Windmill Sail - Patent Sails

Patent Sails

Patent sails were invented by William Cubitt in 1813. They combine the shutters of the spring sail with automatic adjustment of the roller reefing sail. Their construction is similar to that of the spring sail. Adjustment of patent sails can be made without stopping the mill.

Air brakes

In 1860, the English millwright Catchpole fitted an automatic air brake to the ends of patent sails. These were longitudinal shutters at the tip of each sail, which opened up if the wind got too strong, thus slowing the sail.

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Famous quotes containing the words patent and/or sails:

    This is the patent age of new inventions
    For killing bodies, and for saving souls,
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    Raphael paints wisdom; Handel sings it, Phidias carves it, Shakespeare writes it, Wren builds it, Columbus sails it, Luther preaches it, Washington arms it, Watt mechanizes it.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)