and l, l, are the hand levers passing
through them so as to be able to slide past each other. They are each made
with three cotter holes 1,, through which a cotter m introduced through holes
in the sides of the cross head passes, and in this way the levers are secured in
a position to extend outwards a greater or less distance from the cross head as
may be required. This method of constructing the cross head and combining
the hand levers therewith is applicable to windlasses of constructions other
than that represented in the Drawings.
Thirdly, according to my Invention the purchase wheels have each a
projecting drum or cylinder cast or formed on their sides, and the cable
holders which can revolve freely upon the spindle on either side of the
purchase wheels, have each a corresponding drum or cylinder, but of larger
diameter, overlapping the smaller drums of the purchase wheels. Between
these two drums I place a series of metal or metal and wood rings or discs;
these rings can move freely in a lateral direction, but soine of the rings, say
the brass oues, are prevented by suitable stops or projections from revolving
independently of the drum on the cable holder, whilst the others are by
similar stops or projections prevented from revolving independently of the
drum on the purchase wheels; provision is made for compressing these discs

page_text: against the purchase wheel as the outside disc from the purchase wheel is
furnished with a series of bolts which pass through the purchase wheel and
are secured to a nut which is acted upon by a screw mounted loosely on the
spindle and revolved by a hand wheel or lever. This screw bears against the
purchase wheel and when it is revolved in one direction it draws the nut
from the purchase wheel and compresses the whole of the discs together, and
when the screw is turned in the opposite direction the pressure is released.
When the pressure is taken off the discs the cable holder with its discs can
revolve independently of the purchase wheel and its discs, whilst when they
are compressed together the cable holder is prevented from revolving by
means of the friction on the various discs produced by the pressure. This
arrangement for connecting and disconnecting the cable holder is applicable
also to windlasses driven by means of capstans.
In the Drawings it will be seen that the purchase wheels are formed with
drums or cylinders d', d', projecting from them on one side, and that the
chain rings or holders n, n, are formed with cylinders n', n, projecting from
their sides, which receive within them the drums or cylinders d' on the
purchase wheels d. Between them are contained the two series of rings o, o,.
and p, p, the rings o, o, I prefer to make of wood, elm may conveniently be
employed, they may be built up of thin segments held together by glue and
screws in the same way as wooden rings are usually built up by pattern
makers; these rings o fit into the cylinder n¹ and are prevented from
turning within it by a number of internal feathers or projections as is shown.
In between each ring o and the next there is interposed a metal ring p, I
make the rings p of boiler plate turned smooth on their faces, they fit on to the
drumorcylinderd and are prevented turning by feathers upon it. Thus it will
be seen that so long as the rings o and p rest loosely the one upon the other,
the purchase wheel d and its chain ring or holder n can turn independently
the one of the other, but that when the rings o and p are nipped firmly
together the chain ring or holder is securely held to the purchase wheel. In
order to clip these rings together when required a disc q is placed beyond
them and it is connected by bolts with a screw nut on the other side of the
purchase wheel d; s is a hollow screw capable of turning upon the axis e and
working through the screw nut 7, it has a capstan head s¹ upon it to receive
small bars by which it can be turned. The end of the screws abuts against
the purchase wheel d, so that when it is turned in one direction it draws the
nut raway from the purchase wheel and then the disc q binds the rings o and
the one on the other and the chain ring or holder becomes fast with the
purchase wheel. When the screws is turned in the opposite direction the.
P

page_text: rings o and p are set free and the chain ring or holder is free to revolve
without the purchase wheel d or vice versa. By the same instruments any
desired amount of resistance may be opposed to the turning of the chain ring
or holder n when the purchase wheel is held stationary, so that in this way a
chain may conveniently be veered out. As represented in these Figures each
of the cylinders n¹ has ratchet teeth formed upon it into which a counter
balance pawlt works, this pawl locks the chain ring or holder in one direction
independently of the other parts of the windlass; t' is a locking pin by which
the pawl may be secured in the teeth when desired, and t² is a flap or leg
jointed to the outer end of the pawl, when it is turned down it holds the pawl
out of gear with the teeth as is required in veering out.
The method of constructing the chain wheels or holders n forms no part
of the present Invention, a section of one of them is however shown at
Figure 5. The standards b, b, carry clearers and guide troughs for the
chain as is usual, u, u, are ordinary winch drums mounted on the ends of the
windlass axis e, the winch drum is omitted in Figure 3.
I would remark that without departing from my Invention the form of the
apparatus for connecting and disconnecting the purchase wheels and chain
wheels or holders may be varied so long as the connection is obtained by the
binding together of suitable friction surfaces, and the disconnection by the
relieving these surfaces from pressure, nevertheless the employment for this
purpose of two series of friction rings, the one revolving with the purchase
wheel and the other with the chain ring or holder, is one of the improvements
which I claim under my Patent.
Fourthly, according to my Invention the drums which have already been
spoken of as being cast to the cable holders are constructed on their outer
parts or edges with flat surfaces, it is preferred that these flat surfaces should
form an octagon; underneath the cable holder I place a metal chock in auch
a manner that it can be moved by a lever or otherwise so as to bear against
the said flat surfaces of the drum and thereby prevent the revolving of the
cable holder. The cable holders of windlasses driven by means of capstans
may also be locked in this manner; Figure 6 is a vertical section of a drum
or cylinder n¹ thus constructed with other parts connected therewith. The
ring of ratchet teeth before mentioned is omitted, and in lieu thereof the
drum or cylinder is at this part made octagonal; on the outside v is a block
jointed at its lower end to the bed plate a, and when it is desired to lock the
chain ring or holder with which the cylinder or drum n¹ is formed the block v
is pressed against one of the faces of the octagon by turning down the
lever w into the position shown by the dotted lines. When the lever is raised

page_text: direction.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Horatio Harfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
W. H. HARFIELD. (L.S.)
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