AN IMPROVED CONTRIVANCE FOR HOLDING ROPES LINES OR CORDS
Year: 1885

page_text: We, STEPHEN HENRY MANNERS and CHARLES EDGAR MANNERS Machinists
and JOHN THEOPHILUS LEDAN Coachbuilder all of Adelaide, in the Province of
South Australia, do hereby declare the nature of our invention for "AN IMPROVED
CONTRIVANCE FOR HOLDING ROPES LINES OR CORDS," and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of our Invention is to provide a contrivance for holding ropes lines or
cords. For such a purpose it is of special benefit on shipboard but being capable
of considerable variation it is easily applicable to many other similar purposes.
By the use of our invention it will be found that the rope line or cord will run
freely either way until the check is applied, and that then the greater the strain
the tighter will be the grip. Another advantage obtained is that when held at the
utmost tension the rope can be instantaneously released and will run as freely as
before. Our invention allows of easy application to all positions and purposes on
shipboard or elsewhere for which such a contrivance is requisite. The principles of
its construction will be found as useful for the heaviest hawser as for the thinnest
line or cord By the means of a protecting plate the pressure is more evenly
distributed and as a consequence wear and tear is greatly reduced.
Our invention consists of a short cylinder or tube or its equivalent open in the
centre and having bell mouthed ends. Forming part of this cylinder is a bed of
auch shape as may be suitable to the special purpose or place for which it is
intended. The bed may be provided with bolt holes or it may be otherwise secured
in any suitable manner. From the sides of the cylinder project upwards two.
cheeks through which a bolt or pin is passed and secured by means of a nut at the
other end On this bolt works an eccentric lever provided with teeth for the
purpose of actuating the protector plate when it is desired to release the grip
The sides of the teeth are removed so as to afford bearings which act on the flanges
of the protector plate and cause the grip This plate consists of a solid piece the
under surface of which is hollowed to the shape of the rope. And between the
upright flanges forming the sides are a suitable number of teeth or cogs. At one
end is a set screw or button head the body of which works freely through a longi-
tudinal slot cut for the purpose in the upper surface of the cylinder whilst the head
prevents the plate dropping when no rope is in the holder.
In order that our invention may be the more clearly understood we now proceed
to again describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings.
A is a short cylinder having bell shaped ends and provided with a suitable bed
for attachment to the deck, bulwards, standing rigging, or other place for which it
is required B, an eccentric grip lever secured to A by means of the bolt Con
which it works freely. From the under side of B project a suitable number of
teeth on each side of which is a bearing sufficiently wide to be proportionate to the
strain it will have to bear. D a protector plate provided with upright flanges of a

page_text: similar width to the bearings of B and having between them teeth or cogs in which
the teeth of B work easily. E is a slot in A extending from near its centre to the
outer extremity. F a set screw or knob forming part of D the body being of such
size as to move freely in E. The head resting on the upper surface of A prevents
the plate D from falling when no rope is in the holder. It will be noticed that the
end of A in which the slot E is cut slopes towards its outer extremity this may be
an incline of 1 in 8 for ordinary purposes or such other as may be found most
suitable in the case of heavy ropes or hawsers.
The method of action is as follows: The plate D is placed through the open top
in the cylinder with body of the knob F in the slot E. The eccentric B is then
secured in its place by the bolt C. When it is desired to apply the grip the
eccentric B is raised. A purchase on the rope line or cord will at once be obtained
by the pressure of the eccentric bearings of B on the flanges of D, and from the
form of B a tighter grip will be applied in proportion as the strain is increased.
When it is desired to release the rope the eccentric is pressed downwards and by
the action of the teeth will easily and instantaneously set it free. The rope line or
cord can then be allowed to run freely or checked where desired and on the strain
being felt it will be gripped as securely as before.
It will be seen that many variations are possible in the construction of our
invention. Thus instead of a cylinder, A may consist of a bed with flanged sides
sloping at one end so as to allow F to rest on them Or, one side may be removed
and the rope placed in from the side as in the case of heavy hawsers In this case
the opposite side will arch over and be proportionately strengthened.
In heavy ropes where a great strain is required the cylinder A and the plate D
may be lengthened and two or more eccentric levers B supplied so as to increase
the grip and further distribute the pressure Or the cylinder may be made wholly
removable from the bed to allow the rope to pass inside. In this case the bed and
cylinder should be dovetailed longitudinally and secured in position by a stop
or bolt.
Also where saving of cost is desired and the wear of the rope of no consequence
the protector plate may be omitted and the eccentric lever hollowed to fit the rope.
Many other modifications to special purposes will suggest themselves to a
practical man.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
First. The whole contrivance as a combination of parts substantially as berein
described.
Second. The use of an eccentric toothed lever B or its equivalent of the form and
for the purpose herein described.
Third. The protector plate D or any variation of the same having teeth or cogs
substantially as herein described.
Fourth. In combination with the plate D and the cylinder A the use of F
substantially as herein described.
Dated this fourth day of June 1885.