IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' COMPASSES, AND IN MEANS FOR REGULATING OR ADJUSTING THE SAME AND OTHER COMPASSES THERERY
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Francis Reynolds, of Nightingale Lane,
London Docks, in the County of Middlesex, Nautical Instrument
Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' COMPASSES, AND
IN MEANS FOR REGULATING OR ADJUSTING THE SAME AND OTHER COMPASSES
THERERY
"
Scaled the 7th July 1874, and dated the 8th January 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Francis
Reynolds at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th January 1874.
I, WILLIAM FRANCIS REYNOLDS, of Nightingale Lane, London Docks,
in the County of Middlesex, Nautical Instrument Maker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS'
COMPASSES, AND IN MEANS FOR REGULATING OR ADJUSTING THE SAME AND OTHER
COMPASSES THEREBY," to be as follows:-

page_text: 1. A compass without gimbals, that is to say, that the bowl which
carries the card and is usually swung in gimbals is in this case fixed to
and oscillates with the ship, the card only remaining horizontal.
2. The lubber line is hung on a pivot and preserves a vertical position
however much the ship rolls.
3. The card is buoyed or floated, so that it is only just heavy enough
to sink, and is painted or marked on its outer edge, which combination
is an important feature in my Invention. The centre is formed by a
plain parallel pin passing through a collar or ring, which ring is formed
by preference of a stone or jewel, such as is used for timepieces;
beneath this I sometimes place another ring, and under that a bottom
stone or jewel, which is to take the weight.
I claim the use of this kind of centre in combination with a buoyed
card; also in combination with a card painted on its edge; also the
combination of the three.
Under or over the fixed basin which contains the compass card, as in
my Invention or the compass in ordinary binnacles, I place two tubes
at right angles, so fixed as to roll with the ship for the purpose of
receiving magnets for the correction or reduction of semicircular
deviation.
For the purpose of correcting the heeling error I place two magnets
of equal size, but with their poles reversed, immediately under the
centre of the compass card, to each of which an apparatus is fixed for
the purpose of raising or lowering either one or the other, as may be
required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
.
filed by the said William Francis Reynolds in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FRANCIS REYNOLDS, of Nightingale Lane, London Docks, in the County 30
of Middlesex, Nautical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of January, in the year of
C

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Francis Reynolds, Her special
licence that I, the said William Francis Reynolds, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Francis
Reynolds, 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 SHIPS' COMPASSES, AND IN MEANS FOR REGULATING OR
ADJUSTING THE SAME AND OTHER COMPASSES THEREBY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Francis Reynolds, 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 William Francis Reynolds, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The first part of my Invention relate to the combination of an
indicator card of special form and a buoyant vessel attached thereto, by
which the weight of the card and the needles can be borne and yet be
in contact with the pivot point or centre, upon which the card oscillates
and moves horizontally, such special formed card and buoyant vessel
being arranged in a bowl containing liquid, and wholly or partly sub-
merged therein.
The card is of ring shape with deep exterior, and curved to suit the
rotundity of the bowl in which it is placed, a space being left between
it and the bowl for the liquid to surround the card to form what is
known as a liquid compass. The card has points, cardinal and others,
marked upon the exterior or deep-sided surface, so that they can be

page_text: seen from the front of the bowl, in which a vertically inclined sheet of
glass is arranged for the purpose.
This combination of card and buoyant vessel will be clearly understood
by Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawings, in which a is
the card of metal or other suitable material of ring shape with deep
exterior, upon which the points of the compass are marked or indicated.
To the upper part of it at the larger diameter I attach a couple of
needles b, b, at a distance apart, and to these I solder or rivet the
buoyant vessel c, this being of semi-spherical shape and with a concave
bottom piece d that the weight of the whole, which is only slightly
heavier than the liquid in which they are to be placed, can be borne by
the vessel without undue strain being put upon the pivot point of the
stem e or upon the jewelled cup or socket f of the standard pin g,
whereby the card is free to oscillate and move with greater delicacy and
sensitiveness than by any present method of pivotting or hanging it.
I claim as this part of my Invention a card with deep sides, upon the
exterior of which is marked the points of a compass, such card being in
combination with a buoyant vessel, by which its weight is borne in a
liquid compass bowl, as and for the purpose set forth.
Secondly. I claim the special arrangement of card and buoyant vessel
represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawings annexed, as and
for the purpose set forth, such card having the points of the compass
marked upon its exterior surface, as indicated.
Figure 5 represents a convex ring and a concave ring, the top and
bottom edges of which are united to form a buoyant vessel, and which
can be arranged to bear its own weight when submerged wholly or partly
upon a jewelled socket, needles being arranged across it to carry the
stem, as explained with reference to Figures 1 to 4. The exterior
surface of this vessel is marked with the points of the compass.
Figure 6 represents in plan a deep-sided card, similar to that first
mentioned, but with the needles arranged within tubes c, c, as buoyant
vessels for retaining the card a in a floating yet submerged condition in
the liquid, the pivot stem being connected to a cross piece h attached to
the tubes c, c. The needles b, b, may however be outside and inde-
pendent of the tubes c, c, so long as they in connection with a deep-

page_text: sided card, upon the exterior surface of which the points of the com-
pass are marked or indicated, as before explained.
Figure 7 shows a similarly shaped submergable card a with a single
needle, this being central and enclosed in a tube c. As a buoyant vessel
a second piece or tube h, but without a needle, being arranged at right
angles to carry the stem and pivot point, upon which the card moves.
I claim the construction and employment of a submergable card and
a buoyant vessel as one article, as shown in Figure 5 of the annexed
Drawings, as and for the purposes set forth, such card having the points
of the compass marked or indicated upon the exterior surface, as
described.
Secondly. I claim under what I term a modification of my sub-
mergable yet buoyant card for liquid compasses the combination of deep
exterior sides and marked cards with tubes as buoyant vessels con-
taining needles or not, as described with reference to Figures 6 and 7 of
the Drawings annexed, for the purposes set forth.
Figures 8 and 9 shew how one of my specially formed submergable
yet buoyant compass cards can be arranged in a bowl as a binnacle
compass. Here the bowl i is formed of two hemispheres with bands j,j,
as meeting edges to be bolted or screwed together. The upper part of
one hemisphere has a screw plug k, this taking into a tube by which
the liquid is admitted to the bowl. The other hemisphere has a glass
fitted almost vertical in it, through which the points of the compass on
the esterior deep-sided surface of my before-mentioned card can be seen,
the lubbers' point m being a fixture as shown.
The second part of my Invention relates to means and appliances by
which a compass card can be regulated or adjusted whether the card be
of the shape or arranged as according to the foregoing description, or of
any other form or make; also whether they be arranged or fitted in
liquid bowls or otherwise, and consists of movable magnets in pairs in
opposite order upon threaded or other rods arranged in a fixed standard
or casing, but below the compass bowl.
Figures 10 and 11 represent one method by which such regulating or
adjusting can be effected. n, n, are two curved magnets with their
poles arranged in opposite order, as marked. These are mounted upon
vertical right and left hand threaded rods p, p, respectively, within

page_text: caging q, one rod being longer than the other, and with a square endr
projecting through the bottom plates, so that it can be turned by a key
or other appliance from the outside. The two rods p, p, carry pinions t, t,
and when one is turned both magnets are caused to move vertically in
opposite directions, one up and the other down, whereby the positive
pole that rises by its closer magnetic connection to the opposite pole of
the card needle draws it round to the required position, whereby it
becomes adjusted. In order to enable this to be done at all times and
in all latitudes I fit a second pair of adjustable magnets in the same
casing, but at right angles to the former ones, and these are similarly 1
mounted upon threaded rods with pinions, and one end of one of the
rods projecting outside of the casing. I ensure the vertical action of
these adjusting or regulating magnets by placing vertical pins between
their ends for them to bear against while being moved.
I claim as this part of my Invention regulating or adjusting ships' 1
compasses by movable magnets arranged in a fixed part of the standard
or casing below the compass bowl and in operating them, substantialy
in the manner shown and described with reference to Figures 10 and 11
of the annexed Drawings.
Figure 12 shows a double series of magnets arranged in tubes or cases a
one set crossing the other, and fitted in or to a fixed part of a compass
standard, the magnets being inserted into the tubes or cases singly until
the required number or quantity are inserted to obtain the required
power. The ends of the tubes or cases are preferably closed by screw
plugs when the required number of magnets have been inserted.
Figures 8 shows a double series of tubes or cases containing magnet
in a fixed part of the casing; and Figure 9 shows a single tube with
magnet in the pillar itself; another tube also with magnets being fitted
just above and at right angles thereto.
What I claim in this part of my Invention is, fitting or arrangeing a
magnets in tubes or cases arranged in or to a part of a compass standard,
and above, level with, or below the compass bowl and its card, whereby
semicircular deviation or error of the card needle or needles can be
adjusted, in the manner set forth and substantially as shown in the
Drawings.
Figure 13 is a view of two magnet-contained tubes arranged at righ
angles outside of the frames or standard.
2
E

page_text: I also claim the employment of magnets crossing each other at right
angles above or below compass cards or needles for the purpose of
adjusting the semicircular deviation of such cards or needles.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Francis Reynolds, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
WILLIAM FRANCIS REYNOLDS. (L.S.)