Year: 1886

page_text: I JAMES AMBROSE DEERING of 44 Wharf Street, Gloucester, in the County of
Essex and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Mariner, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1. is a sectional side elevation of a vessel having my new swinging
centre-board applied thereto, figure 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the
same taken on the line x x of figure 1, and figure 3 is a similar view showing a
modification.
The Invention will first be described in connection with the drawings, and then
pointed out in the claims.
In the construction shown in figure 1, the keel a of the vessel A is recessed to
form the chamber b to receive the centre board B when raised by the rods c c
while in the construction shown in figure 3, the centre board B is applied to the
side of the keel a as hereinafter described. The centre board B is by preference
made of metal and several tons in weight and is hinged by means of pins or
pivots c to the lower ends of rods c passed vertically through the vessel so that
when lowered it will be maintained in an approximately vertical position by its
weight what ever may be the inclination or heel of the vessel as illustrated in
figure 2. This increases the resistance to the leeway of the vessel, the weight of
the board B aids in keeping the vessel upright and the obedience of the vessel
to its helm is improved whereby it may be more easily controlled in stormy
weather than with a centre-board of ordinary construction. The upper ends of
the vertically movable rods c are screw-threaded to engage the centrally screw-
threaded gear wheels d each journaled in a casting secured to the deck g of the
vessel. A large gear wheel h is mounted on the casting f and engages with the
gear wheel & so that by revolving the wheel h by means of a suitable crank handle
or otherwise the threaded rods c will be raised or lowered from their engagement
with the wheel d and thus the position of the centre board adjusted. In the
construction shown in figure 3, in order to guide the vertical movement of the

page_text: centre board B, I provide the side of the keel with two bars or rods i that set
out from the keel and I form the rods c at their lower ends with the eyes c² that
run upon the rods i, and in order to hold the lower edge of the centre board
against the side of the keel when the centre board is raised I employ two rods e
one at each end of the centre board. These rods e reach up to the deck of the
vessel and are attached at their lower ends to the lower edge of the centre board
and pass through eyes or staples e¹ driven into or otherwise made fast to the side
of the keel. The rods e are jointed at e³ so that when the centre board is lowered
and the joints pass below the eyes or staples e¹ the rods e will not in any manner
interfere with the free swinging of the centre-board.
I am aware that centre-boards have been hinged so as to remain in a vertical
position at all times when lowered, and I am also aware that they have been
raised and lowered by a windlass and also by a pinion meshing into a rack to
which they are attached, and I therefore do not claim such Inventions.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination with a vessel of rods c extending up through the same and
having their upper ends screw-threaded, a screw-threaded gear wheel d through
which the said rods pass, the gear wheel meshing with the gear wheel d, the
centre-board B hinged to the lower ends of said rods, and means for guiding
the centre-board as it is raised and lowered, substantially as shown and described.
2. The combination of the rods c having their upper ends screw threaded, the
screw-threaded gear wheels & through which the said rods pass, the gear wheels h
meshing with the gear wheels d, the centre-board B hinged to the lower end of the
rods c and the tubes c³ surrounding the said rods, substantially as herein shown
and described.
3. The centre-board B hinged to the rods c, in combination with the guide-rods i
and jointed rods e attached to the lower edge of the centre board B and passed
through the eye e¹ for staying the lower edge of the centre-board substantially as
shown and described.