US1829413A - Rigging for sailboats - Google Patents

Description

Ot. 27, 1931; c. v. KOZLAY' RIGGING FOR SAILBOATS Filed March 22 50 Patented Get. 27, 1931 UNITED STATES CLARENCE V. KOZLAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

.RIGGING FOR SAILBOATS Application filed March 22, 1930. Serial No. 438,187.

This invention relates to improvements in rigging devices for attaching a sail to the Ignast, or to the main gaff or boom of a sailoat.

According to one method of rigging sailboats, hoops or rings are passed around the mast and attached to the sail and luff rope to hold the sail to the mast. The use of such mast-hoops for securing the sail to the mast is accompanied by certain disadvantages, and for that reason it is now common to use what is known as a Marconi rigging for securing the sails to the mast.

In a Marconi rigged sailboat the aftside of the mast, or the main gaff or boom, is provided with a track on which slides secured at various intervals to the sail and lufi rope travel. These slides are secured to the luff rope and sail by means of a grommet in the sail, and usually a linen or other strong cord binding passes through the slide and grommet and, at the same time, is wound around the luff rope. The sail is raised and lowered on the mast by means of a hoist which is attached to the luff rope and peak of the sail, so that the strain of raising the sail does not come entirely upon the peak of the sail, but is-evenly distributed along the entire inner edge of the sail and luff rope which is adjacent the mast.

In the Marconi rigging the slides which travel along the mast-track are permanently fixed to the sail and luff rope. Therefore, whenever it is desired to afiiX a sail to a mast 5 in a Marconirigged sailboat, it is necessary to thread the several slides of the sail onto the track. l/Vhile such an arrangementprovides a very satisfactory means for raising and lowering the sails after the slides have been threaded onto the track, it necessitates each sail having its own set of slides. and the tedious threading of the slides onto the track each time the sails are changed for purposes of drying, or to replace a set of heavy sails with a lighter set or vice versa.

The rigging of this invention is of the Man coni type, but the slides are so arranged that they are'permanently carried by the masttrack and can readily be unloosened from the binding which is threaded throughthe grommet and around the luff rope. With an arrangement of this type it is only necessary to have one set of slides for any number of sails, and the necessity of threading the slides onto the track each time the sails are changed is eliminated, as when the sails are to be changed it is only necessary to release each one of the bindings of a given sail from its proper slide, and thereafter to affix to the 7 slides the proper bindings of the sail which is to replace the one removed. c

More specifically my invention comprises non-removable slides which fit over the track so that they cannot be pulled off, and means for detachably securing these slides to the sail and luff rope.

Each slide comprises a main body portion which slides on the track, and an arm over which the sail and lufi' rope binding may pass. This arm is preferably pivoted at. one end to the main body portion of the slide, and the arm has its other end releasably locked to the body portion so that the sail and lufl rope binding which passesthereover are securely retained against accidental removal In accordance with the present invention the linen cord bindings for the sail and lufi rope are replaced by bindings which may more readily be secured to the slide, and which will more firmly grip the luff rope and cause the strain incident to the raising ofcthe sail to be-more evenly distributed throughout the entire inner edge of the sail and the length of the luff rope adjacent the mast.

For a fuller understanding of the invention reference is made to the accompanying drawings and description, but it is to be understood that this more detailed description is merely an exemplification of the invention 0 and that the same is not limited thereto except as set forth in the accompanying claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation showing a sail attached to a mast by a rigging embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the slides;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View on line 4-4 of .Fig. 1;

al 1 designates a sp'ar or mast of a sailboat,

' ing edges of thetrack plate retain :the slide against removal while at the although it is to be understood it "might as Well be the main gaff 0r boom, and it is in this broad sense that the term mast is hereinafter' used, particularly in the appended claims. The aft side of the mast 1 has secured thereto a batten 2 which forms means for securinga plate 3, to the mast. This plate 3' is wider than the batten2 and its pro jecting edges form a track on which slides '4 travel. y Y v V [The slides 4 are substantially C-shaped when viewed from theend, and comprise a main body portion 5-and inturned marginal flangesb. Theseflan'ges underlie the project- 3 and securely same time permitting'free movement of the vslidelongitudinally along the track. The inner face of the'main body portion is preferably, slightly-cut away as shown at '7 to en- }sure-clearancebetween thebody and heads of screws, or other fastening means used to secure the plate 3to the battens'2 and mast 1,

which'might possibly project beyond theface I ofthe plate."

- The outer slides are provided adjacent one end with a pair of outstanding lugs8, between whlch an arm 9 is pivoted by means of the pintle Theother end of the arm 9 is formed'with an eye 11 which is received between apairof lugs 12 and 13. Aspring-pressed pin is secured in the lug 12, and in normal posltion ,passes through the eye 11 of arm 9 and is received in a recess 15 in lug 13. This releasably locks the arm in the position shown in Fig.3. I

The sail 16 has secured to its edge the usual luff or foot rope" 17 and is provided with grommets 18 through which fastening means pass :to secure the -bint'iing means to the sail and 111s rope. 1

. lnrthe'present case the binding means, in the preferred form of theinventiom'comprises, as shown in Fig.2, a'bifurcated member 19 which straddles the edge of the sail I and ma rope. As alsoshown in'this figure, the member 19 has one end formed into an eye 20 through which the arm 9 of the slide '4 1s "adapted to pass. The other-endof the member21 is turned at right angles to the eye 20 and is provided with openings'22 and 23 in the respective legs of the member 19, to

receive the screw 24. The opening 22'is :un- "t hreaded, but the opening 23 is threaded to correspond to the threads on the screw24.

face ofthe body portion'of the said body.

Intermediate the eye 20 and theend 21 the legs of the member 19 are inwardly concave the legs of the member will be pulled together I and the 'luf't'rope and sail firmly clamped by the legs on opposite sides thereof. \Vith the luff-rope and sail clamped in this manner, the strain. incident to the hoisting'will be uniformly distributed along the entire edge of the sail and the *len th of the rope adj acent the mast.v g V 'fInfthe modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the binding means comprisesa twisted "link 26 having a pairof eyes 27 and 28. The eye 27is adapted to have the arm 9 passed therethrough thesame as the eye 20 of the bifurcated member 19 of Fig.2. Howeventhe eye 28 in this form of the invention is' secured to the sail and luff rope by a lashing 29, which passes through the luff rope. I

With the rigging of the present invention a sufficient number of the slides 4 are nonremovably .ma-intained on the track 3 by means of the inwardly turned marginal flanges 6. ,Likewise, each sail is provided at t'he proper. intervals with means for binding the sail and luff rope to theslides.

When it is desiredtosecure a sail to the grommet and'around the mast it is only necessary to release the arm l "9 of the sli-de's 4 by pulling out spring pin 14, insert the pin through the eyes 20 or 27 of the binding means, and then relock the arm 9 between the lugs 12 and 13; This may be done as the sail is being hoisted and eliminatesthe cumbersome and tedious method of threading the slidesonto the track. WVhenever it is desired to remove a sail for drying purposes, or to replace it with another sail,

this operation is reversed and the slides left a on the. track.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provi-ded'a rigging means for sailboats whichpossesses all of the advantages of the Marconi rigging, and in addition,.eliminates thenecessity of threading the slides onto the track everyv time a sail is secured to the mast as the slides are permanently retained on the track and the sail and luff rope detachably secured to them. I I

I claim: r

1. Aslide for use in a rigging for a sailboat, comprisinga body having track-engaging portions, binding means adaptedto be attached to a sail, a pivoted arm carried by said body for connection with said binding means and spring means for releasably fastening the outer end of saidpiv-oted arm to 2. A slide for use in a rigging for a sailboat, comprising, binding means adapted to be attached to a sail, a body having trackengaging portions, an arm for connection with said binding means having one end pivoted tov said body, and spring means for detachably securing the other end of said arm to the body.

3. A slide for use in a rigging for a sailboat, comprising a body having portions for engaging a track and retaining the slide thereon, an arm for connection with sail binding means spaced from the body, means for pivoting one end of the arm to the body, a spring-pressed pin for detachably securing the other end of the arm to the body and sail binding means adapted to be inserted upon the arm to secure the sail to the slide and in turn to the mast. 4:. A sail and luff rope binding means for use in a rigging for a salloat, comprlslng a bifurcated member for straddling and clamping the lufi rope and sail, said member having its closed end formed as an eye for engaging a rigging slide, the inside of an intermediate portion of each of the legs of said member being serrated to more effectively grip the lug rope, means for clamping the free ends of the legs together to cause the sail and luff rope to be held between the legs of the member and a rigging slide having spring means for releasably attaching to the eye of the binding means.

5. In a rigging for a sailboat, a track secured to the mast, slides non-removably secured to and movable along said track, said slides comprising a body having track-engaging portions, and an arm pivoted at one end of the body and having its other end detachably secured to the body, and sail and luff rope binding means, said binding means having an eye through which the arm of the slide passes to secure the sail to the slides and in turn to the mast. In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

CLARENCE V. KOZLAY.

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