IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARINERS' COMPASS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, F.C.S., of
54, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARINERS' COMPASS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Lucien Ripamonti and Daniel Ripamonti,
residing at Paris, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 6th May 1878, and dated the 12th November 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Primerose
Howard Vaughan at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 12th November 1872.
I, EDWARD PRIMEROSE HOWArd Vaughan, F.C.S., of 54, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARINERS' COMPASS,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Lucien Ripamonti and
Daniel Ripamonti, residing at Paris, in the Republic of France, to be as
follows:-

page_text: influence of a number of magnetised bars of steel is brought to bear on
the axis of the compass needle, they being so arranged crosswise that
their centres coincide with the vertical prolongation of the said axis.
These bars are further so arranged that they may be successively moved
towards or from the needle to a greater or less distance as required
without change in the parallelism of their horizontal planes.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 is the ordinary binnacle;
Figures 2, 3, represent in elevation and plan the arrangement of the
magnetised bars; Figure 4 represents a pair of the vertical adjusting
screws.
.A, A¹, A³, A³, represent the magnetised bars set crosswise horizontally
beneath the compass needle in the position above indicated, and shewn
in the plan Fig. 3, their extremities bearing in brass nuts a, working on
the vertical brass screws B, B¹³, B³, B³, B', which are mounted equi-
distantly on a circumference having the needle axis for its centre. The
lower ends of these screws bear on steps C, set in the bottom of the
binnacle frame E, the upper ends being maintained by the brass collars D
fixed to the latter, and provided with pressure screws. M, M³, are two
brass keys fitted to the heads of the screws B, and connected by the
brass rod H. This connecting rod is provided with a handle J, operating
simultaneously on the two screws B of the same bar, which is thus
raised or lowered without deviating from the horizontal position. By
the mechanism M, J, H, or its equivalent the bars A may thus be raised
or lowered in succession for the due adjustment of their position towards
each other and towards the needle.
-
The bars A being arranged as above described their magnetic influence
passing by the centre of the needle and acting on its poles enables the
compass to be adjusted or corrected in all its points.
The bars may be set above or below the compass needle as may be
required by the general construction of the instrument and their number,
as also the mechanical details of their displacing apparatus be varied
⚫ according to circumstances.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 12th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
PRIMEROSE HOWARD VAUGHAN, F.O.S., of 54, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, Her
special licence that I, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARINERS' COMPASS," being a
communication to me from abroad by Lucien Ripamonti and Daniel
Ripamonti, residing at Paris, in the Republic of France, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Primerose Howard
Vaughan, 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 Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:―
The object of this Invention is to provide a simple and efficient means

page_text: influence of a number of magnetised bars of steel is brought to bear on
the axis of the compass needle, they being so arranged that their centres
coincide with the vertical prolongation of the said axis. These bars are
further so arranged that they may be successively moved towards or from
the needle to a greater or less distance as required without change in the
parallelism of their horizontal planes.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a vertical section of the
apparatus enclosed in an ordinary binnacle; Figure 2 is a plan of the
same; Figures 3 to 9 represent different mechanical details of the
combination. In all these figures similar parts are indicated by the
same letters of reference.
A, A, A, A, represent the magnetised bars set crosswise horizontally
beneath the compass needle in the position above indicated and shewn
in the plan Figure 2, their extremities supported by brass nuts a, a, a, a,
working on the vertical brass screws B, B, B, B, which are mounted
equidistantly on a circumference having the axis of the needle for its
centre. The nuts a are shewn apart on a scale of in Figures 3, 4, 5,
and the screws B on the same scale in Figure 6. The lower end of each
screw B forms a pivot p, which works in a hole pierced in a circle C, set
in the bottom of the binnacle frame E, the upper end being maintained
by the brass collar D fixed to the latter, and provided with pressure
screws. The collar D is shown apart on a scale of in Figures 7, 8.
M, M, are two brass keys fitted to the heads 6 of screws B, and
connected by the brass rod H. This connecting rod is provided with a
handle J operating simultaneously on the two screws B of the same bar,
which is thus raised or lowered without deviating from the horizontal
position. (The details of this arrangement are shewn in Figure 9.) By
this mechanism M, J, H, or its equivalent, the bars A. may thus be
raised or lowered in succession for the due adjustment of their position
towards each other and towards the needle.
The bars A being arranged as above described their magnetic influence
passing by the centre of the needle and acting on its poles enables the
compass to be adjusted or corrected in all its points.
It will be understood that the bars may be set above or below the
compass needle as may be required by the general construction of the
instrument, and that their number, as also the mechanical details of their
displacing apparatus, may be varied according to circumstances.

page_text: Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
and the manner of carrying it into effect, I declare that what I claim
and desire to protect by Letters Patent is, the regulation or adjustment
of the mariners' compass by means of magnetised steel bars so arranged
crosswise above or below the needle that their centres coincide with the
vertical prolongation of the axis of the latter, and further so arranged
that they may be successively moved towards or from the needle in the
horizontal plane, substantially as herein set forth and shewn by the
figures of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
E. P. H. VAUGHAN. (L.S.)