Improvements in Bollards and Mooring Posts.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Dec., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 1st Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 26th Oct., 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bollards and Mooring Posts.
I, HORATIO FLETCHER of 5 Sydenham Terrace, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the
County of Northumberland, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to the combination with or adaptation to bollards and
mooring posts of gripping apparatus comprising jaws and means such as a screw for
causing such jaws to grip and release (as required) a rope or cable. The gripping
apparatus may be such as or similar to that employed by me in conjunction with
capstans as referred to in a former application for Letters Patent dated the 23rd day
of June 1887, No. 8946.
Dated this 1st day of December 1887.
HORATIO FLETCHER.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Applicant's Agent.

page_text: Improvements in Bollards and Mooring Posts.
1, HORATIO FLETCHER, of 5 Sydenham Terrace, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the
County of Northumberland, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention,
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 this invention is to adapt bollards and mooring posts to retain ropes
or cables, for which purpose I combine therewith gripping apparatus comprising jaws
and means such as a screw for causing such jaws to grip and release (as required) a
rope or cable.
The gripping apparatus may be such as or similar to that employed by me in
conjunction with capsians as referred to in the specification of Letters Patent
granted to me dated the 23rd day of June 1887, No. 8946.
In the accompanying three sheets of illustrative drawings
Fig. 1 is an elevation; and
Fig. 2 a part vertical section illustrating a stationary bollard or mooring post with
gripping device.
Fig. 3 illustrates partly in vertical section and partly in elevation;
Fig. 4 in vertical section at right angles to fig. 3; and
Fig. 5 in sectional plan a modification wherein the bollard or mooring post is
capable of partial rotary motion in opposition to a spring.
Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a vertical section and a side elevation of a further
modification.
In figs. 1 and 2, 1 and 2 are the jaws of a gripping device carried by the bollard
or mooring post 3 (hereinafter called a bollard).
The lower jaw 1 is fixed to the lower part of the bollard, whilst the other jaw 2 is
mounted upon a screw threaded rod 4 by means of which it may be caused to travel
in a slot or guide 4ª and approach or recede from the fixed jaw i to grip or release, as
may be desired, the rope or cable 5. The rod 4, is provided at its upper end with a
milled head 6 or it may be with a handwheel, below which is arranged a tube or
sleeve 7 that encircles the upper part of the rod. This tube or sleeve is provided with
a pin or projection 8 arranged to slide in an inclined slot or camgroove 9 formed in a
tubular extension 10 on the top of the bollard. By raising or lowering the tube or
sleeve 7 by means of the pin or projection 8 the jaw 2 may be rapidly moved toward
or from the fixed jaw 1, the final closing movement to grip the rope or cable being
effected by turning the screw threaded rod 4 by means of its milled head 6 or
hand wheel.
The sleeve 7, pin 8, and slot or camgroove 9 may in some cases be dispensed with
and the jaw 2 be operated solely by the screw threaded rod 4. The gripping device
may if desired be placed at the upper part of the bollard instead of the lower part as
shewn. It is advantageous to provide the top portion of the bollard with an upwardly
extending rim 3" as shewn, in order that a rope or cable can readily slip over the top
thereof without coming in contact with the handle or device provided for rotating
the screw threaded rod 4.
In the arrangement shewn in figs. 3, 4 and 5 the movable jaw 2 is supported by a

page_text: rim 4 on the lower end of a plain rod 4 which is caused to move up and down as
required by means of the pin or projection 8 which is fixed directly to the rod and
works in an inclined slot or camgroove 9 as before.
The bollard shewn in this arrangement is carried by a plate 11 arranged to partly
rotate upon a base plate 12 in which are located springs 13 for relieving sudden
strains on a rope or cable held to the bollard by the gripping device. For this
purpose the plate 11 is provided with a downwardly extending projection 14 that acts
on one or other of the springs 13, according to the direction in which the bollard is
partly turned.
The barrel portion of the bollard in this arrangement is mounted to rotate freely in
one direction about a central post 11 and upon the plate 11 in order that the friction
between it and a rope or cable when the latter is being placed upon it or removed,
may be reduced.
The upper surface of the barrel portion is formed (as shewn) with a series of
notches 15 into which a pawl 16 successively falls under the action of gravity. This
pawl which works in a hole 16" in the cap or top of the bollard serves to prevent the
barrel portion from rotating in one direction but permits it to rotate in the other
direction, it being then raised by the inclined surface 15ª of each notch or recess in
turn. 17 is a guide piece with curved upper surface for the rope or cable.
In figs. 6 and 7, a cam 4 on the rod 4 is used to cause the movable jaw 2 to
approach the fixed one, and to permit it to move therefrom under the action of
gravity.
The movable jaw rests upon the cam and is loosely mounted upon the rod 4 which
is arranged to be rotated only by a handle 6. In this modified arrangement, one
spring 13 only is used which is arranged vertically within a tubular post 12" secured
to or forming part of the base plate 12 and about which the bollard can partly rotate
in opposition to the action of the spring.
The connection between the bollard and spring is as follows:-18 is a tubular
plunger formed with an inclined slot 19 into which takes a pin 20. This pin is
secured to the inner cylindrical portion 3b of the bollard and works in a horizontal
slot 18 in the tubular post 12. When the bollard is partly rotated the pin 20 causes
the plunger 18 to move downward in opposition to the action of the spring. Rotation
of the plunger 18 is prevented by a pin 18 thereon working in a slot in the post 12ª.
The barrel or outer portion 3 of the bollard in this arrangement is arranged to move
in a rotary sense in either direction about the inner cylindrical portion 3b. A pawl
or detent 21 carried by a rod 22 and arranged to enter a recess or one or other of a
series of recesses 23 in the top of the barrel portion, may be employed for limiting
the rotary movement in either direction. This pawl or detent 21 may be caused to
rise and be allowed to fall by a cam 24 on the rod 22 acting in a similar manner to
the cam 4 on the movable jaw 2. 25 is an opening through which the pin 20 may be
inserted in place or withdrawn.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
A bollard or mooring post constructed with gripping apparatus as and for the
nurnose hereinshove described and set forth.