AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julius Smith, of Gainford Place, Barnsbury Road,
and Frank Sandom Thomas, of South Terrace, Walworth, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS AND OTHER
VESSELS."
Sealed the 17th April 1855, and dated the 21st October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julius Smith and Frank
Sandom Thomas at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 21st October 1854.
We, JULIUS SMITII, of Gainford Place, Barnsbury Road, & FRANK SANDOM
THOMAS, of South Terrace, Walworth, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS AND OTHER
VESSELS to be as follows, that is to say:-
Our said Inventon, which has reference to improvements in steering appa-
ratus, in which the ordinary screw is employed, has for its object to obviate
the dangers to which such apparatus have been hitherto exposed, namely,
of being broken or disarranged by the striking of a sea against the rudder.
And the mode in which we propose to carry out the aforesaid object is by
interposing between the rudder head and the screw a lever composed of a
hollow cylinder, which contains a spiral spring acted on by the mechanism
connected with the screw; the said spiral spring being of sufficient strength to
resist the ordinary pressure from the working of the helm, and to convey the

page_text: whole motion from the screw to the rudder head; as if a solid cylinder or other
mechanism had been interposed; at the same time that it will give way to the
violent action of a sea upon the rudder, so as to prevent any pressure from
being carried back to the screw.
We claim the construction and employment
in screw-steering apparatus of a cylinder containing a spiral spring, in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Julius Smith and Frank Sandom Thomas in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 21st April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JULIUS
SMITH, of Gainford Place, Barnsbury Road, and FRANK SANDOM THOMAS, of
South Terrace, Walworth, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Julius Smith and Frank Sandom Thomas, Her special licence that we,
the said Julius. Smith and Frank Sandom Thomas, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Julius Smith and
Frank Sandom Thomas, our 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
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Julius Smith and Frank Sandom Thomas,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, 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 we, the said Julius Smith and Frank Sandom
Thomas, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,' and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):

page_text: Our said improvements, having reference to screw or ordinary steering
apparatus, have for their object to obviate the dangers to which such steering
apparatus have hitherto been exposed from the violent action of a wave or sea
upon the rudder, by which the man at the helm was liable to be violently
impelled from his place by the reflex action of the said steering wheel, or the
machinery to be disarranged in those cases where this contingency was
provided against by locking the wheel. And the mode in which we propose
to carry out the aforesaid objects is by interposing between the rudder head
and the screw or the tiller a hollow cylinder containing a conical spring, of
the sort patented and known as the volute spring, which is actuated by the
mechanism connected with the screw or the tiller; the said volute spring being
of sufficient strength to resist the ordinary pressure from the working of the
helm, and to convey the whole motion from the screw or tiller to the rudder
head, as if a solid cylinder or other solid mechanism had been interposed,
notwithstanding that the said spring will give way to the violent action of a sea
upon the rudder, so as to take upon itself the strain otherwise thrown upon the
screw or tiller.
But in order that these our said improvements may be more fully understood
and readily carried into effect, we now proceed to describe them by the aid of
the accompanying. Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures
thereon marked (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of our improved screw-steering apparatus;
Fig. 2, a back or end elevation; Fig. 3, a top or plan view; Fig. 4, a transverse
or vertical section, taken through the dotted line in Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a longitudinal
section of the cylinder, showing the working of the spring, and the several
mechanical arrangements in connection therewith; Fig. 6, a top or plan view
of a steering apparatus of the ordinary tiller construction, with our improve-
ments attached Figs. 7 and 8, front and side views of a simple mechanical
contrivance, to be used in conjunction with the other portions of the said tiller-
steering apparatus, for the purpose of fixing or locking the steering wheel, so
that the danger of the rudder and tiller chains being injured by the action of
a heavy sea or wave may by the aid of the said springs be provided against,
while the said steering wheel is so fixed or locked, at the discretion of the
steersman, for the purpose of relieving him of much labor. Figs. 9 and 10,
side and top views, showing a modification of the said contrivance, the steering
wheel. being removed in Fig. 10. In each Figure the same letters of reference
denote similar. corresponding parts.
A,,A, floor or deck of the vessel; B, B; vertical standards; C, C, steering
wheel; DD;;steering screw shaft; E, E, traversing nut through which the

page_text: said screw shaft works; F, F, link motion moving from pivot centres on
the traversing nut; G, G, slide rod or guide pin, working through the boss of
the intermediate shaft and cross head H, H, in connection with the rudder
head; I, I, bracket standards; J, J, intermediate shaft; K, K, crank arm,
firmly keyed to the said shaft, as shewn in the accompanying Drawings;
L, L, reacting spring cylinder; M, M, pronged tiller or lever, firmly fixed or
fitted upon the bead of the rudder N, N; O, O, screw nuts, upon which the
reacting spring cylinder is mounted; P, P, cylinder rod, connecting the steer-
ing wheel with the rudder through the intervention of the reacting spring;
Q, Q, reacting pressure spring, of any suitable strength; R, R, sliding
disks or washers, against which the ends of the reacting spring alternately
press when the apparatus is in motion; S, S, regulating nuts, for shortening
or lengthening the set of the spring; T, T, flooring cap, through which the
shaft of the rudder head works.
In the apparatus shown at Fig. 6, a represents the rudder head; b, b, the
tiller; c, c, the tiller chains; d, d, the sheath blocks, through which the said
tiller chains run in the ordinary manner; e, e, spring boxes or cylinders, secured
to the deck, or flooring of the ship or vessel; f, f, single-acting springs, one
of which is placed in each box or cylinder; g, g, piston; h, h, piston or spring
rod; i, i, ring head, for the purpose of attaching the said piston or spring rod
to the sheath blocks.
In the apparatus for locking the wheel, shown at Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10,
j, j, represents a standard bracket, bolted to the deck or steering platform;
k, k, stop or bolt turning on pivot 1, 1; m, m, foot bar acting on the same;
n, n, detached portion of the steering wheel, showing the manner in which one
of the handles may be acted on by the said stop or bolt; o, o, shank, by which
the said handle is secured to the steering wheel, and which should be made
of metal, for use in conjunction with our locking apparatus; p, p, spring.
I now proceed to describe the action of the apparatus under the first head
of our Invention, shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, which is as follows:-The
steering wheel C being put in motion, the nut E is caused to traverse
longitudinally by the movement of the screw shaft, and actuates the mechanism
in conjunction with the cross arm K, through the intervention of the slide rod
or guide pin G, working through the boss of the intermediate shaft and cross
head H, H. This motion is communicated to the rudder head by the rigidity
of the spring, which, on the other hand, is so regulated as to give way to the
violent action of a wave or sea upon the rudder, so that no backward motion
may thence be communicated to the steering wheel. And in like manner, in the
method of adapting our spring to the ordinary tiller-steering apparatus referred

page_text: to under the second head of our Invention, the action of the tiller is conveyed
by the rigidity of the volute spring to the rudder head, as shewn by the
Figures, but the reflex action on the sheath blocks is obviated; and in the said
steering apparatus it is rendered feasible to stop or lock the wheel to relieve
the steersman, which is effected by placing the foot upon the foot bar or
board m, by which action the stop or bolt k is brought in contact with the
handle of the steering wheel n, the said stop being restored to its place on
the removal of the foot by the action of the spring p.
Having now fully described the nature of these our said improvements, and
the manner in which the same are to be performed, we would have it clearly
understood that we by no means intend to confine ourselves to the precise
details herein-before described, as the same might be varied without departing
from the general principle of this our said Invention; but that which we do
claim as new and of our said Invention is,-
Firstly, the application of the conical or volute spring to screw-steering
apparatus, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and
described.
Secondly, the application of the said conical or volute spring to ordinary
steering apparatus.
And, thirdly, the construction and employment of the stop or bolt and the
parts connected therewith, for the purpose of locking the wheel in the ordinary
steering apparatus to which the volute spring is applied.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Smith, on behalf of myself and the
said Frank Sandom Thomas, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
FRED R. D. CAMPBELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.
JULIUS SMITH. (L.S.)