IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND DISENGAGING BOATS BROW A ANS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Collis Browne, of The Cedars, Hampton
Wick, in the County of Middlesex, Physician, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND DISENGAGING BOATS
BROW A ANS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Collis Browne at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th February 1873.
I, JOHN COLLIS BROWNE, of The Cedars, Hampton Wick, in the
County of Middlesex, Physician, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND DIS-
ENGAGING BOATS FROM SHIPS AND VESSELS, ALSO FOR HOISTING BOATS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for lowering and
disengaging boats from ships and vessels, and consists in fitting upon a
ship's deck one or more drums upon standards, such drums having ropes

page_text: or chains wound upon them by gearing or a winch handle, and then led
off towards the davits or other appliances to which the blocks or sheaves
are attached, and by which the boat to be lowered is suspended. The
bottoms or ends of these ropes or chains or other blocks attached thereto
have fitted to them scissor-shaped holders, which may or may not be
provided with springs to incline the prongs, arms, or grippers apart, and
thus release the rings or eye bolts of the boat from them the instant the
boat touches the water.
The ropes between the drums and the davits are rove through eyes,
slots, or other openings in the "rail," or some appliance fitted near to
or upon it, the apertures being provided with sheaves or rollers for
guiding the ropes and for preventing kinks or other obstacles forming
between those points.
The claws or blades of the scissor-like holders may be of the same
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Collis Browne in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 20th August 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COLLIS BROWNE, of The Cedars, Hampton Wick, in the County of
Middlesex, Physician, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Collis Browne, Her
special licence that I, the said John Collis Browne, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Collis Browne,
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,

page_text: 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 APPARATUS FOR LOWERING AND DISENGAGING BOATS FROM SHIPS
AND VESSELS, ALSO FOR HOISTING BOATS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Collis Browne, 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 John Collis Browne, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for lowering and
disengaging boats from ships and vessels, and consists in fitting upon a
ship's deck one or more drums upon standards, such drums having ropes
or chains wound upon them and worked by gearing or a winch handle,
and then led off towards the davits or other appliances to which the
blocks or sheaves are attached, and by which the boat to be lowered is
suspended. The bottoms or ends of these ropes or chains or other blocks
attached thereto have fitted to them scissor-shaped holders, which are
preferably provided with springs to incline the prongs, arms, or grippers
apart, and thus release the rings or eye bolts of a chain arranged within
the boat from them the instant the boat touches the water, whether
upon an even keel or not, the chain being free to run clear.
The rope between the drums and the davits are rove through eyes,
slots, or other openings in the "rail," or some appliance fitted near to or
upon it, the apertures being provided with sheaves or rollers for guiding.
the ropes and for preventing kinks or other obstacles forming between
those points.
The claws or blades of the scissor-like holders may be of the same
length or of different lengths; they may also be straight or curved to

page_text: The Invention will be well understood by reference to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the detailed description thereof.
Figure 1 is a view of a portion of a ship's side A with the ordinary
swing davits B, B, fitted, and by which the boat is suspended in the usual
manner. C is a drum mounted upon standards D upon the vessel's deck
with its axis at right angles to the length of the ship, so that the drum
can be rotated by means of the winch handle with facility through
the pinion E, or the pinion can be dispensed with and the drum C
rotated direct. F is the boat, which has fitted in the thwarts, fore and
aft, small rollers G, G; also other rollers H, H, for guiding a chain I,
both ends of which or either end only can be set free from claws J, J,
the instant the boat touches the water after being lowered. The claws
or blades are shaped to overlap each other, as in the detached views,
Figures 2 and 3, where one pair are shown flat on their top faces, the
others being curved upwards to form hooks for holding the eyes or rings
on the ends of the chain I more firmly thereon for supporting the boat
while she is suspended. These claws are jointed at K and terminate in
legs L, L, with a spring between to force them apart when the weight
of the boat is removed. The legs have a short chain connection M, the
centre links being attached to a ring for forming the toggle, by which
suspension and freeing of the boat is made with the fall blocks N, N.
The two ends of the chain. I only are attached to the claws, and the
whole weight of the boat is borne by them, so that on the disengagement
of the boat taking place both ends become detached at the same time
and the boat is free, but should one end of the boat only touch the
water, then that end becomes free, the other still being held by the claw,
which simply draws the chain out from the rollers G, G, and H, H, and
sets the boat free entirely. The employment of this chain I in com-
bination with my system for boat lowering is most essential to the
freeing of the boat when lowered upon an uneven keel, as from whichever
end of the boat the first release takes place the opposite end becomes
released also. The claws are also so constructed that they open out the
instant the weight is removed, and that without having a rope or any
other attachment to allow them or to compel them to open, as with claws
hitherto constructed.
In Figure 1 I have shown the boat as suspended above the gunwale
of the shin, and in dotted lines the same boat in the water after being

page_text: lowered. Here the boat is shown at the instant the releasing takes place
from both ends at the same time, the chain I being free of the claws
and the boat adrift.
Should it be necessary for the boat to be lowered very slowly I provide
a check line P, one end of which is fastened to a cleat Q and then
passed through the end of a break band round a portion of the drum C,
on which it acts like a break, the other end of the line P being either
upon the ship's deck or in the boat, so that the lowering operation can
be done from the deck or by a man in the boat, he letting the slack run
through his hands as the boat descends. He has thus perfect command
over the lowering, the disengaging of the boat being automatic. For
additional security to hold the rings a, a, upon the claws while the boat
is suspended I fit a swivelled claw plate R upon one leg and a pin S
upon the other, the plate being first rove through an eye or loop in the
free end of a line T, whose opposite end is fastened to the davit head.
This line allows of a descent of the boat, say one foot only, when a pull
upon it commences for lifting the plate off the pin S, the plate then
becomes freed of the loop and allows the claws to open out to disengage
as before explained. The lines may however be of any length, so that
the release of the plates can take place when the boat is near the water.
I carry or pass the drum rope through slots or guide eyes U, U, in or
upon the ship's rail to prevent kinks occurring, the rope first passing
under rollers V, V, on its way to them. The apparatus whether worked
by winch handle or gearing is applicable for hoisting the boat out of
the water.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. The entire system by which a boat can be lowered from a
ship or vessel and set clear automatically, whether upon an even or an
uneven keel, as described and shown.
Secondly. I claim the fitting of a drum upon a standard in the
manner and for the purposes set forth and shown.

page_text: Fourthly. I claim the claw plate method of holding the hook
claws J, J, in position, and the method of automatically releasing the
plate to free the claws, as described and shown for the purposes set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Collis Browne, have hereunto 5
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of August, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
JOHN COLLIS BROWNE. (L.S.)