IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Maude, of Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS."-A communication.
Sealed the 11th November 1853, and dated the 3rd June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Maude at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd June 1853.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD MAUDE, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS" to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to hold the rudder at any given point,
and protect the helmsman from the violence of the sea, which, when it
strikes a rudder mounted and operated in the usual way, is apt to force
the tiller or wheel round, and throw the helmsman violently down.
This object is effected by the addition of two pawls, placed one ou
each side of the hub of the steering wheel, and made to act alternately
on a ratchet wheel placed on the shaft, such ratchet wheel having an

page_text: endwise motion on the shaft by means of a male and female screw, so
as to bring it against one or other of the pawles. The wheel is provided
with a hub, fitted in such a manner as to disengage the pawles, when it
arrives at the end of its course, in either direction; the result of which
will be, that the rudder will be secured through the agency of the
pawls, and will be unlocked so as to be free to move in either direction
by the first motion of the wheel.
In addition to the above arrangement, the tiller or steering apparatus
is provided with sweep chains and blocks. The drum, round which the
chains or ropes are passed, is constructed upon the old principle; a
number of turns being taken round the drum with the rope or chain.
one end of which is passed through a block attached to the deck, then
through a block attached to the larboard gunwale of the ship, then
through another block, and to the gunwale. The other end is in like
manner passed through blocks secured to the starboard gunwale, and
through another block, after which it is attached to the other gunwale.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Maude in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 3rd December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM EDWARD MAUDE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Edward Maude, Her special license
that I, the said William Edward Maude, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Maude, 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,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVED APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Maude, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 William Edward Maude, 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 Drawings
bereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
The object of this Invention, which has been communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent as aforesaid, is to hold the rudder at any
given point, and protect the helmsman from the violence of the sea,
which, when it strikes a rudder that is mounted and operated in the
usual way, is apt to force the tiller or wheel round, and throw the helms-
man violently down. The object to be attained by the present improve-
ments is effected principally by the addition of two pawles, placed one
on each side of the hub of the steering wheel, and made to act alter-
nately on a ratchet wheel placed on the shaft, such ratchet wheel
having an endwise motion on the shaft by means of a male and female
screw, so as to bring it against one or other of the pawles. The wheel
is provided with a hub, fitted in such a manner as to disengage the
pawles, when it arrives at the end of its course, in either direction; the
result of which will be, that the rudder will be secured through the
agency of the pawles, and will be unlocked so as to be free to move in
either direction by the first motion of the wheel.
In addition to the above arrangement, the tiller or steering apparatus
is provided with sweep chains and blocks. The drum, round which the
chains or ropes are passed, is constructed upon the old principle; a
number of turns being taken round the drum with the rope or chain,

page_text: one end of which is passed through a block attached to the deck, then
through a block attached to the larboard gunwale of the ship, then
through another block, and to the gunwale. The other end is in like
manner passed through blocks secured to the starboard gunwale, and
through another block, after which it is attached to the other gunwale.
In order that the present improvements may be clearly understood I
have shewn in the accompanying Drawings various views of the several
parts.
Fig. 1, is a side elevation of the wheel and its appendages complete;
Fig. 2. is a similar view, with the wheel A, removed; Fig. 3, is a front
elevation of the post B, which supports the wheel, the pawles E, and F,
the ratchet G, and spring J, which keeps the pawles up to the work;
also the bearings W, and X, on which the coiled springs II, and I, rest,
and through which the lower part of the pawles pass. In this view is
also seen the cap C', which keeps the arms A', and B', in their proper
places, and also the bearings U, and V, which receive and sustain the
pawles after the elasticity of the springs H, and I, is spent. Fig. 4,
is a front view of the wheel A; Figures 5, and 6, represent the
back of the pawles E, and F, next the post, with the rollers. S, and
T, and the coiled springs H, and I, placed upon then; the armis A', and
B', (which, with the spring J, keep the pawles in their places,) are pro-
vided with a mortice and tenon at their ends, whereby they are
connected together; and each pawle has therefore the benefit of both
springs, as will be more clearly seen in this view than in the other.
Fig. 7, is a plan view of the rudder head tiller, and a sweep attached
to its end, the shape of which is ascertained by placing one leg or point
of a compass at the centre of the rudden head, and the other at the end
of the tiller; its length should be about one fourth of the circle. In
the edge or periphery of this sector there are formed two grooves, one
above the other, to receive a chain, to which is attached a block, as seen
at S, S, the other end of the chains being made fast to the respective
ends of the sweep, as seen at T, T.
The drum K, (Figures 1, and 2,) acts on the old principle; a number
of turns being taken around the drum with the rope, one end of which
is passed through a block attached to the deck, then through a block

page_text: attached to the larboard gunwale of the ship, then through the block as
seen at s, s. and made fast to the gunwale of the ship, the other end in
like nanner to the starboard gunwale of the ship, and through the other
blocks, to the other gunwale. A spiral groove, extending from end
to end, is cut half round the inner surface of the hub of the wheel a,
as seen in Fig. 8, which is a detached sectional view of the wheel
taken in the line D', D', Fig. 4. A roller L, (Fig. 2,) set upon
the shaft M, is made to act in the spiral groove of the wheel A. The
groove acting as a female screw, and the roller L, as a male screw,
compels the wheel A, to travel forward and aft, until it is brought
up by the ends of the hub alternately bearing against the ratchet
wheel G, and the shoulder P, on the shaft M. Q, and R, are rollers
in the pawles E, and F, (Figures 2, and 3,) which rollers are set in
diagonal bearings to match the diagonal bearing of the surfaces N, O,
(Fig. 1). Fig. 9, is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of the roller
L, and shaft M. The section being taken in the line E', E', of Fig. 2.
The roller L, has a pin through its centre, and is made fast in the
shaft M. The pawle E, is made forked, as seen at Figures 1, and 2, to
receive the roller S, which bears against the outer or post side of the
ratchet G, as a guide, the roller Q, being also mounted in the other end
of the fork, and allowed to work upon the surface O. The pawle F, is
made unforked, as seen in Fig. 10, and its roller R, works upon the
surface N, on the opposite side, and is of course hidden in Fig. 1. The
length of the shaft M, between the ratchet wheel G, and the shoulder,
upon its end, is equal to the length of the hub upon the wheel A, and
the breadth of the two bearings N, and O, measured horizontally. The
wheel A, being put at midships between them, both these rollers Q, and
R, are clear of the surfaces N, and O, and the pawles E, and F, are
allowed to work in the ratchet G. The wheel now being put to
port, the groove in the hub of the wheel A, travelling upon the
roller L. (Fig. 2,) will carry the wheel astern, until the hub is brought
up against the ratchet G; in its progress the surface N, meeting the
roller R, will rub up the pawle F, and allow the ratchet G, to pass
under it as long as the wheel is pressed to port. When the wheel is
changed from port to starboard, the wheel A, travelling upon the roller

page_text: L, is brought up pressing against the shoulder P. In its progress
the surface O, will meet the roller Q, and rub up the pawle E, and
allow the ratchet to pass under it in turn.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention that has been
communicated to me as aforesaid, and the best means with which I am
acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in conclu-
sion, that I do not claim any of the parts of the apparatus as new when
taken separately; but what I do claim as new, and therefore desire to
secure by Letters Patent, is, the general arrangement of the apparatus,
and particularly the combination of the forked and unforked pawles
with a single ratchet, and with the surfaces N, and O, placed face to
face, and on the same side of the wheel A. I also claim applying the
springs H, and I, to the pawles in combination with the arms A',
and B, and the cap C', substantially as herein set forth.
I also claim the arrangement and combination of the sweep chains
and blocks, as above set forth, represented, and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Maude, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the First day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
W. E. MAUDE. (..s.)