AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS ON TACKLE AND OTHER HOOKS, WHICH I DENOMINATE THE SELF- RELIEVING HOOKS
Year: 1830

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEFFERY
SHORES, of Blackwall, in the County of Middlesex, Boatbuilder and Ship
Smith, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth
did, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the First day of November, in the first year of His
reign, give and grant unto me, the said Jeffery Shores, His especial licence
that I, the said Jeffery Shores, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said Jeffery Shores, 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 mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS ON TACKLE AND OTHER HOOKS, WHICH I DENOMINATE THE SELF-
RELIEVING HOOKS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Jeffery Shores, 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 two 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jeffery Shores, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and the figures and letters marked thereon (that
is to say):-
My Invention consists in the application of a weight to one end of a hook,
whereby, so soon as the boat or other load is supported by other means, the
weighted end causes the hook to be relieved or unhooked. But in order that
my Invention may be more readily understood and carried into effect, I will
proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a block with two sheaves, and Figure 2 a block with
one sheave, and Figure 3 shows a side view, to each of which a hook, con-
structed according to my Invention, is applied. Figure 4 represents a hook
to be used without a block. In each of these Figures the same letters indicato
similar parts; a being the hook; b, the strap which descends below the block;
c, a pin passing through the strap band the hook a, and thus acting
fulcrum or axis on which the hook turns; d is a continuation of the hook
beyond the pin e; and this part d is made more heavy, so that when the load
which has been suspended by the hook becomes supported by some other
means the part d will descend, as shown by dotted lines, and cause the hook
to be withdrawn or unhooked.
as a
I will now suppose a bont suspended to two of these hooks to the stern or
quarter of a vessel, when, if it be desired that the boat should be lowered, all
that will be necessary will bo to slacken away till the boat is on the water
and supported by it, when the hooks being no longer pressed upon by the
weight of the boat, tho parts d of the hooks will descend, and withdraw tho
the books, whereby the boat will be relieved from the 'hooks, and may
bo hauled alongside; and thus the difficulty and danger which are expe-
rienced in lowering a boat when the sea runs high aro avoided; and
the boat may be hoisted up with much greater facility, for it will only bo
necessary to reave the lines e, attached to the point of the hooks, through tho
ring bolts, and haul on, which will bring the hooks through the ring bolts,
when the boat will hang on the hooks, and may be hoisted; and these hooks
may be made still more secure from unhooking by taking a single turn with
each of the linese (see Figure 2) affixed to the point of the hook, and making
a hitch around the projecting pin d; the hooks will be moused and perfectly

page_text: secure from unhooking. These hooks may also be used as common hooks, by
passing a line through the hole in the part d of the hook, and by making the
end d of the hook fast to the strap b.
Now, although I have here described the hooks only as applied to the sus-
pending of a boat, it is evident, from the above description, that they may be
applied to other purposes, and have only described that one application for
the purpose of having the Invention fully understood, but, from the above
description, it will be readily seen that these books may be generally applied
in raising and lowering weights, where it is desirable that the hook should bo
relieved without a person being present to unhook the same.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of using the same, I
would have it understood that what I claim as my Invention is, the application
of the parts d of the hooks, which, being the heavier ends, cause the hooks to
be relieved without other assistance, and which I consequently call the " Self-
relieving Hooks."
In witness whereof, I, the said Jeffery Shores, have hereunto set my hand