CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CATHEAD STOPPERS
Year: 1829

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLLIAM
RODGER, of Norfolk Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Lieutenant in
the Royal Navy, send greeting.
WHEREAS is present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth
did, by IIis Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of September, in the tenth year of
His reign, give and grant unto me, the said William Rodger, His especial
licence that I, the said William Rodger, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Rodger, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of." CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CATHEAD STOPPERS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Rodger, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Rodger, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
the following description thereof (that is to say):-
In the said Drawing Fig. 1 is a general represention of part of a ship's

page_text: bow and cathead, with an anchor "suspended to it by means of my improved
cathead stopper, the particular construction of which is shewn on an enlarged
scale in the different Figures in the Drawing. Before, however, proceeding
to give a description of this Invention, it may be necessary to state that in lieu
of the stopper commonly used, which consists of a rope or chain, one end of
which is fastened to the cathead, and the other end passed or reeved through
the ring of the anchor, and made fast to the timber head provided for that
purpose, the improved cathead stopper consists of a chain with a kind of
forceps attached to the end of it, in the manner to be herein-after described.
Figures 2 and 3 are front and edge views of one limb or side of the said
forceps. Figure 4 is a front view of the forceps, with the jaws open ready
to be hooked to the ring of the anchor. Fig. 5 represents a front view of
the forceps closed and hooked to the ring of the anchor; and Figure 6 is an
edge view of the same. In Figs. 4, 5, and 6, A is the pin or..bolt which is
passed through holes formed in the limbs of the forceps and connects them
together, and which bolt is likewise passed through the eyes of a shackle B,
and rivetted, as shewn in the said Figures. The use of this shackle will be
described hereafter. C, C, are are two, other shackles which connect the
stopper chain D by means of the two short pieces of chain E, E, with the
upper ends of the limbs of the forceps, in the manner shewn in Figs. 4, 5,
and 6. is another piece of chain, which I term a slip chain, one end of
which is connected with the shackle B, and the other end is joined to the
eye-bolt G by means of the shackle H, and which eye-bolt is driven into the
cathead, and secured by being rivitted, as shewn in Fig. 1, or in any
fit and proper manner.
other
Having thus described the different parts, I shall now proceed to explain
the manner in which this improved stopper is to be used. In the first place
it is to be understood that the anchor is to be catted in the usual manner; the
forceps are then to be lowered by means of the chain D, so as to admit of
their being hooked to the ring of the anchor, and which is effected by opening
__them sufficiently wide to receive it, and as shewn in Fig. 4. The chain D
is then to be hauled tight enough to close the limbs of the forceps, and be then
belayed or fastened to the timber-head in the usual manner, and as shewn in
Fig. 1; the forceps will then assume the appearance exhibited in Figs. 1, 5,
and 6. It will be seen, by reference to Figure 1, that the chain. D'is reeved or
passed through the holo in the cathead, which is generally used for the stand-
ing part of the common stopper. In order, however, to prevent that hole
from being chafed or cut by the friction of the chain, it is protected by means
of a cast-iron socket with a flange to it, which is let into the upper part of

page_text: the cathead, as shewn in Figure 1, and secured by means of screw-nails.
Figures 7 and 8 represent a top view and an edge section of this socket on an
enlarged scale. When the anchor is to be let go it is only necessary to s'ack
the stopper-chain D until the strain comes upon the slip-chain F, which
releases the forceps and allows the ring of the anchor to open their jaws and
slip out, and which position of them is shewn in Fig. 4, where the ring is
represented in the act of either being hooked by or of being released from
the forceps. By a reference to the different Figures contained in the said
Drawing it will be perceived that the heavier the anchor is the greater will
be the compression of the limbs of the forceps, so that the anchor cannot be
released unless the stopper-chain D be slacked so much as to allow the strain
to come upon the slip-chain F, and which is made sufficiently long to prevent
that taking place, unless the stopper-chain be slacked intentionally in order
to let go the anchor. The size of the forceps and. the lengths and sizes of the
chains are of course to be regulated by the weight of the anchors. The anchor
is to be fixed. and its flukes secured by means of the shank-painter in the
usual manner..
I do not mean or intend hereby to claim as my Invention the various parts
herein shewn and described which are already known or in use; but I do
hereby claim as my Invention the application of the forceps herein shewn
and described in connection with the chains, &c., necessary to enable them to
answer the purpose intended, and which admits of stoppering the anchor and
letting it go with great facility.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rodger, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty.