IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSTANS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Baron
HENRY DE BODE (Major-General in the Russian service), of the Edgeware
Road, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourth day of June, in the sixth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Baron Henry De Bode, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority; that I, the said Baron Henry De Bode, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Baron Henry De Bode, my. exors,
adñiors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CAPSTANS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Baron Henry De Bode, 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 said 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
Baron Henry De Bode, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say:-
According to the ordinary construction of capstans the necessary friction or
holding of the cable, rope, or chain on the capstan has hitherto been obtained
by a number of men holding and hauling on the cable, rope, or chain, and
hence procuring such a binding of the cable, &c. on the surface of the capstan
that by the rotation of the capstan it drags on the cable, whether hemp or
chain; and it is well known that where the anchor or other weight is
considerable, many hands are required for this service, and which are greatly
exposed to danger by the frequent slipping of the cable, which likewise creates
much delay in this operation. Now, the nature of my Invention is to produce
such a degree of friction or holding between the cable, rope, or chain, and the
surface of the capstan, that on the capstan being made to revolve, the cable, &c.
will be carried round with it without the necessity of any hands to haul on the
cable, or for surging it.
And in order to my Invention being fully understood, I will proceed to
describe the Drawings hereunto annexed as to the best and cheapest method I
am acquainted with for carrying it readily into effect.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a capstan of a common construction, but arranged according
to my Invention. Figs. 2, 3, & 4, show various views of some of the parts
thereof shown separately. In each of the Figures the same letters indicate similar
parts. The pieces marked a, a, are shaped as shewn in the Drawing, and are
affixed vertically to that part of the circumference of the capstan round which
the rope or chain is to be passed. The use of these curved pieces a, a, is to
cause the cable, rope, or chain to bend downwards; and b, b, are a like
number of pieces of a different shape, as also shown in the Drawings, and are
so placed as to bisect the spaces between the herein-before mentioned pieces
a, a. The pieces marked a, a, and b, b, arc to be made of a suitable material.
I would prefer iron for this purpose. The pieces b, b, are fixed to the lower
part of the capstan, as is clearly shown in the Drawing. The cable in passing
round the capstan rests on the said pieces b, b, and is supported thereby,
but in consequence of the strain on the cable and the tendency of the
curved shape of the pieces a, a, to force the cable, rope, or chain downwards,
te suid cable will thereby be bent downwards into the vacant spaces

page_text: between the pieces b, b, and hence the cable, rope, or chain will assume a
tortuous direction, which will materially increase the hold of the capstan on the
cable, rope, or chain during the operation of weighing the anchor or raising
any other weight. And in order to complete this grasp or hold, the wheels or
rollers c, c, which I make of iron or brass, are applied. These rollers are
caused to press on the surface of the cable, rope, or chain, so as to force it in
towards and against the capstan. The metal wheels or rollers c, c, turn in
metal axes affixed in the iron frame d, and the frame d is affixed to the metal
spindle e, as shown in the Drawing. This spindle passes through and can
turn in the socket f in the upper part of the cast-iron standard or frame g,
which frame is fixed either to the deck of the ship or to the iron plate
(if there be any) which carries the capstan, or else, if for land service, in
the frame carrying the capstan, as may be more convenient. The object of
allowing movement or play to the spindle e is that the wheels or rollers c, c,
may follow the undulations of the cable, and always press against it, whether
the part of the cable against which either of the rollers be acting be elevated
by the pieces b, b, or depressed by the pieces a, a, and the rollers will even be
guided into the tortuous line of the cable caused by the pieces a, a, which force
the cable into this tortuous direction. At the end of the spindle e is formed a
short neck, which rests on the forked end of the lever h, which lever moves on a
fulcrum at i, supported by the projection j, as is clearly shown in the Drawing.
At the other end of the lever his formed an eye or opening k, to which a rope is
made fast and passed round a sheave, as is shewn at 1, or there may be a double
block attached to the lever h when a great purchase is desired.
On an
examination of the Drawings and the foregoing description, it will be readily
understood that in working a capstan arranged according to my Invention,
the cable, rope, or chain being in the position Fig. 1, and drawn upon by the
cable in the direction of the black arrow, and the capstan consequently
revolving in the direction indicated by the red arrow, and a man holding on
at the rope k, the rollers c, c, will forcibly press the cable against the capstan,
thereby increasing the friction or hold between the cable and capstan, which,
together with the aid of the pieces a, a, and b, b, causing the cable, &c. to take
a tortuous direction round the capstan, will thus enable the capstan to draw
forward the cable, rope, or chain, without the necessity which exists in the
use of a common capstan of employing men to hand in the cable, chain, or
rope, as it comes from the capstan to prevent the same from slipping, as
likewise without using the perillous operation of surging at the hause hole
whilst the men are holding on. I must further remark, that when it is
required to release the capstan, the cable being. first securely retained by

page_text: stoppers or other means, then by drawing back the lever h, the wheels c, c,
will be withdrawn from the cable and the capstan will be free, and the cable,
rope, or chain may be thrown off. It will be seen in the Drawing that the
projecting bearing of the axis of the lever has a second hole m, the object
of which is to move the axis of the lever h further back to allow for working
larger cable. It is further to be remarked that a capstan arranged according
to my Invention may work backwards and forwards from the right to the
left, or from the left to the right, as well as any common capstan, by only
throwing back the palls, as is done in common capstans.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best and
cheapest means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into effect, I
hereby declare that my Invention consists in the holding the cable, rope, or
chain so firmly on the capstan during its rotation that the cable, rope, or
chain may not slip during the operation of weighing an anchor, or of raising
without the necessity of a number of hands to hauling on the cable. And I
do not confine myself to the precise arrangement here shown, as the same
may be varied without departing from the principle of my Invention. And
further, that the arrangement or apparatus thus described in this Specifi-
cation, and the Drawings hereunto annexed, is applicable to all sorts of
capstans, either for sea or land service, being understood that the apparatus
must always be constructed in the proper proportion of the capstan, as well
as of the largest cable, rope, or chain to be used therewith.
In witness whereof, I, the said Baron Henry De Bode, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of
Inrolled the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and thirty-six.