AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF RUDDER
Year: 1857

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 RUDDER."-A
communication."
Sealed the 3rd September 1857, and dated the 9th March 1857..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1857.
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 RUDDER,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the adaptation to the lower part of a rudder of
a moveable balancing extension piece, so hung to the rudder post or to a
fixed portion of the rudder that it may be swung down so as to extend below
the keel of the vessel, and in advance of the pintles of the rudder. By thus
providing an additional steering surface both fore and aft of the pintles, the
rudder will be rendered self-balancing, while at the same time the extension
piece may be swung up on approaching shoal water to avoid the bottom.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 9th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, A. D. One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth 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, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, 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 IMPROVD CON-
STRUCTION OF RUDDER," being a communication from abroad, upon the con-
dition (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, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, consists
in providing the rudder with a moveable balancing extension piece, so hung
to the rudder post or to a fixed portion of the rudder that it may be swung
down so as to extend forward under the keel of the vessel and in advance of
the pintels of the rudder, in such a manner as to present a rudder surface
both forward and back to the axis upon which the rudder turns, thus
rendering the rudder either wholly or partially self-balancing, while at the
same time this extension piece is so hung that it may be swung up on
approaching shoal water to avoid the bottom, as herein-after more fully
set forth.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved
rudder placed in position and prepared for working in deep water; Figure 2
is a horizontal section of the rudder and steering post, representing the
moveable portion of the rudder as being partly raised. A is the rudder piece,
with the fixed portion of the rudder. This is made in most respects, like the
ordinary rudder, varying only so much as is necessary to adapt it to the
improvement shewn in the Drawings and described below. Its mode of
attachment to the vessel is also the same. The keel of this main rudder is
made circular, to allow the attachment and operation of the moveable or
balancing piece B. This is fitted up to the main rudder, as shown in the
Drawings, and is attached to it by the cheek plates C. These cheek plates
are bolted to the piece B, and hung to the part A by the horizontal axis or
bolt c, upon which it may be vibrated. The parts are so arranged that the
piece B may be swung down under the end of the main rudder and partly
under the keel, as fully shown in Figure 1, or by pulling upon the rope d it
may be drawn to the position indicated by red lines in the same Figure, or to
any intermediate position which may be required or desirable under any of
the varied circumstances which may arise in its use.
The extension piece B should be made of such weight, and the weight so
distributed, that it will if left to itself assume and retain the position below the
rudder post in which it is here represented, and that too, notwithstanding any
opposing friction upon it which may arise from the headway of the vessel, and
to insure this operation the part marked e, which is then astern, should be
much heavier than the portion which is then forward of the axis of vibration.
When the rudder is made exactly as here represented in all its proportions,
it is not perfectly self-balancing, but it may be made so by extending that
portion of the piece B which is forward of the pintels of the rudder. Tho
parts are represented in the position they should properly occupy when in use
in deep water, but on approaching shoal water the piece B should be raised
to, or nearly to, the position shown in red lines, to prevent its striking the
bottom. If, however, this duty should be neglected it is not likely to result
in any serious damage, as the piece B in striking the bottom will generally be
folded up by the advance of the vessel without being broken by the
operation.
The improvement is particularly applicable to flat-bottomed vessels, where.
the hold upon the water of a rudder of manageable width is very slight, and in
rough weather is very uncertain. The rudder, besides being otherwise much
more reliable, is capable of very prompt action, as being so nearly balanced it
may be operated without gearing by the simple tiller.

page_text: Having thus far described the nature of the Invention of an improved
construction of rudder, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
and explained in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be
understood that I do not claim a rudder made in two parts, one of which may
be folded or slidden upon the other, as the Invention secured to me by the
above in part recited Letters Patent, as rudders which so far answer the
description of the present Invention have long been known; but I claim the
combination and arrangement of the extension piece B, or its equivalent, with
the main portion of the rudder, in such a manner that the piece B may be part
of it swung forward. to the pintels, and render the rudder either wholly or
partially self-balancing,. as set forth.
In witness whereof; I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of September, in. the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)