IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUC-.
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Augustus Sands, of New York, United
States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUC-.
Sealed the 5th November 1861, and dated the 7th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Augustus Sands
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th June 1861.
I, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS SANDS, of New York, United States of America, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OR MANUFACTURE OF SAILS FOR SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS," to be às
follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction or manufacture of sails for ships
or other vessels, whereby they are rendered more durable, are less costly, as
they require less canvass for their construction, and are lighter and stronger
than sails as at present constructed; and my Invention consists in applying
rope or cord to strengthen the seams of sails, together with the use of angle
rope and quarter sheets for working them. The mode of making up sails.
according to iný Invention is to put the two selvage edges of the canvass
together and run or stitch them along; I then attach a rope or cord to the
parts thus connected in the same manner as is practised in securing a rope on:
the edge of the sail to support the leash and foot. In this manner the whole of
the seams of a sail are strengthened, and transverse and diagonal ropes are also
employed to give additional strength where required. Sails thus constructed:

page_text: and arranged will not be liable to split in a gale of wind, and by means of the
quarter sheets can be very easily worked. In order to reduce or take in my
improved sail I fold up the lower angles of the sail by drawing the clews up
to the yard with an arrangement of ropes and blocks. For this purpose the
sail is provided with two quarter sheets in addition to the usual sheets, the
quarter sheets being attached to the foot of the sail at a distance from the
corners or clews about equal to the height of the sail; these quarter sheets
pass through two blocks attached to the lower yard, and though other blocks
attached to a sling of the yard, and thence to the deck. Two clewlines are
also employed which pass diagonally across the back of the sail to and through
blocks attached to the upper yard near the topmast, and from thence to the
deck. Two other clewlines are also attached to the corners of the sail so as
to pass diagonally across the front of the sail and through blocks attached to
the sling of the yard and thence to the deck: The outer sheets are applied in
the usual manner. A buntline is attached to the middle of the foot of the
sail, and passing up the front thereof to and through a block attached to the
sling, and from thence down to the deck, by which arrangement the reducing,
taking in, and letting out of the sail is greatly facilitated in any weather
without shifting braces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Augustus Sands in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th December 1861..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
AUGUSTUS SANDS, of New York, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the. twenty-fourth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tho
said William Augustus Sands, Her special licence that I, the said William
Augustus Sands, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said. William Augustus Sands, 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 OR MANUFACTURE OF SAILS, FOR SHIPS

page_text: OB OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Augustus Sands, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Augustus Sands, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the construction or manufacture of sails for ships
or other vessels, whereby they are rendered more durable, are less costly, as
they require less canvass for their construction, and are lighter and stronger
than sails as at present constructed; and my Invention consists in applying
rope or cord to strengthen the seams of sails, together with the use of anglo
ropes and quarter sheets for working them. The mode of making up sails
according to my Invention is to put the two selvage edges of the canvas
together and run or stitch them along; I then attach a rope or cord to the
parts thus connected in the same manner as is practiced in securing a rope on
the edge of the sail to support the leash and foot. In this manner the whole
of the seams of a sail are strengthened, and transverse and diagonal ropes are
also employed to give additional strength where required. Sails thus con-
structed and arranged will not be liable to split in a gale of wind, and by
means of the quarter sheets can be very easily worked. In order to reduco
or take in my improved sails I fold up the lower angles of the sail by drawing
the clews up to the yard with an arrangement of ropes and blocks. For this
purpose the sail is provided with two quarters sheets in addition to the usual
sheets, the quarter sheets being attached to the foot of the sail at a distance
from the corners or clews about equal to the height of the sail; these quarter
sheets pass through two blocks attached to the lower yard, and through other
blocks attached to a sling of the yard, and thence to the deck. Two clewlines
are also employed which pass diagonally across the back of the sail to and
through blocks attached to the upper yard near the topmast, and from thence
to the deck. Two other clewlines are also attached to the corners of the sail
so as to pass diagonally across the front of the soil and through blocks attached
to the sling of the yard and thence to the deck. The outer sheets are applied
in the usual manner. A buntline is attached to the middle of the foot of the
sail, and passing up the front thereof to and through a block attached to the

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a front view of a double or divided topsail with my improve-
ments, shewing it fully spread; Figure 2 is a back view of the same with the
lower topsail partly taken in; Figure 3 is a front view of a portion of one of
the seams of the sail on a larger scale; Figure 4 is a transverse section corre-
sponding with Figure 3; similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
:
Sails made with corded or roped seams, according to my Invention, possess
greater strength with less weight than when made with lapped. seams. in the
usual manner and afford greater facility for handling them aloft. The manner
in which my corded or roped seams are made is best illustrated in Figures 3
and 4; but Figure 1 shews the strengthening cords or ropes a, a. The two
widths of cloth d, d, to be sewed together are first placed back to back with
their edges c, c, together, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4, and then run together
with thread as close as practicable to the edges, after which a cord or rope a
is placed along one piece close to the edge and sewed to both edges, the
stitches b, b, passing round one strand of the cord or rope and through both
pieces of cloth and over both their edges. When the sail is spread and
stretched the cord lays snugly against the face of the sail with the seam on
one side of it. A sail made in this way may be made much stronger than one
having the ordinary lap seams with the use of cord, weighing much less than
the extra width of cloth that is used in the laps of the seams, and besides this,
the cord enables the men aloft to get a better hold on the sail. This improve-
ment is applicable to all kinds of sails. Their strengthening bands o, c, c', e',
may be made of rope and sewed to the sail, in a similar manner to the seam
ropes a, a, by first folding the sail where the band is to be applied and stitching
through the double cloth close to the fold, and then laying the rope along one
side of the fold and sewing through the rope and double cloth over the edge of
the fold...
My improved mode of reducing and taking in square sails is illustrated in
Figures 1 and 2, where it is represented applied to the lower topsail A. Tho
reduction or taking in is effected by folding the lower angles of the sail by

page_text: drawing the clews up to the yard in the manner represented in Figure 2,
which I will presently describe. To enable this to be effected I provide the
sail with two quarter sheets f. f, in addition to the usual sheets 9, 9, the said
quarter sheets being attached to the foot of the sail at two points h, h, at
distances from the corners or clews thereof about equal to the height of the
sail, and passing through two blocks i, i, attached to the top of the lower
yard B, and through two blocks j, j, attached to the sling of the said yard,
and from thence to the deck; and at the same points h, h, I attach two clew-
lines 1, 1, which pass diagonally across the back of the sail to and through two
blocks m, m, attached to the upper yard c, near the topmast D, and from
thence to the deck. I also attach to the corners of the sail two other clew-
lines n, n, which pass diagonally across the front of the sail, to and through
blocks p, p, attached to the sling 7 of the yard c, and from thence to the deck.
The outer sheets 9, 9, are applied in the usual manner, running through the
lower yard B near the ends thereof, and through blocks 1, 2, attached to the
bottom of the said yard, and from thence to the deck. A buntline s attached
to the middle of the foot of the sail, and passing up the front thereof to and
through a block attached to the sling q, and from thence down to the deck,
completes the necessary apparatus. The reducing and taking in and letting
out of the sail A are performed in the following manner:-To take in the sail
to the extent shown at the left hand of Figure 2 the outer sheets g, g, are
slackened, and the quarter sheets f, f, kept taut, and the outer clewlines n, n,
are hauled in by the hands on deck till the portions of the sail outside of the
strengthening bands e', e', which extend from the upper corners of the sail to
the points h, h, are drawn flat against the front of the sail, when the said clew-
lines are made fast, and the sail is kept stretched by the quarter sheets, and is
made as snug as if reefed. To take in the whole sail the lower corners should
first be taken in and secured as above described, and when this has been done
the quarter sheets f, f, are let go, and the inner clewlines 1, 1, hauled taut,
which causes the sail to be folded backwards and brings the points h, h, close
up to the yard, as shown in Figure 2; and then, by hauling in the buntline s
at the middle of the sail, it is brought snugly up to the yard. The reduction
of the sail, to make it equivalent to taking in one or more reefs, may be
effected by taking in only one of the lower corners, by taking in both of said
corners, or by taking in both lower corners, and then hauling in one of the
inner clewlines 1, 1, to bring the sail to the condition shown in Figure 2. To
let out the sail again it is only necessary to let go the buntline and clewlines
and haul on the sheets. This mode of reducing and taking in sail can be
performed with very few bands in all weather without shifting braces.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means
I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practice, I would have it
understood that I do not confine myself to the exact details herein shown and
described; but what I claim is the improved mode of constructing sails for ships
or other vessels as herein described, whereby their strength is increased and
weight reduced, together with the improved mode of reducing, taking in, or
Jetting out sail, as herein described and set forth..
In witness whereof, I, the said William Augustus Sands, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one..
WILLIAM AUGUSTUS SANDS. (L.S.)