IMPROVE- MENTS IN CAPSTANS AND WINDLASSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CAPSTANS AND WINDLASSES."-A communication from abroad by
Louis Frederic François David, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chain
and Cable Manufacturer.
Sealed the 10th December 1861, and dated the 18th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th July 1861.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSTANS AND WINDLASSES," a communication from abroad
by Louis Frederic François David, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chain
and Cable Manufacturer, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in capstans and windlasses,
whereby they will operate continuously without stoppering or surging. The
main drum of the capstan rotates in the usual manner round a fixed stem or
axis, secured vertically in a suitable cast-iron bed plate or base, and is rotated
in the ordinary or in any other convenient manner. At the base of the drum
is the "float" or inclined ring embracing the same; this ring turns with the
drum and is kept inclined by resting at one side upon a roller or pulley carried.

page_text: in a moveable carriage, whilst at the opposite or lower side it-rests upon a
shoulder formed on the base of the drum. The carriage which carries the
roller or pulley is supported upon a circular railway formed for that purpose
round the edge of the base or bed plate, and is provided with a projecting,
tongue or stop which serves to keep it in its place by bearing against one or
other of a series of stops or projections in the bed plate. By the aid of the
stop on the carriage it may be placed in any desired position for giving the
proper inclination to the "float" or ring upon which the rope rests, the
inclination of the ring ensuring the free passage of the lowest turn or coil of
the rope and enabling the capstan to be worked continuously without fear of
the different coils riding or mounting over each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the-Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN CAPSTANS AND WINDLASSES," a communication from abroad by
Louis Frederic François David, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chain and
Cable Manufacturer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,
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

page_text: 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements in. capstans and wind-
lasses, whereby they will operate continuously without stopping or surging.
The main drum of the capstan rotates in the usual manner round a fixed stem.
or axis secured vertically in a suitable cast-iron bed plate or base, and is
rotated in the ordinary or in any other convenient manner: At the base of
the drum is the "float," consisting of an inclined ring embracing the same;
this ring turns with the drum, and is kept inclined by resting at one side upon
a roller or pulley carried in a moveable carriage, whilst at the opposite or
lower side it rests upon a shoulder formed on the base of the drum. The
carriage which carries the roller or pulley is supported upon a circular railway
formed for that purpose round the edge of the base or bed plate, and is pro-
vided with a projecting tongue or stop, which serves to keep it in its place by
bearing against one or other of a series of stops or projections in the bed plate.
By the aid of the stop on the carriage it may be placed in any desired position
for giving the proper inclination to the "float" or ring upon which the rope
rests, the inclination of the ring ensuring the free passage of the lowest turn
or coil of the rope and enabling the capstan to be worked continuously without
fear of the different coils riding or mounting over each other.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the improved capstan complete ;
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same taken through the centre thereof;
Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a plan of the base plate with the
body or drum of the capstan removed; Figures 5, 6, and 7 represent respec-
tively a front, side, and plan view of the carriage which carries the roller or
pulley; and Figure 8 is a front elevation of another modification of this
carriage.
The body A of the capstan is of the ordinary form, and is actuated in the
usual manner. The base plate B receives the fixed stem or axis M, round

page_text: which the drum A rotates, and has also a circular railway R formed thereon
for the purpose of guiding the carriage C. This carriage, which carries the
roller or pulley P, is arrested by means of the stops X formed on the base
plate and by the tongue L. The roller or pulley P is intended to give the
desired inclination to the "float" or ring F; it is mounted on the carriage C,
and moves consequently with it. F is the "float" or ring upon which the
cable rests, and which, by its inclination, ensures a free passage always to the
lower turn of the cable, and enables the operation of heaving to be continuously
carried on without fear of one turn of the cable riding over another. This
"float" or ring turns with the capstan. It rests one side upon the roller or
pulley P, and at the opposite side upon the lower shoulder which carries the
ordinary pulls or stoppers. The tongue or stop L is fitted to the carriage C,
and admits of the carriage being fixed in any desired position for imparting
the requisite inclination to the "float" or ring F. As the remaining parts of
this capstan are well known it is not necessary further to refer to them.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
1st, the general construction and arrangement of capstans and windlasses as
herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
2nd, the combination of the moveable carriage and roller or pulley with the
"float" or inclined ring, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)