IMPROVEMENTS IN. APPARATUS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SHIPS' SAILS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Baines, of Blakeney, in the County of
Norfolk, Mariner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN. APPARATUS
FOR REEFING AND FURLING SHIPS' SAILS."
Sealed the 7th April 1865, and dated the 15th October 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Baines at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
October 1864.
I, EDWARD BAINES, of Blakeney, in the County of Norfolk, Mariner, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SHIPS' SAILS," to be as follows:-
I mount a roller in bearings at each end parallel with and below the yard
of a ship on which to roll up and unroll the sail in reefing or setting; on each
end of the roller I place a dog or whelp sheave, round which the doubles of
two endless chains pass (one for each end of the yard); the chains at each end
pass up over turning pullies fixed on the sides of the yard arm, one part of
the chain passing up in front of the yard, and the other behind; from thence
the endless chains pass towards the middle of the yard, the doubles being
round the grooves in a triple-grooved whelp sheave mounted on standards
above the yard on an axis running fore and aft immediately in front of the
mast. The doubles of the chains passing to each end of the yard encircle

page_text: the two outer grooves of the triple sheave, while the yard is suspended by
the double of a chain passing round the middle one; the parts of this chain are
carried over sheaves on the mast and connected with the halyards leading
down to the deck.
It will be evident that raising or lowering the yard by heaving on or
slackening away the halyards connected with the one part of the chain sup-
porting the yard, as desired, will have the effect of rotating the triple whelp
sheave, and this again by its rotation will communicate the motion to the
endless chains carried from thence, round each end of the sail roller, and
therefore will reef or furl it or set it, as may be desired. I support the sail
roller intermediate of its end bearings by crutches partially encircling it, and
the sail rolled upon it..
I also apply this method of reefing and furling to fore and aft sails, for
which purpose I dispose a sail roller below the gaff, and extending from the
mast to the peak; this roller is similarly furnished with whelp sheaves at eacli
end, and endless chains conducted to and operated by a 'triple whelp sheave
supported by the double of the chain 'as before, and which on raising or
lowering the gaff by the halyards, as described with reference to the yard,
sets or furls the fore and aft sails.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Baines in the 'Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th April 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BAINES, of Blakeney, in the County of Norfolk, Mariner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant *unto
me, the said Edward Baines, Her special licence that I, the-said Edward
Baines, my executors, 'administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edward Baines, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE

page_text: MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SHIPS' SAILS," upon the condition,
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward Baines, my executors or adminis--
trators, 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 Edward Baines, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
.
I employ a roller on which to roll up and unroll the sail in reefing or
setting; this.roller is fitted in a bearing at each end, and supported from and
below the yard, or in other position parallel therewith; on each end of the
roller I place a dog, or whelp boss or sheave, round which the doubles of
two endless chains pass (one for each end of the yard); the chains at each end
pass up over turning pullies fixed on the sides of the yard arms, one part of
the chain, passing up. in front of the yard, and the other behind, if the roller
is disposed below, but they may be otherwise led, as may be most convenient.
From thence the endless chains pass towards the middle of the yard, the
doubles being round the grooves in a triple-grooved whelp sheave or boss
mounted on standards (or in a hoop pivoted) above the yard, the axis being
in a line fore and aft, and immediately in front of the mast. The inner
doubles of these endless chains encircle the two extreme grooves of the triple
sheave, the yard being suspended by the double of a chain passing round the
middle one; the parts of this suspending chain are carried over sheaves
masthead and connected with the halyards leading down to the deck.
on the
It. will be evident that raising or lowering the yard by heaving on or
slacking away. the halyards connected with the one part of the chain supporting
the yard as described will have the effect of rotating the triple whelp sheave,
and this again by its rotation will communicate the motion to the endless
.chains carried from thence round each end of the sail roller, and therefore will
reef or furl the sail or set it, as may be desired. I support the sail roller
intermediate of its end bearings by crutches partially encircling it, and the sail
.rolled upon it..
I also apply this means of reefing and furling to fore and aft sails, for
which purpose I dispose a sail roller below the gaff extending from the mast

page_text: '
•
Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a mast having the topsail fitted and
furnished with apparatus for reefing and furling according to my Invention 3
Fig. 2 is a side view; and Fig. 3 a plan of the same.
a, a, is the sail; b, b, the yard; and c, c, the sail roller, disposed imme-
diately below the yard, and fitted, in guides or bearings d, d, fixed thereto;
the yard is suspended by the double of chain e, e, which passes under the
middle' part of the triple whelp sheave f. Sheave f is fitted on an axis i in a
metal strap or hoop g, united by a pink (on which it is free to oscillate) to the
band fixed on the yard b; this is formed with knuckles, as is also 'the hoop g,
through which the pin k passes. The triple sheave is represented separately
in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, Fig. 4 being a side view, Fig. 5 an edge view, and Fig. 6
a lateral section through the middle sheave. All these parts are made with
teeth or whelps, so that the links of the chain will lie therein, and work accu-
rately, and as well understood, that is to say, without any slip. The parts of
chain e, e, are led up over sheaves m, m, and thence continued down towards
the deck at e', e, these parts e, e, are connected with separate tackles, by
which they are manoeuvred as desired, and made fast; p, p, are whelp bosses
or wheels, fixed one on each end of the roller c; I make these of cast iron or
other metal with sockets to receive the ends of the wood roller.. The socket
ends of p, p, may either be open with the wood roller showing through, in which
pins may be driven to form the pivots x, x, of the roller, or the pins may be
fixed in solid metal ends: Endless chains r, r, and t, t, are carried round
the whelp sheaves P, and over the small whelps of the triple whelp sheave f.
In their course the chains r, r; and t, t, are carried over turning-pullies u, u,
fixed to the yard as seen; these endless chains communicate the one r, r, with
the one end of the roller c, and the other t, t, with the other end of the roller c.
The pivots x, x, engage in slots y, y, of the guides d, d; which permit of
considerable play up and down of the roller c. The object of this play or
motion is to permit the weight of the roller to lie in the bights or doubles of
the chains 7, r, and t, t, and so insure the proper hold of the chains in the
whelp sheaves, and the effective working thereof. By this arrangement any

page_text: motion communicated to the triple sheave f will be transmitted by the chains
r, r, and t, t, to the roller, causing it to rotate, and wind up or unwind the
sail, and so reef or. set it. Motion is given to the sheavef by slacking off
and heaving on the parts of the chain e¹, e. For instance, supposing the
sail is fully spread, and it is desired to reef it, the part of chain, say e¹, is eased
and slacked off, while the part e³ is held on; this will have the effect of lowering
the yard and sail roller, and at the same time giving motion to triple sheave f,
and so commnnicating the motion as above mentioned for rotating the roller
and reefing the sail; the sail may be then set taut if slack by heaving on both
parts of the chain e¹ and e2, at same time. A topsail may be thus readily
single or close reefed from the deck, or even reefed to the bottom; or it may
be furled by letting go the sheets s, s, slacking off part e', and also heaving on
part et at same time, which causes the roller c to be rotated without up-and-
down motion of the yard. 1.have represented this apparatus applied to a
topsail only, but it may be equally well applied to a top-gallant sail, or even
to a fore and aft square sail, as represented in Fig. 7. The sail roller is
represented in the Drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, as being disposed immediately
below the yard, but this is not indispensable, as it may be placed as seen in
Fig. 8, or otherwise, it being simply necessary to dispose the chain-turning
pullies u, u, in positions to guide and conduct the endless chains r, r, & t, t,
from the triple sheave f to the chain pullies on the ends of the roller.
I dispose crutch supports w, w, and fix them to the yard so as to support
the sail roller midway of its bearings. These roller crutches have friction
rollers on their interior to prevent chafe of the sail, and are otherwise applied
as such supports usually are when using rollers on which to reef sails.
In the fore and aft sail I mount the roller below the boom, as seen in Fig. 7;
it is worked by two endless chains passing from a triple whelp sheave precisely
as before, and from which the boom is principally suspended. I make the
roller somewhat larger at the one end than the other, and of a regular
taper, the larger end being at the peak, at which point the sail will be wound
up quicker by reason of the greater circumference of the roller at that end;
this prevents the sail while being rolled up approaching the mast, which would
otherwise be the case by reason of the inclined position of the boom upon
the sail.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the particular
combination and arrangement of the chains and chain gear operating sail

page_text: rollers for the reefing and furling of ships' sails as herein-before described
and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Baines, have hereunto set mý
hand and seal; this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
W. CLARK,
Patent-Agent,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
EDWARD BAINES. (L.S.)