IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SQUARE SAILS OF SHIPS AND VESSELS PROM THE DECKS THEREOF
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas William Willett, of 31, Charing Cross, in
the County of Middlesex, Captain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SQUARE SAILS OF SHIPS AND VESSELS
PROM THE DECKS THEREOF."
Sealed the 11th September 1868, and dated the 16th March 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas William Willett
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th March 1868.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM WILLETT, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County of
Middlesex, Captain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS POR REEFING AND FURLING SQUARE SAILS OF SHIPS AND
VESSELS FROM THE DECKS THEREOF," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in improved means for reefing and furling top sails
and other square sails from the decks of vessels. The sail is bent to a wooden
roller, placed and secured on the fore part of the yard, and supported in the
centre by a roller claw; at each extremity of this roller spar is a cog wheel.
Secured on the top of the yard is a steel or iron rod of the same length as the
roller spar, and having at each end a cog wheel closely gearing with those on
the spar. Secured to the centre of the rod is a studded metal box somewhat
resembling a sheave, round which a chain-tie is passed, the links of which are
made to fit the studs on the box; both ends of the tie lead through two separate
sheaves at the masthead, and are attached to the two haul-yards. When the
sail is set on slacking away the upper haul-yards the weight of the yard

page_text: descending will cause the roller spar to revolve, and thus reef the sail to any
size required. At each end of the yard on the inner side of the cog wheels is
a self-acting pawl for the purpose of holding the roller, and thus prevent the
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas William Willett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th September 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILLIAM WILLETT, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Captain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas William Willett, Her special licence that I, the
said Thomas William Willett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas William Willett, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 MEANS FOR REEFING SQUARE SAILS OF SHIPS
AND VESSELS FROM THE DECKS THEREOF," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas William Willett, 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 Thomas William Willett, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a very simple but most efficient arrangement for
furling for reefing top or square sails from the decks. It can be adapted to
the square sails of any ships, and does not require the sail to be in any way

page_text: altered or divided, as is required in many of the existing reefing apparatuses.>
Its simplicity of construction renders it much cheaper, and at the same time
less liable to get out of order.
The following is a description of my improved reefing and furling appa-
ratus: The sail is bent to a wooden roller secured on the fore part of the
yard by suitable bearings at each end, and supported in the centre by a roller.
claw firmly secured to the mast, and of sufficient size to receive the entire sail:
when when wound up on the roller spar. A solid or hollow metal rod of
equal length to the roller spar is secured, and turns in suitable bearings fixed:
near the ends of the yard, and forming part of or closely connected with those
in which the roller spar turns. Each end of the metal roller is furnished, with.
a cog wheel, which gears with a similar wheel on the ends of the roller spar.
On the centre of the metal roller is a chain wheel, grooved similar to the
chain wheel of a clock, for the purpose of forming a secure hold for a chain,
which after passing over it is lead through two sheaves fixed in the mast,.one
a short distance above the other, but both higher up in the mast than the
yard would be if the sail was set. The chain is of sufficient length to permit
the furling and unfurling of the sail, and the two ends are attached to two
haliards, by which the apparatus is worked from the deck.
Thus when the
sail is set, by slackening away the upper haliards the yard will descend from its
own weight, and the metal rod will be put in motion by the slackening of the
chain, and communicate its rotatory movement to the roller spar by means of
the cog wheels, and so reef the sail to any size required. By tightening the
upper haliards the sail is set. The above description will be readily under-
stood by aid of the accompanying Drawings.
Fig. 1 being a back view of the sail, Fig. 2 front view, showing the yard
supporting the roller spar, with the sail nearly furled; Fig. 3 is a sectional
side view, following the line A, B, and showing the upper and lower sheaves
in the mast, and also the chain wheel over which the chain passes, and the
roller claw; Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional view (following the line C, D,) of
the
cog wheels on the metal rod and the roller spar, and also the bearings
which support the ends of the metal rod and roller spar.
A represents the mast; B, the yard supporting the roller spar C, to which
the sail H is bent%; D is the metal rod, in the centre of which is fixed the
chain wheel K.; E and E' represent the upper and lower sheaves over which
the chain F passes; F, the chain, which after passing over the lower sheave E'
is passed round the chain wheel K, and then over the upper sheave E. The
chain F on leaving the chain wheel is made to pass up the side of the
mast, slightly hollowed out for the purpose; G, the haliards attached to the

page_text: ends of the chain F, and descending to the decks; H, the sail; I and I', cog
wheels on the metal rod D, gearing with the cog wheels J and J¹ on the
roller spar; K, chain wheel on the metal rod D, and put in motion by means
of the chain F worked by the haliards from the deck; L, claw furnished with
friction rollers, and serving as support to the roller spar on which the sail is
bent; M, self-acting paul for the purpose of holding the roller in case of
accident. Both the cog wheels and the paul, should one be made use of, may
be boxed over as a protection, and to prevent ropes from entangling in them;
in short, I do not confine myself to the precise details above indicated, as they
may be varied or modified without in any way departing from the principle of
my Invention.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is, the apparatus for furling and unfurling top sails and all
square sails of ships from the decks thereof, and of which apparatus the roller
spar, letter C, on which the sail is bent, the metal rod D, the chain wheel K,
and the cog wheels I and I'; are the principal features.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas William Willett, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
THOMAS W. WILLETT. (L.S.)