IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING CHAIN OR OTHER CABLES OR ROPES ON BOARD SHIPS OR VESSELS
Year: 1837

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 late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of May, in the seventh year of
His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Baron Henry De Bode, His especial license, 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, adiñors, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING CHAIN OR OTHER CABLES OR
ROPES ON BOARD SHIPS OR VESSELS;" 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.

page_text: 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
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention consists of an arrangement of apparatus producing a lever
action, and when in use, by pressing on chain or other cables or ropes, reduces
the speed of their running out, and whereby the movement may be governed
and regulated at pleasure, and the motion thereof may be stopped, if required,
whether it be in letting go an anchor on board ship or otherwise, such appa-
ratus and leverage being employed to produce a bending or tortuous direction
of that portion of the cable or rope which at the time is acted on, and if
necessary an actual holding or stoppage of the cable or rope may be effected,
as will be hereafter described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a plan of an apparatus combined according to my
Invention; Figure 2 is a side view, and Figure 3 an end view thereof. In
each of these Figures the same letters of reference are employed to indicate
similar parts; a, a, being a plate by which the apparatus is affixed to the
deck or other suitable place, in such manner that the cable or rope to be
operated on may pass over and lie on the rollers b, b, they moving on axes. to
facilitate the passage of the cable or rope, and to offer as little rubbing or
friction to the same as possible. The axes of these rollers b, b, are carried by
two standards c, d, the nature of which will be readily understood by examining
the Drawing, and I prefer that the parts a, c, d, should be in one casing, in
order to all the parts being strongly united. e is a strong lever affixed or
keyed to the axis f, the lever having a roller 9 at that end which comes in
contact with the chain or other cable or rope, in order that the same may not
be injured by passing under the lever e, and is pressed on. thereby. The axis f
bas an enlarged head in which is formed a hole k to. receive a handspike or
handle.h.
I will now describe the mode of. using the apparatus; in doing so I will
suppose it fixed. on the deck of a ship near the bow, in such manner that the
cable (in running or moving through the hawse hole in letting go the anchor)
will lie along and pass over the rollers b, b, and so long as the same is moving
at the rate.desired, the cable would be in a straight line across, but when it.is
desired to reduce the speed it will be evident that on pressing on the hand-

page_text: spike or handle h, the lever e will cause the cable to be more or less bent out
of a straight line, as is shewn in the Drawing. By this means any degree of
holding may be obtained which may retard the movement of the cable, or
wholly stop it, and with this advantage that the stopping will be progressively
obtained, and not suddenly. It should, however be stated that I prefer the
plate a to have a projecting surface at the point i, as is shewn on the Drawing,
in order when it is desired to stop or nearly to stop the movement of the cable,
may be held as by a pair of forceps between the roller of the lever e and
the raised surface i, but it will be seen that the bending the cable out of a
direct line will (without it being pinched or held between the lever e and the
part i) more or less retard the motion, depending on the extent of bending.
it
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing and using the same, I would have it understood that I lay no
claim to any of the parts separately. Nor do I confine myself to the precise
form or arrangement thereof, provided the principle of my Invention be
retained. I do therefore declare that what I claim is the combining an
apparatus, such as is above described, for retarding and stopping chain or
other cables or ropes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Baron Henry De Bode, have hereunto set
my band and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.