IMPROVE- MENTS IN WINDLASSES, PART OR PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bruce Thompson, of Dundee, in the
County of Forfar, North Britain, for the Invention of " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WINDLASSES, PART OR PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE FOR
OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bruce Thompson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th November 1875.
I, WILLIAM BRUCE THOMPSON, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDLASSES, PART OR PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE FOR
OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in windlasses and in
apparatus employed in connexion therewith, has partly for its object.
to provide means whereby the strain upon ropes or cables may be
indicated.
The Invention is particularly applicable to ships' windlasses, and it
consists in constructing the standard which carries the way bars in two

page_text: pieces, the upper one of which constitutes a ram or plunger on which
the way bars are supported, whilst the lower portion constitutes a
hydraulic cylinder, which is filled with liquid, and in connexion with
which a pressure guage is provided. By means of this arrangement the
amount of strain upon the cables when the ship or vessel is at anchor
is indicated upon the dial of the guage, by reading which it can be
ascertained whether the cable is likely to part, or whether the employ-
ment of an additional cable is required.
In the windlass, constructed in accordance with this Invention, the
cable pulleys are, when required, connected with the main or driving
pulleys by means of rings of metal, around the peripheries of which two
concentric rings or projections are formed at right angles tổ the rings
first referred to, and which are either fixed to the sides of the main or
driving pulleys or to the sides of the cable pulleys.
The concentric rings or projections are formed tapered or conical, and
tlicy enter into correspondingly formed recesses made in the driving or
cable pulleys. Nuts are placed upon screwed portions of the spindle
carrying the pulleys, and provided with hand wheels or keys, by
turning which the cable pulleys are brought close up to the driving
pulleys, and the friction thereby occasioned between the conical rings
or projections and the grooves into which they enter drives or rotates
the cable pulleys. Other equivalent means may however be employed
for that purpose.
In lieu of filling the lower portion of the standard carrying the way
bars with liquid, as hercin-before set forth, india-rubber, steel, or other
springs or buffers may be placed in the said portion, and the ram caused
to act thereon. Under this arrangement a graduated scale is placed on
the standard, on which the strain on the cable is indicated as the springs
or buffers are compressed.
The arrangement of hydraulic cylinder and ram or of springs or
buffers, herein-before described as applied to windlasses, is also applicable
to "nippers" or stoppers employed in conjunction with cables or ropes for
the purpose of indicating the strain thereon. For this purpose the
nippers" or stoppers are constructed with one or more hydraulic cylin-
ders, the ram or rams of which is or are connected to a cross* head
carrying the compressing screw and nipper, which, together with the
ram or rams, are free to move in or on a slide, and the whole strain of
"

page_text: the rope or cable coming on the ram or rams it or they acts or act upon
the fluid in a cylinder or cylinders, and indicate the strain on the dial of
a guage provided in connexion therewith. Springs or buffers may be
employed instead of the fluid arrangement in the manner herein-before
set forth in reference to the new or improved windlass constructed in
accordance with this Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Bruce Thompson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BRUCE THOMPSON, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the 39th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Bruce Thompson, Her
special license that I, the said William Bruce Thompson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Bruce
Thompson, my executors, administrators, or 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 WINDLASSES, PART OR PARTS OF WHICH ARE
APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Bruce Thompson, 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 I, the said William Bruce Thompson, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say :-
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in windlasses, and
in apparatus employed in connexion therewith, has partly for its object
to provide means whereby the strain upon ropes or cables may be
indicated.
The Invention is particularly applicable to ships' windlasses, and
under one arrangement it consists in constructing the standard which
carries the way bars in two pieces, the upper one of which constitutes a
ram or plunger whereon the way bars are supported, whilst the lower
portion constitutes a hydraulic cylinder, which is filled with liquid, and
in connexion with which a pressure gauge is provided. By means of
this arrangement the amount of, strain upon the cables when the ship
or vessel is at anchor is indicated upon the dial of the gauge, from
which it can be ascertained whether the cable is likely to part, or whether
the employment of an additional cable is required.
९
In the windlass, constructed in accordance with my said Invention, the
cable pulleys are geared with the main or driving pulleys by means of
rings of metal, which are either fixed to the sides of the main or driving
pulleys or to the sides of the cable pulleys.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood,
I now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or
manner in or under which the same is or may be used or practically
carried into effect, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a front
élevation partly in section; and Figure 2, an end elevation of the
improved windlass constructed in accordance with my said Invention,
Figures 3 and 4 being respectively detailed views of parts thereof drawn
to an enlarged scale relatively with Figures 1 and 2.
As shewn on the Drawings the standard which supports the way
bars A of the windlass is formed in two pieces, the upper one B of which
constitutes a ram or plunger in whose forked upper end the way bars

page_text: or levers A are carried, the said bars or levers being centred on the pin
or stud a, and provided at their outer ends with cross handles or
spokes C. The lower portion of the standard constitutes a hydraulic
cylinder, as seen more particularly in vertical section at D, Figure 4,
and which is filled with water or other liquid. A pressure gauge E is
provided in connexion with the hydraulic cylinder, as shewn. In front
of the standard carrying the way bars A the ordinary horizontal shaft F,
supporting the cable pulleys G and driving wheels H, is situate in
standards or bearings I. When required the cable pulleys G are geared
or connected with the driving wheels H by means of rings 6 of metal
around and at right angles, to the peripheries of which two concentric
rings or projections c are formed, as shewn at Figure 1. The rings are ·
either fixed, as shewn on the Drawings, to the sides of the driving
wheels H by bolts or other equivalent means, or to the sides of the cable
pulleys G.
The concentric rings or projections c are made tapered or conical, and
they enter into correspondingly formed recesses made in the cable
pulleys G, or in the driving wheels H. Nuts & are placed upon screwed
portions of the shaft F, which nuts are provided with hand wheels J, or
with keys, by turning which the cable pulleys G are brought close up
to the driving wheels H, and the friction thereby occasioned between
the conical rings or projections e, and the grooves into which they
enter, drives or rotates the cable pulleys. Other equivalent or well-
known means may however be used instead of the rings 6 for the purpose
set forth.
The nuts d are formed with shoulders or projections x, which grip
around flanches formed on the bosses of the cable pulleys G, by which
means, when the hand wheels J are turned in the reverse direction to
that herein-before referred to, the said pulleys are drawn out of gear
with the driving wheels H instead of, as hitherto, being disengaged with
the said wheels by releasing the screw pressure only. The way bars A
are connected by links h to pawls k, by which the driving wheels H of
the windlass are rotated in the ordinary manner when the way bars are
operated through the handles or spokes C.
With the arrangement of windlass constructed as herein-before
described the strain upon the cables when the ship or vessel is at
anchor is communicated through the cable pulleys G, driving wheels H,

page_text: pawls k, links h, and way bars A to the piston or ram B of the hydraulic
cylinder D, which, acting on the water or other liquid contained in the
said cylinder, indicates the amount of strain upon the dial of the
pressure gauge E. The strength of the cable being known it can thus
be seen whether it is likely to part, or whether the employment of an
additional cable is required.
In lieu of filling the lower portion of the standard carrying the way
bars A with liquid, as herein-before described with reference to Figures 1,
2, 3, and 4 of the appended Drawings, india-rubber, steel, or other com-
pressible or elastic springs or buffers may be placed in the said portion,
and the ram or piston B caused to act thereon. This arrangement is illus-
trated in side elevation at Figure 5 and in vertical section at Figure 6 of
the Drawings, the lower portion of the standard on the latter Figure
being shewn filled with rings a of india-rubber, on the upper one of
which the sole of the piston or ram B bears. A graduated scale bis
formed on or fixed to the side of the standard, and an index, finger, or
pointer c fixed to the piston or ram B passes through a slot in the
standard to the outside of the said scale, by which means the strain on
the cable is indicated when the springs or buffers a are compressed.
"
The arrangement of hydraulic cylinder and ram or of springs or
buffers, herein-before described and shown on the Drawings as applied
to windlasses, may also be used in " nippers or stoppers for the
purpose of indicating the strain on steel, hemp, or other hawsers or
cables wherewith such nippers or stoppers are employed..
On the Drawings, Figure 7 is a rear end elevation; Figure 8, a
longitudinal section; and Figure 9, a plan of a steel, hemp, or other
rope, nipper, or stopper with the improvements applied thereto; Figure 10
is a transverse section of the bydraulic cylinders on the line a, b,
Figure 9; Figure 11 is a part plan and part horizontal section of the
sole plate of the nipper or stopper.
As shewn on the Drawings the compressing screw A, to the lower
end of which the nipper B is secured, is supported and works in a cross
head or frame C, which is attached to the rams or pistons D of two
bydraulic cylinders E. The cross head or frame C, together with the
rams or pistons D, are free to slide forwards and backwards on the sole
plate F, which is formed with a channel therein for hat purpose.

page_text: WILLIAM BRUCE THOMPSON. (L.S.)