IMPROVEMENTSIN REELS AND
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Horatio Harfield, of the Mansion House Buildings,
in the City of London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS 'IN REELS AND
LETTERS PATENT to William Horatio Harfield, of the Mansion House Buildings,
in the City of London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REELS AND
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR COILING WIRE ROPES ON BOARD
SHIP."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Horatio Harfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th December 1880.
"
WILLIAM HORATIO HARFIELD, of the Mansion House Buildings, in the City
of London. IMPROVEMENTS IN REELS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
FOR COILING WIRE ROPES ON BOARD SHIP."
This Invention has for its object improvements in reels and apparatus connected
therewith for coiling wire ropes on board ship.
Hitherto it has been usual to construct reels for coiling wire ropes for ships
purposes of slight strength, as they have been used for coiling the ropes when only.
a light strain was upon them. It however sometimes happens that a heavy strain
is suddenly brought upon the rope causing injury to the men by the violent
backward action of the handles, or, if pawls be fitted to prevent this, destroying
the whole apparatus.
Now I mount the reel itself loosely upon the main horizontal shaft, connecting it
thereto by means of a frictional clutch, arranged so as to let the reel slip round
upon its spindle at determined resistance. The backward action of the crank
handles is prevented by a frictional nipping pawl, working upon a pawl wheel
keyed to the main shaft, or it may be upon a counter shaft.
Or in place of actuating the reel by means of crank handles acting upon a shaft
carrying a pinion gearing into a wheel fixed to the reel, the reel may preferably be
mounted upon a spindle which also carries two wheels, upon each of which I place
a frictional nipping lever pawl. The long ends of these pawls are connected by
chains to two quadrants fixed upon a way shaft" upon which are also arms for
the purpose of carrying a handle. When the arms are vibrated by men at the
handle, the "way shaft" and its two quadrants also vibrate. The chains connecting
the quadrants to the ends of pawls are so arranged that upon the vibration of the
way shaft the chain on one quadrant partially uncoils and lowers one pawl, while
the chain upon the other quadrant is being coiled up, thus raising the other pawl,
and by its frictional connection with its wheel rotating the reel and coiling up the
rope. The same action takes place at each vibration of the handle, thus producing
a nearly continuous rotatory motion of the reel. By this arrangement the handle
can never fly back or injure the men, no matter what strain comes upon the
rope. In order however to prevent the destruction of the gear, should a strain
come upon the rope greater than the reel is capable of withstanding, I connect the
reel to the spindle by a friction clutch.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Horatio Harfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th June 1881.
"
WILLIAM HORATIO HARFIELD, of the Mansion House Buildings, in the City
of London. IMPROVEMENTS IN REELS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
FOR COILING WIRE ROPES ON BOARD SHIP."
This Invention has for its object improvements in reels and apparatus connected
therewith for coiling wire ropes on board ship.
Hitherto it has been usual to construct reels for coiling wire rope for ships
purposes of slight strength, as they have been used for coiling the ropes when only
a slight strain was upon them. It however sometimes happens that a heavy strain
is suddenly brought upon the rope which may either cause injury to the men by
the violent backward action of the handles, or, if pawls be fitted to prevent this,
may cause the whole apparatus to be destroyed.
"
In order to obviate. the difficulties above referred to I mount the reel itself loosely
upon the main horizontal shaft, connecting it thereto by means of a frictional
clutch arranged so as to let the reel slip round upon its spindle at any determined
resistance. The backward action of the crank handles is prevented by a frictional
nipping pawl working upon a pawl wheel keyed to the main shaft, or it may be
upon a countershaft. Sometimes in place of actuating the reel by means of crank
handles acting upon a shaft carrying a pinion gearing into a wheel fixed to the reel,
the reel may preferably be mounted upon a spindle which also 'carries two wheels,
upon each of which I place a frictional nipping lever pawl. The long ends of these
pawls are connected by chains to two quadrants fixed upon a way shaft," upon
which are also vibrating arms for the purpose of carrying a handle.
When these arms are vibrated by men at the handle the " way shaft" and its
two quadrants are also made to vibrate. The chains connecting the quadrants to
the ends of pawls are so arranged that upon the vibration of the way shaft the chain
on one quadrant partially uncoils and lowers one pawl, while the chain upon the
other quadrant is being coiled up, thus raising the other pawl, and by its frictional
connection with its wheel rotating the reel and coiling up the rope. The same
action takes place at each vibration of the handle, thus producing a nearly con-
tinuous rotatory motion of the reel. By this arrangement the handle is prevented
from flying back or injuring the men, no matter what strain comes upon the rope.
In order however to prevent the destruction of the gear, should a strain come upon
the rope greater than the reel is capable of withstanding, I connect the reel to the
spindle by a friction clutch.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 is a sectional plan of apparatus
constructed according to my Invention for coiling a wire rope on board
ship.
a is the frame; it carries the reel or drum b upon which the wire rope is coiled.
This frame is bolted down to the deck of the vessel, it also carries in suitable
bearings the axis c upon which the crank handles d, d, are fixed; upon the axis c
there is mounted the pinion e which gears with the toothed ring b¹ upon the flange
of the reel or barrel b. The pinion e is not fixed upon its axis but is held thereto
by a friction clutch; a section of this clutch is shewn at Figure 3. f is a hand

page_text: wheel fixed upon the end of a screw, and this screw passes along the interior of the
axis c to the clutch. By turning the hand wheel and screw the pinion can be
clipped to its axis as firmly as is requisite to enable the wire rope to be properly
wound upon the reel or drum, but not so strongly but that it will yield to prevent
breakage of the apparatus if a heavy strain should come upon the rope. By turning
the hand wheel the pinion can at pleasure be rendered quite loose upon the axis c,
so that the rope may be drawn freely from the reel or drum. There is also upon
the axis ca disc g, and on this disc a nipping pawl is applied consisting of two side
cheeks h, h, embracing the flanges upon the disc g. The side cheeks carry between
them the lever i. The disc g and the nipping pawl are shewn separately ut
Figure 4 ; k is a stop upon the frame for the tail of the lever i to rest against. The
nipping pawl prevents the crank handles d from flying round when a strain comes
upon the rope, and this is most essential to the safety of the workmen; under no
circumstances should it be possible whilst the men are at the handles for the strain
upon the rope to cause the handles to back turn. Nevertheless, this nipping pawl
cannot safely be used except in combination with a friction clutch interposed
between the axis carrying crank handles and the reel or druin, for if the latter were
absolutely prevented from turning back it would be broken when a heavy strain
comes upon the rope.
In place of applying the friction clutch upon the axis c it may be applied upon
the axis of the reel or barrel, as is the case in the arrangement shown by the
Figures 5 and 6, which I will now proceed to describe.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of an apparatus for coiling a wire rope on board ship,
in which in place of working by crank handles I apply a pump like action, giving
reciprocating motion to frictional lever nipping pawls, which rotate wheels fixed
upon an axis or spindle carrying the reel or drum, and capable of being made fast
with it by a friction-clutch; Figure 6 is a sectional plan of the apparatus shewing
the clutching arrangements.
a, a, is the frame carrying in suitable bearings the axis or spindle b, which has
upon it the two wheels 61, 61, upon these wheels the lever nipping pawls operate;
c, c, is the reel or drum on which the wire rope is coiled; d, d, are the side cheeks,
and e, the nipping lever, which together constitute the frictional nipping pawl;
f and f¹ are chains connecting the outer ends of the levers e with quadrants g, g,
fixed upon a shaft h. The shaft h is carried in bearings, which are supported from
the frame a, and it has arms i, i, carrying a cross bar, to which an up and down
movement is given by manual labour when it is desired to coil the rope. The
quadrants g, g, are set upon the shaft h in opposite positions, so that the one winds
its chain whilst the other unwinds. Thus the frictional nipping lever pawls are
made to operate alternately, and the movement imparted to the reel or drum is
nearly continuous.
The details of the clutching arrangements by which the reel or drum c is
connected with the spindle b is clearly shewn in Figure 6. k is the hand wheel
for operating these frictional clutching arrangements, which serve to hold the reel
or drum c to the spindle 6 with a grip sufficient for the winding in of the wire
rope under moderate strains, but such as to yield when the strain is heavy, and if
resisted would be likely to cause injury to the mechanism. By slacking the
clutching arrangement the reel or drum can be permitted to turn freely, and the
rope allowed to run out without strain.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim separately,
either to the frictional clutching arrangements described, or to frictional lever
nipping pawls, or to any other of the separate parts of the mechanism, but I
claim,―
First. The combination of parts constituting my improved reel and apparatus
for coiling wire ropes on board ship, the said reel being operated by crank handles,
and having a frictional clutch, to prevent undue strains falling upon the drum; and
also a frictional nipping pawl to prevent injury or inconvenience to the workmen

page_text: by a backward action of the crank handles, substantially as described in reference
to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, of the annexed Drawings.
Second. The combination of parts constituting my improved reel and apparatus
for coiling wire ropes on board ship, the said reel being operated by frictional
nipping lever pawls, and having a frictional clutch to prevent undue strains falling
upon the drum, substantially as described in reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the
annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Horatio Harfield, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
W. H. HARFIELD. (L.S.)