IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE REEFING AND FURLING OF SHIPS' SAILS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Anthony Swinburne, Commander in Her
Majesty's Royal Navy, at present residing at Eilan Shona, in the County
of Inverness, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS RELATING
Sealed the 21st March 1865, and dated the 4th October 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Anthony Swin-
burne at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th October 1864.
I, THOMAS ANTHONY SWINBURNE, Commander in Her Majesty's Royal
Navy, at present residing at Eilan Shona, in the County of Inverness, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
RELATING TO THE REEFING AND FURLING OF SHIPS' SAILS," to be as follows, that
is to say :-
This Invention of improvements relating to the reefing and furling of ships'
sails has for object the protection of the sails from fire or other damage when
furled, together with the well-known advantages of self-acting or mechanical
reefing and furling, arrangements without the disadvantages attending some of
the plans in use. And the Invention consists principally in constructing the
yard (in each case) in the form of a hollow shell of thin sheet steel, for
example, and in fitting appliances in connection with it for reefing or furling
the sail inside it. The sail is bent upon or attached to a core spindle or
jackstay in the centre of the yard, and supported at the extremities, and the

page_text: sail issues from within the yard by a slit or opening along the lower side.
The core spindle is turned to roll up the sail by means of an outer spindle or
jackstay extending the entire length of the yard, and carried in suitable
brackets.or mountings on the outside-of it. At the middle of its length_the
outer jackstay has fast on it a pulley or roller, over which there lies a chain
made fast to the mast at the top and bottom, and-when the yard is lowered
this chain causes the outer jackstay to rotate, and this jackstay being con-
nected at its ends to the inner jackstay or core spindle makes it rotate also
and roll up the sail inside the hollow yard. When the yard is hoisted the
reverse motion takes place. With the arrangements herein-before described
the sail does not require to be divided down the middle, but it is necessary to
apply such a support to the middle of the sail and core spindle as will prevent
the latter from bending down with the strain of the sail, and for this purpose
there is bent upon or attached to the core spindle along with the sail, at the
middle, or at each of one or more points on each side of the middle of the
yard, a band of an elastic material, such as vulcanised rubber, which band
becomes rolled up in alternate plies with the sail. Each band passes out
through a short slit in the upper side of the hollow yard, and has its outer end
attached to the outer jackstay in such a way that the motion that this has
when the sail is unfurled rolls up the band tightly upon it, and thereby makes
it support the inner jackstay or core spindle in a constant manner. It is
preferred to make the bands tapering in width, the narrow end being th
which is attached to the outer jackstay, and which end is in action when the
least support is required, whilst from the winding up of the band on the outer
jackstay the broad end is in action, when, on the sail being entirely unfurled,
the greatest support is needed.
that
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Anthony Swinburne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd April 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
ANTHONY SWINBURNE, Commander in Her Majesty's Royal Navy, sometimes
residing at Eilan Shona, in the County of Inverness, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Anthony Swinburne, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Anthony Swinburne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Anthony Swinburne, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 RELATING TO THE REEPING AND
FURLING OP SHIPS' SAILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Anthony Swinburne, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Thomas Anthony Swinburne, 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 statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention of improvements relating to the reefing and furling of
ships' sails has for its object the protection of the sails from fire or other
damage when furled, together with the well-known advantages of self-acting
or mechanical reefing and furling, arrangements without the disadvantages
attending some of the plans in use. And my said Invention consists prin-
cipally in constructing the yard (in each case) in the form of a hollow shell
of thin sheet steel, for example, and in fitting appliances in connection with it.
for reefing or furling the sail inside it.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing, by way
of example, the application of my improvements in the construction and.
fittings of a yard and sail of moderate size.
. Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved yard with the sail set, and
Figure 2 is a corresponding end view of the yard; Figure 3 is a vertical
section taken across the yard with the sail set; and Figure 4 is a similar
section with the sail furled. The same parts are marked with the same:
reference numerals in all the Figures.

page_text: The hollow shell 1, constituting the yard, may be formed out of a single
sheet of steel or iron, or it may be formed out of two pieces rivetted together
along the top, as indicated in Figure-3.. The sail-2-is bent upon or attached
-to-a-core-spindle or central jackstay 3 situated in the centre of the yard 1,
and supported at the extremities, each end projecting through the eye or
bearing in the end of the yard, and having a pulley 4 fixed upon it externally.
The core spindle 3 is formed with two diametrically opposite ribs, which are
pierced with holes, and to one of these the sail 2.is laced. The sail 2 issues
from within the yard 1 by a slit or opening 5 along the under side, and
extending the full length of the foot of the sail. The core spindle 3 is turned
to roll up the sail by means of an outor spindle or jackstay 6 extending à
little beyond the entire length of. the yard 1, and. carried in brackets or
mountings 7 fixed upon the outside of it. At the middle of its length this
.outer spindle 6 has fast on it a pulley or roller 8, over which there lies a
chain or band 9 made fast to the mast 10 at the top and bottom, and when
the yard 1 is lowered this chain 9 causes the outer spindle 6 to rotate. The
ends of the spindle 6 have pulleys 11 fixed upon them, and endless chains or
bands being passed round these pulleys and round the pulleys 4 on the ends
of the core spindle 3, the turning of the outer spindle 6 causes the core
spindle 3 to turn also and roll up the sail. 2 inside the hollow yard 1. When
the yard is hoisted the reverse motion takes place and the sail becomes
unfurled. With the arrangements herein-before described the sail 2 does not
require to be divided down the middle, as in some plans for mechanical
furling but it is necessary to apply such a support to the middle and
adjacent parts of the sail 2 and core spindle 3 as will prevent the latter from
bending down with the strain of the sail, and for this purpose there is bent
upon or attached to the core spindle 3 along with the sail, at one or more
points, bands 12, of canvas or other suitable material, which bands become
rolled up in alternate plies with the sail 2 when furled. In the example
represented there are four of these supporting bands 12, and each band passes
out through a short slit. 13 formed in the upper side of the hollow yard 1,
and has its outer end attached to the outer spindle 6 in such a way that the
motion which the outer spindle has when the sail is being unfurled rolls up
the bands 12 tightly upon it, and thereby makes them support the core
spindle 3 in a constant manner whether the sail be fully set or more or less
furled. I prefer to make the supporting bands 12 tapering in width, the
narrow end of each being that which is attached to the outer spindle 6, and
which end is in action when the least support is required, whilst, from the
winding up of the bands on the outer spindle, 6 the broad end of each band-
;

page_text: comes into action when on the sail being entirely unfurled the greatest
support is needed. If preferred the supporting bands 12 may be made of an
elastic material such as vulcanised rubber.
The yard delineated in the annexed Drawings, and herein-before described,
is a topsail or other yard arranged to be hoisted and lowered, but stationary
yards may obviously be constructed in the same way for the sails to be furled
inside them, and in that case the outer spindle 6 will be turned for furling by
means of a chain fixed and wound upon it and hauled down from on deck,
the setting of the sail winding it on the spindle again.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described and delineated, but that what I
believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the constructing of yards
for ships' sails in the form of hollow shells and the fitting thereof with
appliances for reefing or furling the sails by rolling them up within the yards,
substantially in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Anthony Swinburne, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, in the year
of our Lord-One thousand cight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
THOS. A. SWINBURNE. (L.S.).