US178678A - Improvement in reefing sails - Google Patents

Description

- ZSheet-SheetL J- W. SHARRET REEFING SAILS.

Patented June 13', 1876 nya.

N. FETEkS. FHOTO-LTTHOGRAPHEN. WASMNGT'UN D C 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

J'. W. SHARRET.

' REEFING SAILS'. No 17'8 678 Patented J'u ne13, 1876.

N-PETERS. PHOTO-UTHOGNAFHER. WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITEDQSTATE JOHN w. sHAaRET, OF

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN REEFING SAILS Specification forming'part of Letters .Patent No.

'May 22, 1576.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. SHARRET, of

Portsmouth, in the countyof Norfolk and State of Virginia,have invented new and useful Improvements in Reefing Fore-and-Aft Sails of Vessels, which improvements are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vessel with fully'set sails, the sails being in accordance with my invention. "Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5 are plan views of the ropes or brails used for furling, as will be hereafter sufficiently explained. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the lee side of a vessel with reefed sails, the sailsbeing eonstrncted and operated inacco'rdance with my' invention.

The nature of my invention consists in certain constructions,combinations, and arrange 'ments of parts, as hereinafter described and specifically claimed, whereby is provided an 'or course of the vessel.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, 1 will proceed to describe it.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a vessel; B, a mast; (J, a jib-boom; D,

a boom, and E a gaff. The forestayF eonneets the mast-head with the front end of the jib-boom, and serves to support the jib, which is composed of parts G and H, fastened together by diagonal lacing I, so that it consists of two independent triangular sails, each with a halyard, and both with one down-haul.

A The upper halyard h is fastened to the highest point of the bonnet portion H, and passed through a block, h on the mast, down to its usual fastenings on the deck. The lower halyard 9 is fastened to the highest point of the part G of the jib, and is passed through the hanks g of the bonnetH;'thenee through the blockh and down to its usual fastenings on 178,678, dated June 13, 1876 application filed the deck. The jib-bonnet brails K K are fastened on either side to the leech .of thesaid sail at 71/ whence they pass through the eye finally passing through the opposite hank g, down through the eye 9 of the sail G, and to the jib-boom, from which it is guided, in the usual manner, to the t'astenings on theforedeek of the vessel. The points for the fastening h and the eye 9 are at the same distance from the traveler L and from the lacing I, to permit the bonnet to be nicely doubled or folded up upon the jib G. Thejib is fastened. to the jib-boom O, in the usual manner, at o,and.to the traveler guide or rail L by means of the traveler 1, also in the usual manner.- Between the boom D and the gaff E the'at'tsail is fastened in the usual manner. It consists of the mains-ail M and the mainsail-reef N. To strengthen the aft-sail when reefed, it is proa leech when the reef N is fur-led up, as seen in Fig. 6.

The mainsail M is fastened to the boom D in-the usual manner, and to the mast B by means of travelers b. The gaff E, to which throat-halyard 0, which is fastened to the eye 0 of the said sail. The other end of the gaff is supported by the peak-halyard P, in the usual manner. The brails Q Q of the aft-sail The main-brails run from the eye m along both sides of the sail N, to the leech R, to which they are fastened at r, a point equidistant from the boom-fastening d, with an eye, m in the sail-M, in which the said brails cross each other before they finally pass through one of the g in the part G of the jib, thereby crossing each other and reversing their positions, and

vided with a ridge-hand, m, which serves as the mainsail-reef N is attached in the usual manner, is, near the mast, supported by the p are constructed with switches q and g, which banks 1) and down to the deck, where they are As long as the-vessel proceeds with full sail the jib-bonnet hrails and the mainsail-reef hrails are fastened to the deck in a tight manher, to prevent them. from getting entangled with other ropes or from being blown out of reach. When the jib-bonnet is to be reefed the halyard h is nnfastened and the bonnet H allowed to come down along the forestayF.

To prevent thewind from bagging the sail it is brought down bythe down-haul G. At the same time the brailK, which furls the honnet to the lee side, is drawn tight and fastened, whereby the bonnet becomes furled, as seenin Fig. 6.

To reef the aft-sail the peak-halyard P is unfastened, and thebrail Q,which reefs the said sails at the lee side, is drawn upon. The fastening'r on the leech R is thereby drawn to the eye m and the gaff E is drawn down until the point e (where the switch q is fastened) arrives at the eye m The mainsail-reef is thus doubled up and fastened upon the sail M, and the gaff E is fastened close to the leech R. The peak-hal yard P and the [nail Q are now properly fastened, and the operation of reefing is completed.

To unfurl thesails again, the brails and. the down-haul are loosened and the halyards drawn on and finally fastened.

it is obvious that by drawing on the brails K and Q the sails will be reefed on the opposite side to that represented.

The described operation is so simple, and the labor required for it is so little, that one man can reefand set sail in considerably less timetha-n four men could possibly do the same work according to any other known method.

I. am aware that mainsails of the above description are diagonally reefed; but I do this diagonal reefing. with differentlyarranged brails, and thereby enable the operator to fasten the gaif and reef the sail by means of only one brail, and that with less exertion and in less time, thus reducing time, labor, wear, and cost of construction.

, cut, is-

annoyance by its variable sway. This reeling requires the skill and main strength of several 1 hands and a good deal of time, thus greatly endangering the vessel in stormy weather.

With my improved construction the main part of the jib remains intact under all circumstances, and the reefingisdone by onedman with the aid of onebrail in. almost a moment, and with very little exertion, while the course of the vessel is not in the slightest degreeinf terfered with.

Having described my in vention, what J1 claim,

as new, and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 1. The mainsail of a vessel provided witha diagonal ridge-band, uponwhich the gaff is.

secured in the act of mating by a branch of i the brail which reefs the said sail, operated substantially as described.

2. The mainsail M and the reefN, having eyes m m in them,through which the hrails The jibcould heretoforeonly bereefedty, 1

cross each other, substantially asand for the purpose setforth.

3. The brails Q, and Q, having branches and q, constructed and operating substa-u;

, 4. The combination of the main portion G of the jib, the bonnet H, the halyards g and h, down-haul G, and the brails K K", constructed and operating substantially as set forth.

5. The jib made of two triangular sections, sald sections being united together by lacing,

and both operated together, or the upper one independently of the lower one, by means substantially as described.

JOHN WILLIAM SHARRET. \Vitnesses:

JOHN GLEMEN'rs, G. F. EDWARDS.

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