IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' YARDS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Brown, of Liverpool, in the County o
Lancaster, Mast Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' YARDS."
Scaled the 16th June 1857, and dated the 18th December 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th December 1856.
I, JOHN BROWN, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mast Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' YARDS," to be as follows:-
In consequence of the difficulty of obtaining spars of suitable length and
strength for the lower and topsail yards of ships, and the tendency of such
said wooden spars to decay at the ends thereof and in the sheave holes, and
further, as iron is of too rigid a nature to be used as a substitute for wood, I
propose, therefore, to remedy the above objections by constructing ships' yards
by combining wood and metal together in the following manner :-I take a
spar of about three-fourth parts of the length which the yard is required to be,
and the other fourth part I form of two wrought-iron tubes respectively fixed
on each end of said spar fór about two feet; said tubes are closed at their outor
extremities, and the tackle is connected thereto in any convenient manner.
The metal of which the aforesaid tubes are made is continued from said tubes

page_text: in four taper arms or strips of equal size, extending about six feet along the
wooden spar and terminating in points. These strips of metal are securely
fixed to the spar by wrought iron hoops of suitable number and strength. In
the event of the wooden portion of the yard becoming broken, the aforesaid
metal tubes may be removed therefrom and attached to another spar, thereby
utilizing the metal portions of the broken yard, and it is this peculiar mode of
constructing ships' yards by a combination of wood and metal, as above stated,
which constitutes this Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of tho Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BROWN, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mast Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Brown, Her special license that I, the said John Brown, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Brown, 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 THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS' YARDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Brown, 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 Brown, do hereby declare the
nature of tho said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
In consequence of the difficulty of obtaining spars of suitable length and

page_text: respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is an elevation of a ship's yard, formed of a combination of wood
and metal, according to my improved method of constructing ships' yards;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal and vertical section of one end of said yard drawn to
an enlarged scale, to shew the construction thereof more clearly; Figure 3 is a
side elevation of Figure 2. At each of the foregoing Figures I employ similar
letters of reference to denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear
or can be seen at each of such said Figures respectively.
I take a wooden spar A of about three-fourth parts of the length which the
yard is required to be, and the other fourth part I form of two wrought iron
tubes B respectively fixed on each end of said spar for about two feet, tho
ends of tho said spar abutting against cross pieces of metal 6 fixed insido said
tubes, as at Figure 2. I also form said tubes closed at their outer extremities,
as at 6*, and the necessary tackle may be connected to the yard by rings and
pullies, as exhibited, or in any other convenient manner. The metal of which
the aforesaid tubes are made is continued from the circular part of said tubes
in four taper arms or strips C, of equal size, extending about six feet along the
woodon spar, and torminating in points, as exhibited. These strips of metal
are employed for securely fixing the tubes B to the spar by means of wrought-
iron hoops D, of suitable number and strength, which when driven tightly over
said strips firmly connect the metal to the wood. By thus constructing ships'
yards, in the event of the wooden portion of the yard becoming broken, the
aforesaid metal tubes may be easily and readily removed therefrom, and
attached to another wooden spar, thereby utilizing the metal portions of the
broken yard.
Having now described the. nature and object of my said Invention of
"Improvements in the Construction of Ships' Yards," together with the best

page_text: means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark, in conclusion, that I do not intend to limit or confine myself to the
preciso proportions set forth, which the metal portion of the yard bears to the
wooden portion thereof, as they will vary according to the length of the yard;
the above proportions I have found answer well for a yard seventy-five feet in
length when finished; and I hereby declare my Invention to consist in and I
claim the combining of wood and metal together in the construction of ships'
yards, as above stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Brown, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
JOHN SMITH, Agent,
38, Dale Street, Liverpool.
JOHN BROWN. (L.S.)