IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES, WINDLASSES, AND CAPSTANS
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
CALDWELL, of Mill Place, Commercial Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of April, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Caldwell, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said James Caldwell, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I,
the said James Caldwell, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANES, WINDLASSES, AND CAPSTANS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James Caldwell,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Caldwell, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described, and ascer-
ained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the

page_text: My Invention relates,―
First, to improvements on cranes, whereby the effect of the weight raised
and lowered thereby is more advantageously distributed.
Secondly, to a mode of causing a rope or chain to fleet or clear itself upon
the barrels of cranes.
Thirdly, my Invention relates to an improved construction of crane for
loading and unloading lighters, barges, and such like craft.
Fourthly, my Invention relates to improvements in the apparatus for
working windlasses.
Fifthly, my Invention relates to apparatus to be applied to barrels of
windlasses to prevent fleeting. And,
Sixthly, my Invention relates to an apparatus to be applied to the barrels of
capstans to prevent surging.
And in order to give the best information in my power, I will proceed to
describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of a crane, constructed according to the
first part of my improvements, a being the post or upright which carries the
crane; b is the gib; c is a beam affixed to the post a, and carries a platform
d, as shewn in the Drawing. e is an upright or post stepped into a proper
bearing formed on the beam c. This post or upright has affixed at the
upper end the inclined stay to the gib e'; and fis a diagonal stay from the post a
to the post e, by which stability is given to the parts e, e', and f, and by which
I am enabled to carry part of the strain of the weight, raised or lowered, to a
position behind the post a, and thus materially to advantage the general
construction of a crane, and enabling it to work more easily; and it is the mode
of applying the parts e, e¹, and f, in combination with the other parts referred
to, which constitutes the first part of my Invention. I would remark that the
barrel of this crane does not wind up the whole of the rope or chain on to its
surface, as is most generally the case, but the rope or chain only takes a few
turns around the barrel, and the slack is taken up by the falling weight, as is
clearly indicated by the Drawing; and in order to cause the rope or chain
to fleet or clear itself on the barrel of the crane, it is formed as hereafter
described in respect to the barrel of the windlass, and has apparatus applied
thereto, as will readily be understood when I come to describe those parts of
my Invention which relate to windlasses. I will now proceed to explain the third

page_text: part of my Invention, which relates to a new construction of crane for loading
and unloading river craft. Figure 2 shews so much of the section of a barge or
river boat, together with a crane set therein, as will enable me to describe this
part of my Invention, which will only be found useful where the barge or
such like craft is suitably supplied with a series of boxes or vessels, which in
unloading and loading raise and replace the boxes or vessels, which corre
spond in size, and are particularly applicable for bringing coals down the river,
to be loaded into ships or other vessels; the boxes a, a, a, of such a size as
to have three of them in a line before the crane, and three of them in a line
aft the crane; and there are two rows of such boxes a, but other numbers may
be used, the crane being varied accordingly, for it will be seen, after I have
described the parts, that the crane has stops so as to bring the tackle correct
at all times to take or to replace one or other of the boxes. b is the post or
upright which carries the crane, and is set into a suitable step and framing,
as is shewn. c is what I would call the working gib, and d the counterbalance
gib, which are tied together by the rod c, and there are also two other ties
ff. The gib c is made of two plates of iron between which the runner g
moves, there being projecting surfaces on which the friction wheels of the
runner 9 move, as is clearly indicated by dotted lines. The runner g carries a
pulley h, over which the lifting chain or rope passes, and according to the
position of the pulley h will be the position of the lifting chain or rope
in respect to the barge. The Drawing shews the parts in such a posi-
tion as to enable the crane to lift out one of the boxes a nearest the
crane, as is shewn, i being a stop which prevents the runner 9 coming
lower down the gib, and is another stop, which is capable of being
raised or lowered by moving on an axis. It is now shown as being raised,
but when it is desired to take the next two boxes forward of the crane,
and the runner is at the upper part of the gib c, the stop will be allowed to
fall by unfastening the cord 2, which is attached to a hook at 3, and this will
cause the runner to descend only to the proper position for taking the next
boxes; and the runner 9 is regulated in its movement by means of the chain
or rope j, which is affixed to one end of the runner, as is shewn. The chain
or ropej then passes under a guide pulley k, and takes two or three turns
round a barrel l, then it passes over a pulley m, and has a weight suspended
to it, as is shewn, and then is made fast to the gib d; and it will be seen that
there is a brake wheel on the axis of the barrel 1, by the brake, on which a
man can regulate the movement of the runner as it moves towards the outer
end of the gib c, and by the crank handle on the axis of the barrel 1, the
runner can be caused to move down the gib c, all which will readily be traced

page_text: by examining the Drawing. n is the lifting rope or chain, which, being
attached to one of the boxes, passes over the pulley carried by the runner g.
then passes over the pulley of the outer end of the gib c, then takes a few
turns on the barrel o, which is, the working barrel of the crane, and has a
suitable train of wheels and crank handle o¹ for obtaining the required power
to the barrel, as is well understood; the rope or chain n then passes over the
pulley p, carried at the outer end of the gib d, and has a counterbalance
weight applied thereto, and then the rope or chain n is made fast to the
gib d, as is clearly shewn, and the effect of the working of the parts will
readily be traced. Thus, supposing it to be desired to raise the box a, to
which the lifting rope or chain n is connected, to the position shown by dotted
lines at the upper and outer end of the gib c, in such case motion would be
communicated to the barrel o, in the direction of the arrow, there being
two ratchet wheels and two clicks or catches to prevent the barrel running
back, as is well understood, only one being in use at a time, and one is for
stopping the barrel in one direction and the other in the other direction. The
box being raised to the position of the runner, and clear of the others, may be
run up the gib gradually by the man holding the brake, which up to this
time has either been fastened down on to its wheel, or held down, and thus,
by the rotation of the barrel l, and by means of the brake allowing the runner
to move upwards, and by continuing the motion of the barrel o, the box a will
be raised to the position shewn by dotted lines, or to any intermediate position,
and as the crane is capable of revolution with its axis or post, the box so
raised can be placed in the position desired.
I will now proceed to describe the improvements in windlasses. Figure 3
shows a front view of a windlass. Figure 4 a plan thereof. Figure 5 an end
view. Figure 6 shows the position of the palls, showing the means of
coupling them all together, and by means of a lever to raise them all out of
action, when desired, in letting the cable run out, there being brakes used to
regulate the movement of the barrel when the palls are out of action. a are
the barrels of the windlass, which will be seen to incline towards the centre,
and have a groove at the centre. b, b, are two inclined plates which I call
fleeting plates, they being placed under the barrels of the windlass, to cause
the cable as it is wound on to slide off towards the centre. By this means
the barrel may turn continually, and the cable will at all times clear itself by
means of the fleeting plates, aided by the inclined surfaces b, b, as will readily
be understood on examining the various Figures; and although I generally
use simple inclined plates b, I would remark that I sometimes recommend, in
large windlasses, to have pulleys carried by the plates b, as is shown in separate

page_text: views in the Drawing, but for most purposes I believe the simple inclined
plates will be found sufficient. c, c, c, c, are cranked levers, which move on axes
at c', in the posts or uprights d. Into one end of each of the cranked levers c
is inserted a bandspike or bar c², and to the other end of the lever is attached
by a pin joint the instrument e, which consists of two plates which come on
either side of the teeth of the ratchet wheel f, and the two plates of which
this driving instrument e is composed are bolted together at e¹, and at
the outer end these plates are also bolted together means of a bolt e²,
which is so formed as to enter between the teeth of the ratchet wheel f, so
that when the handspike or bar is pressed downwards, the barrel of the
windlass will be turned round, and when the handspike or bar is raised the
instrument e will move further round the ratchet wheel, and take hold of
a tooth, and when the bar or handspike is again pressed down the barrel will
be again moved. It will be seen that the levers c are so formed that, on the
instruments e being thrown back out of action, the connecting links h, h, may
be attached to the levers c, and then the brakes may be used on the ratchet
wheels fof the windlass by means of those levers, the brakes being kept out of
the way at other times, as is shewn in the Drawings. In the event of the
brakes not being sufficient in bad weather for allowing the cable to be run out,
then I use weather pins or bits i, i, at Figure 7, where they are just below
the deck beams, or at Figure 8, where they are affixed to uprights between
decks leading to the hold of the ships, as is clearly shown in the Drawing.
Figure 9 shews a portion of double windlass, with fleeting plates applied
thereto, the barrels in this case being arranged that they may be used sepa-
rately or in conjunction, by means of the sliding clutch Z, which, by a lever,
may be moved to connect or disconnect the two barrels, as required. Figure
10 shews the position of the palls for the double windlass, the palls in this
case having projections on their upper surfaces, which raise each other by
means of the lever, as is shewn in the Drawing, when required to let out the
cable by means of the brake, as above described.
I will now describe my improvements in capstans. Figure 12 shows a
capstan constructed according to this part of my Invention. a is the barrel
of the capstan, which is worked by bars, in the usual manner.
b is a fleeting
plate, which will cause the cable or other rope to slide off towards the top of
the barrel, and thus clear itself, as described with reference to my improved
windlass. The plate 6 turns upon an axis at its centre, in order to alter its
angle according to the direction the cable is being wound upon the barrel of
the capstan. Figure 13 shows a capstan with a barrel tapering from each end
towards the centre.
In this case two fleeting plates are used, the upper one

page_text: being hinged at the point b', for the purpose of placing the cable upon the
barrel, at which time it is thrown back to the position of the dotted lines,
and when again thrown into its working position it is secured by two bars
68, which slip into sockets, as is clearly shown in the Drawing.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I would have it under-
stood that what I claim as the Invention secured by the above recited Letters
Patent is;--
First, the mode of constructing cranes, as shown and described in respect
to Figure 1.
Secondly, the mode of fleeting or clearing of the rope or chain on the barrels
of cranes by applying inclined surfaces.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of constructing cranes for loading and unloading
barges and such like craft.
Fourthly, I claim the mode of applying the levers c and instrument e for
working windlasses.
Fifthly, I claim the mode of applying inclined surfaces, which I have called
fleeting plates, to the barrels of windlasses, as above described. And;
Sixthly, I claim the mode of applying inclined surfaces, which I have
called fleeting plates, to the barrels of capstans, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Caldwell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty.