Improvements in or relating to Capstan Gear.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Feb., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 26th Nov., 1897-Accepted, 15th Jan., 1898
Improvements in or relating to Capstan Gear.
We, WILLIAM ELLIOTT, and WILLIAM GARROOD, both of Ingate Iron Works,
Beccles, in the County of Suffolk, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to capstan gear of the kind in which the engine is carried
upen a bed plate at the top of the capstan, the engine itself being suitably boxed
in to protect it and the whole apparatus, being particularly suitable for use on
fishing craft.
In carrying out the invention we secure the engine upon the top of the capstan
as above described and over it we place a preferably steel casing which may be
hinged and adapted to be closed tight and secured by a padlock or other device if
necessary, the gearing also as mush as possible being similarly boxed in.
For use on fishing vessels it is often desirable to use the power of the engine
for discharging the cargo and for similar light purposes for which the heavy
capstan, which is primarily used for hauling in the fishing nets, is unsuitable.
For this purpose we apply a winding drum to one or more of the shafts of the
engine, say for example the engine crank shaft itself. This drum may be connected in
various ways, but the preferable arrangement is to form a flattened surface upon
part of the shaft near the end so that its circular form is destroyed and to form
a passage-way through the projecting portion of the shaft thus left at the end, so
as to give access to the flattened portion. In the drum or in the boss of the drum
is carried a roller in a suitable opening or recess, preferably so that it will not drop
out, and the drum can be applied to the shaft by passing the roller through the
passage-way at the end of the shaft until the roller lies upon the flattened portion
first above described. When the engine is started and the pressure placed upon
the drum the shaft endeavours to rotate without the drum, and the roller then
becomes jammed upon the flattened portion where the curve approaches the full
circle, and the drum is perforce carried round with the shaft. It will be appreciated
that this locking mechanism will apply no matter which way the shaft be rotated,
though as a rule the whipping drums are only required to rotate in one direction.
By this means we provide a cheap and handy attachment which is also readily
detachable.
The previously described arrangement is exceedingly handy and useful for
raising light weights, as for example, the baskets by which the fish are frequently
discharged in small quantities, but where heavier loads are required to be lifted,
as in the case of the fish being packed in barrels and then landed, the following
arrangement, which gives greater power, is preferred.
The whipping drum is carried upon a shaft carried in two cheeks or brackets
adapted to be easily attached to or detached from the bed plate at the top of the
capstan on this drum shaft is a spur wheel which, when the mechanism is in
place, engages with a pinion upon the engine shaft and is thus driven rotating the
whipping drum with it. As the pinion on the engine shaft is smaller than the wheel
upon the drum shaft the drum rotates at a slower speed and with greater power

page_text: than in the former case.
In order to connect the engine shaft with the capstan
mechanism when the extra drum and its supports are removed, we place an inter-
mediate wheel upon a fixed stud or equivalent, upon which it may be retained by
a collar and pin in the usual manner; this wheel engages with both the pinion of
the engine shaft and a wheel upon the capstan shaft. This intermediate wheel
is removed when the whipping drum gear is applied.
We, WILLIAM ELLIOTT, and WILLIAM GARROOD, both of Ingate Iron Works,
Beccles, in the County of Suffolk, Engineers, 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:—
This invention relates to capstan gear of the kind in which the engine is carried
upon a bed plate at the top of the capstan, the engine itself being suitably boxed
in to protect it and the whole apparatus, being particularly suitable for use on
fishing craft.
In carrying out the invention we secure the engine upon the top of the capstan
as above described and over it we place a preferably steel casing which may be
hinged, and adapted to be closed tight, and secured by a padlock or other device if
necessary, the gearing also as much as possible being similarly boxed in.
For use on fishing vessels it is often desirable to use the power of the engine for
discharging the cargo and for similar light purposes for which the heavy capstan,
which is primarily used for hauling in the fishing nets, is unsuitable. For this
purpose we apply a winding or whipping drum to one or more of the shafts of the
engine, say for example the engine crank shaft itself. This drum may be con-
nected in various ways, but the preferable arrangement is to form a flattened
surface upon part of the shaft near the end so that its circular form is destroyed
and to form a passage-way through the projecting portion of the shaft thus left
at the end, so as to give access to the flattened portion. In the drum or in the boss
of the drum is carried a roller in a suitable opening or recess, preferably so that it
will not drop out, and the drum can be applied to the shaft by passing the roller
through the passage-way at the end of the shaft until the roller lies upon the
flattened portion first above described. When the engine is started and the
pressure placed upon the drum the shaft endeavours to rotate without the drum,
and the roller then becomes jammed upon the flattened portion where the curve
approaches the full circle, and the drum is perforce carried round with the shaft.
It will be appreciated that this locking mechanism will apply no matter which
way the shaft be rotated. By this means we provide a cheap and handy attach-
ment which is also readily detachable.
The previously described arrangement is exceedingly handy and useful for
raising light weights, as for example the baskets by which the fish are frequently
discharged in small quantities, but where heavier loads are required to be lifted,
as in the case of the fish being packed in barrels and then landed, the following
arrangement, which gives greater power, is preferred.
The whipping drum is carried upon a shaft carried in two cheeks or brackets
adapted to be easily attached to or detached from the bed plate at the top of the

page_text: capstan; on this drum shait is a spur wheel which, when the mechanism is in place,
engages with a pinion upon the engine shaft and is thus driven rotating the whip-
ping drum with it. As the pinion on the engine shaft is smaller than the wheel
upon the drum shaft the drum rotates at a slower speed and with greater
power than in the former case. In order to connect the engine shaft with the
capstan mechanism when the extra drum and its supports are removed, we place
an intermediate wheel upon a fixed stud or equivalent, upon which it may be
retained by a collar and pin in the usual manner, this wheel engages with both the
pinion of the engine shaft and a wheel upon the capstan shaft. This intermediate
wheel is removed when the whipping drum gear is applied.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of one construction of improved capstan
gear according to this invention.
Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views taken at right angles to each other, showing the
friction clutch hereinafter described; and Fig. 4 is an elevation of an alternative
construction of improved capstan gear, according to this invention.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
A is a bed-plate upon which the engine working the capstan gear is mounted;
the bed-plate is itself carried upon the central fixed portion of the capstan (not
shown in the drawings) about which the main cone or drum of the capstan
rotates. The engine is not shown in detail, but only indicated diagrammatically.
B are bearings for the crank shaft C. Upon one end of the crank shaft C, a small
wheel or pinion D may be mounted, which, either directly or through intermediate
gearing drives the toothed wheel E upon the shaft F. A bevel pinion G, mounted
upon this shaft may drive the capstan itself by means of a large bevel wheel H,
The engine is preferably enclosed in a cover indicated by the dotted line J.
In the construction illustrated in Figure 1 at the other end of the crank shaft C,
a whipping or winding drum K is mounted, preferably in the following manner:-
The shaft C is flattened or cut away for a portion of its length near one end as at C¹
(Figures 2 and 3) so that the outline of that part of its periphery, takes the form
of an are of a circle eccentric to the circumference of the shaft. An opening or
passage C is made in the shaft leading from its end into the opening C¹.
The bore of the boss on the winding-drum K is provided with a recess or open-
ing K, which need not extend to the face of the boss, as shown in Figures 2
and 3, but may terminate in a passage or opening similar to the passage C³ in the
shaft. A roller L or the like, is inserted through the opening C K¹, so that it
lies in the flattened portion C¹ of the shaft C being preferably prevented from
coming out by a nut K2 and washer K³ or any other suitable device.
The roller L will thus form a friction key between the shaft C and the winding
drum K, for when the shaft C is turned by the engine it will endeavour to turn
without the drum, and the roller L, will become jammed upon the flattened portion
of the shaft, where its outline approaches the full circle. The drum will there-
fore be rotated with the shaft. It is obvious that this device will also allow the
shaft to be driven in the opposite direction, the roller being jammed on the other
side of the flattened portion of the shaft
If more power is required, we construct a modified form of this invention as illus-
trated in Figure 4. In this arrangement the winding drum K is not mounted
directly upon the crank shaft C, but upon a shaft M carried in the bearing
brackets N which are bolted to the bed-plate A.
The shaft M, has a gear wheel O mounted upon it, which engages with, and is
driven by the pinion D. The drum K is thus driven at a slower speed but with
more power than in the construction illustrated in Figure 1.
It will be seen that in Figure 4 the drum K is not mounted upon the shaft M
in the special manner hereinbefore described, and illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3;
but is shown secured by a nut P upon the coned end of the shaft M, although the
friction clutch type of connection could, if desired, be adopted.
An auxiliary drum may be employed in addition to the principal drum K in a

page_text: construction such as is shown in Fig. 4; such an auxiliary drum lettered K' is
shown mounted on the crank-shaft C in that Figure.
The winding drum K may be of any suitable size, shape, or construction and it
may be fastened to its shaft in any convenient way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
-
1. In capstan gear the combination with an engine mounted upon the capstan
of a winding drum carried upon the engine shaft, or upon another shaft, also
mounted upon the capstan and driven by the engine.
2. In capstan gear, the combination with a winding-drum and the shaft sup-
porting it of a friction clutch such as C¹ K' L substantially as described to enable
the drum to be readily secured upon or removed from the shaft.
3. The complete capstan gear substantially as described or illustrated in
Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.
4. The complete capstan gear substantially as described and illustrated in
Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 26th day of November 1897.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicants.