IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIP AND OTHER COMPASSES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lilley, of Holt House, Bancroft Road, Mile
End,in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SHIP AND OTHER COMPASSES."
Sealed the 31st October 1865, and dated the 4th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lilley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
May 1865.
I, JOHN LILLEY, of Holt House, Bancroft Road, Mile End, in the County
of Middlesex,do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN SHIP AND OTHER COMPASSES," to be as follows:-
The object of the improvements is to obtain steadiness and precision to the
magnetic needle or other indicator.
In carrying out my improvements the magnet or magnets, or the chief of
them are suspended in spirit or other liquid which will not freeze at ordinary
temperatures,whilst the card or indicator is suspended in a separate chamber
above. And according to one arrangement I apply say two magnets to the
lower surface or rim of a dome suspended on a pivot in the spirit or other
suitable liquid,and from this dome a fine stem rises through the vessel con-
taining the spirit to support the card or indicator in the chamber above.
According to another arrangement in addition to the magnetic needle or
needles,or indicator as usually employed, I in addition use another magnet-
ized bar or needle, or two or more of them suspended in spirit or other

page_text: suitable liquid. The chamber containing this liquid, and the additional
magnetized bar or bars are placed below the ordinary or indicating needle or
indicator, and as the upper needle will adjust itself with the south pole
thereof to the north pole of the lower one, I form the lower needle or bar of
power sufficient to control and govern the upper one which is marked to
indicate accordingly. The upper needle or indicator may have arms or vertical
magnets to come opposite the poles of the lower needle. The needle or bar
or bars in the spirit or other fluid may be acted upon through the chamber
by a rod or shaft, and arms or levers, and screw or other adjustment by which
they may be raised off their pivot, and the upper portion of the cone pressed
against a corresponding conical or other suitable support provided for the
purpose, and there held when desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Lilley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LILLEY, of Holt House, Bancroft Road, Mile End, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eighthundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Lilley, Her special licence that I, the said John Lilley, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Lilley, my
executors, administrators, and 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 SHIP AND OTHER COMPASSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Lilley, my executors
or administrators, by an instrumentin writing under my, or their, or some or one
of their hands and seals, 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 be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patenta

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Lilley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say-
The object of the improvements is to obtain steadiness and precision to
the magnetic needle or other indicator.
In carrying out my improvements the inagnet or magnets, or the chief of
them, are suspended in spirit or other liquid which will not freeze at ordinary
temperatures, whilst the card or indicator is suspended in a separate chamber
above. And according to one arrangement I apply say two magnets to the
lower surface or rim of a dome suspended on a pivot in the spirit or other
suitable liquid, and from this dome a fine stem rises through the vessel
containing the spirit to support the card or indicator in the chamber above.
According to another arrangement in addition to the magnetic needle or
needles or indicator as usually employed, I in addition use another magnet-
ized bar or needle, or two or more of them suspended in spirit or other
suitable liquid. The chamber containing this liquid, and the additional
magnetized bar or bars, is placed below the ordinary or indicating needle or
indicator, and as the upper needle will adjust itself with the south pole thereof
to the north pole of the lower one, I form the lower needle or bar of power
sufficient to control and govern the upper one, which is marked to indicate
accordingly. The upper needle or indicator may havearms or vertical magnets
to come opposite the poles of the lower needle. The needle or bar or bars in
the spirit or other liquid may be acted upon through the chamber by a rod or
shaft, and arms or levers, and screw or other adjustment by which they may
be raised off their pivot, and the upper portion of the cone pressed against a
corresponding conical or other suitable support provided for the
there held when desired.
purpose, and
But that my Invention may be better understood I will by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings proceed to describe means employed by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a plan view, Figure 2 a section, and Figure 3 an external
view of a ship's compass, parts of which are constructed according to one
modification of my improvements in Figure 1, the covering glass and the
indicating card are removed in order that the parts beneath them may be the
more clearly seen; Figure 4 shows an external plan, and Figure 5 a side
view of the apparatus without the gimbals; Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and
12, shew parts separately in order to their construction being more clearly

page_text: understood. In each of these views the same letters indicate corresponding
parts wherever they occur.
a, a, is the frame or case in which the compass is supported by the gimbals b
and c, the ring or gimbal 6 being suspended from the case a by means of
straps of vulcanized or prepared india-rubber d, d, d, and the ring or gimbal c
being supported by its necks c¹, c¹, resting in bearings formed for them in
the ring b, and the ring c supporting the compass e by the necks c', e¹, thereof;
ff, are the magnets, the number of which may however be varied, they are
applied to the under side of the rim or dome g as will be better understood
by the separate views of this dome at Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11. This dome g
with its magnets f, f, is formed internally at g¹ to rest upon the point
of the pivot within the chamber formed by the application of the cover i,
which is secured at i¹ to the part e so as to be liquid-tight at that part. The
chamber thus formed is filled with a liquid that will not freeze at ordinary
temperatures, and by preference Iemploy spirits of wine for this purpose.
To
the upper part of the dome g is applied the spindle g², which passes through
an opening 2 formed for it in the upper part of the cover i, and supports the
indicating card j. The opening has applied to it a cover 23, with an inclined
space between it and the upper part of the vessel i, in order that any liquid
thrown through the opening 2 may be caught by the space 2, or the inclined
upper surface of the cover, and thrown back again into the chamber i; i is
plug for the introduction of the liquid into the chamber i.
When it may be
a
desired to raise the dome g with its magnet or magnets off the pivot h, this is
effected in the following manner:- is a spindle, which is capable of being
caused to revolve by means of its head or handle on the bearings e³, and it
is formed at 2 with a double screw thread to receive the nut 13, which by
plate and pin joint 5 is connected to one end of the link 6, the other end
of which is by pin joint 7 connected to one end of the lever arm 18 affixed to
the short shaft or axis 19, which passes through the stuffing box 10 to the
inside of the chamber i, where there is applied to it the arm to act on one
end of the lever m, which is supported to turn on the axis m', and at its
other end it supports the lower part of the cone n, so that by turning the
spindle in one direction, the lever m will be acted upon to raise the cone n
so as to lift the dome g.with its upper projecting.cone g³ into the opening i²,
simultaneously closing that opening, and preventing the escape of the spirit
into the outer chamber e, and also at the same time holding the dome 9 and
its magnets stationary. By turning the spindle in the opposite direction the
parts will be again released.
:
Figure 12 shows a section of a compass slightly modified from the above.

page_text: In this case the chamber is entirely closed, and the magnet or magnets
herein act by the exercise of their magnetic influence through the chamber i
on au external magnet applied to the under side of a card o. In other respects
the same letters are employed to indicate corresponding parts described in
the previous Figures.
By my improvements the evils arising from the accumulation of air bubbles
in the compass bowl, and also the damaging effects of discoloration by the
action of the spirit as in other cases where spirit has been proposed to be
used are avoided.
The arrangements shown as applied to ship's compasses it will be readily
understood are equally applicable to other magnetic compasses.
Having thus described my Invention, and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details shown and described, as these may be varied
without departing from the peculiar character of the Invention; but what I
claim is the construction of ship and other compasses with the magnets sus-
pended in spirit or other suitable liquid, while the card or indicator is
suspended in a separate chamber substantially as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lilley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JOHN LILLEY. (L.S.)