AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF MARLINE SPIKE
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF MARLINE
SPIKE." A communication from abroad by Albin Warth, of Stapleton,
in the County of Richmond, State of New York, United States of
America.
Sealed the 16th October 1863, and dated the 1st June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st June 1863.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
MARLINE SPIKE," to be as follows:-
Marline spikes as ordinarily constructed consist of a solid round pointed
tapering piece of iron, steel, or wood their use being to open the twist of
ropes that are required to be spliced, and allow of the insertion therein of a
new cord or a strand of the rope after the spike has been withdrawn. In
drawing the spike out, however, the opening made by it closes up more or less,
and it is always difficult to enter the end of the cord or strand. To facilitate

page_text: the operation of inserting the end of cord the spike is now proposed to be
made with one or more longitudinal grooves or cavities in its surface sufficiently
wide and deep to allow of passing the strand through the opening made by the
spike before the latter is withdrawn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFred
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF MARLINE SPIKE," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of-the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of an improved construction of marline spike consists in
the arrangement of one or more cavities in the surface of a marline spike

page_text: in such a manner that when the point of the spike is passed through a rope
the end of the strand can be passed through the opening before the spike
is withdrawn, and thereby the operation of splicing ropes is considerably
facilitated.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of the
Invention, shewing its application to a rope; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical
section of the same.
Marline spikes of the ordinary construction consist of a solid round pointed
tapering piece of iron, steel, or wood. In using these instruments for splicing
ropes the point is passed through the rope and thereby an opening is made
through which a new cord or a strand of the rope can be passed after the spike
has been withdrawn. In drawing the spike out, however, the opening made by
it closes up more or less, and it is always difficult to insert the end of the
cord or strand, and it requires much practice and time to accomplish the
operation. This difficulty is obviated by the present Invention.
The marline spike shewn in the Drawing is made with one or more longi-
tudinal grooves or cavities a in its surface, of sufficient width and depth to
allow of passing the strand through the opening made by the spike. before
the latter is withdrawn. This spike can be made of malleable or wrought
iron, or any other suitable material, and the cavity a must be made to extend
as close to the point as possible. When two cavities are made in the surface,
one opposite the other, the partition between the two cavities may be taken
out entirely, leaving a slot through the centre of the spike in a longitudinal
direction, and for small ropes a spike of this description will answer. For large
ropes, however, a spike with one cavity, such as represented in the Drawing,
will answer best. It will retain sufficient strength to prevent its being broken
by any accident, and when it is passed through a rope, and a cord or strand
is laid into the cavity, as shewn in Figure 1, the spike with the strand can
conveniently be drawn through by pressing the thumb or finger on the end of
the strand while the spike is withdrawn.
By the use of this improved marline spike the time and labor required for
splicing ropes is greatly reduced, and the operation can be carried out by a
comparatively unpractised person with greater facility than it can by an
experienced person with the ordinary solid marline spike.
Having now described this Invention of an improved construction of
marline spike, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid
the arrangement of one or more cavities a in the surface of a marline spike

page_text: for the purpose of receiving the end of the strand or cord as and for the
purpose herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)