Improve- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND LETTING GO SHIPS BUATS.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Godfrey Gumpel, of No. 49, Leicester
Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "Improve-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND LETTING GO SHIPS BUATS.
Scaled the 27th June 1873, and dated the 1st January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Godfrey
Gumpel at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st January 1873.
I, CHARLES GODFREY GUMPEL, of No. 49, Leicester Square, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND LETTING GO SHIPS' BOATS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to brake apparatus for casing and regulating the
descent of a boat on an even keel from a ship's side by gripping and
retarding without injuring the fall ropes, and to latch hooks for sus-
pending a boat from the davit tackles constructed and acting in such a
manner that, the boat cannot be let go till it becomes water borne, and
that it can then be let go either by hand or automatically when the
vessel is in motion.

page_text: The brake apparatus consists of a drum mounted in any convenient
position near the ship's side, to which both the fall ropes of the
boat tackles are led by guide pullies. The circumference of the drum
has two grooves for the reception of the fall ropes which are passed
round a considerable part of the drum's periphery. On an axis parallel
to that of the drum are mounted a swing frame and a lever; on the
swing frame is mounted another smaller drum having two grooves in its
circumference corresponding to those in the drum already mentioned.
The lever is made to terminate in a brake block which can be pressed
against the periphery of the smaller drum so as to retard its rotation, and
at the same time by pressing it against the larger drum to grip the fall
ropes between them. Thus when by the descent of the boat the fall ropes
are caused to run out they impart rotary motion to both the drums, but
by moving the lever so as to press the brake block against the smaller
drum, and to press the smaller drum against the larger, the movement
of the ropes can be retarded or entirely arrested.
The latch hook for suspending the boat consists of a forked piece of
metal hung from the davit tackle, with the gap of the fork directed
downwards. In one of the prongs of the fork is mounted a bell-crank
lever, one arm of which stands horizontally across the gap of the fork,
and the other arm stands nearly upright outside the prong in which the
lever is mounted. The horizontal arm is sloped away on its under side
in the manner of a latch, and its point rests against or close to the
opposite prong of the fork. The upright arm terminates in a ring or
eye, to which is attached the cord for letting go the boat. The sling
rings by which the boat is suspended are introduced one into each of
two such forks, foro and aft, and rest on the horizontal arms of their
bell cranks. In order that the boat may be let go by allowing. the
rings to get out of the forks the bell-crank levers must be pulled so as
to raise their horizontal arms and withdraw them from under the sus-
pending rings. As the vertical arms are but little longer than tho
horizontal arms it would require a pull of the letting go cords nearly
equivalent to the weight of the boat itself in order thus to clear the
rings; but when the boat is afloat on the water the rings are eased
of its weight, and the bell-crank levers can then be readily moved so as
to clear the rings. Thus the boat cannot be let go till it becomes water
borne, and then it can be let go by a pull of the cords from on board
the vessel or the boat itself, and in order that both sling rings may be

page_text: cleared simultaneously the let go cords from both hooks are united in
one..
By arranging the latch hooks above described so that their bell-crank
levers are towards the bow of the vessel, and making the letting go cord
from them fast to the fore part of the vessel, the boat can be let go
automatically when the vessel is moving ahead. In that case as soon
as the boat becomes water borne it also meets a resistance from the water
which makes it drag aft; the tension thus thrown on the letting go
cord causes the bell-crank levers to be pulled so as to clear the sling
rings from the hooks, and so to let go the boat.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Charles Godfrey Gumpel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
GODFREY GUMPEL, of No. 49, Leicester Square, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Godfrey Gumpel, Her special
license that I, the said Charles Godfrey Gumpel, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Godfrey
Gumpel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND LETTING GO SHIPS, BOATS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Godfrey
Gumpel, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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

page_text: 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 Charles Godfrey Gumpel, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawing, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to brake apparatus for casing and regulating
the descent of a boat on an even keel from a ship's side by gripping
and retarding without injuring the fall ropes, and to latch hooks for
suspending a boat from the davit tackles, constructed and acting in such
a manner that the boat cannot be let go till it becomes water borne, and
that it can then be let go either by hand or automatically when the
vessel is in motion.
The brake apparatus consists of a drum mounted in any convenient
position near the ship's side, to which both the fall ropes of the boat tackles
are led by guide pullies. The circumference of the drum has two
grooves for the reception of the fall ropes which are passed round a
considerable part of the drum's periphery. On an axis parallel to that of
the drum are mounted a swing frame and a lever. On the swing frame
is mounted another smaller drum having two grooves in its circumference
corresponding to those in the drum already mentioned. The lever is
made to terminate in a brake block which can be pressed against the
periphery of the smaller drum so as to retard its rotation, and at the
same time by pressing it against the larger drum to grip the fall ropes
between them. Thus when by the descent of the boat the fall ropes are
caused to run out they impart rotary motion to both the drums, but by
moving the lever so as to press the brake block against the smaller
drum, and to press the smaller drum against the larger the movement of
the ropes can be retarded or entirely arrested.
The latch hook for suspending the boat consists of a forked piece of
metal hung from the davit tackle, with the gap of the fork directed
downwards. In one of the prongs of the fork is mounted a bell-crank
lever, one arm of which stands horizontally across the gap of the fork, 3
and the other arm stands nearly upright outside the prong in which the
lever is mounted. The horizontal arm is sloped away on its under side

page_text: in the manner of a latch, and its point rests against or close to the
opposite prong of the fork. The upright arm terminates in a ring or
eye, to which is attached the cord for letting go the boat. The sling rings
by which the boat is suspended are introduced one into each of two such
forks, fore and aft, and rest on the horizontal arms of their bell cranks.
In order that the boat may be let go by allowing the rings to get out of
the forks, the bell-crank levers must be pulled so as to raise their hori-
zontal arms and withdraw them from under the suspending rings. As
the vertical arms are but little longer than the horizontal arms it would
require a pull of the letting go cords nearly equivalent to the weight of
the boat itself in order thus to clear the rings; but when the boat is
afloat on the water the rings are cased of its weight, and the bell-crank
levers can then be readily moved so as to clear the rings. Thus the
boat cannot be let go till it becomes water borne, and then it can be let
go by a pull of the cords from on board the vessel or the boat itself, and
in order that both sling rings may be cleared simultaneously the let go
cords from both hooks are united in one.
By arranging the latch hooks above described so that their bell-crank
levers are towards the bow of the vessel, and making the letting go cord
from them fast to the fore part of the vessel, the boat can be let go
automatically when the vessel is moving ahead. In that case as soon
as the boat becomes water borne it also meets a resistance from the water
which makes it drag aft; the tension thus thrown on the letting go cord
causes the bell-crank lever to be pulled so as to clear the sling rings
from the hooks, and so to let go the boat.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a side view of the improved brake apparatus for
lowering ships' boats; A is the drum which may conveniently be
mounted against the bulwark near the davits; B, are the two ropes one
for each davit which are passed half round the drum A, lying in grooves
in its periphery, being preferably guided thereto by pullies C, C. A
hand lever D is mounted beside the drum A, and has suspended to it by
swing rods a smaller drum E also grooved in its periphery so that the
ropes B can be gripped between the drums A and E. The lever D has
at its lower end a brake block F. When the upper part of the lever D
is pulled in the direction of the arrow the brake block F is pressed
against the drum E, which is thereby pressed against the drum A. The
ropes B are thus gripped while the drum E is retarded by the brake

page_text: block, and thus according to the force applied to the lever D the run of
the ropes may be regulated to any desired speed, or completely arrested.
The intermediate drum E may be dispensed with by applying simply
a grooved brake block directly to the drum A, as shewn in Fig. 2.
The improved latch hook for suspending ships' boats is shewn with!
the latch withdrawn in Fig. 3, which is a side, view, Fig. 4 representing
it with the latch engaged. G is the forked piece in one of the prongs
of which is mounted the bell-crank lever H, to which is attached the
line I for letting go the ring K, by which one end of the boat is sus-
pended. It will be seen that when the ring K is pushed into the fork G
so as to rest on the upper face of the latch H, as shewn in Fig. 4, while
the weight is suspended from the ring K. the latch is kept in position,
and cannot readily be withdrawn on account of the strain upon it; but
when that strain is relieved by the boat becoming water borne a slight
pull of the line I serves to withdraw the latch to the position shewn in 1
Fig. 3, in which case the ring K can slip out of the fork, and the boat is
loft free.
In order to prevent the latch from being withdrawn by any accidental
shake it may be provided with a trigger L, as shewn in Fig. 5.
The latch hook may be used in an inverted position, as shewn in ?
Fig. 6, the ring K in this case being attached to the davit falls, and the
body G of the hook being attached to the boat. In such a case the
trigger L is arranged as shewn in Fig. 6.
The latch hook when used in the inverted position may be attached to
the boat by slings, but I prefer as giving a more stable hold and
facilitating the hooking on to fix it to a thwart or beam, as shewn in
Fig. 7. And instead of a trigger for securing the locking position of the
latch a weight M. may be used hung from an eye in the latch, and
attached to the letting go line by a short length of line I'. In this case
the weight M besides holding the latch in position when it is engaged a
serves to draw back the letting go line after it has been pulled and again
released, and thus to put the latch in condition to be engaged afresh.
Instead of employing the suspended weight M the latch itself may be
weighted by swelling it out as shewn by the dotted line N, Fig. 7.
The letting go lines I may be led in any convenient direction either
to a forward point in the ship, so that the boat will be let go

page_text: automatically when it becomes water borne, as above described, or the
lines may be brought by suitable guide pullics to any convenient point
in the boat itself, so that by the pull of one handle both latches can be
disengaged simultaneously. This latter arrangement is particularly
applicable when the hook is used as shewn in Fig. 7. -
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,-
First. Tho use for lowering ships' boats of a brake apparatus, whereby
the lowering ropes can be simultaneously gripped, and retarded or
arrosted, substantially as herein described in reference to Fig. 1.
Second. The use for suspending and letting go ships' boats of a latch
hook which is held engaged by the weight suspended from it, but which
is free to be disengaged when relieved from the weight, substantially as
herein described in reference to Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Godfrey Gumpel, have herc-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-eight day of June, in
the year of our Lord, One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
three.
CHARLES GODFREY GUMPEL. (L.S.)