IMPROVEMENTS IN JIB-SAIL RINGS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Raymond Balans, of Abingdon Chambers, in the
City of Westminster, and No. 24, Rue de Dunkerque, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
JIB-SAIL RINGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Raymond Balans, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1864.
I, RAYMOND BALANS, of Abingdon Chambers, in the City of Westminster,
and No. 24, Rue de Dunkerque, Paris, in the Empire of France, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
JIB-SAIL RINGS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists,―
1stly, in the application to jib rings of a transversal roller dividing the circle
into two parts; and 2dly, in the addition to the said rings of a hold-fast hook,
by aid of which the sail can be bent with much greater ease and celerity than
by the methods at present employed. The accompanying Drawing represents
a ring comprising these improvements; a, a, are two shoulder pieces formed
one on each side of the inner circumference of an ordinary jib ring, and serving
as bearings to the axle shewn by the dotted lines, on which is mounted a
roller with a hollow or concave surface b, b. C is a holdfast hook by which
the ring is attached to the corresponding eylet of the jib.
Among the advantages resulting from the above improvements may be
noted,―

page_text: 1stly, substitution of rolling to the sliding friction at present exercised on
the ring and corresponding cordage in setting or lowering the sail, and con-
sequent decrease in wear and tear.
2dly, separation of the ropes in the same ring by the presence of the trans-
versal roller and consequent suppression of knotting or entanglement.
3dly, facility in the setting or lowering of the sail, which can be effected by
one-eighth of the force at present required.
4thly, facility and celerity in the bending of the sail, which operation can,
by aid of the holdfast hook, be readily performed even by landsmen.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Raymond Balans, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RAYMOND
BALANS, of Abingdon Chambers, in the City of Westminster, and 24, Rue
de Dunkerque, Paris, in the Empire of France, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Raymond Balans, Her special licence that I, the said Raymond Balans,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said
Raymond Balans, 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
JIB-SAIL RINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Raymond
Balans, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, 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 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 Raymond Balans, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-

page_text: ment, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, 1stly, in the application to jib-rings of a transversal
roller dividing the circle into two parts; and 2dly, in the addition to the
said rings of a hold-fast hook, by aid of which the sail can be bent with much
greater ease and celerity than by the methods at present employed.
The accompanying Drawing represents a ring comprising these improve-
ments. a, a, are two shoulder pieces formed one on each side of the inner
circumference of an ordinary jib ring, and serving as bearings to the axle
shown by the dotted lines, on which is mounted a roller with hollow or concave
surface b, b. C is a hold-fast hook by which the ring is attached to the
corresponding eyelet of the jib.
Among the advantages resulting from the above improvements may be
noted,―
1stly, substitution of rolling to the sliding friction at present exercised on
the ring and corresponding cordage in setting or lowering the sail, and conse-
quent decrease in wear and tear.
2dly, separation of the ropes, in the same ring by the presence of the
transversal roller and consequent suppression of knotting or entanglement.
3dly, facility in the setting or lowering of the sail, which can be effected by
one-eighth of the force at present required.
4thly, facility and celerity in the bending of the sail, which operation can,
by nid of the hold-fast hook, be readily performed even by landsmen.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying it into effect, I declare that what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is,-
Firstly, the application to jib-sail rings of a transversal roller dividing the
circle into two parts; and,
Secondly, the addition to the said rings of a holl-fast hook, by aid of which
the sail may be readily bent at will, the whole substantially in manner and for
the purposes above specified and shown in the annexed Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Raymond Balans, have hereto set my
band and seal, this Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
KAIMOND BALANS.
(L.8.)