CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING OF SHIPS, BOATS, BARGES, AND OTHER VESSELS FOR NAVIGATION
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BRINDLEY, of Frinsbury, near Rochester, in the County of Kent, Ship
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Fourth did, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of
October, in the third year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Brindley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His special
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph
Brindley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should and lawfully
might use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING OF SHIPS,
BOATS, BARGES, AND OTHER VESSELS FOR NAVIGATION," for which the said Letters
were granted; and in which Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if
I, the said Joseph Brindley, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said improvements, and in what manner the same are to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the
same to be inrolled in our High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then
the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby
granted, should utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the
same Letters Patent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Brindley, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention by the

page_text: following description thereof, and the manner in which the same is to be per-
formed, by the Drawings and explanations thereof annexed, that is to say:-
My said Invention doth consist in enclosing the various timbers of boats,
ships, or other vessels, particularly those which constitute the frame, between
strong plates of iron, copper, or other metal or metals; or combinations of
metals, which plates I call frame bands, and also in attaching the various
planking of boats, ships, or other vessels to form their bottoms, sides, decks,
and other parts, by means of long strips of iron, copper, or other metal or
metals, or combinations of metals, worked over the said planking in manner
herein-after more particularly explained, reference being had to the Drawings
annexed, and which strips I call hoop ribs; and also in supporting the decks
of ships and other vessels by means of a series of metal rings placed fore and
nd united to seek othe
The Drawing marked A is a perspective view of a vessel's hull, shewing the
manner in which the frame bands marked R are let in on each side of the
timbers. I should here observe, however, that the frame bands may be
applied without being let in, though I prefer letting them in, and in that case
the planks must be grooved to lie over them. These frame bands pass com-
pletely round the timbers of the other side, and the frame band on the outer
side of the timbers may be carried over the deck beam, also forming its upper
frame band, as shewn at M, in which case the outer frame band of the timber
on one side, the outer frame band of the timber at the opposite side,
and the upper frame band of the deck beam between them will be all
in one piece. In like manner the inner frame bands of the side timbers
may be carried under the deck beams all in one piece, as more particularly
explained by reference to the Drawing marked B. A is the first thickness
of planking next the timbers; over this planking are worked the hoop ribs
marked J, which pass directly under the bottom of the vessel, and coming up
over the like planking on the other side, are either cut off at the top timber
heads or bent round over the deck plank, which I prefer, and the two ends
rivetted together, thus forming a complete hoop round the vessel. These
hoop ribs being secured in their proper position, another thickness of planking
B is worked over them, having grooves cut in it to let in the hoop ribs, over
which this second planking B is worked. This second planking B being
brought to its place, another set of hoop ribs marked S, and similar to the
last mentioned, are worked in like manner over it, passing again completely
round the vessel, or else cut off at the top timber heads as before described. A

page_text: third planking C is then worked over these second hoop ribs marked S, in like
manner as the second planking was over the first hoop ribs J, and this will
constitute the outer planking of the vessel. The whole is then bolted together
through and through, as shewn in the Drawing marked C.
The Drawing marked B contains two Figures:-
Fig. 1 represents the midship section of a ship. D, D, D, D, are timbers
cut into various shapes, and inclosed between the frame bands marked R.
The first planking is marked A, the second planking B, and the third or outer
planking C. The letters J denote the hoop ribs passing under the vessel, and
also (as shewn in this Figure) over the deck planks P and N (F representing
the deck), and thus the hoop ribs form complete hoops round the vessel.
9, 9, are bolts shewing a manner in which the whole may be bolted together.
Fig. 2 is another section shewing the manner in which the frame bands of
the side timbers are made to unite with those of the lower deck beams of.
ships, X being the representation of part of a lower deck beam.
The Drawing marked C contains four Figures:-
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the metal hoop ribs and frame bands, shewing the
appearance which the planks would make in the progress of planking a ship
on my new plan, A being the first plank or planks nearest the timbers, B the
second plank, and C the third or outside plank.
Fig. 2 is a plan of part of the deck beams of a vessel and the metal frame
bands and hoop ribs brought over from the sides, as herein-before described.
This Figure shews the appearance which the planks would make in the
progress of laying the deck, N being the under plank or planks nearest the
deck beams, P the middle plank, and L the upper plank.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of part of a ship supposed to be cut just above
the lower deck beams. The parts marked R are the frame bands.. Those
shewn at 1, 2, and 3 represent the frame bands of the side timbers as forming
one piece with the frame bands of the deck beams, while those shewn at 4, 5,.
and 6 represent them cut off at the timber heads. The parts marked J and S
are the ends of the hoop ribs, and those marked g are bolts or fastenings which
secure all together.
Fig. 4 is a view of some upper and lower timbers with the frame bands
applied to them, and a layer of planking over them.
The Drawing marked D represents the section of a vessel, shewing a series
of metal rings, which I call combination rings, placed fore and aft under the
lower deck for its support, and resting on the keelson. These rings are united
to each other by bolts or flanges, or otherwise, at the points marked a to the
deck at the points marked e, and to the keelson at the points marked Y. Now
in the application of my said Invention, any number of hoop ribs may be used,

page_text: as also any number of layers of plank, and of any thickness; nor are the
dimensions or proportions of the hoop ribs or frame bands necessarily limited.
All these matters may be left to the discretion of the builder, who must be
guided by the size of the vessel and the service for which it is intended. I prefer
iron for the hoop ribs and frame bands and combination rings. The dimensions
which I deem most suitable for a ship of about three hundred tons are as fol-
lows: The hoop ribs a quarter of an inch by two inches and a half; the frame
bands three eighths of an inch by two inches and a half; and the plank I prefer
to be about two inches by ten inches. The largest combination rings I prefer
to be about four inches broad by one inch thick, and the smallest to be about
three inches and an half by three quarters of an inch. The arrangement of
the hoop ribs, as to their relative situations one with the other, may also vary,,
as shewn in Drawing C, Fig. 3; and boats, ships, or other vessels may be built
without any frame timbers or frame bands if the hoop ribs are. properly
applied and sufficiently strong. But inclosing the various timbers of boats,
ships, or other vessels, particularly those which constitute the frame, between
strong plates of iron, copper, or other metal or metals, or combinations of
metals, and also attaching the various planking of boats, ships, and other.
vessels to form their bottoms, sides, decks, and other parts by means of long
strips of iron, copper, or other metal or metals, or combinations of metals.
worked over the said planking in manner herein-before more particularly
described, as also supporting the decks of ships by means of metallic combi-
nation rings, as herein-before explained, being, to the best of my knowledge
and belief, entirely new, and never before used in these Kingdoms, I hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same; and that I do verily
believe this said Specification in all respects, fully and without reserve or
disguise, to comply with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent contained, whereby it is my intention to maintain an exclusive
right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Brindley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named Joseph Brindley, in the
JOSH (L.s.) BRINDLEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Sixteenth day of April,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Joseph Brindley came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also
the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
in that case made and provided.