IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' WINDLASSES AND IN APPLIANCES CONNECTED PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clarke, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the
County of Durham, and Edmund Walker, of the Firm of Emerson,
Walker, and Company, of London Street, Mark Lane, in the City
of London, Ships' Windlass Manufacturers, for the Invention of
** IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' WINDLASSES AND IN APPLIANCES CONNECTED
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clarke and
Edmund Walker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 17th December 1873.
'
We, WILLIAM CLARKE, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County of
Durham, and EDMUND WALKER, of the Firm of Emerson, Walker,
and Company, of London Street, Mark Lane, in the City of London,
Ships' Windlass Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' WINDLASSES AND IN APPLIANCES

page_text: CONNECTED THEREWITH, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in ships' windlasses,
and consists in a novel arrangement of parts, whereby the whelp and
chain wheels, and also the surging heads can be operated upon by steam
or other power in a more economical manner than by any present
method, besides which the windlasses occupies less space and is more
compact, thereby putting it better under the control of the attendant.
The base or bed plate is somewhat rectangular in form, and has
standards or uprights for carrying the. shaft, on which the whelp wheels 1
and surging heads are mounted, as also the lift wheels, cones, and pinch
wheels, as in the Specification of a former Patent granted to us on the
22 day of June, in the year 1869, No. 1905. We place in the middle
part of the main shaft a worm wheel, and above this we arrange a worm
or endless screw to gear into the teeth thereof; the worm being upon 1
another shaft fitted in separate standards or uprights.
The windlasses may however be driven by intermediate spur and bevil
gearing in combination through a vertical shaft inclosed in a hollow
standard carrying a drum head, which can be operated by hand when
desired. This shaft is cranked and has rods attached, so that they and 2
the shaft can be rotated in a direct manner by steam or other power
from cylinders fitted below and upon the bed plate.
We prefer to have only one crank on the shaft, and to arrange this
with the eccentrics between two of the standards, the other crank motion
being derived from a disc upon the end of the shaft and outside of one 2
of the standards in order to steady the shaft in its rotation, the disc
acting also as a fly wheel.
The eccentrics for operating the valves of the cylinders may be of the
ordinary kind (fixed), but in most cases we purpose fitting the eccentrics
loosely upon the shaft, so that they can be turned round and adjusted 3
by hand, and then fixed by a pinching wheel, which can be moved
along a threaded portion of the shaft for that purpose.
The crank shaft terminates just behind the worm or endless screw,
and its end receives one end of a separate shaft, on which the socket for
the hand levers is fitted, so that should it be necessary to operate the 3

page_text: lift or wheels by hand labour it can be done with facility, the socket
having the usual rods and pauls or pinch blocks in connection.
According to another arrangement we fit a loose sleeve upon the
upper shaft, so that one end of it bears against a bearing block or a brass
on one of the plummer blocks, against which the end thrust of the
worm wheel is received when the upper shaft is working in one direction,
thus the shaft is permitted to run upon its own bearings without being
influenced by end thrust.
The sleeve rotates with the shaft by its connection with a feather or
key, and when the worm wheel is required to be thrown out of gear, or
when a back action is needed, a ring, also free to be slid along the
shaft and fixed by a screw pin is put into the necessary position and
secured.
We purpose arranging a chain wheel upon the upper shaft, by which
a warping capstan can be operated, and also a warping end to facilitate
the "catting" of the anchor.
The adjustable eccentrics are applicable for other classes of machinery
in which a change of motion of shafts, adjustment of the lap of valves,
regulation of steam, water, and other ports and passages, and for deter-
mining the positions of pistons in cylinders.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Clarke and Edmund Walker in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 17th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM.
CLARKE, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County of Durham, and EDMUND
WALKER, of the Firm of Emerson, Walker, and Company, of London.
Street, Mark Lanc, in the City of London, Ships' Windlass Manu-
facturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said William Clarke and Edmund Walker, Her

page_text: special licence that we, the said William Clarke and Edmund Walker,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said William Clarke and Edmund Walker, our 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 SHIPS' WINDLASSES
AND IN APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO
OTHER MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said 1
William Clarke and Edmund Walker, or one of us, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one of our,
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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the 1
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Clarke and Edmund
Walker, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and 2
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to
say:
-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in ships' windlasses,
and consists in a novel arrangement of parts, whereby the whelp and
chain wheels, and also the surging heads, can be operated upon by 2
steam or other power in a more economical manner than by any present
method, besides which the windlasses occupy less space and are more
compact, thereby putting them better under the control of the
attendants.
The Invention will be more particularly understood by reference to 3
the annexed Drawings, Figures 1 and 2, and to the following
description:-The base or bed plate A is somewhat rectangular in form,
and has standards or uprights B, B, for carrying the shaft C, on which
the whelp wheels D, D, and surging heads E, E, are mounted, as also
the lift wheels F, F, cones G, G, and pinch wheels H, H, as in the 3
Specification of a former Patent granted to us on the 22nd day of June,
in the year 1869, No. 1905. We place in the middle part of the main
shaft C a worm wheel I, and above this we arrange a worm or endless

page_text: screw J to gear into the teeth thereof, the worm being upon another
shaft K. fitted in separate standards or uprights L, L. The shaft is
cranked at M, and has rods N, N, attached, so that the shaft K can be
rotated in a direct manner by steam or other power from cylinders P, P,
fitted below and upon the bed plate A.
We prefer to have only one crank M on the shaft, and to arrange this
with the excentrics Q, Q, between two of the standards, the other crank
motion being derived from a disc R upon the end of the shaft K and
outside one of the standards L in order to steady the shaft in its rotation,
the disc R acting also as a fly wheel.
The excentric for operating the valves of the cylinders may be of the
ordinary kind (fixed), but according to a part of our Invention we
purpose fitting the excentrics Q, Q, loosely upon the shaft K, so that
they can be turned round and adjusted by moving round the wheel S
formed in a piece with them by hand, and be then fixed by a pinching
wheel T, which can be moved along a threaded portion of the shaft Ķ
for that purpose.
We arrange the worm J upon a loose sleeve U upon the upper shaft K
so that one end of it can bear against a bearing block or a brass in a
plummer block V, against which the end thrust of the worm is received
when the upper shaft is working in one direction, thus the shaft is
permitted to run upon its own bearings without being influenced by end
thrust. The sleeve U rotates with the shaft by its connection with a
feather or key, and when the worm is required to be thrown out of gear
it can be moved to the left, as will be understood by the Figure, or when
a reverse action of the worm wheel is needed a ring W, also free to be
slid along the shaft, can be brought up to be in contact, as in dotted
lines, and fixed by a screw pin to thereby hold the worm in the required
position.
We sometimes arrange a chain wheel X upon the upper shaft K, by
which a warping capstan can be operated, and also a warping end to
facilitate the "catting" of the anchor, the rope being first led through a
pulley block, as shown, or in other convenient manner.
According to the second part of our Invention the adjustable eccentrics
are applicable for other classes of machinery in which a change of motion
of shafts, adjustment of the lap of valves, regulation of steam, water, and

page_text: °
other ports and passages, and for determining the positions of pistons in
cylinders, and this will be clearly understood by Figures 3 and 4, one of
which shows the arrangement fitted to an ordinary stationary engine
used for commercial or manufacturing purposes, and the other to an
engine for pumping. By this method the ordinary adjusting and the
ordinary reversing gear can be dispensed with, the adjusting of the valves
and the reversing of the engine being effected by the shift of the
excentrics Q, Q, as previously explained.
The third part of our Invention relates to an arrangement of
appliances by which a windlass can be driven by steam or other equi-
valent power, or by hand from a capstan head. Figure 5 represents
this method of driving the main shaft C and its wheels. Here we
employ a shaft Y, which receives its motion from an engine or any
source of power, and communicates it to a spur pinion a, which is caused
to gear into another pinion 6, as in Figure 6. This latter taking into a
spur wheel c occupying the position of the worm wheel I, mentioned
with reference to Figures 1 and 2, for driving the main shaft C. The
shaft Y is so arranged by clutch mechanism that it can be thrown out of
gear with its engine, and then the pinion a can be operated from the
capstan head d by hand, the motion being through a vertical shaft e,
bevil pinion f, to the bevil wheel g, which is preferably in the same
casting with the pinion a.
་
It will be seen that the vertical shaft e is enclosed in a hollow
standard h, the lower part of which spreads out, so that a gap is formed
between the two feet i, i, in which the pinions a and f, and also the
wheel g, can work.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim,―
Firstly. The improvements in ships' windlasses and in appliances
connected therewith, the whole being in combination as set forth and
shown with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings annexed.
Secondly. We claim the method of and appliances for adjusting the
valves of engines and for reversing the motion thereof, whether such
engines be used for working windlasses or other pieces of mechanism or
machinery, as set forth and substantially as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and
4 of the Drawings annexed.
:

page_text: Thirdly. We claim the arrangement of mechanism by which a
windlass can be operated by motive power through a separate shaft, or
by hand, from a capstan head, as described with reference to Figures 5
and 6 of the annexed. Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Clarke and Edmund
Walker, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifteenth day
of June One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.