Improvements in or relating to Fastenings for Hatch Coverings.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 17th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 12th May, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Fastenings for Hatch Coverings.
I, CHARLES DAVID DOXFORD, of Pallion Yard, Sunderland, in the County of
Durham, Ship-builder, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
In carrying out this invention I secure upon the hatch combing a cleat of
somewhat usual construction but having its working face inclined towards the hatch
combing. In the face of the cleat is a recess dovetailed, rounded or otherwise
arranged so that a wedge which fits therein may after being once placed in position
be prevented from falling out although free to slide in the cleat. The groove in
the cleat may if desired be opened out towards the centre so as to form a double
bearing instead of a long single one. The wedge is provided with one inclined
edge enlarged as a head or moulding to fit in the groove in the cleat; the other
edge of the wedge lies and moves in a direction parallel to the hatch combing.
One end preferably the smaller end of the wedge is enlarged so that it cannot pass
through the groove in the cleat and the other end after the wedge has been
inserted in the groove in the cleat may be slightly hammered or rivetted over so as
to prevent it from falling out. When thus prepared the wedge is held in the cleat
so that it cannot fall out or get lost, but is free to travel in the cleat so as to come
nearer to or farther from the hatch combing. In using this invention the tarpaulin
can be placed upon the hatch and carried down around the hatch combing and the
battening bar placed upon it, all in the usual manner; the wedge
home forcing the battening bar towards the hatch combing and gripping the covering
between the two.
then driven
The inclined face of the cleat enables it to be used with an ordinary wedge
should its proper wedge become broken or by any means forced out and lost, but it
will be understood that so long as the suitable inclination is obtained for the wedge
the face of the cleat could be parallel or at any angle to the hatch combing.
Dated this 11th dor of August 1893
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Fastenings for Hatch Coverings.
I, CHARLES DAVID DOXFORD, of Pallion Yard, Sunderland, in the County of
Durham, Shipbuilder, 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 :—
In carrying out this invention I secure upon the hatch combing a cleat of
somewhat usual construction but having its working face inclined towards the hatch
combing. In the face of the cleat is a recess dovetailed, rounded or otherwise
arranged so that a wedge which fits therein may after being once placed in position
be prevented from falling out although free to slide in the cleat. The groove in
the cleat may if desired be opened out towards the centre so as to form a double
bearing instead of a long single one. The wedge is provided with one inclined
edge enlarged as a head or moulding to fit in the groove in the cleat; the other
edge of the wedge lies and moves in a direction parallel to the hatch combing.

page_text: One end preferably the smaller end of the wedge is enlarged so that it cannot pass
through the groove in the cleat and the other end after the wedge has been
inserted in the groove in the cleat may be slightly hammered or rivetted over so as
to prevent it from falling out. When thus prepared the wedge is held in the cleat
so that it cannot fall out or get lost, but is free to travel in the cleat so as to come
nearer to or farther from the hatch combing. In using this invention the tarpaulin
can be placed upon the hatch and carried down around the hatch combing and the
battening bar placed upon it, all in the usual manner; the wedge is then driven
home forcing the battening bar towards the hatch combing and gripping the covering
between the two.
The inclined face of the cleat enables it to be used with an ordinary wedge
should its proper wedge become broken or by any means forced out and lost, but it
will be understood that so long as the suitable inclination is obtained for the wedge
the face of the cleat could be parallel or at any angle to the hatch combing.
In the accompanying drawings :-
Figure 1 is a side or face view of the improved cleat aad fastening, Figure 2
being a vertical cross section upon line 2-2 of Figure 1, and Figure 3 a plan.
Like letters represent like parts throughout the drawings.
A represents the hatch-combing of ordinary construction, B the battening bar
and C the tarpaulin which when the apparatus is fixed is gripped between the
hatch combing and the battening bar as shown in Figures 2 and 3. D is the
cleat D' being strengthening webs thereon; the inner face D' of the cleat lying
obliquely to the plane of the battening bar. Actually it is not of importance that
the face D' should be inclined to the battening bar but that the key-way D³ formed
in the cleat should be inclined; however, I prefer to incline the face D2 partly
because it then agrees with the angle of the key-way and partly because it can then
be used to produce a good wedging effect should the proper wedge be broken or
lost, and a wooden one have to be employed instead.
E is the key or wedge, whose face E¹ which presses upon the battening bar B is
parallel with that bar and moves in a direction parallel thereto; the back or
face E of the wedge is as shown in Figure 3 inclined in relation to the face E¹
and to the battening bar so that when the wedge is moved to the right hand of
Figure 3 the face E will be withdrawn from the battening bar which can then be
moved back to release the tarpaulin, but when the weight is moved to the left in
Figure 3 the face E' approaches the battening bar and wedges that tightly against
the hatch combing A or tarpaulin C which is thus gripped and firmly held between
the two. The large end E³ of the key E is too wide to pass between the cleat
and the battening bar B or combing A, or it may be upset or otherwise enlarged
80 as not to pass through the key-way D³, while the small end E' is upset or
otherwise enlarged so as to be too large to pass through the key-way D³ in the
cleat D and the wedge or key while free to travel in the cleat D cannot escape
from it by endwise movement.
The key-way D' is as shown in Figure 2 dovetailed, recessed or enlarged so as
to receive-the enlarged head or moulding E' of the key E which with the enlarged
end of the key is thus in all ways prevented from escaping. It will be appreciated
that the key could be retained in its slot by other means say for example a pin in
the cleat and a slot in the key or other construction and the pins driven through
the ends of the key, but the form described and indicated in the drawings I consider
to be the most satisfactory.
The key-way D³ may be recessed or enlarged towards the centre as shown in
dotted lines at D' in Figure 1 so as to provide two short bearings one at each edge
of the cleat, instead of one long one.
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. In a fastening device for hatchway coverings the employment of a key or

page_text: wedge such as E whose operative face E¹ lies and moves in a direction substantially
parallel with the battening bar B while its back is inclined thereto substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In a fastening device for hatchway coverings a key or wedge such as E having
an enlargement or moulding E' upon its back or inclined edge substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In a fastening device for hatchway coverings a key or wedge such as E having
an enlargement E on its back edge and one or both ends upset or enlarged to
prevent it from leaving the cleat in which it works substantially as described.
4. In a fastening device for hatchway coverings a cleat such as D having an
inclined key-way such as D3 and an inclined face D' substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings whereby the appropriate key or wedge E
with which the cleat is fitted lies and moves in a direction parallel with the
battening bar and in the event of the said key becoming removed from the cleat
an ordinary wooden key may be employed.
5. In a fastening device for hatchway coverings the combination with a cleat
having an undercut or enlarged key-way such as D³ of a key or wedge such as E
having an enlarged back such as E' substantially as described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
6. In a fastening device for hatchway coverings the combination and arrangement
of parts constituting the complete hatch fastening substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
D
POOL 1
CHARLES DAVID DOXFORD.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicant.